Only 2 weeks with 1st sailboat before I have to sail away!

[UneeklyCommon]

Cheers guys! First time boat owner (It thrills me to say, though!) of a 1973 Bombay Clipper 31'! Going down to Coconut Cove, Miami, and I have paid for the last half of the fee for the mooring it is on for this month. I will need to sail to Riviera Beach Marina on Feb. 1st, which a whole other thing Anyways, I will be cleaning and maintaining during this time on the mooring, and I know I will be scrubbing all surfaces, but most worried about the hull surfaces, Yanmar 9hp engine, and the unknown. With that being said, what supplies (kinds of brushes, tools) should I purchase before going to get the common "new, used boat" on point and in shape to relocate? Also, please, any other insights that could be given would be much appreciated with electronics, solar paneling, zinc, GPS, etc.. Thanks for taking your time to read!
Cheers & Ciao,
UneeklyCommon
"Life is good!"

[pickpaul]

Congrats. Just wanted to say that yammer sounds a bit small for a 31ft boat. My Alberg30 has a 16hp Yanmar and is appropriately powered. Just be aware for against strong current situations. Happy sailing!

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by UneeklyCommon

Cheers guys! First time boat owner (It thrills me to say, though!) of a 1973 Bombay Clipper 31'! Going down to Coconut Cove, Miami, and I have paid for the last half of the fee for the mooring it is on for this month. I will need to sail to Riviera Beach Marina on Feb. 1st, which a whole other thing Anyways, I will be cleaning and maintaining during this time on the mooring, and I know I will be scrubbing all surfaces, but most worried about the hull surfaces, Yanmar 9hp engine, and the unknown. With that being said, what supplies (kinds of brushes, tools) should I purchase before going to get the common "new, used boat" on point and in shape to relocate? Also, please, any other insights that could be given would be much appreciated with electronics, solar paneling, zinc, GPS, etc.. Thanks for taking your time to read!
Cheers & Ciao,
UneeklyCommon
"Life is good!"

First off, Uneekly, welcome aboard! Here's what I came up with, off the top of my head, all fwiw.

Print out a local map showing where the roads that lead to the mooring area are, and also show locations of hardware stores, chandleries, grocery stores, and thrift shops. Bring lots of rags and normal cleaning supplies, including what you like to use on wood, and 3 or 4 buckets that nest in each other. You not only use them for cleaning, but for corralling stuff and toting tools. If you have not been aboard the boat, you may find you need to buy new foam for the bunk you'll use. You can think about re-doing upholstery later, but bring clean sheet(s) and/or a sleeping bag. Bring knee pads, you're going to be groveling a lot.

Get hold of a manual for the Yanmar, and read it before you go. Did you go for a test sail, and did the engine work properly then? If so, then general familiarity with the manual should be what you need. Bring your tool box you use to work on cars, metric wrenches and sockets, assorted screw drivers. If you already have it, bring your jars or boxes of stainlesss steel screws, nuts, washers, and bolts. A good pocket knife. However, if the engine has not been run for a long time, you'll want to change its oil, and it's water pump impeller. Get the impeller beforehand so you have it when you arrive. Expect leaks. Check all the hoses and their clamps. You may have to replace some or all, but you have to see it first. I haven't used it as of yet, but "Rescue Tape" seems like it might be a very handy item to have along.

Zincs: if you know the prop shaft size, then bring two to the boat, one to put on, one for spare.

Water: for now, bring bottled water to drink. You will want to sanitize the boat's fresh water system. "weavis" wrote an excellent post about how to do that a while back. Maybe a Custom Google search of CF will find that for you.
Clove oil spray for cleaning and killing mold spores. Washing hull surfaces inside the boat: soapy water with a touch of bleach will do. Make it clean and sanitary. Mold likely in fabrics. You can't get it out of foam cushions, don't try. Replace the minimal foam to get you home. When the dust has cleared, we can talk about that. Do note what the PO has done to try and prevent mildew on the bottom of the cushions.

Sanitation systems: get hold of CF member Peg Hall's book. There are threads here on CF about composting heads vs. holding tank systems. Read them.

Bring your PFD and a good tether. If you have it, tackle and a climbing harness so you can go aloft and check the rig, sheaves, lights halyards, etc.
If the running rigging is severely deteriorated, bring with you the new line you'll need, or plan to pick it up after measuring on arrival. You're going to want to check that the sails are useable. Ascertain if it has dock lines, since you'll need them in the marina.

Stove: fuel for it, and minimal cooking gear: pot, fry pan, kettle. Utensils as if for camping. Camp cooler with ingredients for meals and beverages.

I would bring a notebook, maybe a 3 ring binder, with dividers. You'll be making lists, starting a log of jobs, and what it took to finish them, cataloging what you have (gaskets, etc)and what you need to get. For instance, you may find water stains that tell you something has been leaking. You'll need sealant. There's threads on CF about sealants. You'll need to prioritize your job order. I would not trust the smart phone for it, all it takes is one swim and it's finished.

Does the boat come with a dinghy, or will you have to provide one. If it were me, I would buy a second or more hand one, just for the short term, planning to nurse it along for the time being, unless you luck into an old hypalon Avon.

Bike for transport.

Ann

PS. Bring less clothes and more money. Bring clothes you don't mind getting filthy and stained. Waterless hand cleaner is your friend. Bring a box of bandaids. You may not want to stain stuff with blood. It is normal for boats to make a blood tax on you when you work on them, just like cars.

A.

[Badsanta]

Check your prop. If its been there for a month it needs cleaning. Fuel contamination is a common problem. Bring extra filters. Have a great time.

Sent from my SM-G860P using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[ranger58sb]

Could be boatloads of work to get done in a very short time period. If budget allows and if the boat is in a decent yard, think I'd have them haul it and do all the hull and underwater hardware work. Bottom paint, wash and wax topsides, inspection, zincs, etc.


Realize not inexpensive, but in the grand scheme of things... you won't physically hurt so much after simply writing a check... and it'll give you the rest of the time to be looking at rig and sails, engine, electronics, plumbing and sanitation, provisioning, etc.


-Chris

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, UneeklyCommon.

Yanmar 1GM10 (9 HP) Diesel Engine Manuals

Operation & Maintenance
➥ http://www.yanmar.nl/theme/yanmarpor...0MANUAL_en.pdf

Service ➥ http://www.manualslib.com/manual/791...mar-1gm10.html

[Snore]

Congrats on the boat.

When I got my boat I found Clorox spray and paper towels my best friends. Removed the mold and dirt from everything but the unvarnished wood.

Do yourself a significant favor. Before you spend too much time cleaning the boat in prep for the hop to Riviera Beach learn the engine. When were the fuel filters let changed? Can you/did you check the fluids in the engine and tranny? Would royally suck to have the engine take a crap by the Riviera marina- there is a healthy tidal run there.

While you are at it, be sure to have a spare fan belt and filters on board. I had a belt break in the ICW while waiting for a bridge. Fortunately the tide was pushing me AWAY from the bridge so I was able to drop the hook and do a fast belt install. A NASCAR pit crew would have been proud of the repair time.

Oh yeah- you do have tools on board....

Don't want to sound too much like a downer, but being prepared is the first step to being lucky.


Sent from my iPhone- please forgive autocorrect errors.

[redhead]

Ann's advice is spot on. I wish I'd had that list a couple decade ago. I would only add a product called "30 Seconds". Smells like its chlorine based but works better than any product I've ever used on mildew anywhere including canvas. Congrats on your new boat!

[hamburking]

Congrats on your boat purchase. FWIW, I've done the exact same thing, several times. Bought boats sight unseen on the internet, got a ride down with my gear and sailed home.

Unfortunately, you'll have a much better idea what you need, only after you get there and start looking around the boat.

I have to agree with everything Ann T Cate said in her excellent post, above. Especially the bottled water, nesting buckets, hand tools, old clothes and stove fuel. If you have a working stove right away, you will be much happier than eating cold food, or wasting time looking for hot food ashore. That said, don't burn down the boat. I bring everything I need to navigate home...handheld GPS, chartbook, and handheld VHF radio with lots of batteries. It never hurts to have new safety gear too...horn (can sytle), flares, PFD, harness, floating line, etc. Bring all your spare lines.

There are a few questions you can ask the seller that will make a huge difference to what you bring. What anchors are aboard? Does the autohelm work? Does the engine run? Is it a working stove? Of course you must also assume he is lying, so I guess it doesn't really matter after all.

Yes, you will end up with a mountain of gear to bring. Enough to fill a minivan for sure. How will you get all your junk to the boat? On my most recent purchase, I had to park in an underground parking lot, lug everything up 3 flights of stairs, then a short hike to a private yacht club ferry...put everything aboard, lug everything off, then just a half mile to the dock...the rickety, boards missing, wobbles when you walk dock.

And finally, bring garbage bags. Lots of garbage bags. People save all kinds of junk they assume is valuable or part of the boat, and fill the boat with it when it sells. There will be sails older than you, tube TV, microwave oven, coffee maker, toaster, deep fryer, enough dishes to feed an army, dish racks, inflatable and inflated water toys, boxes of oil filters and fuel filters which do not fit the engine of your boat, cases of empty beer and wine bottles etc.

Good luck with your new boat. Forget about that awful pit in your stomach as the big day gets closer, and just think about the great adventure you are about to begin. You are making the leap from armchair sailor to adventure man, a truly interesting and exciting person who has a sailboat.

BTW, my sail home each time was about 150 miles, and I usually brought my 2 small children with me, just to make it a little more insane. I never had two weeks to prep...more like an afternoon, then up early the next day to cast off before the kids woke up.

And finally, take lots of "before" pictures. They will be hilarious later. Much later. And don't forget to post here after...we want to know what happens (from the comfort of our armchairs).

[Jack Lahr]

Tons of good advice already. Consider joining BOATUS and sign on for unlimited towing coverage (hoping for the best and planning for the worst) and plan for daylight arrival at your destination.

[deltaten]

^^^
what Jack sad, plus well charged cell and HH VHF. Standard ISCG safety gear and a good anchor/rode. Naturally this assumes engine runs and riggi g is' not ready two suddenly able to depart!

TowBoat US gold @ $180/year is comforting assurance in unknown water and/ or quehshtio ale boat condition.

[ArmyDaveNY]

There is a lot of good advice here and a lot of work for you. If possible, consider tying up to a seawall, or pay for a slip for a day or two. You will save a lot of time, perhaps even a day or two, just in hauling things. Additionally, you will likely have shore power and possibly even water right at the boat. if you are at a marina. In a worst case scenario, you can fill up water jugs at the marina day room and haul it a short distance down the dock.

[MrReedatsea]

I've taken a sabbatical for next school year, I just finished sailing lessons, and will be buying a boat in April to sail out in June for a year.

Can I ask you what you paid for your boat and how you decided on this model? It seems like a buyers market.

Good luck!

MRas

[boatbrain]

You did not ask for sailing advice but you did not tell us about your experience, only that this was the first boat you owned.

The most important things IMHO:

1. Make sure the boat is not going to start leaking.

2. Make sure the boat has a very good electric pump that is well screened so it won't get clogged.

3. CLEAN UP THE FUEL - the stories of a boat which was not run much for years getting bought and somewhat setting ou, the fuel tanks getting shaken up and dirty fuel killing the engine - REALLY KILLLING IT - so you have to take a couple of hours clearing it back out, or maybe, need to take the fuel pump and injector to be rebuilt - these stories are legion- sometimes things go really bad and the boat and lives are lost. Totally get rid of all old fuell, replace all filters, IMHO put in a system with two independent filters.

4. Anchor -one good anchor is priceless when you need it.

5. Basically, whenever you go anywhere alone you should have a line to strap to - one long strong line from the cockpit to a bow cleat, assuming it's a well anchored bow cleat.

6. Charts, or a chartplotter, GPS, and VHF - I don't know what you might be able to get away with - but with all these things, you know where you are, you know where you can't go because of inadequate depth - and if you need help you know where to direct the help.



7. If you don't have much sailing experience, of local experience, I would try to talk someone into going along - even paying them -

I know you did not ask any of this but I've had LOTS of bad experiences buying abandoned boats and moving them without a haul out first - right, forgot - thru hulls - you might have gate valves on a boat that old - gate valves are terrible - I've had the handle fall off in my hand, and the valve starts leaking from the handle hole, can't be stopped -

Which reminds me - if you can get those expanding plugs they use for a non-permanent pipe stops or freeze plugs in cars - you might want to consider pluggin as many thru hulls as you safely can - obviously you can't plug the cockpit drains, or the engine -


Saran Wrap - you ball up some of it and stuff it in a hole, it expands and is strong enough to block many leaks. LOTS OF IT.

Also, with saran wrap and cable ties you can wrap a leaking valve with the wrap, as tight as possible, and then put on the cable ties = the surface tension of water will prevent it from getting through all that plastic if it's just a foot or two below the surface.

8. You can repack a packing gland in the water - but do not even start if it looks corroded much.

9. Some boat have packing glands on the rudder - if you do, get it repacked.

10. If you wrap a packing gland with mastic like they used to use to attach car windshields, then put a hose clamp on that and screw it down just enough to expend the mastic, it will totally stop leaks until you get the boat hauled.

Sorry to go on and on but "first time boat owner, got to move it right away" got me going I guess.

[JPA Cate]

So far, all excellent advice.

If, to your knowledge, the boat has not had a haulout for a while, it may have to be towed [due to marine growth fouling shaft, prop, and bottom] to where you can have it taken out of the water, and thoroughly cleaned below the waterline. If you can afford it, it will lighten your burden to have the yard do the work. If you're doing it yourself, plan on 3 full days. Make sure you can stay aboard on the hard if you want to avoid motel bills.

It is while you are on the hard that the seacocks should be checked, and if necessary, replaced. (Silly me, I forgot to mention that the boat's first job is to keep the water on the outside. )

Cheers,

Ann