Learning the hard way part duex

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.

More on this later.

That is where we stand now. All summer plans are off. I miss working on her. So I work more at my job, anticipating a ton of work this fall.

Learning the hard way...

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.

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.