So here I am in New Port Richey, staying with some friends and helping fix up their boat while Queequeg sits in Marathon waiting out the hurricane season.
When I return to Marathon I will have a lot of work to do. I need to get the engine running first. I have already purchased a new starter and a new alternator to replace the ones damaged in the flood. The boat will need new bottom paint and we're planning on adding a barrier coat to the old fiberglass while we're at it.
Once that's done we can probably launch and bring the boat over to Boot Key Harbor, about 10 miles away by water. Then it's time to repair the water damage to the interior and start on the upgrades needed for comfortable cruising. The one thing that amazed me about the boat is that it has no "alternative" energy production systems on board. If you want electricity you either have to run the engine or plug in to shore power. Neither option suits us so we will be installing two 75 watt solar panels right away. I've purchased the panels and the Morningstar regulator so all that will be needed is to build a frame over the transom to mount the panels and wire them up. Depending on what we decide to do with our current boat we might move the wind turbine over to Queequeg. There's no inverter on the boat, so I'm shopping for a pure sine wave inverter.
Once we have some electricity available, I will start on the interior remodeling. The floor is completely shot and will have to be replaced along with most of the sub floor. The cabinets and bulkheads are badly water stained to about knee level, so all that teak will have to be cleaned and refinished.
I also know that there are some leaks around some of the port holes and a bit of water damage from those leaks. The ports will probably need to be removed and re-caulked. Then the water damage will have to be repaired. It's not nearly as extensive as the damage farther down.
Then it's just a matter of cleaning and making sure all the boat's systems work.
The sails seem in good shape, except the working jib which might need to be replaced. I've budgeted the money for a Sailrite Kit.
All in, I am currently estimating about $6000 for the whole project, but where else can you get a 40 foot yacht for that kind of money?
Congrats! Not bad, being in the right place at the right time, eh?
ReplyDeleteWanted to pass on some info though. In talking with Jamison one day, he said he usually installs a smaller pure sine inverter for those electronics (computers, phone, electric shaver/screwdriver) for 're-charging' those batteries. Since a bigger inverter, pure sine, is so expensive, he'll install a larger 'not pure' for the bigger items, and a smaller 'pure' for littler things. Makes sense to me, and a money saver...
Food for thought.
Actually, the price of pure sine wave inverters is coming down. A 1500 watt (3000 watt surge) pure sine wave inverter can now be had for about $200.00 or about what I paid for a 1750 watt modified sine wave model 5 years ago.
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