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Chotu · 05-06-2023, 03:14

I really need help. I can’t believe how long this is taking. I have been trying to rig this boat for years!

Is there anyone out there that can help me? Please??

I have everything. The current Rigger designed everything. And bought everything. But he’s not doing any work. Everything is just sitting here. In a pile.

Is there anyone that would be willing to fly here and help me?

I can’t afford another disaster with this rigging. I can’t financially afford another disaster. I’m not going to be able to have a boat anymore if this doesn’t work out. At least not a sailboat.

And I’m out here exposed to hurricanes again! I can’t leave the boat here all year. I’ve already been hit by several hurricanes and have tons of damage from it.

The boat has been here for 5 weeks and the rig for months. No actual work has been done except work I have done since I got here. The only thing that has been done is designing and ordering the components. That’s it. No hands on work other than what I’ve done.

Can someone please help me? Please??? I have to move the boat by June 30. And he’s not doing any work. There is a crane coming on Friday and he still has to install a conduit, run wires, cut forestay, do furler, install seagull striker wire he forgot about, install mast step plate, do diamonds, etc.

Here is the punch list R is rigger, C is Chotu:

Need more instruction on how to do the conduit. I don’t understand the zip tie method. R
Jib track installation C
stack pack R
Get crane/lift lined up to install R
Get sail measurements to Jerry R
Install wind/vhf/anchor light and wires C
Install mast base R
Get sheaves and install C
Fix gooseneck or new R
Put on double diamonds/move R
Get new torlon bearings for batten cars C
Install seagull striker wire R
Need first reef and deepest reef if only R
Step rig R/C
Make and install plinth (probably wider) R
Cut open steps to bring lines in C
Deck organization to turn lines toward plinth R
Do daggerboard hold downs R
Install hardware on plinth C
Replace cooling system on outboards C
Fix rudder fuses and holder (epoxy) C
Decide traveler or mainsheet system that involves davit project - roof support bolts to realign roof and hold it ? C/R

He’s not going to care if someone comes to do some work because he is not doing the work. And he doesn’t really want to do the work. He just wants to design and order things. And I had already mentioned that I would have someone come to help do work and he seemed actually excited about that.

We would just go fast from now to June 30. So it’s not that long of an engagement. I’ll fly you out.

**neilpride** · 05-06-2023, 03:41

Chotu, calm down, because in the heat of the moment it is easy to make wrong decisions, under my point of view that list is difficult to undertake before June 30.

Where are you currently located, could you put together a plan B, that would be to leave the mast on land until the end of the hurricane season, and move the boat to a safe place?

I say that because that list is all very good, but when you get into it you add dozens of little projects and then hope that everything works out as expected.

I say this because in the months of June and July I have had customers who get very nervous because the work has dragged on and they are stuck in a place they don't want to be, they end up flying off island and securing the boat for the season hoping to come back in November and finish the job.

A rigger flying to your location to finish that before June 30 is going to cost you a kidney and then some, and I doubt he will because everyone is pretty busy at the moment, but who knows, wouldn't it be better to find a competent company near your location?

Chotu · 05-06-2023, 03:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilpride

Chotu, calm down, because in the heat of the moment it is easy to make wrong decisions, under my point of view that list is difficult to undertake before June 30.

Where are you currently located, could you put together a plan B, that would be to leave the mast on land until the end of the hurricane season, and move the boat to a safe place?

I say that because that list is all very good, but when you get into it you add dozens of little projects and then hope that everything works out as expected.

I say this because in the months of June and July I have had customers who get very nervous because the work has dragged on and they are stuck in a place they don't want to be, they end up flying off island and securing the boat for the season hoping to come back in November and finish the job.

A rigger flying to your location to finish that before June 30 is going to cost you a kidney and then some, and I doubt he will because everyone is pretty busy at the moment, but who knows, wouldn't it be better to find a competent company near your location?

I’m certainly open to other plans.

It’s hard to calm down when your entire fate is resting on this type of stuff.

I would love to find somebody close by that could do this. But there’s no one out here. There is nothing out here. The closest places are near Annapolis. Nearly 400 miles away.

And I can’t afford to move that mast again. It was $4000 to move it last time.

Maybe your other idea is the right thing. Just to leave for the summer. But I have spent so many hours and so much money to get this going here.

It’s really difficult because I come from a place where I learned that you under promise and over deliver on things. That’s how I work. And this is all just over promising and under delivering. The exact opposite.

And this entire exercise was to make sure that I enjoy sailing the boat enough to work on the interior and finish this thing up.

I was supposed to be sailing the boat this summer in the Northeast to make these decisions.

OK. Trying to calm down. I am really in a panic mode though. I’m not going to lie here. This is getting incredibly ridiculous. One thing I definitely don’t want is the mast up and then being stuck here unable to sail.

What I don’t understand is why don’t other people have these problems? Why does everything have to go wrong for me? I’m getting tired of the Frank Grimes life when it comes to boats. Why must everything go wrong?

I don’t want to be stuck here with the rig up and not be able to sail because if I have to do five or 6 kn motoring to get out of this hurricane area I don’t want that to be around Cape Hatteras with a non-functional rig. I would want to do the ICW. With the rig down.

That is a huge list. I agree. But I’m here full-time working. I can do anything that is assigned to me. I have this month to work full-time on the rigging. And a lot of these items were supposed to have already been done over the months that the rig was here. But it hasn’t been touched.

**neilpride** · 05-06-2023, 03:59

Very tight on time, and when we are talking about this in a public forum, hours go by, days. Definitely NC is not bad to secure a boat in cane season, I do not know, think about it, a few months of mental and physical rest and come back in November with batteries charged.

Chotu · 05-06-2023, 04:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilpride

Very tight on time, and when we are talking about this in a public forum, hours go by, days. Definitely NC is not bad to secure a boat in cane season, I do not know, think about it, a few months of mental and physical rest and come back in November with batteries charged.

Maybe. Maybe you’re right. Just give up?

North Carolina is a really bad place in hurricane season actually. Especially here. I’m on the Outer Banks. This is way out in the Atlantic ocean as far as the United States sticks out into it.

There will be several hurricanes that come through here.

And if even one of them actually hits properly, everything will be destroyed. These are just low lying sand bars way out in the Atlantic.

I can’t afford that risk on the boat.

But I guess I could just go motoring around for the summer or something….

I am just feeling like even if I come back in the fall it’s not going to get done either. It’s not like he’s working on other rigging projects. He’s just hanging out with his family or doing charters and sailing lessons.

I guess I will make the decision at the end of this week. Ideally, I would like to fly someone here and get this done. I feel like Elon musk. I work. I expect other people to work. They don’t. It gets frustrating.

But I guess maybe I could just give up. If you think that’s the best option.

But to be honest, I have a lot of other work I need to do that doesn’t have to do with boats. A lot of plans. And these are all hinging on the results of sailing this boat.

mvweebles · 05-06-2023, 04:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chotu

What I don’t understand is why don’t other people have these problems? Why does everything have to go wrong for me?

You're not alone. I had a major refit go horribly wrong due to lousy, incompetent, and dishonest marine services provider (BTW - if ever in Ensenada, avoid Niza Marine - there are other options). It took me a while to re-group and re-tool; and my options were much more limited than yours. Some was luck, some was patience, much was keeping focused on the end goal and figuring out how to move through mistakes, missed promisses (as long as they were not integrity issues), etc. Part was not having any option except to move forward.

That said, I had one major catastrophe and an endless series of setbacks. Where you and I differ (and I'd guess my catastrophe was as costly as yours) is you seem to have an endless series of catastrophes. At least that's how your posts sound - take this as constructive criticism, but I have to wonder if there is something in how you react or interact with people that causes them to de-prioritize your work. I will add that when I fired Niza, even though everyone in Ensenada knew they were incompetent, I had to work very hard to build enough of a relationship with the new team (La Costa Boatworks - very good team) to get them to start. My boat had bad juju due to watching the Niza clowns. It has been far from perfect, but it's been workable.

BTW - I doubt there are many affordable riggers who can set aside their business and fly to you. $4k to move your mast sounds cheap in comparison. Job #1 is finding the right team. Then move your boat (including mast) there.

**neilpride** · 05-06-2023, 04:26

I understand you, I'm not going to be the one to take away your desire, but I see it very tight in time, usually the hurricanes that approach NC SC come curving northward, not to say that it is nothing, the risk is there, but I prefer one of those beasts curving and sweeping the coast than a direct hit in my location.

Not having a mast increases your chances, on land, tied up tight, or move with the engines to a safe place.

It wouldn't be the first time I've seen a freshly repaired boat end up in pieces in an early hurricane, right now masts are being lowered and tied to supports in hot spots, others are getting the hell out of there, and the more adventurous ones are taking their chances.

Chotu · 05-06-2023, 04:30

MV Weebles: I see. Maybe a lot of other people don’t go public with their disasters? Their catastrophes? Maybe they are embarrassed about doing that?

When I read the forum, I don’t see a lot of other people having these types of catastrophes. (Divorce, heart attack, epoxy allergy kicking off many others, soooo many hurricanes and them destroying a boat I had built to perfection, people not working but taking my money or just not working, bad help wrecking as much as the hurricanes did, etc) Although I am unhappy that you had also one, it does make me feel a little better to know that I am not alone at least.

But yes. I have catastrophe after catastrophe after catastrophe with this boat. I don’t think anyone else has gone through the level of problems that I have had to endure with this boat.

With other boats, I have not had these kind of problems. I just did the work myself and never left the boats so hurricanes didn’t hurt them.

NeilPride is right though. I’m in panic mode at this point.

It may be time to just see how this week goes and then make an adjustment from there in order to prevent bad decisions.

One thing I know is I’m tired of giving up season after season, year after year of my life and all of this money. It’s one thing to be giving these things up and enjoying yourself. It’s an entirely different thing to be going through hell continuously and doing the same.

And the real problem? This is what I want to do. This is how I would like to live. On this boat with a rig. I am almost 100% sure of that. Otherwise I would have sold and done something else a long time ago. Living in RVs gets a little bit boring and exhausting. Living in a house is extremely boring. Sorry. Not trying to offend anyone. Just voicing how I feel about different lifestyles. Living on the boat just clicks for me. But I can’t seem to get back to there despite trying for years and years.

I will say, however, motoring the boat up here from Florida I felt very comfortable and at home on it. I love it. That’s part of the reason I know I’m almost 100% sure that this is the right path.

smj · 05-06-2023, 04:46

Why don’t you haul out for hurricane season, and while on the hard repair the old hurricane damage, do your bottom job and step the rig?

Chotu · 05-06-2023, 04:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by smj

Why don’t you haul out for hurricane season, and while on the hard repair the old hurricane damage, do your bottom job and step the rig?

Not a bad idea. Not a bad idea at all.

This is going in my list of possibilities I think for sure.

I would just need a place that I can actually stay at. Where I can pull the RV next to the boat and work on it.

And of course I would also need someplace that can haul my boat.

Does anyone know of any that are near the Hudson River? Somewhere near Poughkeepsie? That’s another pain. I am stuck away from loved ones basically. It would be ideal to be able to put the boat somewhere up there to work on it and be able to see them.

Even parts of Connecticut aren’t too far from there. But I assume the Hudson stuff is cheaper. Although it probably can’t haul me because of the beam

Chotu · 05-06-2023, 04:50

And what about this?

As I get ready to go outside and work for the day, I am thinking, why don’t I just do everything?

Why don’t I complete that entire list. That entire punchlist?

I don’t have to wait for him. All I need is the proper dimensions and some proper techniques which I’m sure he can work in an hour or two here and there to give me. And I can just proceed with the whole thing.

That’s kind of why I’m here right now. Why I took this entire month to work full-time on the boat. It was to get through this list because I knew he couldn’t do it in time. What I didn’t know is that he wasn’t going to do anything. So it kind of just doubles my work.

But it’s doable maybe.

It just may not go as quickly as I hope

smj · 05-06-2023, 04:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chotu

Not a bad idea. Not a bad idea at all.

This is going in my list of possibilities I think for sure.

My friend measured the haul out slip I was telling you about and it’s 25’4”, tight but maybe doable? Also a do it yourself friendly Boatyard.

5BTM · 05-06-2023, 05:08

Accomodation, food and flight will cost about $20,000.

Put this project away for now, concentrate on your business, salvage your finances.

Chotu · 05-06-2023, 05:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by smj

My friend measured the haul out slip I was telling you about and it’s 25’4”, tight but maybe doable? Also a do it yourself friendly Boatyard.

OK. It’s not too far away from here.

Certainly if it’s 25‘4“ I can get in there. I just won’t be able to have fenders.

But it is way up that river and I am sure are quite calm up there. So it’s not a big deal as long as it’s not a windy day.

But a lot of that stuff wasn’t really in the plan because I was trying to figure out if I want to keep the boat. By sailing it.

So I guess I have to look at everything fresh again from a new angle.

I wasn’t going to do the hurricane damage stuff. I was just going to get a rig on and try this thing out. To make sure I want to continue wasting my life.

But one thing that might work out nicely is to do the standing rigging over here and then the running rigging over there.

It’s definitely in my top two plans. And even if it were a question of storing the boat for hurricane season that’s the spot.

I’m just going to go out and get to work. And then look at it at the end of the week