To the Goals I've Left Behind

What's done was done and it was time to chew what I bit off. 

Like I said - I'm starting this blog late - so let me begin by apologizing for what I haven't done: documentation - photographic, video, or written. I've just rolled up my sleeves and started the work. I'm trying to remedy this lack of documentation, as I know some of the most helpful information that I get is from documentation of other sailor's experiences. I'm very thankful that not everyone documents as little as I do - otherwise a lot of good information would go unshared. So I'm sorry. This stops now...maybe. Well - at least I'll try.

Now that I've cleared the air, let me summarize what I've done (maybe I'll further detail it in future blogs). First, I purchased Ichiban out of the water with the hope of moving her to my property. Covid, my job, weather, and an ongoing family situation quickly ruled that option out.

Goal 1 - Get the boat in the water

 By the time I realized I would not be getting the boat home, the yard fees were starting to pile up. Although there was plenty I could do with the boat while she was out of the water, I'd save a fortune just getting the boat in the water. For economical reasons only - this was my first goal. I installed the uninstalled portlights, replaced the rotted tiller, verified the electronics then I immediately got to work on the bottom. Fairing, scraping, replacing, and pressure washing. I replaced the prop zinc, washed and waxed the hull. Very quickly I completed the bottom job. I recently found out that I neglected to replace the zinc on the rudder shoe - so a quick haul is in my near future. I checked thru-hulls, seacocks, rudder play, and the prop. So much more I wanted to do - but that would be in a future budget. This one was spent. Splash!

Goal 2 - Get the motor in the boat

A maintenance slip is cheaper than a yard fee, but still quite a bit more than a standard slip. In order to be in a standard slip, you generally have to have a functional vessel. A mastless vessel without a running engine does not qualify. The engine I got with the boat, an Isuzu Pisces, only had 600 hours - so I was confident that I could get it running. At home, I cleaned, prepped, and painted the motor. I replaced the missing alternator, belts, filters, fluids, motor mounts, and the bad starter.  At the boat, I painted the engine compartment and labeled the wiring. When all was ready, I hooked up a battery and fed her some diesel to find the engine started right up. I quickly scheduled time with the crane, hoisted the motor on a rented trailer, brought it to the boat, and installed it. Thanks to the removable cockpit floor, this went fairly easy - but I discovered the reason that the alternator was missing. That and several motor brackets needed to be removed again for the install. After a couple of hours she was in, jury tank rigged and purring like a kitten.

Goal 3 - Install the Stanchions

If my kids are coming down here I need these. My 16-year-old and I spent a day installing these newly powder-coated aluminum stanchions, only to find several holes in the bulwark stripped. I would need to tap these to a larger size bolt. I also realized that the lifeline that I found in the boat was not to the boat. We weren't wailing any time soon, so the lifeline was resigned to a future project...

Goal 4 - Get the mast and rigging on the boat

At purchase time in June of 2020, the owner mentioned the rig was at a local rigger. Over 15k work of work had been done updating, powder coating, and re-rigging. I verified this with the rigger, and he told me the install couldn't be done until the boat was in the water. Now that she was, I reached out again. Postponement after postponement kept me in contact with them weekly. The owner, in order to quell my constant queries, finally told me it would be a while but they would waive any and all storage fees. I wanted to wait for the rig before moving forward on anything else, as I wanted to know exactly what I had and what I needed. Well a while turned into almost 7 months, and the rig was finally installed in late January 2021. In the meantime I pushed a few, lesser important goals.

Goal 5 - Install an A/C and a bimini

Texas summers are hot! Working in an enclosed vessel in a still marina is not a very easy (or safe) thing to do during the summer. When I did, I couldn't escape the heat - as stepping out into the cockpit left me without any wind or shade. I needed an AC or I needed shade or I needed both... During home renovations, I had recently replaced a window unit with a newer one. I took this unit, formed a duct/cover out of foam covered by used Sunbrella, and placed this over the cockpit hatch. I have an old 10kbtu marine air a/c that may go in in the future - but I need a pump, blower, and control panel - (outside of my budget at the time). On craigslist I found a fellow selling a stainless framed forest green bimini for $100 - sold! I grabbed the bimini, ran it to the boat that day only to find that (although lower than I would like) It fit the cockpit and current fittings perfectly!

Goal 6 - Clean Port Fuel Tank

The fact that the boat is connected to a jury tank was eating away at me. Both tanks (about 40gallons each) were full of old, bad diesel fuel - and had no viewports. I wanted to install a sending unit, so took that opportunity to drill a hole in the port tank. Through that hole, I pumped 40 gallons of diesel into a 5-gallon tank. This took several trips and lots of leg work - but it worked. I'm going to find a company that does this for the next one.

Goal 7 - Remove the Rot (Main Cabin)

Rot, rot everywhere... This was not a job for the faint of heart. Once cleaned up, the cabin did not look too bad - until I removed the trim work and started cutting away the rot. There was so much that I decided to limit my initial efforts to the main cabin. Years with leaky or removed portlights had rotted a bulkhead, v-berth, several bulkheads, ceiling strips, much of the red oak trim and the vberth floor. I had a store of marine plywood, so the cost of this was not as depressing as the amount of time it would steal from the original projects.

Goal 8 - Stop the deck Leaks

Stopping the leaks turned into a project that is ongoing. At the first rain the portholes I had re-installed leaked. I removed all of them to find they weren't leaking from the butyl tape sealant job I did, but from the glass sealed and trim seal. I decided to take these home and polish them. After months of not being able to find the seals, I found that butyl tape sealed the glass, and 3/8" weatherstripping was sufficient for the seal. These were ready to replace, but first I wanted to replace the rot around the portholes. I soon found the hatches were also leaking and settled on a huge tarp to temporarily stop the leaks.

Goal 9 - Replace rot around portholes

Several chunks of rot were routed out of the porthole area. I painted and scarfed in 3/8" Plywood pieces then covered them with a white PVC sheet. Teak would have been nice, but due to the price and the aspect of brightening up the dark cabin, I went with white.

Goal 10 -  Bilge Pump Replacement

Well, at launch the old Wilcox-Crittendon seacocks seeped quite a bit. On my daily checks, I'd run the bilge pump. I did this daily until this seepage slowed. Being in this habit, I ended up flipping on the switch one day and failed to turn it off. When I came back in a few days, the pump did not work. I replaced this and the float switch.

Goal 11 - Fix the Refrigerator FAILED

I wanted the refrigerator to work. Sure, I had much more pressing matters but ... I wanted the refrigerator to work. I tried troubleshooting the old Cold Machine for a couple of weeks. The blower would work, the compressor would not. Certain it was an electrical issue, I bought a new battery, rewired the unit, replaced the good fuse - nothing. Finally, I called it and brought a portable refrigerator to the boat.

Goal 12 - Get Coast Guard Documentation

Wow-what a pain! I immediately filed for documentation, all but forgot about it - then decided to check on the status in November. After sending an email I found that some paperwork was incorrect and I needed to re-submit - soon, as my file would expire in 90 days! Watching the site did not update me to much, except that it recently disappeared completely. Panicking, because this corresponded with my 90 days, I emailed. The employee verified me that this was sent at the end of June but may be delayed because of COVID...fingers crossed.

Summary

I think that gets us about up to speed. Other items worth mentioning: I have spent time (to no avail) searching for a rebuild kit for the Skipper 8 head; tried (and failed) to rebuild the Compass; removed the dated and non-working electronics; found that I am missing the mainsail, lifelines, a porthole ring, Dorade vents, mainsheet, and vang; cut out more rot; rubber-coated the stainless floor water tank; re-wired for 50 amp power; burnt out the charger and installed a trickle charger...