As one of the folks who mostly chimes in on sailing stuff I figured I should help the topic with this little tale as a perspective on what a task bringing a larger
boat back can be.
A Major
Renovation Story:
Due to Circumstances beyond my control [that’s my story and I’m sticking to it] we found ourselves boat-less during the
winter of 2000. We had that sailors dream come true when a buyer calls you up and says “I understand you have a Frers 36, I’ve been looking for one for over a year can’t find a clean one will you sell yours?” Well who am I to say no. Later that spring a
broker my wife had met at the fall
boat show">Annapolis boat show called with another buyer for the Frers but it was already
sold. That prompted the what do you want next conversation. Answer nothing saving our
money for a cruising boat. Next question was well what would that boat look like. Answer –
sails like a
Santa Cruz 52, is as comfortable as a Little Harbor or Alden and cost less than $250,000. Now all of the boats mentioned were in excess of 800,000 used. Well long story short in June same
broker calls me up and says ‘hey got a boat you need to see – how you react will tell me what you really want”. Dam bought said boat.
Our goal was to go cruising full time about 6 years later in 2006. This is what we had to do to get the boat ready to my standards for leaving. The boat is a 1985 Moody 47 Custom that up to us had only one owner. Boat over all was in good shape but needed some updating. Which was way more than I thought.
Coming out of
survey process [hull, rig, engine] there were a number of items that needed to be done right away per the
survey. Boat did not have usable holding
tanks so we also had to address that scenario.
· Replace All Standing and Running
Rigging
· All New Norseman Fittings
· All New 1X19 Wire
· Replace
Steering Cables
· Replace Aft
Holding tank with Lectrasan
· Install new 30 gal.
Holding tank Forward
· Install
Galvanic Isolator
·
Rebuild Rudder [remove skins, new foam, reseal]
· Install Spurs
Cutter
· Install PSS Dripless
Shaft seal [stuffing box]
· New Max Prop 19” [replacing
2 blade that had a harmonic vibration]
During this same time we elected to replace the working sail suite as all the
sails were very tired and I’m an ex-racer so I like sails that really
work. They all appeared to be original to the boat so we added:
· New Main
· New 140%
Genoa
· New Asymmetrical
We used the boat for the fall sailing season that year and got started on
learning what sailing a bigger boat is really like. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your point of view the
regulator went south on our last
cruise of the year and toasted the
batteries, and
battery charger with a voltage spike. That drove us to look at supply side and
battery storage system. This resulted in the following.
· 12v Supply side replacement
· New Main Battery Bank –12 Rolls
Batteries – 840 amp hours
· New Vital 270 amp primary
alternator
· New Vital 135 amp secondary
alternator
· Install Link 2000R
Regulator for primary
· Install In-Charge Regulator for
engine start
·
Prosine 2.0
Inverter Charger
· Replace
Engine Exhaust Hose [this is a result of when the
battery box was out could inspect and see the hose which was starting to dry rot]
· Upgrade
Windlass Circuit Breaker and
remote
· New Master Switches, Terminal strips, wire, etc. as necessary
Of course it is a boat and the
ports leaked, needed normal engine
maintenance, and stuff broke over the 2001 season and we needed to
· Repaired leaking fixed
ports (all six)
· Replaced both throttle and shift
cables
· Normal stuff
At the next
boat show as the aft
cabin master
bed was in pretty poor shape we treated ourselves to a New Handcraft Inner Spring Mattress to be delivered in the spring of 2002.
Also on the fall of 2001 list was the big
project. We knew when we bought the boat we would have to replace the
teak decks with either new ones or convert to glass decks. Well glass decks won and the boat went
on the hard in November of 2001 and was being worked on until Labor Day of 2002. This task required stripping everything off the
deck and refinishing the
deck including adding a complete layer of glass on top of the surface that was already there as when the deck came off the pulled the
gelcoat off with the
teak. When we took the teak off we were impressed there was no moisture in the
core.
· Removed teak decks,
rebuild so ready for Alwgrip,
· Awlgrip topsides, deck, and
mast
· Install new teak decking in
cockpit
· Replace all deck
hardware with
Harken Black Magic cars and adjustable
jib leads
· Replace teak hand rails with
stainless steel ones
· New Wavestopper Hard
Dodger with dual height
Bimini
· New Screens
· New
Hatch sun covers
· New
canvas for all other misc. items
While the boat was in the
water but before we got to use it, the following two older systems decided to give up the ghost.
· Replaced main DC
motor on
refrigeration
· Replaced Condenser and control on Air-conditioning
Well we got the boat back just in time for fall crusing again and got to enjoy the fall of 2002. One of the items that I did not like that the previous owner had done was created a
fuel system that allowed polishing [good] but had 16 or so little screw valves you had to open and close in the right configuration to make
work. So I
· Reworked
fuel system for primary
diesel install
· Dual
Racor filter set-up with ability to polish fuel from tank.
Also that fall the old
Autohelm autopilot quit working so we installed
· New
Simrad AP22
Autopilot with
remote and new
Raytheon Type 2 long
linear drive
· Upgrade
B&G to include
compass
2003 was the first year we could enjoy our
new boat and did get some sailing in that spring, however fate got in the way and I had a motorcycle
accident that caused us to miss most of the summer and fall. Thanks to a couple of friends who made sure she
rode out Isabel with no issues. We did get one trip in before
weather precluded sailing – which was great. That
winter did some normal
maintenance and added the
bowsprit to improve the asymmetrical’s ability to get out from under the main.
· Rebuild Battcar system all new torlon bearings
· Add Stainless
bowsprit
Sailed the 2004 season and the boat worked great. Plan for that winter was to add
davits while the boat was hauled for normal maintenance [bottom paint] however we discovered
blisters when the boat was hauled. Did a couple of diagnostics sections which take the glass down to where the moisture disappears and discovered we need to do a real
repair. Of course nothing is easy on a boat so putting the
davits on required strengthening the transom, which meant the
generator had to come out.
Generator was in pretty poor shape rusted etc so decided to replace it while it was out. Also to get the boat ready for
live aboard use we decided to increase
storage by converting hanging lockers to dressers. We also for
safety reasons added non-skid to the deck where it slopes up from the aft lazarettes to the
center cockpit. That winter as cruising is getting closer we did new
cushions in the main
salon and guest quarters and installed the
watermaker so all the
plumbing was done in advance.
· Peel Bottom for Blister
repair – add 1 layer biaxle cloth and repair with Dow 8084 vinyl ester.
· Add Kato Voyager davits, Kato
motor lift and reinforce transom to support
· New
Fisher Panda generator PMS 4200 Plus
· Redo 2 closets to dressers and line with cedar
· Add non-skid to “Bob deck”
· Add
Lewmar opening port over
galley stove
· Repair
Refrigerator Box
· Replace all dome lights
· New
Interior Cushions Main
Salon / Forward Pullman Double
· New
Watermaker –
Sea Recovery 300 gal/day not installing membrane so warrantee does not begin until membrane installed
2005 was use the boat as much as possible as we a going cruising in 2006. Had a great season and focus was on sailing and adding to the cruising
equipment list. Also installed the
wind generator before our trip to
New England.
· Add new secondary anchors and rhodes [Spade A140 &
Fortress FX37]
· Install KISS
Wind Generator on Pole
· New #3 as primary
offshore sail
Winter of 2005, which is upon us, was time to haul the boat again and address the last major challenge which was making sure the old
Perkins was ready for full time cruising.
I called this the engine update.
· New
water pump">raw water pump, hoses, belts, clean/replace heat exchangers [coolant,
oil, transmission], new
exhaust elbow, motor mounts, coupler, rebuild injectors and high pressure
pump, etc. If it is external to the block we looked at it.
· New engine sound
insulation
So far that is what it is taking us to get ready. Of course
buying, stocking, cataloguing all the spares you need to be self-sufficient. As of February 2006 that’s where we are at and getting more excited, as we get closer to casting off.
Now all that’s left is the stuff… house, cars, etc.