Our first boat! Need someone that "knows a guy..."

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by Hyrdflyr

You'll be way better off to learn how to work on your boat yourself. Here's the bible: https://www.googleadservices.com/pag...gQIDxA9&adurl=


Nigel Calder's Boat Mechanical and Electrical Repair.


Bon voyage, Hyrdflyr

BINGO!. Get the book first and read. Nigel has a really good way of making electrical on boats fairly easy to understand. The fact that this is a smaller boat means there is probably not much more than basic electrical. I'd think this is a great way to start understanding your boats electrical and of course if you and your then wife move up to a larger boat you'll have the edge with that electrical system as well. Having a decent basic understanding of boat electrical is crucial or you need a fast check book. Good marine electricians are about $120 an hour in my neighborhood here on the east coast. Not sure how much a electrician in S. Cal charges.

I also agree that the first thing to check is the battery if it's any good. Any good battery shop will help you with that. If not, pull your battery from your truck and hook it up temporarily and see what does or does not work on your boat. You mat find all is well and like mentioned by others above it's just a bad battery. Good luck and be thankful you're not diving into a 45' sailboats electrical yet.

[gamayun]

Islandrose, you've gotten a ton of suggestions so far and they're all spot on but maybe a little overwhelming. One of the things a mentor friend of mine has often prompted me to do is to pay it forward to other female sailors. Over the years, I have learned a bit about my systems and would be happy to do a video call (Zoom, WhatsApp, FaceTime) with you to discuss some discrete topic that you would then be able to manage on your own while your fiance is dealing with other things. If this is something you think might be helpful, just PM me and we can find a time. For example, we could talk about some useful tools to have on the boat, the marine grade stuff, how to test systems, whatever. I'm not a pro so you'd just have to take the free support for what it's actually worth [emoji3526]

[Don C L]

Welcome Islandrose! Where are you located? If you are in Ventura or Channel Islands harbor I can help you with possible connections. Send me a private message here. She looks great. The pump for the sink is something you can do. The batteries are probably old and in need of replacement. I had good luck with a place in Ventura on that score. If you have new sails I wouldn't bother with the old ones for a minute.
Oh yeah, those gate valves should be replaced one of these days.

[Jim Cate]

I am going to give the opposite advice about sails, yes they are shot and may tear but as new sailors learning the ropes I would say get some practice and get familiar with the boat using the old sails before you put the new ones on, Sailing with the wrong set up can stretch sails out of shape and you don't want to inadvertently damage the new ones.

roland, once again I respectfully disagree with several points here. First, sailing with old and misshapen sails is frustrating for a skilled sailor, and for a just learning novice, the added problems from really bad sails is an unnecessary burden.

Second, because these sails are demonstrably fragile, the chances of a catastrophic failure while sailing are not insignificant. Such a failure could place a novice in a bad situation, and IMO is a risk not to be taken.

And third, causing damage from misadjustment is pretty unlikely IMO. It's a small boat and the forces available are not very high.

Jim

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Islandrose, you've gotten a ton of suggestions so far and they're all spot on but maybe a little overwhelming. One of the things a mentor friend of mine has often prompted me to do is to pay it forward to other female sailors. Over the years, I have learned a bit about my systems and would be happy to do a video call (Zoom, WhatsApp, FaceTime) with you to discuss some discrete topic that you would then be able to manage on your own while your fiance is dealing with other things. If this is something you think might be helpful, just PM me and we can find a time. For example, we could talk about some useful tools to have on the boat, the marine grade stuff, how to test systems, whatever. I'm not a pro so you'd just have to take the free support for what it's actually worth [emoji3526]

This is why I've always loved CF.

[Windspirit]

For electrical call AC DC Marine and talk to Ramsey.

[feudalkaos]

Congrats on purchasing your boat!

We have lived aboard our boat now for about 2 years and I can say with absolute certainty that the top item on your list of things to take care of should be sailing!

I realize that probably does not really answer your question but what I slowly realized over the last two years is that if we do not put sailing on the very top of our list then we end up spending all of our time fixing that one last thing.

Of course sometimes things have to push above sailing like having working sails because you cannot sail without them but the whole idea is to spend more time enjoying your boat then fixing it.

Also, never hesitate to ask for thoughts on specific issues here on the forum. There is so much knowledge. Do be afraid to ask people directly also. I am always available to help someone work through a problem especially with electrical questions.

Boats are wonderful but also can be a real struggle for some people especially people who are new to them. They deteriorate, and much more quickly then most other things in life. This means you will always have a list of things that need to be done. If you let that list come before sailing you will end up not really enjoying your boating life. I love to fix things and am an avid DIYer but it can get to be too much with the amount of work that can be done on a boat. Sailing is what balances it all out.

We see a lot of boats. Some are nearly perfect...sitting at a dock. When we meet boats at anchor they are rarely perfect. The people that seem to really fall deeply in love with their boat life are the people that try to boat more than they try to work on their boat.

In summary, do the absolute minimum you can to be safe and sail. Once you are sailing regularly and still love it, consider one project at a time and none of it should be too critical unless it stops you from sailing. I hope this helps!

[betwys1]

Originally Posted by islandrose808

My fiancé and I are so excited to have purchased our very first boat yesterday! She's a beautiful 1984, 25.5' Hunter in good exterior and interior condition.

She has a 4 stroke 6 hp Yamaha outboard that's about a year old. Her hull was cleaned and waxed last week, however she'll need to be painted sometime early next year. The previous owners left a bag of new sails that we have yet to go through.///
Here are some pics of her!

Mahalo,
Ka`imi

Well - damn!
Just got through a post from some very important person who has won all kinds of trophies who just bought a boat in comparable circumstances who signed off with a derisive opinion about the people from whom he might get help. And then, I looked at all the helpful responses YOU attracted.
The moral is painfully clear: ask for help - show boat pictures (which sailors inevitably like) and don't be a jerk! Ha!

Brian W

[islandrose808]

Thank you feudalkaos! Good advice that I must keep in the forefront of my mind. I was just on sailboat owners.com last night green with boat envy looking at what one couple did to upgrade their boat (same Hunter 25.5 we have). It's no secret, even to a novice like myself that those upgrades took many years of blood, sweat, tears, and dollars. You're 100% right, we should be sailing! It's funny because the last couple of times we went down to the boat, the intention was to clean it, but somehow we always end up sailing instead. I will definitely continue to be mindful of why we bought the boat in the first place!

[Algee]

In addition to the advice given by others, get yourself a multi meter (VOM). They are cheap to buy now, it will be useful and an essential tool for your toolkit. Use it to check that there is not some drain on your battery/ies, even when you think they are off/isolated.
The image with the skin fitting, does the fitting have an sacrificial anode connection? Good idea to take a wire brush to the skin fitting. Check that it is not "pinked" which means that the zinc has been eaten out of the alloy, leaving it with all the strength of cold chocolate! Whether it is ok or not always best to have a wooden bung next to each skin fitting, as a just in case precaution.
I wish my first boat looked as good as yours. Enjoy the sailing times to come.

[piloto]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Congrats! I wish I were close enough to sail the Channel Islands. There are likely tons of people who will gladly work on your boat, just look at all the business cards left at marina offices, but I'd start figuring out a few things on your own first. It looks like the previous owner did some odd things. You could easily start to fix some of that. For example, that last pic with the "loose" wiring, brass valve, and mold would be a good place to start. Perhaps trace those wires and figure out their purpose/replace/upgrade. Look for leaks/moisture that is causing the mold, and replace with good marine hose/better ball valves. This is stuff that is not hard to learn and is good to know when you're offshore and something is acting up. Also, it's a tedious time suck and costly to get others to do it for you -- they might just pretty up the wires versus figuring out whether you actually need them. Enjoy the amazing days you'll have sailing her!

it is nice to see encouragement in lieu of disparaging review of experience or choice of vessel. everyone has a first boat and a first experience, there go the bold and adventurous forth into the gauntlet of the yet to be.