You guys are making me all weepy... No, wait, aargghhh Billy, ever been to sea?
It does have some funny things like those doors, but already I rafted up to a 70' seiner and after our chin-wag I climbed over the rail, right into the wheelhouse, so it does have a use. There is a safety that clips across the opening so you get a small warning before you launch into the void. There is also a folding platform outside the starboard door so you can stand there and take the salute. There is a hand-hold in front of the house so you can sort of swing around to the forward cargo deck.
It has a fold-up swim grid to save me a few feet of moorage, a covered back deck so you can stand out of the rain and watch the 36" wheel dig a large hole, a giant top deck to keep kayaks and look down on the world with your beaker of rum, a giant Sampson post to tow various things, a crane on the front deck and a level area with tie-downs to take pallets (might make a buck hauling freight?) and store a dinghy; it actually draws 4 1/2 feet, although it has a fairly flat bottom, it has a substantial keel which is also its keel cooler. It's loud, I have ordered a muffler for her and it's very work-boat inside so it will get some nice panelling and paint and a few less bunks. It has a double bunk in the wheelhouse too, which we will keep.
It needs a heavier anchor rode, a new water heater, a newer battery charger and some new poop hose, all of which I ordered. It also needs some minor changes to the coolant pipes and a barrier/bottom job, which will probably take a week in a yard and seriously damage my wallet. No electrolysis! Maybe I should add, "yet?"
Topside pressure washing and some cosmetics, although it is never going to be shiny, I want it to look cared for, which it will be. New bedding, LED lights, better dinghy, wash the lines, new fenders...........
It does have a cheesy bow thruster, which surprised me by actually working, but installing a conventional tunnel would be hard because she is very wide and has a very stubby bow so the tunnel would be very long. I've always disdained a bow thruster so I'll see if I can do without it; it just unbolts, but I'm not making any changes right away. She seems to maneuver as well as any single although she has a lot of windage. When she is hauled for the bottom work I am going to weld an angle on the trailing edge of the rudder, even though she turns fine in her own length with some creative gear-work. She steers fine as long as she is in gear.
She spent 5 years servicing the park on the Queen Charlottes so she's seen her share of weather and seas, she has a set of flopper-stoppers which a previous owner removed as he claimed it was unnecessary, I don't know if I will hang them back up, yet.
We're gathering up all our tools and boating gear that has been gathering dust for a couple of years and we will be heading over to start the cleaning/adoption phase of a "new" boat in a day or so. Have to buy an old truck! We think we will change the name as it's not us, but we haven't got a replacement yet. Once we have decided, we will have the proper ceremony and we think we will re-christen her by smacking her with a can of Guinness, the containers being made of the same material...
No outside varnish, canvas, teak, wood windows, tarps etc. A pressure wash and a good soak with an evil non-green product should make her look a lot better. A friend of mine said it would be like polishing a turd.
I took the teak bungs and the bronze screws out of my kit this afternoon...
A diamond in the rough. Just a little cleaning and tidying up will make a huge difference. Thanks for posting. Please keep us up on your progress.
