Working on a Less-than-Perfect Boat!

[Celestialsailor]

"Trust" had been delivered to my slip in Moss Landing, Ca., after an arduous trip from Long Island Sound in upper New York, this last April. As noted in an earlier thread http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ing-25453.html The roller furling unit was bent in the transit. I'm still dealing with that one although it looks like the truckers insurance finally is paying. Well, after moving over here to California from Hawaii, securing a house, I decided to start working on her. The prior owner claimed the boat was being maintained by the local yard there, so I did not expect too many issues with the boat other than what the survey indicated. Came to find out the waste tank was full to the brim with New York poo. Ok...time to get the engine running and motor over to the poo pump-out. Key in the ignition, Battery bank to start...nothing! Rip up the floor boards, spend 3 hours tracing the battery set up and then cleaning, trouble shooting the birds nest of wires in the bilge. Then making a note for repairs...'Re-Wire D.C. system'.
Back to the key. Motor turns over and will not release the starter engagement. That's ok though because the engine dose not want to start anyway. Dismantle starter solenoid, clean out crud, lube and reassemble. Diagnose engine non-start issue to discover the heaters are not getting power. Trace wires back to start panel to discover poor connections. Clean connections, re-assemble, check, heaters getting juice now. Turn over the little beast and starts right up. At this point I know the boat is laughing at me under it's diesel breath. I test the forward and reverse. All seems to be in order. My friend Paul asks if I need a hand. I think he just needs a good laugh. So we head out the whole 700 feet to the pump out station. So far, so good.
We start pumping but something is wrong. It will only pull out a little poo and stop. When I pull the poo sucking nozzle off the waste bung, there is a tremendous sucking of air indicating the vent is plugged. I crawl into the anchor locker and disconnect the hose. I continue pumping, flushing and pumping. Ok, we're done. Back to the slip. I put it in reverse, back away from the poo docking center, turn the boat towards the slip, put it in forward and gas it. It starts going faster in reverse...Hmmmm! Like 2 monkeys screwing a football, we manage to start fending off docks, other boats and sea-lions. Eventually, we end up where we started and coax her into a vacant slip.
Again, I open the bilge up to discover the transmission linkage to the cable has come apart and I was in reverse the whole time. 10 minutes later we're on our way back to the slip. We secure lines, hook up the dock power and for the last time I look into the bilge at the engine to shut off the water and check for leaks. There is a pint of engine oil in the bilge...Gezzzz!
Starting the engine again I discover the engine oil filter is loose. Off to the auto parts store for a filter wrench. Problem solved, poo tank empty, 1400 ft round trip and 3 hours of hard but funny labor. I love owning a boat.

[Dune]

Nice little story starsailor.
I appreciate a lighthearted approach to boat ownership.
I was recently approached by a close friend that has been accumulating antique cars in order to pass on wealth to his heirs. This plan is a good one if you have a lot of disposable income that you don’t want to go through probate. Once you pass, the property just ‘becomes’ the property of the co-owner. He has several vintage Vettes, H-D’s, and he has what he says is the deuce from American Graffiti. I digress. My point is that he was asking if buying yachts was another way of passing wealth on. My reply…’Owning yachts is a sure-fire way of making sure zero wealth is passed. But, or course, that is not what it is about.

[Rockin_Rick]

Your story is funny but not to unlike mine. I too brought a boat over from the east coast (Key Largo). The inside was pretty ship shape as the old owner was a construction worker. Once I started looking into the systems I found most everything wired poorly or just plain wrong. I noticed that the Mast had RG-8 (the thick stuff) from the antenna but the coax from the VHF was RG58 (thin stuff). After tracing down the line (after the draw bridge could not hear my hails) I found the end of the RG-8 under the setee and the Radio had a small ant. inside the engine compartment. It was a regular AM radio antenna and worthless for a VHF. It took an entire Saturday to find a store that carried RG-8 fittings but now when I hailed for a radio check 3 miles offshore for Huntington Beach I got a response from Vessel Assist telling me they could pick me up in Malibu, Long Beach and San Diego stations loud and clear. I spent the whole winter rewiring back to proper standards. Now if I could only get my Perkins to stop leaking.

[gbanker]

did I miss the part about a pre-buy survey?

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by gbanker

did I miss the part about a pre-buy survey?

Jokingly, thats like a guy asking for a road map when lost. Seriously, a surveyor rarely see's things like a poor tranny leakage or even looks in an engine room or check antenna type wire.

[GordMay]

I "Trust" you're looking forward to repairing things in exotic locations.
Congratulations on surviving your first cruise.

[Rockin_Rick]

NO, I did get a survey and he did point out there should be some serious thought to rewiring the whole boat.
I did rewire all the A/C with GFIs on every socket and new marine grade tinned wire. I also recently traced down and labeled every engine sysrtem wire. After installing a new C80 and in hull transducer I know the wiring of this boat like the back of my hand now. She's real sea worthy now and with the solar pannel I have never had to switch to the engine battery bank even after living on the hook with the refer running 24/7 for 3 days.

My wife asked the broker why boats are always called "She".

He replied it's simple "Because they are pretty and we love them."

Great answer.

[zeehag]

rockin rick--from where is your perkins leaking?? they have a tendency to leak oil from the main seal---they ARE english, after all, and cannot live without leaks!! lol--or is it from the lift pump, in which the fluid would be diesel----the cure for this being replacement of the lift pump with an electric one or supplementation of the lift pump with an electric one----check the kind of fluid leaking an go from there----lol--i have a 4-108 that doesnt leak oil--buti know it will eventually--is english, after all, and they could not make an engine that did not leak oil-----have fun and enjoy the engine---keep checking th eoil so ye do not have to replace the engine at a most inopportune moment lol....i LOVE mine--purrs like a snow leopard ..lol..~~~~~_/)~~~~~~~