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Brent Swain · 25-01-2011, 18:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by goprisko

On pages 28-35 we discussed equiping a cruising boat of the size recommended here.... 28 -34 ft.

As boatman mentions, a depth sounder is a very useful pilotage tool.

On Pegasus our Bookes&Gatehouse sounder is now 20 years old and still works. On the previous boat, I replaced a working flasher unit with a Standard brand for about $100 but that was 26 years ago...

I know from decades of living aboard that there is no need for a watermaker, and as boatman says the most important tools are:

Magnetic Compass, Log, Sounder.

If you are going off shore:

Sextant, almanac, stopwatch, chronometer, tables

Don't forget charts covering your voyage...

So, lets reprise the outfitting we suggested for the SC 31..

Full suit of sails __________________________________$ 3500
Anchors and gear______________________________________$ 1600
Galley including cooker, sink and hand pump _______________$ 2000
Head including LAVAC, sink, and plumbing _______________$ 1020
Standing Rigging, wire, turnbuckles, sockets________________$ 2116
Running Rigging__________, rope, winches, blocks__________$ 3900
New bottom paint, including haulout______________________$ 1000
LED Lamps, fridge, battery and Distribution Panel____________$ 2500
Dinghy including oars and sailing rig (Danny Green Chameleon)_$1000

TOTAL_____________________________________________ $ 18,316

As mentioned in the original posting, from the above, one can see what a great value a well found boat is.

Now, let's reprise our checklist of must dos before setting off:
Am I ready Checklist

If you can answer YES to every item on this list, your boat is ready to go cruising and so are you…
Hull:

All through hulls removed, inspected, replaced as necessary, and rebidded
Rudder removed, all bearings inspected , replaced as necessary and rebidded and refastened
All sea cocks removed, inspected, replaced or lubricated as necessary, rebidded and refastened.
Cutlass Bearing replaced and rebidded.
Stuffing box removed, inspected, replaced as necessary, repacked with Teflon packing, reinstalled with new hose and hose clamps.
Propellor shaft removed, inspected, replaced, and aligned as necessary.
Propellor removed, inspected and replaced as necessary.
Mast step inspected, and refurbished as necessary.
Bonding straps inspected and replaced as necessary, with all connections refurbished.
Keel bolts if present removed and replaced with new ones properly bedded.
Bulkheads inspected to ensure all are properly bonded to the hull, and rebonded as necessary..
Hull deck joint refastened and rebedded or sealed with multiple layers of GRP tape.
DECK:

Hull deck joint refastened and rebedded or sealed with multiple layers of GRP tape.
All stanchion bases, including those for the pulpits and pushpits, removed, inspected, and rebedded and refastened to foundations rebuilt as necessary so the core in cored decks is hardwood, and the fastenings go entirely through the deck and into backing plates at least as large as the bases themselves.
All cleats removed, refastened and rebedded.
All portlights removed, refastened and rebedded.
All hatches removed, refastened and rebedded.
All track removed, refastened, and rebedded.
All winches removed, serviced, refastened, and rebedded.
All hinges and other deck hardware not mentioned before, removed, replaced as necessary, refastened and rebedded.
MAST:

All cleats removed, refastened and rebedded.
All wiring removed, and replaced.
All Mast steps removed, inspected, replaced as necessary, rebedded and refastened.
All tracks removed, refastened, and rebedded.
All winches removed, serviced, refastened, and rebedded.
All tangs removed, refastened and rebedded.
All spreaders removed, refastened, and rebedded.
All lights removed, serviced, refastened, and rebedded.
Gooseneck, disassembled, inspected for wear and serviced or replaced as necessary.
BOOM:

All cleats removed, refastened and rebedded.
All tracks removed, refastened, and rebedded.
All winches removed, serviced, refastened, and rebedded.
All tangs removed, refastened and rebedded.
STANDING RIGGING:

All wire older than 10 years reterminated or replaced.
Bobstay if present, replaced.
All rigging pins older than 10 years, replaced.
All rigging screws of closed type, or of stainless construction replaced with open barrel bronze screws.
All toggles, shackles, link pins, link plates, diamond plates, and other rigging hardware, removed, inspected, and replaced as necessary, with all pins or bolts replaced outright.
All tangs removed, inspected, replaced as necessary, rebedded and refastened.
All chainplates removed, inspected, replaced as necessary, rebedded and refastened.

Running Rigging:

All halyards and sheets which show hardening from the sun replaced.
All blocks removed, serviced as necessary, and or replaced, including masthead sheaves…
All winches removed, serviced, refastened, and rebedded.
ANCHOR:
Chain regalvanized, and end for ended as necessary, or replaced as necessary.
Pawl installed or serviced.
Anchor chock modified so it is closed, or can be closed.
Anchor roller removed, inspected, refastened and rebedded as necessary.
Spare anchors properly chocked on deck and below.
SAILS:

All sails opened, inspected, replaced if they fail the poke test, restitched, patched, and cleaned as necessary.
All sails set to verify sheet leads and fit.
RUDDER:

Rudder removed, bearings, or gudgeons and pintles, removed, inspected rebedded, and replaced as necessary.
Cable for cable steering replaced.
Tiller removed, inspected, and replaced as necessary. Spare tiller stowed together with spare tiller fitting for rudder stock.
Hydraulic steering inspected for leaks, which are fixed, generally via replacement of defective components. Cylinder rebuilt. Helm pump rebuilt, control valves removed, inspected and refurbished or replaced as necessary..
GALLEY:

Cooker opened, inspected and defective parts replaced as necessary.
Sink, removed, inspected for excessive thinning due to corrosion, replaced as necessary, rebedded and refastened.
All plumbing replaced with new.
All pumps removed, inspected, and refurbished or replaced as necessary.
Insulative capacity of ice box or refrigerator assessed via the ice block test, with insulation replaced if test fails
Refrigeration system inspected, checked for leaks, and refurbished as necessary.
EMERGENCY RESPONSE EQUIPMENT:

Fire extinguishers serviced and mounted in strategic locations.
Flares examined, and sufficient purchased which are in date, to meet regs.
PFDs inspected and sufficient maintained aboard to provide each crew member with a serviceable unit.
All PFDs equipped with strobes, and whistle
Bosn’s chair inspected and refurbished as necessary.
Safety harnesses, inspected and refurbished as necessary.
Throwable PFD, (horseshoe ring, lifering, lifesling) inspected, strobe verified as working, line verified to be in good condition, and mounting verified to be solid and to permit rapid access and deployment.
ENGINE:

All zincs removed, inspected, and replaced as necessary.
Impellor replaced.
Oil changed.
Compression checked, and engine problems assessed; if check fails, defective items refurbished as needed.
Injectors refurbished.
Inspect engine mounts, refurbish or replaced as necessary.
Injection pump refurbished as necessary
GEARBOX:

Oil changed.
Operation checked, with special emphasis on slippage, if found, replace clutches.
If leaks are found, replace seals.
If rear seal leaks, suspect improper shaft alignment.
Align propeller shaft.
Navigation:

Navigation skills appropriate for the voyage have been acquired via coursework or self study, including coastwise piloting, dead reckoning, speed estimation, deck log entries, celestial navigation, weather prediction, and tide and current prediction.
Pilots and pubs covering the area to be cruised are aboard, including:
BA pilots covering the area, cruising guides covering the area.
Admiralty List of Radio Signals(Vol 3(2) for the Americas for met broadcasts
Admiralty Light List for the area
Admiralty tide tables for the area.
Nautical Almanac covering the time of the cruise
Charts or facsimiles thereof covering the area to be cruised.
Duttons or Bowditch
Plotting sheets
Weems Plotter
Dividers
Pencils
Pens
Log book
Hand held VHF or VHF
Grundig or similar HF receiver.
SPARES:

Sufficient spare parts are aboard to maintain the critical systems of the ship at sea, including:
Spare line
Spare blocks
Sail repair kit
Engine oil and filters
Fuel filters
Spare set of Injectors, with copper washers and torque wrench.
Cable cutter capable of cutting the largest rigging wire on the boat, and the anchor chain.
Hack saw
Hammers
Drill and bits
Wrenches
Screw drivers
Come along
Axe
Panga
A spare piece of rigging wire sufficiently long to replace the longest stay on the boat, with one end terminated, and a staylock or other field installable terminal for the other end.
Hose clamps
Hose
Hose fittings
WATER:

Sufficient water storage capacity in tanks, jugs, or bladders available below decks to provide each crew member with 1 gallon per day over the longest passage envisioned.
DINGHY:

A hard dinghy of sufficient size to carry the entire crew and emergency provisions, including water, and emergency navigation equipment, including sextant and compass and charts, with a set of oars for each man, and preferably with a sailing rig, to provide means of escape in the event of sinking, and assess to shore when in port.
Chocks and padeyes, and ratchet tiedowns to secure the dinghy on deck.
As mentioned in the earlier post, now, while you have resources at hand, is the time to run through your boat, and ensure it is seaworthy.
Fair Winds,

INDY

Most MARRIED men only cruise for 7 years before they get guilt tripped back onto the treadmill and into the real estate market. Us single guys get to cruise a lifetime.

Boy,the numbers you give are definitely the high end .
Here are some of mine
Sails used, in almost new condition $700
Anchors welding up my own, less than $100
Anchor winch, ditto $50
Galley cooker , new from harbor freight $50
sink , from scrapyard, $2 a pound , roughly $2
Pump $50
head, composter $50, no plumbing needed. Sink an ss bowl from the thrift store, 50 cents.
Rigging wire $25 from scrapyard
Turnbuckles $25 each, times 8 = $200
Running rigging , blocks as shown in my book $2 each times 4= $8
Winches , used $150 sheet winches times 2= $300, Halyard $50
Bottom paint , done on the beach ( hauled out only twice in 27 years , then only because I was sailing from Tonga to BC , non stop last time)
$100
LED lamps, Canadian tire $15 times two= $30
Battery $125
Never owned a fridge in my life.
Built my own fuse block ,out of scrap fibreglass and titanium, after finding out non corroding ones can't be bought.
Dinghy , salvaged one and spent $50 on reinforcing
Oars , made from freebe scraps. Cost Zero, Oarlocks $2 worth of ss and welding rods.
All thru hulls welding in ss . Ditto all cleats , and anything else which can be welded down . Need no checking. aint going anywhere . Ditto rudder and fittings , self steering,anchor winch , bow roller, mooring bits, etc etc. No such thing as remove and rebeding.
No keel bolts , etc
Steel pipe for tiller welded to rudder head. . Nothing to do there. Aint going no where.
Trim tab steering for inside steering . Simple and bullet proof. Nothing to do there.
Not much for plumbing , about two feet of sink drain and five of bilge pump hose . Will last my lifetime.
Bought non magnetic sink from scrapyard. Zero chance of any thinning . Welded up my own strainer of 316 s 1/8th inch thick. Will last my lifetime and far more. Couldn't buy anything near as good.
One crew , one PFD required . Given to me . Freebe. Lots of them around , real cheap or free.
Tools and spares . Got a lot out of dumpsters , and accumulated the rest in decades of cruising, and building my own gear..
Tally that up.

**atoll** · 25-01-2011, 19:10

brent great to hear your posts would it be possable to get a photo of your boat.

iv'ed managed to do siimlar things over the last 25 years,and it has actually cost at the end of the day nothing on much larger yachts, but we did carry cargo and trade.

Brent Swain · 25-01-2011, 19:17

Cheek out the origamiboats site. Several photos of my boat there.

**atoll** · 25-01-2011, 19:31

ha ha see you are banned from yahoo groups,salamandra our 63 footer was built in russia using this technique,frames added afterwards in alumillium

Brent Swain · 25-01-2011, 19:43

I'm not banned from Yahoo groups. I was banned form metalboatbuilding.org, and metalboatsociety.org for suggesting more affordable and practical ways of doing things, and suggesting there is no advantage to making thru hulls a complex system of flanges and bolts, when a simple ss pipe nipple welded in is all that is needed. I was told that others are allowed to dissagree whith me, but I'm not allowed to disagree with anyone else, and when I'm attacked , I'm not allowed to post any counterpoints ,or defend myself.
Don't expect any useful solutions from sites with that attitude. New posts there are getting rare as hens teeth. They have often gone weeks without any new posts. Why would anyone bother?

**atoll** · 25-01-2011, 19:57

heard the joke about the female ostrich,s sticking their heads in the sand so the males when horny cant see them............its tough being out front,we use alu nipples and plastic tube up to the sea cock thats above the waterline so as not to get fouling amongst other things......

Black Wind · 28-01-2011, 13:09

Hi All,

I think there is a lot to be said for boat preparation; and it is indeed an endless list of tick boxes. I wonder however - is this why so many boats sit in harbour awaiting the day when they will be 'ready' to go to sea? I am nearly 40 and didn't want to await the days when I could afford everything as per the book and get it all nice and just so. Also, I have found with a lifetime on ships that as soon as you finish the 'last' job, the first one needs a little work again...

Better to get out there with the wind and do it. That is what I have done and there are the days of wishing you had an extr few grand to get that issue resolved, but then I think of the alternatives in that office/workshop etc.

I found a quote which sums it all up for me, and if it wasn't so long it would be my signature...

"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... cruising, it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. "I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, the dreams of youth grow dim where they lie
caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"

Sterling Hayden... Actor, author, wanderer
Sterling Hayden was an up and coming Hollywood star who quit, bought a sailboat, and took off with his children for a jaunt around the world.

No more to say really?

rover88 · 28-01-2011, 13:24

Finally.... on the 967th post in "the tread that refuses to die" something truly worth thinking about. Hayden's words are certainly worth pondering.

Thanks Black Wind!!

conachair · 28-01-2011, 13:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black Wind

Hi All,

I think there is a lot to be said for boat preparation; and it is indeed an endless list of tick boxes. I wonder however - is this why so many boats sit in harbour awaiting the day when they will be 'ready' to go to sea?

Quote:

If one always waited till everything was absolutely ready before going offshore one would never get to sea !
Bernard Moitessier

Cape horn: the logical route - Google Books

Page 64.

Edit
PS. well said, good post.

S/V Alchemy · 28-01-2011, 13:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

I'm not banned from Yahoo groups. I was banned form metalboatbuilding.org, and metalboatsociety.org for suggesting more affordable and practical ways of doing things, and suggesting there is no advantage to making thru hulls a complex system of flanges and bolts, when a simple ss pipe nipple welded in is all that is needed.

Don't know you from Adam, although if you invented the Origami Boat, I find that clever. You'd like my steel boat's logic, as there are only two outlets below the WL, one for the head sink and the other for the galley sink. There is a three-inch, four foot high standpipe with engine, A/C and head lines teed off it, and a spare for anything else I want to run.

The standpipe is a great and safe idea which is, if properly implemented, a great alternative to the typical through-hulls. But, like the idea of creating a "plunger and spring-free" anti-siphon break by running a simple hose out the top of the loop, it's no longer a popular concept. Neither is getting the tank vents out from under the toe rail and up on the cabin sides, either, although water in the fuel is a real problem on some boats.

sailorboy1 · 28-01-2011, 14:07

This whole thread has gotten WAY beyound me now. But I'm never going to set out doing that long freaking list of things to do of "maintenance things". I will of course keep my eye on things and fix what is needed before it becomes an issue. Guess my boat is never going to be safe!

Anyone else ever just come to the realization that like Nike used to say "Just Do It!" and stop thinking so much?

Black Wind · 28-01-2011, 14:59

Thank you Conachair and Rover88; This seems a pretty lively forum and it's always good to get some debate going.

This will always be an intense topic as the subject of income etc is such a personal one with relativity to how each of us live.

I have however come to realise that this - voyaging - is a philosophy and a way of life. For the ones that mean it, it cannot, and should not be compared to any other.

Happy sailing, happy times to you both.

James