Almost splash time! Multi-year Refit concluding

[Indefatiguable]

Hey folks,

Been awhile since I've posted on here, but my wife is sick and tired of hearing me extol in excitement so here I am.

The formosa 36 I paid 5k for in 2020 is almost ready to get its belly wet finally!

My son and I have:

Rebuilt the cabin top

Ground out and reglassed where the keel was delaminating around the ballast (yes, I did it right, PO put it on the hard just in time)

Installed an ac34 electric inboard w regen

Installed a 1.2kw solar array (bimini)

Rebuilt mizzen mast step

Sealed (ground and reglassed from below) an infinite amount of deck leaks (deck is 3/8th glass under teak)

Redone stuffing box

Rebuilt Rudder (ended up keeping original and just refacing it + new freeze plugs, as it's a huge solid slab of teak.)

Replaced 5x Lazerette covers w new built ones

Rebuilt front hatch

Rebuilt turtle top

Fully replaced water pressure system, after tanks and before faucets

Fully replaced bildge pump systems, 1 A/C 1 whale gusher, independent plumbing.

Gutted remnants of old diesel propulsion Inc fuel tank, heat exchange, exhaust etc etc etc.

Fit up a radio and masthead antenna

Fit up a gps/ais antenna and spent my last few head hairs setting up opencpn on Linux

Installed a 48v 400ah agm battery bank charged off solar/prop regen

Installed a 3500w 48v inverter and wired to outlets

Installed a 12v 400ah battery bank charged by a trickle charger run on inverter

Retabbed the bottom of every bulkhead

Reinforced springy hull sections w extra 24oz glass

Repaired/replaced original brass screens - f u mosquitos, I have a tight fitted screen for every single opening inc companionway

Killed approx 1000 spiders, started w flip flop - now we use terro spray (they writhe, it's satisfying) and a combo of 3 diff types of bomb cans

Trained my dogs to pee in the suppers

Replaced all stantions and Lifelines

Replaced all rigging, running & standing. Standing I went up a size because I felt like it. Next time I'll go dyneema.

Removed old sprit and built/installed new one

Replaced head

Removed old alc stove and setup a gimballed instapot w steam collection apparatus to blow good smells into cockpit, not fog up down below.

Removed, rebuilt, Reinstalled butterfly hatch

Rebuilt the sliding/extending berth so it works

Refaired or rebuilt fancy wood doors so they all fit (they had swollen up, I disassembled the individual segments, Refaired, and reassembled)

Repainted entire interior with kilz mold&mildew in bright white. Only left a few nice varnished trim pieces to accent.

Rebuilt anchor locker bulkhead

Replaced Sampson posts, and cut them off at underside of foredeck.

Rebuilt and reinforced davits

Built a little plywood dinghy and painted to match.

Rewired/repaired/re-identified all friggin sorts of 12v & 120v wiring

Sawed off and rebuilt from scratch the hull "beak". It was a clusterF of shoddy repairs, PO mustve hit something.

Installed all new deck hardware (Sans winches) for mizzen, main, & genny.

Restored around a gazillion Sq ft of teak decking from having 1/2" of algae slime to crisp, grippy, and tan.

Discarded literally 167 used up orbital sander disc's.

Got really drunk on pyrat rum

Made a whole bunch of friends

Had the best 3 years of my life so far. If this was the hard part - oh man am I EXCITED!

About to head to boat for the season on Saturday, have a small list of chores + a larger list I forgot about + whatever damage the winter did then hopefully launching and GOING SAILING FINALLY before may!

Thanks to all for the years of advice, encouragement, and inspiration even and especially from all the stuff gleaned while lurking!

[Jim Cate]

So, how did you find time to play golf?

Seriously, very well done, mate. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, sail far and think back on the hours of drudgery as the tropical breeze brings the scent of Frangipani to your nose.

It's a great life...

Jim

[JPA Cate]

Hey, Indefatigable! Congratulations, man.

You and your son enjoy those daysails, how you have earned them!

Ann

[Indefatiguable]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

So, how did you find time to play golf?

Seriously, very well done, mate. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, sail far and think back on the hours of drudgery as the tropical breeze brings the scent of Frangipani to your nose.

It's a great life...

Jim

Ahhhhhh man that sounds nice....

I've spent so long now dreaming of that exact notion, a warm breeze smelling sweetly of some beautiful island, a gentle reach in warm sun... I can measure from this moment to that in months, on my fingers.

Best wishes bud

[Indefatiguable]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Hey, Indefatigable! Congratulations, man.

You and your son enjoy those daysails, how you have earned them!

Ann

We're actually planning on living aboard and cruising full time. I've got my passive income set up (kind of lol, it's been a rough market of late), wife, daughter, dogs, and son are all excited as can be.

We rv'd full time since kids were in diapers, so off grid isn't new - just the water part for them. Spent the winter touring up and down the east coast looking for cool towns to check out. Can't wait to finally get the dream into reality!

Best wishes

[Kelkara]

Originally Posted by Indefatiguable

Trained my dogs to pee in the suppers

Some recipes really are best kept secret.

Good luck with the launch.

[SVTatia]

Got tired of just reading your list
Pictures please!
Great to have the help and manage that in 3 years.
Congrats, you now deserve to have 2 weeks free of work, then on again, as it will keep you busy and in my mind a very healthy lifestyle. Try to sail in between projects.
Fair winds.

[Jebtrois]

What a huge sense of accomplishment you and your family must have right now! Congratulations. I admit, I am a little jealous as I struggle just to pull my son off his phone long enough to help with annual maintenance chores! My hat is off to you...Fair Winds!
JEB

[Indefatiguable]

Originally Posted by Kelkara

Some recipes really are best kept secret.

Good luck with the launch.

Hahaha! I didn't see that lol, nice

[Indefatiguable]

Originally Posted by Jebtrois

What a huge sense of accomplishment you and your family must have right now! Congratulations. I admit, I am a little jealous as I struggle just to pull my son off his phone long enough to help with annual maintenance chores! My hat is off to you...Fair Winds!
JEB

I literally had to sign the will (with him getting the boat) in front of him, and constantly redirect and organize tasks into manageable segments, and keep him fueled with interesting research topics for him to YouTube, then implement (ex: "how to sand down fiberglass" was actually watched and then implemented), and I will say it is a gleefully fulfilling moment coming up very soon.

Best wishes bud

[Indefatiguable]

Originally Posted by SVTatia

Got tired of just reading your list
Pictures please!
Great to have the help and manage that in 3 years.
Congrats, you now deserve to have 2 weeks free of work, then on again, as it will keep you busy and in my mind a very healthy lifestyle. Try to sail in between projects.
Fair winds.

Hah the formosa curse a clubmate calls it, hopefully I can keep on top of things hop to hop.

[Knotical]

Originally Posted by Indefatiguable

My son and I have:

👆🏻 Is the best part, rest is bonus; I would love to take on a project like yours with my son.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor, wouldn’t mind seeing some boat porn.

[Indefatiguable]

A few pics,

Solar array finally sitting nicely, motor partially installed. Son being lighter than I am. Restored teak deck in cockpit and new mizzen step. Capt dog-who-likes-beer. The bildge where the fuel tank had sat for 50 years

[Indefatiguable]

Originally Posted by Knotical

👆🏻 Is the best part, rest is bonus; I would love to take on a project like yours with my son.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor, wouldn’t mind seeing some boat porn.

Ask and ye shall recieve lol, just put up a few. Most are videos and wasn't sure if they'd upload.

Yeah, the quality time over 3 summers (from 11 to 14!) Was literally massive. Lifelong memories were made and treasured.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by Indefatiguable

Ask and ye shall recieve lol, just put up a few. Most are videos and wasn't sure if they'd upload.



Yeah, the quality time over 3 summers (from 11 to 14!) Was literally massive. Lifelong memories were made and treasured.

Oh my, in one of the pics theres a dead body facing down on the bilge, blue shirt. Scarry stuff.