It looks pretty good and now we are set to begin our travels. Boat is on the hard and will go back in the water Friday with a new bottom job, all new zincs and shinny polished props. Should go much faster.
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Boat Name
We ordered and received our new boat name over a year ago. But when we removed the old boat name it left shadow on the transom that we couldn't get rid of. We tried repainting it ourselves and that did not turn out very well. Then we found someone with experience to paint the transom but he left before finishing the job. Although he did recommend someone to finish the job, their work did not meet our expectations. We have run out of time and needed to get the new name on before we start our cruising adventures. So we finally just "did it" and applied the new name, da hell with the paint!
It looks pretty good and now we are set to begin our travels. Boat is on the hard and will go back in the water Friday with a new bottom job, all new zincs and shinny polished props. Should go much faster.
It looks pretty good and now we are set to begin our travels. Boat is on the hard and will go back in the water Friday with a new bottom job, all new zincs and shinny polished props. Should go much faster.
Monday, March 27, 2017
Cockpit
Our latest project is to cover the cockpit to give us the must needed shade this summer when we will be cruising. We contacted Joseph White at Advanced Innovations to design a stainless steel frame to attach to the cockpit and to add an extension to the frame on the flybridge that will help to keep the sun out of the captain's eyes as we cruise along.
Joseph did an excellent job. Now our work begins, sewing the stamoid cover.
This may take a while:)
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Introduction
Five years ago as we thought of our upcoming retirement years, we decided to spend our retirement on a boat. The goal was to acquire a boat that we could live on and spend the first year completing the Great Loop, followed by more years of being a snow bird. Winters in the Bahamas and Florida and summers in Maine or Canada.
We looked for boats with a cockpit (makes doing locks much easier and is also good for fishing), aft cabin with a king size bed, and a flybridge. We wanted the boat to be comfortable for the many years we planned on living aboard. After two years of looking for the perfect boat; the boat we ended up falling in love with a 1996 Ocean Alexander 545 Yachtfish that we bought in November 2014. Probably more boat than we needed but at least we shouldn't get 2 foot-itess anytime soon.
The boat came with a watermaker, large generator and 2 big 8V92 Detroit Diesels and needed lots of loving.
We spent the next two years replacing worn out parts and updating the boat to make it our own.
Some of the things that were updated are below decks and not seen such as: installation of a 3500 watt inverter and charging system, new 900 amp hour gel battery bank to supplement te 900 amp hour house bank, a separate generator start battery and battery monitors for long periods of silence on the hook. We also installed an automatic generator start, so when the batteries run low the generator starts itself and charges things up, rebuilding the generator armature. We added new hot water heater, lots of plumbing repairs and modifications and many weeks of scraping, wire brushing and painting in the engine room. New LED lighting was installed throughout the boat, including about 80 led recessed lights, anchor and deck lights. A new fresh water pump, mascerator pumps and shower sump pumps were also added. After about $20K of HVAC work, we now finally have all 5 heat pumps working the way they should. We were very fortunate to find a local guy Dennis Mixson who has become a friend (maybe because he has worked mornings on the boat for the last year solid) to work on multiple projects and make everything work as it should. Thanks Dennis.
We twice had to take out windows to install either new furniture or a new washer and dryer because none of it fits through the doors! When we bought the boat there was a chair we wanted to remove and the only way to get it out was to cut it in half wth a sawsall!
Since we have lived at St John's Yacht Harbor for the last year and a half we have been hit twice by other boats due to the swift currents and collected from the other vessel's insurance. Once was fairly minor, some damage to the rubrail and the second time was the bow pulpit. The bow pulpit was removed fixed and painted. While it was out we rebuilt the windlass and upgraded the anchor to a 125 Manteus after our experience in Hurricane Matthew. We dragged 2 x 70 lb. anchors and were fortunate to have been tied to an oak tree which didn't let go, and we escaped unscathed. When we returned to St Johns after Matthew the dock we had been tied up to was gone!
The galley was completely redone with a new convection microwave, induction cooktop and wall oven. We removed an old trash compacter and dishwasher and don't miss them.We installed new granite countertops that we had fabricated in Montreal, because they do laminated granite in 2 cm and that is what we needed to make the project work. It was nice to work with my old friends at Stoneage.
Before:
After:
We plan to leave St Johns Yacht Harbor on April 3rd. We will try to keep the blog update with our activities.
We looked for boats with a cockpit (makes doing locks much easier and is also good for fishing), aft cabin with a king size bed, and a flybridge. We wanted the boat to be comfortable for the many years we planned on living aboard. After two years of looking for the perfect boat; the boat we ended up falling in love with a 1996 Ocean Alexander 545 Yachtfish that we bought in November 2014. Probably more boat than we needed but at least we shouldn't get 2 foot-itess anytime soon.
The boat came with a watermaker, large generator and 2 big 8V92 Detroit Diesels and needed lots of loving.
We spent the next two years replacing worn out parts and updating the boat to make it our own.
Some of the things that were updated are below decks and not seen such as: installation of a 3500 watt inverter and charging system, new 900 amp hour gel battery bank to supplement te 900 amp hour house bank, a separate generator start battery and battery monitors for long periods of silence on the hook. We also installed an automatic generator start, so when the batteries run low the generator starts itself and charges things up, rebuilding the generator armature. We added new hot water heater, lots of plumbing repairs and modifications and many weeks of scraping, wire brushing and painting in the engine room. New LED lighting was installed throughout the boat, including about 80 led recessed lights, anchor and deck lights. A new fresh water pump, mascerator pumps and shower sump pumps were also added. After about $20K of HVAC work, we now finally have all 5 heat pumps working the way they should. We were very fortunate to find a local guy Dennis Mixson who has become a friend (maybe because he has worked mornings on the boat for the last year solid) to work on multiple projects and make everything work as it should. Thanks Dennis.
We twice had to take out windows to install either new furniture or a new washer and dryer because none of it fits through the doors! When we bought the boat there was a chair we wanted to remove and the only way to get it out was to cut it in half wth a sawsall!
Since we have lived at St John's Yacht Harbor for the last year and a half we have been hit twice by other boats due to the swift currents and collected from the other vessel's insurance. Once was fairly minor, some damage to the rubrail and the second time was the bow pulpit. The bow pulpit was removed fixed and painted. While it was out we rebuilt the windlass and upgraded the anchor to a 125 Manteus after our experience in Hurricane Matthew. We dragged 2 x 70 lb. anchors and were fortunate to have been tied to an oak tree which didn't let go, and we escaped unscathed. When we returned to St Johns after Matthew the dock we had been tied up to was gone!
The galley was completely redone with a new convection microwave, induction cooktop and wall oven. We removed an old trash compacter and dishwasher and don't miss them.We installed new granite countertops that we had fabricated in Montreal, because they do laminated granite in 2 cm and that is what we needed to make the project work. It was nice to work with my old friends at Stoneage.
Before:
We plan to leave St Johns Yacht Harbor on April 3rd. We will try to keep the blog update with our activities.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)