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Old 12-11-2016, 04:21 PM   #61
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Craig, I'm curious how you're getting on with your new boat. There aren't a huge number of Nordlunds around, being custom builds. Were they all made in Tacoma? I know a 78' Nordlund out of Seattle named Huntress that we see up in BC most years. An absolute knockout of a boat, boathouse - kept and beautiful.

If you get around to repowering, specifically with Recon Cummins, you might want to do a little shopping to get the best deal. I repowered in 2014 with 6bt Recon Cummins 210hp and Twin Disc 5050 3:1 gears. The engines were $17k each and the gears about $6k each. I got them from Tri County Diesel in Bellingham. The labor for the job was around $50k, with me doing a lot of the scut work of stripping the old engines for removal, bilge cleaning and painting, etc. Your labor costs will vary according to your own situation, but this might help get you in the ball park. Whether you can use your existing props, shafts and exhaust run will also be part of the equation.
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Old 12-11-2016, 07:33 PM   #62
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City: Bay Area CA
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Vessel Model: Nordlund Boat Co - 1978 Custom 53 Pilothouse
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Ken, thanks. Yeah, started in Tacoma I believe in 1958, Norm ran the company until he passed, when John and Gary took over. Now they just build megayachts, although they did build under 100' until recently. Mine is Hull #14, from what I was able to learn online. I have the original builders plans - was always curious about who at the Monk Studio in Seattle was signing their drawings "REM" in 1978. I think Ed Sr was a George, so I don't think it's him. Really nice drawings though! Might get one reduced and framed, just for kicks.

That's a great deal on the repower, you got. Of course, since you did a good amount of the grunt work, that surely helped.

How is your fuel economy with the 6B 210's? What did you have before those? Detroits? Usually those just get rebuilt in place, so maybe not.

I am hoping to avoid a repower, since I pretty much sold everything I owned to buy the boat and don't have enough left in savings to do more than make the near-term repairs needed, plus a couple of upgrades, and pay my bills.

My mechanic and I spent about 4 hours at the boat today, working on a plan of attack. Today was mostly a bonding system day. Bottom paint was being fried around the metal fittings, due to electrolysis from imbalance in the bonding system. Turns out that 3 of the though-hulls had not even been bonded at all. Big problem for the paint, but fortunately those were very recent installations and the fittings themselves were not yet affected. Grinded to the surfaces of all the other bronze and all looked purty and bronze-colored - nice. Picked up 100' of 8-gauge green bonding wire and the mech's assistant will do those tomorrow and balance the bonding system. Bottom job is in progress, so we want to get the bonding set up right first. Mechanic will teach me how to test the conductors with a multimeter, needs to be done annually. He also wants me to get a drill and clean out some of the crusty crap at the through-hull inlets, and also to open up some more flow in the fiberglass hull screens at the larger inlets. Oils and coolant have not been serviced since 2011, so those are next highest on the list - replace coolant (PO used the wrong coolant and it's all a big jelly-like clusterfudge in there, so we need to clean that out) as well as replace all hoses. I am also going to descale the raw water side, replace impellers. Heat exchanger should be ok. We have a number of other things to do - stbd alternator not working, pumps not pumping, one of the gensets generating power but not being directed to the panel - who knows where the current is going..? There is a toggle/bypass somewhere, we think we know, but it's still a mystery why it's not working. I might call the electrician who installed the panel and 2-generator toggle/bypass system.

The yard has been the worst enemy of the boat over the past 3 or 4 years. Surveyor twice pointed out rot expanding in some interior framing - yard didn't think it was a big deal, let it go. It's just a mess now - those spores have got to be killed, and it will be a messy repair job that I do myself. Yard also missed some glass work when they repaired the left side deck stairs between upper/lower decks, so water has been leaking from there into the cabin for awhile, so there is some mushy plywood that the yard is removing and fixing. Yard says that's gonna take 2 days (equals 2 boat bucks, even if the yard worker takes 2 hours worth of breaks - they don't clock out for breaks. My broker says I should go to the boat and monitor the hours worked, or else they'll just say whatever they want to say it took - they don't care, and are not even that concerned about the quality of work).

So basically I need to get my boat OUT of the yard ASAP and try to do as much of the work as I can, myself. My mechanic will help and I have a couple of other folks recommended to me for certain types of tasks, they can also help.

Some good news - the bonding system isn't as messed up as the mechanic thought it might be. Also, the stbd engine didn't want to go into Reverse, and the mech thought a cable needed to be replaced. However, he traced the cable back while I shifted back and forth F-N-R etc (on the hard, just pushing and pulling the lever) and he discovered that there is a metal tie-in between the cable and the tranny, and that metal rod had been bent, likely due to someone leaning on or falling against it. He says his assistant should be able to just bend it back straight, which will fix that issue.

The mechanic loves the boat as much as I do - he has known the boat awhile, thought seriously about buying it himself (but instead wants an ocean-going sailboat). He worked today 3+ hours and is really excited about not only fixing systems but adding some (tasteful) LED accent lighting and dressing the boat up cosmetically. The paint needs a lot of help (the same yard's 4-yr-old paint job looks pretty bad around the trimwork) but I have people to call for that help. I am lucky to have his help.

Meeting him and his assistant at the yard tomorrow, then I will help them and also try to control as much as possible what the yard does to my boat and how long they take doing it. I can't afford to be taken for that kind of ride. And I have to keep my boss from getting mad at me for not being in the office....

Thanks for asking, Ken! I will google for some photos of the Huntress. The sister ship to mine (both of the hulls Nordlund turned out in 1978 were 53' pilothouses) now hails from Newport Beach. The Encantada, I believe (though she was commissioned "Heather"). I am not renaming my boat - has always been Tango, always will be, as long as I am at the helm.
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Old 12-11-2016, 11:40 PM   #63
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Craig
Thorough update and I think you are on track. List out what needs to be done and prioritise. Just do lumps of work at intervals over a period of time, and don't forget to spend some time on board just relaxing and enjoying it. You really need to find another yard ASAP though. No wonder the PO were 'done with spending money' in that place! But try and find a new yard that's still convenient for your mechanic, sounds like he has been a great find.

May have been Ed Monk Jnr on the drawings? He was the designer of my Mk 1 and I think he did a pretty good job of it, he gave it a very liveable General Arrangement. Your boat will also be great in that regard.
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Old 12-12-2016, 12:26 AM   #64
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Brian, yeah, I really love the lines and apparent layout of the MK1 and hope someday to be able to see one in person. Your boat is fabulous. The ones I saw for sale were simply not within my reach.

For example: http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1983...s#.WE5D07IrKM9

I guess I got the closest thing I could find. I actually did tour an MKII and was a little confused, as it seemed not quite as livable as the MK1 looked, at least at/above decks.

I might call up there to Monk and see who "REM" was, someone might know.

Yeah the mechanic is whip-smart, sincere, personable, tech-savvy and very frank. He also sails competitively, knows the America's Cup folks and is a go-to mech/engineer for Larry Ellison when his yachts are in town. Hopefully Larry and his "circle" of yachting buddies don't call for a few more weeks. The guy has been a saint to me thus far. I am also very fortunate to've had great help from you, Simi, Clark, David and several other TF'ers too many to name, as well as several on boatdiesel. The generosity of all you folks is amazing. I feel like an unworthy leech sometimes, and it sucks. Hope I can figure things out soon, get some experience and start to be able to contribute meaningfully.
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Old 12-12-2016, 12:31 AM   #65
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Your sharing of info and experiences is a great contribution in itself. Its how most of us got started here as well. We learned from here and by having good people do stuff for us.
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Old 12-12-2016, 11:22 AM   #66
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Craig,. I enjoy
helping as I can. Great to see the progress.
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Old 12-15-2016, 03:48 PM   #67
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Thanks a lot! Here are a couple of photos.

1) RWP impellers - these are getting replaced - and the RWP need to be rebuilt. Mechanic says "the pumps were gushing."

2) A/C raw water pump - see anything that should not belong there? Mechanic called me down to the ER and said "your surveyor missed it... That's a sinker."
Attached Thumbnails
555 RWP Impellers.jpg   AC RWP.jpg  
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Old 12-19-2016, 10:39 AM   #68
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Any cracks in the impellers? If not, keep them for spares.....
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Old 12-19-2016, 12:59 PM   #69
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Thanks Tom! I would not have thought of that - no cracks, just somewhat deformed. The shapes of the blades have bounced back a bit, to look more normal. I will keep these as you suggest, just in case. Much appreciated!
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