Still Hard At It

The work on the boat goes on at a steady pace. The old saying that life is what happens to you when you are making plans is all too true. Our original plan when the boat was purchased was to be on our way to the Bahamas by now. Things obviously did not work out that way but maybe that is not such a bad thing. In as great condition as the boat was when we bought her, she is in need of a LOT of work before she is able to comfortably do any long distance cruising. It appears that we will be here in Beaufort until at the very least next year. That might seem like a long time but with the work we need to do and the need to raise enough money to pay for all of the improvements and keep the cruising kitty intact, the time will fly. When we left on our previous boat to cruise from Houston to come here, it might have been the first time the boat was completely equipped and tested and we were not still working on projects as we headed out. It was a nice change from the past and we would very much like for this boat to be in that condition when we next leave the dock for a while.



The refinishing of the teak is moving along albeit slowly. The previous owner, in an effort to protect the wood used a deck stain on all of the exterior teak. It has been harder to remove the stain than it would have been to just sand the wood if left alone. But we, or should I say, the teak master is making nice progress. We are adding some interior lights at the entry to the forward and aft cabins so we don't have to feel our way around in the dark to turn on the cabin lights. We are using LEDs so that we can use them at anchor since they draw very little in the way of amps. Caulking on the exterior is far from finished but the areas we believe leaked in the past have been done and we wait for the next rains to verify that. As we re-caulk we are also replacing all of the original fasteners which are all showing their age. Regarding leaks, the problem in the forward cabin caused the teak parquet to separate from the sub floor. The sub floor itself is still intact so removal of the parquet, sealing the sub floor with West System, then re-gluing the parquet with epoxy should take care of the problem for some time to come. We also took advantage of the repair to refinish the parquet in the forward cabin. Eventually we will get to all of the flooring. We choose Ultimate Sole to do the refinishing ( http://www.ultimatesole.com/index.asp?ID=2) because of our past experience with the product and the fact that even with a high gloss finish it is not as slippery as most other high gloss finishes.

Our water tanks consist of two 75 gallon stainless steel tanks in the stern of the boat. They are connected together by a crossover pipe at the bottom so both tanks maintain the same level. Filling the tanks meant moving the hose back and forth between the two tanks until they were both full. It is not that difficult but I am always looking for a better way to do things. The solution turned out to be very simple. I went to the local hardware store and purchased a drinking grade 25 foot RV water hose and three female connectors and one male connector. Total cost was $27.24 and about 20 minutes of my time. For our purposes the rig consists of a short piece of hose about 3 feet long with a male connector on one end and a female connector on the other. This is attached to a Y valve that has a cut off in each leg. This is commonly used to connect two garden hoses to a single hose bib. I then cut two more lengths of the hose about 4 feet long and attached a female connector on one end of each. These two hoses are attached to the Y valve and the ends with no connectors can be placed into each of my water tank deck fills. Once the hose is turned on, both tanks are filled at the same time and with the same water flow. With the cut offs in the Y valve one hose can be turned off if one tank fills faster that the other or both can be cut off when the tanks are full. For folks with deck fills on opposite sides of the cabin trunk, you can still use this system, just attach longer pieces of hose off the Y valve to run down the deck from the bow on each side or adjust to where ever your deck fills are.

Cleaning up wiring and just cleaning up the boat fills a lot of time in between these little project. We just found out we have cable TV on the dock but the boat never had a inlet for phone or cable TV so that means an inlet will get installed and the cable will need to be run from the inlet to the entertainment center. So that just got added to the list. And oh what a list it is, so stay tuned.

Simple and Inexpensive WiFi

Part 1.

More and more cruisers, be they just weekenders or long distance travelers, are wrestling with the issues of staying connected and yes, I mean to the internet. My first boat had nothing more than a VHF radio and I was able to sail from the US mainland to Bermuda. Later on as the boats got larger and communications improved, a marine SSB radio was added. Then a famous person, I can’t remember who, invented the internet. With that, the ease of email crept into our lives and grew like a weed along the banks of some of the rivers we have traveled. We were hooked and began the search for the latest and greatest technology. Our first device was a hand held unit that was called Pocketmail and needed to be held up to a phone after calling a special number and it would send and receive your emails. It was a pretty neat device and very popular in the cruising circles. Next we added a Pactor modem to our SSB radio and after acquiring a Ham license, used the Winlink system to send and receive email and get that all important weather information. We still have and use extensively the Winlink system. But the more we were exposed to the internet itself, the more important it became and the more functional we found it to gather information on weather, emails and the areas we were traveling- something the Winlink could not do for us.



With the availability of WiFi hotspots to connect to, the possibilities grew considerably. Again, we would have to evaluate our needs and how to meet those needs with the changing technology. For the cruiser today there are now some great choices depending on the areas you plan to cruise, the space aboard and power requirements for additional equipment and that all important dent in the monthly cruising budget. Starting at the high end is a satellite system that can be used on a large part of the planet, even the watery parts. A satellite dish mounted inside a dome and engineered to track and hold the satellites position will give full access to the internet and all it contains.

If coastal cruising is in your plans, or even some of the more developed islands, than another option is a wireless phone card modem attached to your computer that will connect and receive anywhere you can get a cell phone signal from your provider. For simple email via text format only a satellite phone will provide this almost anywhere in the world although some folks are finding the coverage is spotty on some oceans. Finally, many cruisers are finding that with a computer that has WiFi capabilities and a device to reach out and grab those free WiFi signals found in more and more locations the costs are relatively low and the installation is fairly easy. Most importantly, after that purchase of equipment, access is free. There are pay services sprouting all along the coast that will provide access via this same system in larger ports. After considerable research we decided on the WiFi method with the free access. Free is always good for most cruisers. Once the decision was made on the what, we now needed to decide on the how.



It is no surprise the internet provided us with the answers. Research, research, research, using mostly cruising website that we have found in the past are frequented by actual cruisers willing to share their knowledge and experience. Two such sites are the SSCA Discussion Board and the great site at Cruisersforum.com. A common name came up over and over again with lots of positive input. Some cruisers also had their own way of putting the system together to improve performance and protect the equipment. We decided on a WiFi unit Made by Senao. The Engenius UEB362 EXT long range USB adapter (now updated to the EUB9603H) was recommended over and over again. Another key piece of the equipment is the antenna. Like any over the air receiver, the antenna can mean the difference between success and failure. We try and match our equipment as much as possible and decided in the Engenius 8db outdoor omni-directional antenna. A small pigtail adapter is needed to attach the much larger antenna to the unit. Your choices will be either omni-directional or directional. The omni-directional will look like the antenna you are used to seeing and the directional antenna will look sort of like a small dish that needs to be aimed directly at the WiFi access point. This works great at the docks but swinging on the anchor as most of us do would present too much of a challenge. The omni-directional does not care whether the boat is swinging so naturally that was our choice.



Having the antenna be weatherproof and outdoor suited is a big plus. Keep in mind these units are not designed to be used in the manner we have planned. The unit itself is not waterproof and the attached antenna is very small. But it is removable and many of these units on the market do not have a removable antenna. That ability limits or extends the range of the unit. We would need to either find a way to weatherproof the unit or move it in and out as needed to keep it dry. Both will work but we prefer to keep it outside while underway since we can often connect as we pass a hotspot without stopping. The final short coming of the unit as is was the short cord that attaches the unit via USB to the computer. It is only about three or four feet long and won’t get it outside unless the computer is outside and we did not want to do that for obvious reasons. But this too is easy to overcome.



Once we had the adapter and antenna in hand, the search for the additional bits and pieces began. We found that a 6X6 plastic electrical box with no holes in it would make a very good weatherproof box to mount the adapter. We purchase a weatherproof gland to pass the cable through and some coax sealer. We found we would need an “active” USB extension cable to get the unit high enough to have some range with it. Having an active cable is important because the unit gets its power from the computer via the USB cable. Be sure it is NOT a passive cable or it will not work. We have received reports that we should not exceed 20 feet for the extension cable but others might find longer will work. Finally, a bit of silicon caulk to seal everything rounds out the material.



The electrical box has plenty of room to mount everything inside and a smaller box will probably work but this was what we used. First you will need to drill a hole in the top to accept the antenna. It slides into the hole and a locking nut on the inside holds it just fine. The hole around the outside and inside should be sealed with a bead of silicone caulk. Next a hole should be drilled into the bottom to accept the weatherproof cable gland and also sealed. Remove the antenna that comes on the unit and use some double stick tape to hold the unit on the back of the box. The first thing we noticed with this unit was its size. It is not much larger than a business card. Before mounting it, attach the pigtail to the antenna and the unit itself. Pass the USB cable from the unit through the hole in the bottom and attach the weatherproofing portion of the cable gland and add some silicone sealer to help keep moisture out. Once all of this is finished, add silicone sealer around the perimeter of the box and attach the cover. The box we purchased had tabs on the corners with holes in them so we could attach different methods of hanging it. We plugged the 20 foot active USB extension cable to the one that is attached to the adapter. Here is where the coax seal comes in and makes the plugs completely waterproof where they are joined together. The seal is sticky and stays that way so be sure and cover it with electrical tape to keep it from sticking to everything (and everyone) it comes in contact with. You will be almost finished but there is one final step before you start connecting.



Before you plug in the unit, you will need to set it up on your computer. There are two methods to do this. The adapter comes with a CD with the required drivers and a program to help make your connections. If your computer is not WiFi capable you will need to install this program. If it is WiFi capable you have a choice. In our research many complained about problems using the program that came with the adapter. Your Windows operating system has a service called Windows Zero Configuration which will manage all of your WiFi connections. Many users, including ourselves, let Windows handle the WiFi with few issues, but the drivers for the adapter need to be installed. Simple - go to the disk, find a folder called drivers, open it and click on set up. It will install the drivers and ask you to plug in the unit. Once installed you will need to restart the computer, and that is should be about it. It should not take a whole lot longer than it did to read this article. Once everything is done and the unit is hung as high as you can get it with the cable attached to your computer, you will be connecting any time an open access point is within range. We have been truly amazed at the range of this set-up and how well it performs.

And now for our total expenditures:

Engenius EUB-362-EXT $45.50  (now updated to the EUB9603H)
Engenius EAG-2408 Outdoor antenna $24.99
CA100 –NM-RSMAM-12 RPSMA Male to N Male 12” cable $9.00
RJ45-FT Feed-thru adapter $1.10
104 Coax seal $2.29
Plastic Junction box with lid $12.16
20’ Male to Female USB active extension cable $12.99
Silicone caulk $5.95

Total cost: $113.98

We did find a couple of sites on the internet that sell these same units already made up for a bit more money, but we like to build these things and install them ourselves. We get not only the feeling of accomplishment, but the knowledge that the parts are of the quality we expect. This has been a great addition to our equipment list and if your needs will be filled with this kind of set up, you will surfing before you know it.

Click here for part 2. 
Click here for part 3.

And The Beat Goes On

We have just had a couple of days of some pretty steady rains and found out we have not yet resolved all of our water leaks. The good news is that the serious ones have not resurfaced and it appears that right now we have only one to deal with. This one is in the forward cabin coming from the area of the cap rail. We are assuming this is coming from the stanchion bases since that is one area we have not sealed yet, so that is priority since rain is forecast again in a few days. After removing fasteners from the bases we are pretty certain this is our problem. The old screws are loose, rusted and broken and most are the originals. As is our usual deck repair, once the fasteners are removed we fill the holes with a thickened mix of West System epoxy. This seals the wood around the holes and perhaps some of the spaces where the water can pass through. Prior to filling anything the areas are taped well to make a cleaner, neater job when it is finished. A small hardwood dowel is inserted in the holes to give the new fasteners something to grab to. A healthy dose of caulk is injected into the hole and the fasteners are also coated with caulk. I am using stainless steel lag bolts in place of the old slotted screws. This allows me to tighten them more than with a screw driver. One of the little tricks is to not tighten too much and allow the caulk to dry. Then come back and tighten the fasteners later and the dried caulk will actually form a gasket. The tape is also removed after the caulk is dry and the caulk is trimmed to make a finished look. The radical change in fasteners also makes it very apparent which ones still need to be replaced.

One of the more fun projects is completed and that is the installation of the new stereo system and six disc CD changer. We have used Clarion products in the past with good results and performance so stayed with what we know. The hard part was getting the panel cut to flush mount the CD changer since they are not designed for this. The Clarion also allows us to run audio cables to it and connect those from the output of the TV. With four new stereo speakers mounted forward and aft in the main cabin we now have surround sound from the TV and DVD player without the large entertainment systems taking up valuable space. We found marine stereo speakers by Dual at Boaters World at a great price and they sound fantastic. Now the TV, DVD player, CD changer and of course the stereo itself are all together. With the DirectTV satellite system we also have satellite radio which now can be sent through the stereo.

The teak master is also starting on all of the outside teak, and there is lots of it. The former owners put a deck stain on all of the teak and while this did protect it we need to remove it all for the refinishing process. We also had lots of exterior teak on our previous boat and have been down the varnishing and other finishes path for a lot of years. We have recently settled on Sikkens Cetol and don't regret it one bit. It is much, much easier to apply and maintain than varnish, looks great using the Natural Teak and lasts much longer than varnish in the tropics. Adding maintenance coats is a snap. But we are just in the beginning stages.

Battery charging has been on my mind of late and charging the starting battery without overcharging has been a consideration. I have decided to use the Xantrex Echo Charger for the starting battery, rather than try and connect it to the house charger. This is a simple connection from the house bank to the starting battery and it senses when the starting battery needs a charge and borrows it from the house bank charger or alternator. Otherwise the house charger and alternator are connected to and charge the house bank. It solves my charging problems and does a very efficient job.

The windlass is also in the starting phase. It is mounted on the bow platform but I still need to do the wiring and install switches, etc. The water leaks have caused a few things to be put on hold until they are resolved but the windlass will be a pretty straight forward install. We will also need to upgrade our anchor rode and chain but all things will get done eventually.

Cruising on a Working Class Budget

Our Mariner 40 ketch, Sea Trek, had been our home for 17 years until the purchase of our current new to us trawler Beach House. In that time we have lived aboard and cruised her whenever the kitty reached the magic number we had set for our next voyage.

Since leaving our previous home base in the Florida Keys for a recent trip we have put a bit more than 3,000 miles under her keel. We visited four countries and transited the coastline of five states — two with the largest coasts in the United States and two with the shortest. We have put 750 hours on our engine and that means eight oil and filter changes and five changes of our three fuel filters. This does not take into account our most trip from Houston Texas to Beaufort, South Carolina.

Our unscientific estimate of anchoring is that we have dropped and raised the anchor more than 190 times (and with a manual windlass). We were very fortunate in only having three pieces of equipment break down and we believe this is a result of good preparation and a good maintenance schedule along the way.

We only spent 127 days at a dock out of 20 months. We anchored behind a reef with nothing but ocean on the other side for thousands of miles. We visited remote Mayan villages and dispensed medicine to a people that once ruled the land in a grand civilization. We visited thousand-year-old ruins of that civilization. It has been a grand adventure.

We also spent a few hard-earned dollars. Walk any dock or visit any cruisers’ hang-out or surf the Internet and stop in at any boater’s discussion board and the “How much does it cost?” question always pops up.

Our expenditures presented here are for one year only and do not include preparation, gear, provisioning purchased prior to leaving or money needed to get by once you return to reality, but before the paychecks start coming in again. It includes actual money spent from the time we left the dock until the end of the 12th month. Our cruise began April 1, 2005 and the figures are through March 31, 2006.

We enjoy eating out occasionally, and love to travel and explore the countries we visit. Boat maintenance and repairs are a fact of life and how much you need to budget for repairs is going to be mostly guesswork based on the condition of the boat and the age of your equipment.

Assuming that you have fully outfitted your boat with all the gear — watermaker, life raft, wind generator, solar panels, dinghy and outboard — that you feel you must have to enjoy cruising and to be comfortable and safe, you will then have to provision the boat with foodstuffs and other non-food items. Again, I am not counting this in our expenses, but mention it because there are some items we generally stock up on prior to leaving U.S. waters because they are often difficult or cumbersome to get in remote places. We buy toilet paper and paper towels in large quantities and store them in our largest hanging locker. (The clothes that resided there are packed away for the duration, off the boat and in storage in a friend’s garage.)

We also buy as much soda and beer as we can stow on the boat because it is much cheaper in the United States and it is easier than bringing it by dinghy back to the boat. A year’s supply of vitamins, herbal remedies, prescription meds, over-the-counter remedies, etc., are also placed on board. The over-the-counter medications are generally cheaper in the United States and you might have favorite throat lozenges and if, by chance, you can find them in Belize, they will cost two to three times the amount.

Regarding paying the bills: If you have a boat payment to make each month, have those payments automatically deducted from your account. We only use our debit card from that same account when traveling so we don’t have to worry about monthly credit card bills.

We decided to keep our car instead of selling it this time around so we had the insurance automatically deducted from said account every six months. The car was left with friends, who drove it instead of just letting it sit and rot. Any other bills that may be floating around get sent to us periodically through our mail forwarding service. They are great and will even open the mail and tell us how much the bill is if we can’t access it online, or if we don’t want to pay exorbitant postage to have it sent to us outside of the United States.

We also have made the decision not to carry health insurance while cruising outside the United States. If we need healthcare, we have found it to be affordable everywhere we traveled (except the States) and there are competent physicians in most places. Knock on wood — we have not had any serious health problems in all of our years aboard. This is a personal decision that someone with specific health issues may not be able to make. We don’t own a home or any property anywhere that has to be maintained and the kids are grown so when we are ready to go, all of the strings and umbilical cords have been severed.

Breaking it down

Now, after spending $1,000 or so putting canned foods, paper products, snacks, cookies, juices, shelf milk, rice and so forth into every possible nook and cranny aboard Sea Trek, we are ready to go. The budget consists of about nine months spent in the Western Caribbean and three months in the United States.

The category for boat fuel consists of both diesel for the boat and gas for the dinghy. Boat repair consists of what we paid others, and parts and materials for repairs and replacements that we did ourselves. We have found this figure to be pretty steady throughout recent years. Remember, the wear and tear you put on your boat while under way is much more than it would be just sitting at the dock, so these repairs are inevitable even for a relatively new boat.

The amount we spent on dining out was a big shock to us, but we have included all trips to the local ice cream shop and stops for sodas and beer as well as lunches and dinners in restaurants. If it didn’t get consumed on the boat, it was considered dining out.

Dockage was a fairly large figure for us, but it seemed we spent more time in marinas for various reasons than we usually do. In some places, anchorages just aren’t available due to shoaling or the anchorages have been replaced by mooring fields. In other areas, like Belize City, services can only be accessed by going into a marina. Entertainment included Internet cafes, CDs, museums, concerts, visiting ruins, satellite TV and the like. Travel is taxis, buses, rental cars, etc. Housing was our boat payment. Miscellaneous was haircuts, insect repellent and strange things that didn’t fall into other categories or cash that was spent that we could not account for. Maintenance included any item that was purchased to maintain the boat in her present condition. Most of the other categories are self explanatory and should not require any further explanation.

So here is how it breaks down for the year:

Auto insurance (recreational use only) – $378.20

Gas for borrowed cars and rentals – $130.21

Bank charges – $270

Boat fuel (diesel and gas) – $1,440.06

Boat insurance (covering Caribbean) – $2,631.92

Charity – $13

Clothing – $63.02

Dining – $1,792.05

Dockage – $1,833.07

Entertainment – $654.46

Gifts – $229.02

Groceries/provisions – $3,828.54

Housing (boat payments) – $4,479.36

Laundry – $165.10

Maintenance – $888.97

Medical/doctors – $242.50

Medicine – $233.09

Miscellaneous – $730.39

Port fees – $608.83

Postage – $17.28

Subscriptions – $52.86

Taxes and registration – $45.60

Utilities/electric – $161.99

Phone – $304.40

Hotels – $395.07

Travel – $369.66

Our total expenditures for the year were $25,805.10. If your boat is paid off, you’re down to about $21,500 and the amount can be even less if you only anchor out, don’t eat out, etc. Again, we feel this amount is fairly accurate as other friends of ours whose boat is paid off figure they spend about $20,000 for a year off in the wild blue yonder. Surprisingly enough, as I look at our budget for previous years, the costs have not changed dramatically except in the areas of insurance and fuel.

Behind the numbers

To give you an idea of what boat repairs we encountered, the depth sounder transducer needed to be replaced and it had to be a special length so it cost more than your standard transducer. We hauled the boat and had the bottom painted, which should probably be in the maintenance category, but we had the depth sounder installed at that time so we considered it a repair. We also had our outboard completely rebuilt when it was becoming sluggish. We decided that our anchor rode was a little tired and should be replaced. Also, we had to buy a new microwave oven in Guatemala when the old one gave up the ghost. If it was on the boat and had to be repaired or replaced, it was counted in the boat repair category.

The last thing you have to take into consideration over and beyond the above-mentioned expenditures is the amount you will need when you return to keep you going until you are gainfully employed once again. We generally like to set aside about $3,000 for this.

Let your needs and considerations be the determining factors to help you compute your costs, but by all means go and have fun.We expect the numbers to change somewhat with the new boat. Fuel costs most certainly will increase and since our cruising grounds will be more towards inland lakes and rivers of the US we must assume other costs will also change. But the numbers still give you a general idea of our costs for long distance cruising. Individual wants and needs and boat size as well as comfort levels will also dictate expenditures.

Some New Equipment

We have taken a break from caulking and sealing leaks since it appears we may have corrected most of them. We have been doing our part to stimulate the economy and spent a whole bunch of money on new equipment so it is time to install some of it. The original VHF on the boat is an older Standard unit and although it worked, well we needed a VHF at the lower helm as well as the flybridge. Buying a new radio and putting it on the flybridge would only cost slightly less than buying the radio and installing a remote mic and would be a simple install. In addition, the VHF would only need one antenna and no splitter. I like the Standard Horizon equipment because past experience has shown it to be dependable, well built, easy to interface, and very user friendly. It has all of the features we need and not loaded with features we will never use. The Standard Horizon Quest VHF at the lower helm and the remote mic at the bridge make a great solution and will connect to our Standard Horizon Chartplotter at the helm to give us GPS capabilities for the DSC portion of the radio. Running the single cable to the flybridge was a snap and the remote mic gives us full control of the radio from that location. One cool feature is the intercom setting which allows you to speak to the person at the other station.




The all important entertainment system is partially completed with the TV antenna mounted and connected, the TV mounted on the aft wall of the main salon, the satellite dish cable run and the receiver connected to the TV. I still have to set up the final mount for the Follow-Me or Track-It as it is now known. We have used this unit for years and allowing for its limitations, it has performed wonderfully for us. I have a mount figured out and will post when it is completed. The new stereo speakers are mounted in the main salon but the stereo and CD changer are not installed yet and the speaker wires still need to be run. That is my current project and hope to have it completed in a few days. Our Clarion stereo has inputs for several external devices so once the audio cables arrive that we have ordered, the TV will be piped through the stereo and we will have great surround sound without the bulky entertainment units usually needed to accomplish this. Living aboard a 34 foot trawler has taught us that space is at a premium.


The boat's charging system consisted of an older Guest 15 amp charger that still works but has very limited charging capabilities. I replaced that with a Iota 45 amp smart charger that is not only very inexpensive, but well built, quiet, and very efficient. We may add a second like charger at a later date since this charger can be combined and that would not only give us 90 amps of charging but a back up in case of failure. The Iota charger can equalize the batteries which is another fine feature. At the same time I have begun to clean up some of the wiring and replace some questionable cables. It doesn't sound like much but it is a start. We also found in the process that the adjustment arm for the alternator was broken and the alternator was just hanging on the belt. A replacement has been ordered from American Diesel and we have found them great to deal with so far.

The process of moving everything we own aboard has just about come to an end. Our storage locker is empty and every locker on the boat is full. Our van, which is just a rolling dock box, is very full of the things we don't want on the boat but for whatever reason don't want to get rid of. In the process of moving aboard, we are learning that placement of heavy items affects the trim of the boat, so we are now relocating things to bring her back to trim but the waterline is much lower now.
 

We are starting to feel less stressed and more at home as the to do list items get checked off. It will feel better when we move from the "have to do" to the "need to do" and then to the "want to do" list. It all takes time and fortunately right now we do have the time. But the cold weather has found us, even here in South Carolina so that too will dictate which projects we work on when.

Preparations Are Under Way

Since we have finally put the boat delivery behind us we have been working on the new boat every day from morning to evening. We only have a few weeks before we need to head south. We have a commitment in the Bahamas so really want to be under way by December 1st and still have lots of work to do. We have ordered new equipment, a VHF radio with remote mic for the flybridge, a wash down pump for the anchor, a new windlass and a whole lot more. But before any of that gets installed we have a few other priorities.



A few weeks ago we had what amounts to a tropical down pour that brought 8 inches of rain to the area, including Charleston. During the two days of rain, we found a few water leaks that needed immediate attention. Unfortunately we had to leave to deliver a boat before we could correct the problems, but hit them heavy once we returned. The sampson post had been replaced and the teak decks removed and fiberglassed by the previous owners. But where the sampson post went through the deck, it had been glassed around with no other sealing. The wood and fiberglass separated and the leak was substantial. The trim around the post had to be removed and some of the fiberglass ground back to get some caulk in between. In addition we sealed the deck area core with epoxy so that if it leaked again the core would not get wet. Besides the sampson post, we had leaks around one of the aft windows and around the aft cabin companion way. With all of the rain, it was at least obvious where the leaks were and what we needed to do to correct them.

Most of the problem were due to either improper caulking or a total lack of any caulking in these areas. We did not need to remove any windows or do any major repairs since this had already been done just not correctly. We just needed to fill the gaps that had been missed with the correct material. Some of the windows had gaps of 3/4 inch wide and over a 1/2 inch deep that were never filled. The wood trim around the aft cabin companionway had not been re-caulked in years. In addition to caulking we removed the deck fasteners and injected all of the holes with epoxy until they were saturated, then re-installed the fasteners with 3M 4200. The 4200 was`used for most of the caulking except around the windows. For that I prefer to use SikaFlex since it does a better job of adhering to glass and will be flexible enough to work with the wood frames. We also removed and re-caulked all around the cap rails on both the deck side and hull side. At this point we hope the leaks are contained but will have to wait for the next rains to be sure. It looks like we won't have to wait for long since rain is forecast in the next couple of days.


We will also need to replace the ports in the aft cabin since they too leak a bit and really look pretty bad. We have found some very nice stainless steel replacements from Newfound Metals at a great price. They too will need to be ordered and may get installed on the trip south. On top of all of this the electronics will need to be installed and we are still moving stuff out of our storage locker and stowing it on the boat. We have quickly filled most all of the storage space and are wondering where the rest will go. But it will all get done.

In The Beginning

With the survey completed and the boat hanging in the slings it did not take a marine engineer to see that the bottom had not been painted in a few years and although not as bad as we expected was indeed in need. We have received good feedback and recommendations for the yard here, Marsh Harbor Marina, so we decided to have them block the boat and paint the bottom and save us some money doing another haul out later. Since we had thrown this at them outside their already busy schedule and even brought another boat over with us for them to work on (another story), we were surprised when they said “no problem”. After a thorough power wash and blasting the prop, shaft and rudder of old paint and lots of marine growth, she was blocked and ready to be sanded, faired and painted.

The surveyor had rightly noted that the raw water intake seacock for the engine was probably the original, jammed open and had the handle broken off. This could be a nuisance at best and a serious problem under certain circumstances so replacing at this time is a no-brainer. As busy as the yard appeared, the owner offered to lend me the tools needed to remove the old thru-hull my self if I wanted. Since we had some time on our hands I agreed and went to work removing the 28 year old bronze valve. Needless to say it took about three times longer than I expected. Once removed the hole left in the hull was a fair bit larger than the new thru-hull so the yard had some glass work to do before the new valve could go back in. We noted on the sea trial on the way to the yard that the shifter seemed to want to hang in forward and you really had to pull hard to get it out of gear. Both the inside controls and the controls on the flybridge were taken apart, greased well and put back together. The shifter cable at the transmission was mounted on a steel bracket which was bent and once that was straightened and a little lubricant applied the shifter, although still a bit tight, worked much better. We will see how this works in time and determine if the cable will need to be replaced.


The previous owners had apparently never used the showers on board and there were no provisions made to use them. We decided to convert the small forward head to a shower, so a set up that would let us close off all four sides with a shower curtain and a replacement drain in the floor was installed. The existing drain was just a cover in the floor and drained straight down into the bilge. A replacement drain that can have a hose connected to it and a shower sump that would collect the water and pump it overboard would all need to be installed. So Much to do and so little money.

Another surprise after we hauled the boat was when the house batteries dropped to 6 and 9 volts once they were not being charged. We had the yard order us new batteries since that would be easier than us chasing all over town trying to find them. Over the years with our sailboat we had excellent results using 6volt golf cart batteries in place of our original 8Ds so we replaced the small deep cycles which were dead with pairs of Interstate E2200s which give us about 225 amp hours per pair. In the past we have received about 7 years of use on each pair. The battery box on the boat will not hold 4 of these batteries so we will need to build another box. This is deja vous all over again since we went through this when we bought the sailboat. The electrical will need some cleaning up and minor changes but perhaps it is just that I am a bit more anal than most.

We pulled into the yard one afternoon and there sat the fire extinguisher guy in front of our boat working on someone else’s. Another survey item was the out of date extinguishers including the halon system in the engine compartment. So we conveniently were able to get all of them taken care of. It is funny how things work out.




 

While we are dealing with all of this we are also trying to get the repairs done on the sailboat that we had to deliver to Beaufort, NC. It made for an interesting week and we found ourselves having to leave with the delivery boat before ours was finished. The yard assured us there would be no problem and they would take the boat back to our slip at Lady’s Island Marina when it was finished. Once the delivery is done and we get back we can begin renovations in earnest.

The Survey.

The survey was just completed on the new trawler today and all went well. We found a surveyor Named Bob Dolce from Hilton Head that is both experienced and very knowledgeable and has intimate knowledge of the Marine Trader line and has been familiar with the boats since they were first imported and sold. We were very fortunate to find him. He was able to immediately go to the usual potential problem areas and recognize the correct repairs and upgrades that have been done on the boat. He will also be able to best establish the correct value of the boat instead of just using the WAG method ( wild ass guess) that many surveyors use for older boats.


There were no surprises and things turned out pretty much as we expected. The boat is 28 years old and will need some of our special care and consideration but nothing drastic. Most of the needs are cosmetic and even those are not critical.









We can work on certain items at our leisure and still enjoy the boat. And of course we will be adding a lot of new equipment and posting our progress and how we did it. While the boat was hauled out for the survey we decided to go ahead and have the bottom painted, since it was in need. This is a radical change for us in boating style so we thought a radical change in name was also warranted. The new boats name is "Beach House". We thought it fitting after considering quite a few names. We will be setting up a new site for the new boat and will post it here when it is ready. It will be as great and informative as Sea Trek's and we plan to leave this site up for everyone to enjoy as long as folks continue to visit. There is still lots of good information here for those seeking it. We hope you all will enjoy and visit both sites.



Our boat delivery should start in the next couple of days and we plan to post our progress here also, so stay tuned.

A New Boat?

We have been looking for the next boat almost since the closing of Sea Trek. As a former Broker for many years and 35 years in the marine industry I should not be surprised by what we have seen but I still am. Boat owners trying to sell their boats yet they have pretty much abandoned them and they are for the most part in deplorable condition. The outsides are filthy and the interiors are dirty, moldy and smelly. And they really think someone is going to come along and pay tens of thousands of dollars for these disasters. Sometimes the photos on the listings look pretty good but the reality in person is quite the opposite. Over and over we ask ourselves "what are they thinking?" maybe the answer is, they are not.


But there is always the exception to the rule and we actually found it on about the second boat we looked at. It is also right at our back door here in Beaufort so the logistics will be easy. We have been to Charleston a couple of times and have just returned from a few days in Florida and in the end decided to put in an offer on a well kept Marine Trader that the owners bought to cruise but health reason changed those plans as it does in all too often cases. The offer has been accepted and we will next have to get through the survey process and do a sea trial. If all goes well we will close and begin moving on board by the end of the month.

We had planned to wait a few months before buying another boat and take a vacation from the lifestyle but once again our plans changed 180 degrees. It isn't the first time and it won't be the last for those of you following our adventures. But this will most assuredly be different and we look forward to a change of style and pace. Of course the necessarily upgrades and outfitting will begin in earnest after we get aboard. We feel it only respectful of Sea Trek to begin a new site dedicated to the new boat once all of the formalities are over. We know from past experience that anything can happen during the survey process, but we are hopeful, especially since there is a survey on the boat only two years old.

In the mean time we have a boat to deliver from Beaufort,SC to Beaufort, NC and we will be heading north this weekend. The boat needs to be in Beaufort by the 13th to be hauled out and placed in storage until it is sold. It is interesting that this boat, which is a Caliber 38 belonged to our long time friends, who sold it and bought a trawler and the now, new owners, became friends and we are doing the delivery for them since they are now selling the boat. Confusing isn't it? We will post as we move north to keep everyone up to date on out progress and when we return to Beaufort, SC we will have the survey and sea trial done on the new boat.