CharlieO.
Guru
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2020
- Messages
- 1,558
- Location
- Lake Champlain Vermont, USA
- Vessel Name
- Luna C.
- Vessel Make
- 1977 Marine Trader 34DC
We bought our boat (I refer to it as a budget trawler) in Jersey City at Liberty Landing Marina at the end of November on the hard. Needed to move it April 1st because that was when the assumed contract expired and that marina is pretty expensive and not in our budget.
First projects
1. Did a little bilge repair by removing some of the concrete ballast and forming a small sump area and reglassing the area to mount my bilge pumps.
2.Remove the single bilge pump and replaced it with an 800 gph primary bilge pump and 3700 gph high water bilge pump with the float switch 3/4 inch higher.
3. Took the sawzall to the two steel tanks and cut them up into small pieces to remove from the engine room. Replaced with 2 plastic tanks and all new fuel lines, fuel selector valve and new deck fills.
4. Replaced the raw water impeller on the engine and tighten any and all hose clamps I could find on the engine, thru hulls and water systems.
Hired a captain to help move the boat on April 1st up to Half Moon Bay Marina 35 miles. Be sure you vet your captain before signing him on. I hired a captain in case there were any mechanical issues so I could attend to those while I had a licensed captain in charge. He actually told me that I probably had more experience than him as we were traveling up the river and swapping stories. I was never a boat driver but a deckhand on various boats when I was a young man in Alaska. He was recommended to me as a training captain but what he does is basically teach a BoatUS type course to new members of the Freedom Boat Club. Anyway we got it safely docked at Half Moon Bay Marina, but in the wrong slip and he thought it was to windy to try to move it one slip over that day. So we moved it ourselves the next weekend.
Finally got a nice day a few weeks later where we could take it out ourselves for nice 4hr cruise. All went well and even backed into our new slip.
Then our trip for the rest of the Hudson river and to Lake Champlain to our home slip for the season. 4 days of cruising, 12 locks and a little over 200 miles. 5/27/2022 - 5/30/2022
Day 1. Half Moon Bay Marina to Kingston City Marina, nice steady cruise from 7.5 to 8 knots with the tide pushing us upriver. Very convenient stop right in town with nice restaurants and the maritime museum just steps away. A bit loud due to the outdoor live music at the establishment until 11pm that was only about 100 feet away. Didn't really bother me.
Day 2. Kingston City Marina to Waterford Harbor Visitors Center. Very busy stop due to the intersection of the Erie and Champlain Canals. Free Docking $10 for power, $5 for key to restrooms and shower. Walking distance to anything you may need. We didn't get on the dock with power so we had no shore power for the night. Went through the Troy Federal Lock to get there, our first lock ever and we set up to do a starboard tie, called the lockmaster and told us port tie so scrambled to switch while pretty nasty windstorm with rain was pushing us around. Got in and secured to a cable the first try. Left the lock and got to Waterford as the wind and weather turned very nice.
Day 3. Waterford to Fort Edward Yacht Basin. 6 locks in and very nice weather for the day. Stopped at and tied up to concrete wall just after Lock C5 and the lockmaster asked why we don't just go up to Fort Edward Yacht Basin as there were only 2 other boats there. I just wasn't sure I wanted to go up that side channel to get there. But after sitting in the hot sun with no shade, no power and plenty of bugs we decided to give it a go. Was definitely a good decision. Walked to Stewarts for ice cream and beverages and had pizza delivered to the boat. There were only 3 boats there. Free dock with power, water and bathrooms with showers. Also moored behind another boat that I recognized that a member here had sold and the new owners were bringing it up from Georgia to Lake Champlain.
Day 4. Fort Edward to Chipman Point Marina on Lake Champlain. 5 locks and this time we shared the locks with 2 sailboats returning from the Bahamas all went well. The final lock in Whitehall provided with a bit of wind and a wait until the could get the lock filled back up for us. A little workout keeping the boat in a controlled position while waiting but good experience building. Got to Chipman Point and it was blowing pretty good, parked on the end of the transient dock as instructed but then Chip said we would need to move because the two sailboats that had been behind were going to tie up on that dock to put their mast back up and those two sailboats took up every inch of that dock. We walked over to where our new slip would be and Chip knowing we were new boaters asked if I wanted him to pilot the boat over, I said nah I think we got this. The wind was still picking up but was pretty favorable to the slip we were getting. We got in no problem, tied her up and even got a "good job, Captain".
Was a great trip with the challenging weather at the right times to give us the experience we needed. The boat ran like a top for the entire trip and we felt very accomplished at setting goals and putting in the work to see them all come together as we planned. Our only issue was that our only VHF quit working which will get fixed replaced and adding a handheld to arsenal.
Now to get back to boat work and keep getting more experience and making memories with friends and family.
Thanks to everyone for all the advice and tips here on the forum and the ones sending PMs.
First projects
1. Did a little bilge repair by removing some of the concrete ballast and forming a small sump area and reglassing the area to mount my bilge pumps.
2.Remove the single bilge pump and replaced it with an 800 gph primary bilge pump and 3700 gph high water bilge pump with the float switch 3/4 inch higher.
3. Took the sawzall to the two steel tanks and cut them up into small pieces to remove from the engine room. Replaced with 2 plastic tanks and all new fuel lines, fuel selector valve and new deck fills.
4. Replaced the raw water impeller on the engine and tighten any and all hose clamps I could find on the engine, thru hulls and water systems.
Hired a captain to help move the boat on April 1st up to Half Moon Bay Marina 35 miles. Be sure you vet your captain before signing him on. I hired a captain in case there were any mechanical issues so I could attend to those while I had a licensed captain in charge. He actually told me that I probably had more experience than him as we were traveling up the river and swapping stories. I was never a boat driver but a deckhand on various boats when I was a young man in Alaska. He was recommended to me as a training captain but what he does is basically teach a BoatUS type course to new members of the Freedom Boat Club. Anyway we got it safely docked at Half Moon Bay Marina, but in the wrong slip and he thought it was to windy to try to move it one slip over that day. So we moved it ourselves the next weekend.
Finally got a nice day a few weeks later where we could take it out ourselves for nice 4hr cruise. All went well and even backed into our new slip.
Then our trip for the rest of the Hudson river and to Lake Champlain to our home slip for the season. 4 days of cruising, 12 locks and a little over 200 miles. 5/27/2022 - 5/30/2022
Day 1. Half Moon Bay Marina to Kingston City Marina, nice steady cruise from 7.5 to 8 knots with the tide pushing us upriver. Very convenient stop right in town with nice restaurants and the maritime museum just steps away. A bit loud due to the outdoor live music at the establishment until 11pm that was only about 100 feet away. Didn't really bother me.
Day 2. Kingston City Marina to Waterford Harbor Visitors Center. Very busy stop due to the intersection of the Erie and Champlain Canals. Free Docking $10 for power, $5 for key to restrooms and shower. Walking distance to anything you may need. We didn't get on the dock with power so we had no shore power for the night. Went through the Troy Federal Lock to get there, our first lock ever and we set up to do a starboard tie, called the lockmaster and told us port tie so scrambled to switch while pretty nasty windstorm with rain was pushing us around. Got in and secured to a cable the first try. Left the lock and got to Waterford as the wind and weather turned very nice.
Day 3. Waterford to Fort Edward Yacht Basin. 6 locks in and very nice weather for the day. Stopped at and tied up to concrete wall just after Lock C5 and the lockmaster asked why we don't just go up to Fort Edward Yacht Basin as there were only 2 other boats there. I just wasn't sure I wanted to go up that side channel to get there. But after sitting in the hot sun with no shade, no power and plenty of bugs we decided to give it a go. Was definitely a good decision. Walked to Stewarts for ice cream and beverages and had pizza delivered to the boat. There were only 3 boats there. Free dock with power, water and bathrooms with showers. Also moored behind another boat that I recognized that a member here had sold and the new owners were bringing it up from Georgia to Lake Champlain.
Day 4. Fort Edward to Chipman Point Marina on Lake Champlain. 5 locks and this time we shared the locks with 2 sailboats returning from the Bahamas all went well. The final lock in Whitehall provided with a bit of wind and a wait until the could get the lock filled back up for us. A little workout keeping the boat in a controlled position while waiting but good experience building. Got to Chipman Point and it was blowing pretty good, parked on the end of the transient dock as instructed but then Chip said we would need to move because the two sailboats that had been behind were going to tie up on that dock to put their mast back up and those two sailboats took up every inch of that dock. We walked over to where our new slip would be and Chip knowing we were new boaters asked if I wanted him to pilot the boat over, I said nah I think we got this. The wind was still picking up but was pretty favorable to the slip we were getting. We got in no problem, tied her up and even got a "good job, Captain".
Was a great trip with the challenging weather at the right times to give us the experience we needed. The boat ran like a top for the entire trip and we felt very accomplished at setting goals and putting in the work to see them all come together as we planned. Our only issue was that our only VHF quit working which will get fixed replaced and adding a handheld to arsenal.
Now to get back to boat work and keep getting more experience and making memories with friends and family.
Thanks to everyone for all the advice and tips here on the forum and the ones sending PMs.
