Caveat Emptor

Maybe not the appropriate title, since I had a pretty good idea what I was getting into when I bought the boat. I had a survey done, even if it wasn't worth the paper it was written on, but it did highlight some areas of concern, and I saved a couple of thousand dollars for my headaches. I am curious if it is too late to get my money back? As a side note, most small boat surveys in Canada now are to appease the insurance companys, and really don't reflect the true condition of the boat all that much, but we have to have them to get insurance, and we have to have insurance to get a slip at almost all clubs/marinas. Ironically, it has become a process for the sake of the process.

I had forgotten how much fun it was to renovate. Several years ago, with our first home, we got ambitious and embarked on a 4 year refit/renovation of our new to us, house. We made about $35K for our efforts, during the resale, but it cost me a lot of aches, cuts, bruises, and a chronic back problem. In an ironic twist with this boat, I am ending up with the same broken parts only in the end I am sure that I will be giving up that $35K, because the boat won't be worth any more than I paid for it. Funny thing about boats and boating, we will always end up in the financial dumpster with a boat, giving light to the phrase, "a boat is a hole in the water that you throw money into". However, as every boater knows, the priceless experience of being on the water can never be measured with coins.

Spent a few hours working on the boat yesterday. I tried to get the prop off, but my puller was a little too short, so I guess I'll have to get another one, or modify the one I have with longer arms. Then it was on to gutting and tearing apart.

I cut out the bottom of the starboard cockpit locker, which was just a shallow tray. Under it was a quarter berth, that will provide a lot of space for a new cockpit locker, starting battery, and the condensing unit for the refrigerator. It went well, a few cuts and bruises, including pinching my finger in the lid, its a pretty black colour today. I will have to grind down the edges, and fibreglass a couple of spots before painting, but that is a long way off. The fibreglass was a solid 1/4" thick, not bad for a shallow locker.

Before the saws-all.

After the saws-all.

I still need to cut out the pan below that acted as the quarter berth, but I want to make sure I get that just right when designing the new galley. Which I also started gutting today. I was taking it really easy because I wanted to save all of the teak. I am not sure that I am even going to use teak for the new cabinets, but I would hate to destroy it at the cost it is today.

 The real fun though came when ripping out the fibreglass in the starboard cockpit cubby. During the survey it had been noted that this area had water in it, and there were some noticeable slices in the fibreglass. Turns out there was lots of water, in fact the plywood was completely saturated, and had become delaminated from the fibreglass. Luckily it is only a small strip, and does not have any effect on structural integrity. I will let it dry out over the winter, even drilling a couple of holes in the bottom, and then re-epoxy in the spring.

Before

After

I also removed the batteries, and tried to figure out how the new batteries will fit. Bad news is that I am going to lose the second quarter berth to battery storage. So I will have to modified that side too. It is amazing how much space 4 golf cart batteries take up. So, I guess if anyone comes to visit, they will have to go home at bed time, or sleep in the cockpit.

I leave you with a couple of pictures of the cockpit. Destruction is always so messy. I did clean it up before I left though. I probably wouldn't have gotten out of the boat if I hadn't. Now I have to wait a few days before I can get any more work done. I have company coming, and truth is, I need the break.