How naive I was at how much
work fixing up a
boat could possibly be. I use to be a man of many hobbies before the boat. After the boat, I only had one and it really took over my life, to annoyance of my wife. All the hours spent cramming myself into small spots on the boat to install this or that were dwarfed only by the hours spent reading, researching and
buying. But I did enjoy most of the process and now know every.
single. inch. of Carpe Ventum.
What also stood out to me in that first post were my cost estimates. I said $40k for the boat and $40k for upgrades. I ended up not terribly too far above (ha, who is ever below?). $45k for the boat and $50k for upgrades. (These and all other amounts are in US dollars.)
I installed some luxuries (i.e., watermaker) that I didn't originally have in mind, so that contributes some to the overrun. I also don't think I realized how much could be spent on hoses and their clamps, screws, bolts and nuts, and
electric cable and connectors. Included in the $50k are items that are more general
maintenance, such as
oil changes and
bottom paint, rather than "refit" costs. It also includes some $2,600 in tools I have amassed, which should serve me well later in life.
The point being that one can view these as
refit costs, or not. Either way, I spent it.
What does the cost not include?
Storage,
insurance, payments to the USCG, etc. Boat was purchased in cash, so no payments to a bank. It also doesn't include "homey" items that my wife has been
purchasing, any
food provisioning related items, fishing/spearfishing
gear or
camera equipment (of which there is plenty).
To have a picture of where I started, the boat itself was in near original condition from 1983. It had (and still has) the original
Westerbeke 33, with no hour counter. She starts like a champ, so there is no plan to replace. There are no major structural issues that need to be address. There were a few
leaks that have been easily fixed and the sole around the
mast has about a square foot of
rot (a common issue with Sabres). I have stopped this
rot from expanding with a lot of
epoxy, but the fix is to replace the entire sole; not something I care to do now.
The
wind, log and
depth sensors were original. The
GPS was 15 years old with an equally old
wheel autopilot. It even had a Loran! The only items not original and that did not otherwise need replacing were the standing
rigging and
sails. Both were purchased by an owner around 2004, but they
sold the boat shortly after to someone who just used her as an apartment and hardly sailed. This last owner installed an
engine driven SeaFrost in the
icebox around 2010.
I'm not saying what I did is the best way, the right way and certainly not the only way. It's just what I did. I realized along the way that one can think and debate for hours on what to buy, but at some point you just need to buy (or not buy) it. Thankfully, thought, I have few regrets.
On to the main point: I broke the costs down into 8 categories, which total to the $50k. In summary, these are:
Plumbing/Head/Galley: $3.1k
Engine: $2.1k
Sailing: $7.1k
Electric System: $7.5k
Electronics: $7.8k
Canvas: $4.0k
General: $3.3k
Other: $8.0k
Tools/Supplies/Books: $5.7k
The following posts will expand on each of these categories.