12/15/2010-Recap

It's been what seems like a long trip. It isn't like I didn't enjoy all of the trips to look at boats, and it may be why the boat finally found us. I say that because while I was looking I used to say that "the right boat will come along".

That of course was a tall order in that for the "RIGHT" boat to come along it not only had to be the "Right" kind of boat, a trawler, with a nice flared bow, but it also had to be 'close' to home, to be able to get it home for a reasonable cost, and it also had to be at the right purchase price.

I also used to say that I didn't want to spend over $50,000.00 because if there was some family affair going on, and I spent more than $50K, I'd feel like I had to use the boat to get my monies worth and that would make my family unhappy. That would be counter productive.

If you look to the above and below you will see the 'right' boat that finally came along.

Some background on 'the right boat';
She is a 1985 (built) 1986 (sold) 43' Albin Sundeck with twin 135 Ford Lehman Diesel engines. One interesting thing about the engines is that they had under 500 hours when we purchased the boat. I had 2 surveys done and both surveyors said that they (the engines) looked like they just came out of the crate.

The only modification that I have found so far that was performed on 'the boat' was the addition of a electra-Scan sanitation system (more on that later). The original electronics consisted of a Loran, Depth finder and a VHF radio, all I would guess are in the 1980's vintage.

We plan on upgrading all electronics and adding what is necessary in a 4-5 year updating plan to prepare for our BIG trip of doing The Loop. We will also be putting on more engine hours, during the cruising season this coming year which will help us add or subtract and prioritize items on the list. Big items this coming season will be an anchor (the anchor that came with our boat was 25# with 5' of chain and about 50' of rode) which I am thinking of a Rocna and a windlass (no there wasn't one and if you use your boat engines for less than 500 hrs, you probably aren't anchoring much) which I am leaning to a Tigress.

I'll add more as I go along, including using a SPOT to show where we are traveling. So keep coming back and add your comments. We'll be telling what is the good, bad and the ugly of this Odyssey.

So at this point we are fairly current as to the blog information. I will probably be doing some modifications, additions, especially some more pictures and some deletions where necessary until I feel it is just about right. This won't require too much but if you check back you will see some changes.

12/01/2010

From the party, read the 10/24/2010 blog, until this post we have been busy with the fundamentals of getting the boat ready for the winter. Ed, one of the members of WEBC and a previous dockmaster for the club has been assisting me with the winter preparations. Maybe assisting is the wrong word as he has been doing and I've been watching and learning.

I had Ed look at the packing glands on the shafts as before our boat was hauled for the season I had noticed leaking around the shafts. It was simple to see that what I had paid the CT yard to do, they clearly didn't. I think we were lucky to make it home without loosing the boat due to the yard not doing what they were contracted to do, which was repack the packing glands. After our boat was hauled Ed WAS ABLE TO SEE THAT THE PACKING NUT WAS DOWN AGAINST THE STOP WITH NO PACKING LEFT IN THE PACKING GLAND. There is no way that a trip of 4 days and about 350 miles would have exhausted all of the packing, unless of course it wasn't done or wasn't done right, both of which a yard should be able to do. I had also asked at Harvey's suggestion for them to include with the extra filters for the water separator and engine that they include extra packing, which wasn't with the filters. If it wasn't such a pain in the butt, I'd go after them but the cost and aggravation of doing so would exceed the money I paid them.

If anyone reading this would like to know specifics, please contact me and we'll discuss. This is clearly a disadvantage of having to do the supervision, long distance. If I was able to be there when they did the work, it would have been done and done right, as I would have been a pain in the butt until it was right. I guess they counted on our boat leaving and never showing up again for doing shoddy or non-existing work (they also didn't put a bulb in the steaming light as was ordered, since it didn't work and still doesn't). In today's world, the Internet is a great leveler of the playing field. They will get theirs at some point in time, probably not specifically by me, but what goes around comes around.

Cleaning out our boat took quite a few loads in Chadd's Ridgeline to empty her. We started in the main stateroom (SR) and took everything out of it, and the head, and worked forward to the V berth in the bow in an effort to get everything off of her. We want to start clean, so we can clean the interior up, wash & wax, to get ready to bring back on board what we want on board. We had to take home (well really to Chadd's home since he is on his away cycle and since his stuff is still in our basement) all of the items we had put on board in CT to bring our boat home, plus items left on board by the previous owner. Looking at it in Chadd's basement, there was quite a bit, even though we threw quite a bit away that we didn't need to bring home.

One of the last things that was done was Ed is going to shrink wrap our boat. Our boat was always stored inside at the CT yard, since the previous owner owned the slip that she was in. Shrink wrapping seems to be something that most owners do yet there are some boats at WEBC that aren't shrink wrapped and there are a few whose owner doesn't shrink wrap but builds a cover over their boat in a building type of affair. Don't know if I'll get to that point but it is interesting to see the alternatives.