SV Sarah Claire

2010-05-22T14:39:00.000-07:00

Have had zero time lately to go aboard and do anything. Still so much to do, but then so much has been accomplished. Engine totally rebuilt, new fuel tank. New water tank. New hot water heater. All new hose. New alternator, with smart regulator. All new AGM batteries. New duocharge to charge both banks. New 3000 watt Victron inverter with a 120 amp charger. New 50 amp shore power. New 12000 and 10000 BTU marine air conditioners. New sound insulation in engine room. All new fuel hose. All new 4/0 battery wiring. New DC wiring, new Blue Sea Systems 360 Breakers. New inverter control. New AC BSS breakers. BSS VMS that monitors amps, volts, fluid levels, bilge pump cycles... ect. New bilge pump. New exhaust hose. New bilge hose. 2 new toilets. 1 is a electric macerating elegance by raritan and the other is a PH2 manual head to a new 30 gal holding tank. New purasan waste treatment system. Every singe thru head replaced with forespar marelon seacocks. New cutlass bearing.Bottom job. Wow! I sure did a lot. So much more to do.
Lots of painting to do. New bimini and dodger. finish varnishing the interior. New cushions on all surfaces. Finish the ac wiring. Finish the d/c wire. Install fuel polishing system.
Then replace all running rigging. New sail cover. New jib protective cover. Paint deck. One day replace the ports.
When looked at this way, seems like I am more finished than I thought given all the time work money and energy spent. Main cabin sole is finally installed. Its looking better and better each day. Just wish I had more time to do it.

Either I am a idiot or there is craziness here.....

2010-04-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

Trying to install the water system. This consists of 2 tanks (should have been 4 but I messed up..)(will have to revisit it later) and a pump and related hoses, and fitting connected to faucets and water heaters and pumps.
Ah in a simple world, all would play nice. But this is the real world, where priests molest kids, and nothing ever goes easily. So heres the deal. I chose 2 years ago almost to go with a system by Whale, a British company that manufacture pumps, faucets and water related stuff for boats, rvs and industry. They have a unique system that uses rigid 15mm plastic pipe to transfer water thought the boat. The fitting snap together. Simple right?
Except there are BSP fittings or British standard and NPT or national pipe thread and they DO NOT fit together. Of course then there are male and female fittings..... now which idiot figured out that way of determining how to classify pipe fittings? Again, maybe I am a idiot, or confused, or maybe this is way to frigging complicated for the average guy. I have spent to much time, and to much money on this. Should have just used 1/2" hose and hose clamps, and cut off the threads on stuff. Would have been easier
I have finally asked for direction from Whale. Maybe should have done that in the first place, but you know, this ain't rocket science.

Working to hard.... not enough time for the boat.

2010-03-31T22:49:00.000-07:00

Working 12 hour nights 4-5 per week so very little time to work on the boat. But have managed to get the foreward head working, with a new toilet and holding tank, all new hose ( the real good kind... ) and have put in 90% of the new 15mm water lines. The aft head is coming along, with the purasan waste treatment system 85% complete, and the rairitan elegance electric head almost finished. Waiting on some fittings to finish it all up. I removed the aft holding tank to fit the purasan, which is a waste treatment system that allows full disinfection and over board discharge of toilet soild matter. It uses a chemical reaction using fresh water and electricity to kill 99% of pathogens in stool. If I am in a No discharge zone, I will use the foreward manual head and holding tank, which currently is set up for only being emptied by a shoreside pump. In the future there will be provisions for empting it with a macerator pump to overboard.
Also managed to remove some cabinetry in the galley to replace the deck drains, and the water fill hoses as well as the water vent hose. All badly in need of replacement. I also need to finish the wiring of the port side, and the galley wiring, as well as a few others.
Happily the air conditioning system is operational, and one day it was on cool, the next heat.... as the weather here in Texas is a bit crazy but is not settling down.
The Corpus Christi in water boat show starts in a few weeks, which means moving the boat to a new slip for a few weeks ..... and the last time that happened she took on water, so the stress level is a bit high anticipating that.
Will post some picures when possible.

The work goes on like a hard slog to windward.

2010-02-06T03:57:00.000-08:00

I expect this would happen to anyone in a major refit. When you hit a wall and look around and see how much work this to go and get discouraged. So on my spare time yesterday, I took a gander on the 'net on boats forsale that I would love to take, right now, and go voyaging, instead of putting about in the dank dark cold interior of Sarah Claire. It was a nice interlude. But fantasy, so back to the grind.
This week finds me installing 2 marine air, air conditioning units. What a difficult job this is proving to be.
The boat when purchased, had 1 16500 btu air conditioner installed in it. This might have worked out ok, or as the PO (previous owner) stated "works great" (NOT!) if it had been installed correctly, but of course it was not. You cannot install a ac unit on a boat with 2 ducts, both less than a foot from the unit. Just doesn't work. The cold air just recycles around itself causing the unit to freeze and the rest of the boat to stay hot. AC in name only.
So last year 2 marine air vector turbo units were purchased. Finally got around to attempting to install them this week. Boats just are not meant to have duct work in them like a home. It is very difficult to place a 6" hole in a bulkhead that you can hardly get your hand into to cut. Most of them have fiberglass tabbing as well, which ruins the cutting edge on my tools. Cutting one hole can take hours. Then there is the plumbing.
Oh how much fun it is when these marine supplies give you stuff that just doesn't fit right. Like a pump that has a 1" in and a 3/4" out, neither of which they supplied with the unit. Or the duct connector that fits to the top of the ac unit that the duct attaches to, but then of course the screw holes do not line up... not even close.
Or many other such examples. In fact I find that the more involved I get the more ticked off at these companies I get. They must not install their own products, cause if they did they would supply a extra screw or two, make sure the places where things are put like wires, bolts screws etc, are large enough for it and more. Its impossible not to drop a screw now and then installing this stuff in places where access is quite difficult. And once dropped, forgetaboutit. I now have in my bilge a few screws, washers, and a very nice ratching wrench that I know I will miss.

So I am a little tired this week. It will pass. I will keep slogging on. I need to get the water tanks back in asap so the salon sole can be reinstalled. That will be great, to have a real floor to walk on again instead of slipping and sliding around on the fiberglass boat bottom. Soon. Real soon.

Feels like I'm back in Seattle....

2009-12-02T01:24:00.000-08:00

Nothing but rain on my days off here in the coastal bend of Texas.
Found that every portlight leaks, every hatch leaks, and water is coming in via the cockpit floor at the base of the
steering binnacle. Very wet footing on boad makes it hazardous to my health while working aboard.
This week finds me putting in the victron multi plus inverter charger. A wonderful piece of equipment that is used to convert d/c power from the batteries to a/c for microwaves, blender,tools, blow driers (Julie has to have that..) and various other a/c powered things on board. In addition it also charges the batteries while a/c power is available either through shore power, or a generator. It can also do some really cool things like power share between a genset and the batteries, meaning that you can get by with a smaller generator for running things like air conditioning or heavy a/c loads.
Installing it requires some pretty heavy duty cables, plus alternating current which can be deadly. So, I have to be very sure of what I am doing. I take my time, plan well, buy the best parts, and test. Once the inverter is in I can start wiring the rest of the a/c system, and start charging the batteries, which need a good charge. They are new but batteries discharge while just sitting, and these have been sitting for a while.
Its all good fun, and exciting, except when the boat is all wet inside... then its time to sit it out till its dry again.
One day at a time.

Moving day.

2009-11-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

Today we moved the boat from the yard to the slip. First time in 7 months we were together on board.
After sitting for so long the boat is in a mess topsides as well as below.
Plus the new shinny aluminm fuel tank won't fit thru the companion way. Oops, guess I should have measured that as well.
Its a bittersweet moment. I have so much to do, but then mess up by one or two inches on the fuel tank measurements...
I got some thinking to do as to what our options are. But still glad to be back at the dock.

2009-11-21T16:29:00.001-08:00

2009-11-21T16:29:00.000-08:00

2009-11-21T16:28:00.000-08:00

Wow a working engine....

2009-11-20T22:58:00.000-08:00

Finally after 7 long months, Sarah Claire has a working engine. The newly rebuilt Perkins 4-108 with 1 hour on the meter sits nicely in the engine room waiting for good weather to motor the short stretch back to her slip.
Spent part of the day installing the primary bilge pump, with 2 more to go. Once back in the slip, the rewire starts. New 50 amp 125/250 shore power, new breakers, new fuses, wire.. it is a big pile of stuff.

But first, prior to the move, the new aluminum fuel tank needs to be put back in the bilge, and the stringers tied in. Next week hopefully, (but will probably be next month.) the water tanks will go back in, and new plumbing will hook it all up with the Isotemp water heater.. man is that sucker huge... Will be replacing shower drain hose as well. Speaking of hose, was putting on new hose for the aft cockpit lockers when the plastic thru hull snapped off.. ouch. Not good. I didn't have time to mess with it so I had the yard install a new one... cost only 1 arm.
Weather here is rain like we haven't seen in a while, high winds and the bay is very choppy. Maritime weather.
Pictures to follow.

Sailing off Miami

2009-11-09T05:42:00.000-08:00

Over 8 years ago, Julie and I took a ASA sailing school class in Florida.
http://www.bwss.com/ It was a week long course, with a few others we didn't know. Don't remember the boat to much, but it was a tartan or a Erikson 38. The captain was a good sailor. Taught us a lot in a short amount of time. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to find out was cruising is all about. You can get our ASA bare boat certification. The course emphasises coastal navigation, anchoring, maneuvering in tight places, reading charts, etc. Just make sure you bring something for mal de mar. This photo of us was taken off Miami, Fl. on a beautiful day. If I wasn't already hooked on the sailing life, this would have done it.

Anyone can love sailing....

2009-11-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

On our Nor'Sea 27, Max our beautiful Rotti, and Daniel, loving every minute of being aboard.

Annie, our other Rott, was hiding out in the cockpit when this was taken in 2001.

Finally...

2009-10-21T00:44:00.000-07:00

Insurance money has come in.

I have spent the last week spending money.

New electrical panels, wire, fuses.

New hot water heater, and hose. (Indel)

New inverter charger (Victron)

New A/C units.

New fuel tank.

Rebuilt perkins is on its way, with a new hurth transmission.

Engine room is painted in bilgeKote white, with new soundown foam insulation. Looks great.

Once that is done we can put in the newly rebuilt Perkins Engine and new hurth transmission.
The weather here has been difficult, either 90 deg and 98% humidity, or rain. Either is impossible to do much work in. One day at a time....

Insurance woes

2009-09-18T22:09:00.000-07:00

Even though she sank in April, I am still sitting here waiting for our insurance company to get off their duff and send the funds needed to fix her.

So far the through hulls have been replaced with forespar marelon, plastic so they won't corrode.

The cutless bearing, which is the bearing the propeller shaft revolves around, was replaced, the bottom painted, and then put back in the water. Finally a check arrived and we got to pulling the engine and sending it out to Trans Atlantic Diesels in Virginia to rebuild it. Along the way life stuff happened, some of the money was used to pay other fees the marina charged, the yard charged, the new sink, ect. And so here we are, in September, with no engine, no transmission and no where's near enought money to remotely finish this. This girl needs all new wiring, new refrigerator, new stove, all new tanks, new plumbing, new toilets, the list goes on. Plus I found out that the fridge and freezer was not even remotely insulated the way I would expect it to be.. guess thats why it sweated so terribly, and that the engine exhaust has been leaing water all over the galley, just in places you can't see. Ah to own a boat, and work on it..

Actually its fun, kind of. Swealtering Texas heat, no power, not even for a 12v fan, and the smell of rot while I pull soggy insulation out of the engine room, the refrigerator, and freezer, and dream of those days when cool breezes and a nice chilled white wine...

Ah but I ramble.

No one should get into restoring a old boat, unless one is crazy, rich or stupid.

Since I am NOT rich, I am either crazy or stupid. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, I am developing a relationship with this hunk of teak, fiber reinforced plastic and copper wire that only one who has done this would understand. One day, I will look back on this as the good old days, but for now I just want the money to fix things and go on.

I should hear something soon.

I hope.

Learning the hard way part duex

2009-06-07T03:41:00.000-07:00

One thing I have learned about life after 51 years is it is always changing, amazing, frustrating and non personal. You can take it personally, but stuff just happens. You have little to no control over it. You might think that you do, but ..... well I know I don't.

So when after a long 12 hour shift in the surgical ICU where I work, and anticipating another 2 in a row the next 2 nights, I was with great... weariness that I got a call no sailor wants. "Come to the Marina now your boat is taking on water."

Every year the Corpus Christi municipal marina puts on the Texas Boat show. They like the nice new docks, like the one we are berthed at. I knew we would have to move for it when I took the slip. But now, at the beginning of May, with tanks not yet installed batteries moved, and a general chaos inside, was not the time.

But move we did, to a slip that had shore power that was incompatible with our cord. But it would only be for a short while I told my self. Less that a week later my boat was sinking. Electrolysis. Ate thru a thru hull that was closest to the shore power connection. After pumping out thousands of gallons of water, we towed the boat to the lift out, where we had a agonizing wait for the one small hoist we have here. finally Sarah Claire was lifted out, blocked and stands were placed. I left for much needed sleep. Returning in the morning I thought to start the repair. I need not have bothered. Seems with the boat show in town no one could work on her and I was forbidden by the marina to step foot on board. As I was removing my soaked cushions, tools, and gear, I was kicked off. Now I am a do it your self guy. I believe in anything someone else can do, I can do it to, maybe better. and even if not better, it will be done to my specs. There are millions of stories of sailors, homeowners and people of all kinds with stories of shoddy workmanship, poor thought, scams, fraud ect. But the real reason is that I like doing it, and fined it imperative that I know how to when I am off shore or in a remote location and need to repair my or someone Else's boat.

So now 38 days later she is still on the hard, waiting for insurance to pay the first part of the repair work. All thru hulls where replaced with Marelon by forespar. No more electrolysis problems. The cutlass bearing was replaced, the hull treated with 3 coats of coppershield scx45

and now we wait. The work done so far has been great. The people doing it professional. The cost, high.

The engine was under water for a short time, the inverter. All my new tanks, some wiring. 7 of my 8 6 volt 220 amp batteries, my feestool vac, tools, etc.

Some of the bulkheads were sanded prior to varnishing and are probably toast. The sole was coated with 6 coats of interlux perfection a premium 2 part varnish. So it should hold up well. But the thing is I don't know yet till the boat is out of the yard and back in the water.

Learning the hard way...

2009-06-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

When purchased Sarah Claire was obviously in need of some tlc. The previous owner had done some nice things to her, but neglected a lot as well. She had been mostly idle for some time.

Endeavours are great boats, but not perfect, no boat is. They are know as great liveaboards, handles well in a blow, but sails reasonably well in light airs. Comfortable down below, with more room than many similar sized boats. But they are not without their problems.

The main one is the tanks. All the tanks are in the bilge. That's both good and bad. Good in that valuable storage space is maintained for ship stores. Bad in that poor or no air flow, standing salt water, and time causes them to pit, and the welds on the aluminum tanks to leak eventually. The tanks will last a while but on a old boat like Sarah, they leak. And while my surveyor found no evidence of leaking, I knew they did, as I got a nose for diesel fuel. The smell makes me ill. So I knew the first thing that had to be done was replacing the fuel tank. No easy task! First I pulled up all the flooring (sole) to expose the water tanks. These also leaked and had large mineral deposits throughout the tank. They had to go. Out came the saws all, and they were gone. The tanks were built in to the boat before the deck was fitted, so there was only one way to get them out. Cutting them into little pieces. This was laborious work. Once done I then had to cut large oak stringers and a part of the engine room bulkhead to expose the tank face. I found several inches of diesel sludge in the lower bilge. All the bilge pumps were coated in it, and the bilge hose was choked with it as well. This was a major safety issue. Using a large pry bar, crow bar and just plain old stubbornness, I managed to get the tank out. This was of course after I drained out 55 gallons of diesel fuel into smaller tanks. The tank was full of sludge and the exterior badly pitted. All this was done by myself. But getting it out required Julies help. Once out, the bilge was scooped out, degreased, and painted with interlux bilgekote in white.

The tank was removed to my home where it was cleaned, degreased, pressure washed and new access hatches cut into the top. The interior was sealed with blue coat, and the exterior was marine texed, then painted with bilgekote. New fittings, new gaskets and I had a somewhat new tank.

The water tanks were replaced with Ronco poly tanks. http://www.ronco-plastics.net/

These tanks are not custom made, so you have to pick the right ones out of hundreds of sizes, shapes and configurations. Unfortunately for me, picking the right tanks proved to be time consuming, and then the wrong fittings were ordered. I now have additional work to do on them.

As in most things the leaning curve can be steep at times. More on that later.......

Our little yacht.

2009-06-06T06:16:00.000-07:00

SV Sarah Claire is a Endeavour 40 sloop. She is 40 feet long, with a 13 foot beam. Built in 1983 from fiberglass, she is American made. A long fin keel with skeg rudder, she drawn just 5.5 feet. All the comforts of a home are aboard, with cold and hot pressure water, 110 and 12 volt power, air conditioning, a refrigerator freezer, TV, computer, and more. She has staterooms for 4 adults and can sleep 8 in a pinch (although who would want to?) Endeavours were designed to cruise the Bahama and Caribbean waters and is off shore capable. She sports a center cockpit with makes her high and dry. A warm teak interior makes for a comfortable home.

Purchased in 2008, she represents to us a project spanning many years to one day be our retirement home and to fulfill our dream of traveling the world. In the meantime, we are bringing her up to better than new condition.