Cheoy Lee Refit.

In continuation of a discussion on a thread I inadvertently hijacked, I had posted that I had spent a year refitting a Cheoy Lee Efficient Model motor yacht. Here are some of the details. As time goes along I will post more detailed info and pictures of the process. I hope that others with Cheoy Lee trawlers and motor yachts will chime in as there is no special section of the forum dedicated to the brand. We left off the other thread with this post by Dispatch:

McGill; This is incredibly helpful and it sounds like you got good value for the $$ spent. With the exception of the mechanicals, sounds like you took almost everything down to bear hull and did the cosmatics. I'm sure she looks incredible!! I'm keeping your list as I feel I could be facing a similar situation. How much work did you do yourself? Sounds like you did a lot -- a lot. For that money and what you did - a lot! I like all of your ideas including the Capt's gig ...... very cool for those shallow inlets. You obviously picked a yard to have some of the work done ..... what were the considerations for that choice? Did you live abroad during the dry dock/refit? You've got a great eye for customizing. When you say "good bones" can you be more explicit? Choey Lee is a reputable boat builder but I hear a lot of "good bones" stories. Four layers of fiberglass at hull to deck joint ..... sounds like renewed bones? It all starts with the hull but everything has to "stay" together. Aside from strengthening, any other considerations? Was this to lessen the condensation/weeping issue? Bow thrusters ..... another through the hull aperture ? Boat this size, this is a must ....... Stabilizers ..... Did you consider these? I don't like anything through the hull ... was this a consideration? How about holding tanks for sewerage? If you could, explain "Trinidad non ablative. New anodes of course?" If you have the time this winter and want to be more explicit about this incredible refit, an abbreviated thread would be most helpful. Yes, this story excites this one salt .....

So a good place to start might be with my boat selection process. I am a sailor at heart. Loved the rag blowers. Owned a motor sailer for many years until Hurricane Katrina blew it ashore. I always thought that I would retire young and my retirement years would be spent sailing a blow boat around the South Pacific as I had spent a lot of time in my early career as a deck officer on cargo ships wandering around the islands picking up coconuts. I just loved that part of the world. However my retirement years kept getting pushed back and I waited too long. I had a bout of pneumonia which was untreated (who goes to the doc just because of a persistent cough anyway?) and by the time I went to an ER three months later I had septicemia throughout my bloodstream and was dying. I was in the ER for four days before the could move me to intensive care. Anyways, thanks to good docs, I won that battle but it had weakened my heart and a month later I had a triple by-pass and five months after that I had five stents installed. Later I also had a pacemaker installed. To say that I was weakened was an understatement. I felt as strong as a wet rag.

I took a disability/retirement and set about reorganizing my life. Sold my plane and my condo. Decided to live aboard permanently. Now sailboats were out of the question due to physical limitations so I started to look at trawlers and motor yachts. With a budget of $250-300k I looked at a lot of boats. Since it was to be my home I wanted high quality and room to move around in. I thought that 45' to 55' would be the sweet spot that I can handle, solo if necessary. I was disappointed in a lot of the boats in the price range, they looked old or tired or needed some upgrading. Most smelled bad. The boats I did like we're outside my price range at $500k+. At that price range I would have little left to live on so they were disregarded.

Eventually after about a year of looking, I came across Sandpiper 10 in Houston. The boat was a 1987 build and was in Houston. I called the broker and scheduled a visit. It was a second owner boat, the first being a dentist who used it in Florida and the Bahamas, the second being a gentleman from Dallas who moved it to Houston in about 2001 and had hardly used it since due to a series of life events and inconvenience. He had added only about 200 hours to it after it arrived in Houston. The inspection revealed that the coatings were chalky all over and were spider cracked on the upper and main decks. Wood trim on the hull was painted and bleeding rust. Interior furnishings were musty, faded and dated. Everything seemed to work though and I really liked the layout. The structure of the boat was hell for stout, the piping was copper nickel and the electrical was commercial grade well laid in proper conduit. On the upper deck was a jet ski that hadn't run in 10 years. The engine room was walk in with 6'6" headroom.

Both engines started at the touch of the starter buttons as did the generator. The generator looked brand new and had only 300 hours. The original had been a Westerbeke and had been replaced with this Northern Lights. There was a Village Marine water maker installed that had been pickled after installation and never run. Everything seemed to operate as designed.

So rather than find a boat in walk on condition that suited me, I decided that here was a boat that could be refit to suit me. It had been on the market for about a year due to its poor cosmetic condition. It was already a low price for its type. I offered $50k less than asking and it was accepted, as is where is. I did have the opportunity to make it subject to survey which I did with both a hull surveyor and a machinery surveyor. (Note, I did this even though I had been a professional commercial marine surveyor for well over 20 years, certified by NAMS and was in fact the National Secretary for NAMS at the time.) At closing the seller had to come up with 20k to pay off his bank loan. I felt sorry for him but he made up for it by being a bit of a jerk and not answering any of my questions about the boat and walking away as soon as the paperwork was signed without looking back. So I had to figure out all the systems on the boat by myself which happens to be a bit of a chore and something to keep in mind when you buy a boat..

Some specs on the boat according to the broker:
Make: Cheoy Lee Efficient Cockpit Motor Yacht
Length 52'. Breadth 16'. Draft 4'5"
Engines: 2 x Caterpillar model 3208 TA rated at 320 hp each
Fuel: 1,000 us gallons
Fresh Water: 450 gallons
Holding Tank: 40 gallons.
3 Cabins
2 Heads
Bridge Clearance: 24'
Cruising Speed 12 knots @ 1800 rpm
Max Speed 16.5 knots
Range 1,700 nm.


More to come.


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Lots of satisfaction in being actively involved in your boat's refit. Great sense of accomplishment when you are done!

Ted

I have a similar size Cheoy lee. Good luck, enjoy the refit. I started my refit some 4 years ago, with a one page list. Now having rebuilt or replaced everything mechanical and electrical it's time to refinish the interior. Happy with the way cheoy lee did things, but technology has moved on immensely, this has led to pleasing upgrades in electronics, LED's etc. One of the better decisions has been to install solar and power mgmt systems, cutting down on Genny time etc. In all refits can be fun, as long as you plan and let the immensity of the job get you down.

During the first couple of months, time was spent learning systems and tracking deficiencies. I ordered the custom made furnishings knowing that there would be long lead time on deliveries. I spent some time meeting and interviewing service providers for the crafts that would need to work on the boat. In the end I decided that few companies would be selected for my work list as the prices I received well exceeded the budget, did not really appear well qualified or were not timely. I lost count of the amount of appointments set up where the the representatives simply didn't show up. Speaking with other owners in the area, I heard that this was a typical response in Houston.

One Saturday morning while sitting on the back porch of the boat drinking a cup of tea, I was hailed by a man on the pier. He was a Hispanic dude who in fairly broken English, asked if I had any work for him to do on the boat such as cleaning the hull. I invited him aboard and over a soft drink asked about his background and skills. Turns out he had over twenty years working in fiberglass and wood and was pretty confident in his own abilities. He had been working for the last three years as a contractor to the local yards and doing some private work for others. On that date he didn't have anything lined up to do. Long story short, I hired him as a foreman/contractor for the upcoming project after satisfying myself that he had a good reputation, was legal to work in the US and could get the proper insurances.

I first gave him a small job as a test, redo the interior of the bulwarks in the aft cockpit. The result was amazing. He showed up every day on time with his tools and ready to work. He was meticulous in the work and took no shortcuts. When I suggested a quicker way to accomplish a task that cut a corner he refused to do it that way saying he would only do it if he could do it right. That had been a test and he passed. We negotiated an hourly rate that was higher than what he had been getting paid by the shipyards but was only a third of what the shipyards were charging customers for his work. He was a happy guy with the arrangement and we have since become good friends due to mutual respect. The other thing that was great was that he was plugged in to the local marine repair community, almost all work in Houston being done by Hispanic labor. That was invaluable as we brought in other labor and crafts as time went on. This was Sonny.

I stayed on board during most of the refit. I was not on board during the haul out periods. During those periods I happily stayed in the guest cabin of a live aboard couples Carver 57 that was moored on the same pier in the marina.

Haul out, bottom work and hull painting was done at Hillman Marine in Dickenson, a small commercial yard catering to mostly oyster draggers and shrimp boats. They provided haul out with a travel lift, blocking, power and water only. No other services. All work was done by owners or their contractors and that suited me just fine.

There were two haul out periods scheduled, one at the beginning of the project and the other at the end. This allowed for emergent work to be accomplished early and finish and touch up at the end.


So that was the set up for the work, let's get down to discussing the projects. Some of there were done in conjunction with other projects, some as solo projects. For the sake of simplicity I will describe them as they go along as if each were individual projects and not necessarily in the chronological order in which the were accomplished.


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We looked at that boat about 3 years ago. Saw a ton of work to get it up to speed so we did not go any further with it. We ended up getting our Jefferson that really looked good. Have enjoyed her allot. I did spend a ton of time updating all the hoses etc. Good luck with your refit. She will look great when you are all done.
By the way we had heard of and had recommendations on Sonny as well. Is he still working for you? I would like to get his number for some future work. You can PM me it if you wish.
Thanks

PM sent. Roger, are you still in Houston? What marina are you at?


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Martin, you have one of the single engine trawlers? I love that design. Lots of space and very seaworthy. Original interiors very similar to mine. I hope you get a chance to enjoy using the boat. The refit is just a precursor for the enjoyment of the journeys ahead.


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Looking at the hull at the deck edge the teak was painted as you can see after the stainless steel cap was removed.







So the boat was brought to the shipyard. The teak rails were remove. The hull was sanded Dow and a layer of fresh gel coat was applied. More sanding. Two coats of Awlgrip primer applied. More sanding. Final coat of Awlgrip applied as a light coat, a very light sand and another spray.






hull painted. No woodwork, yet.


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At this stage, the plan was to address the exterior from the pilot house visor down. After the paint had cured it was time to put new wood trim on. I went the Houston Hardwoods and looked through their inventory. I decided to go with virgin growth Honduras mahogany. I bought 9' x 12" x 3" planks. From these, using the old teak as a template, the deck edge was cut with a simple skill saw and shaped with an electric planer. Doing a little bit at a time, the wood was shaped to fit the curve of the hull. It came out well, I thought.





It was attached with stainless steel screws after the fiberglass was given a coating of 3M 4200 to seal behind the wood. Then multiple coats of varnish. It looked so good, I didn't want to put the stainless cap back on.






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To get an idea of the quality of the paint shoot, look at this pic. If you can expand the area at the back end of the boat, look at Sonny and he's reflection in the hull.




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Cool, McGill ...... Thanks for the personal info and demonstrating venerability as it pushed you to get down to it and do what you have done ...... I too am a rag man having competitively raced a 32 foot sloop all over ..... best fun I've ever had!! However, its time to do the slow cool ....... But, I don't have the back ground as a NAMS certified surveyor ....... kudos to you ...... Keep it coming as I'm sure there's many out there who can use the info ..... I'm digesting and will have more questions ..... Dis ......

Wow, what a project. Looks great! I remember looking at the wood trim molding and thinking that was going to be a big project. Did the engines run good? Did you need to do any refit on it?
I did get your PM... thank you...
We live in Niceville FL over by Destin and did then too. We just went over there to look at her. Thanks for sharing your work.

I wanted the name board the be special. Prior to my retirement and when I still actively flew my plane, I was invited a few times to private events for local pilots by a group that called themselves 'The Quiet Ones' (Q1's). They are retired pilots who flew for the military during periods of conflict such as Vietnam, Korea and even WWII. Eventually I was invited to their weekly lunch held at a local Chinese Buffet where seniors get $1 discount on the price on Tuesdays. It was very informal, and you never knew who would show up to sit with us, from local politicians to grandkids. I call the group the OFFC. (Old Farts Flying Club)

I was discussing my thoughts on a name board with one of the guys I was close with. He said, "hey, I can make that for you!". Turns out after aviation, his profession was sign making and he specializes in carved sign boards. So, ok, off we go.

I had an antique whiskey jug in the form of a Scotsman sitting on a barrel. I had named him McGillicuddy. I took some pictures and gave them to my friend and this is what he came up with.


The decanter



After some discussion, we agreed he could not fit McGillicuddy on the stern board so he was to get a board of his own.

The name board was to have some unique details of its own.





And this is what it looked like on the stern.



You will see that the transom is not square. So the solution, rather than bend the board, was to put spacers behind the board. Obviously the spacers at the outboard sides are significantly bigger. Than those on the centerline.







The name board is mahogany to match the trim. You might also note that the original stern did not have any wood trim pieces. We added an upper course trim board to 'frame' the name board and it looked well.


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Couldn't be happier with my Awlgrip paint job. The secret to paint longevity is wax, at least once a year.

Ted

Agreed


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After we left the shipyard, we did some more paint work at my home slip. The house to deck joint on both port and starboard side walkways showed stress cracking. (On an earlier thread I had inadvertently called this a hull to deck joint. It wasn't) we gouged out. The fracture and found out the substrate was a single layer of fiberglass. Rather than simply reapply the gelcoat, we laid down four new layers of glass first. Then gelcoat. Then we painted on the nonskid. This was done with rollers using Awlgrip products including the grip material that was applied on the topcoat.

I didn't take any before pics but this is the result.










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You can see we also put non skid on the cockpit bulwark top. On some docks this area is level with the dock and people tend to use step on it to board. The non skid with a small step ladder inside provides a safer boarding path.


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Very nice work!

Greetings,
Mr. M. Indeed nice. I noticed your window coverings. Are the snaps on the teak frame or beside and if on, why that particular location?

O C Diver said:

Couldn't be happier with my Awlgrip paint job. The secret to paint longevity is wax, at least once a year.

Ted

Click to expand...

Not Awlgrip....

Topcoat Maintenance

Mr RT, the window frames are polished aluminum. The snaps are on the fg alongside. There are new covers on board since these photos were taken but we used the original snap positions.


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Mr B, thank you for that info. I had never seen it before. At the marina all the cleaning boys use buff and wax. I do already have a stubborn soot stain that has been difficult to remove. I will give the Awlgrip product a try.


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McGillicuddy said:

Mr B, thank you for that info. I had never seen it before. At the marina all the cleaning boys use buff and wax. I do already have a stubborn soot stain that has been difficult to remove. I will give the Awlgrip product a try.


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Click to expand...

Yes, you do wax some of their other products, like Awlcraft, and you wax Alexseal. With any of them I suggest taking their maintenance suggestions seriously. We even go so far as using their products. We use Awlwash and Awlcare.

On Alexseal we use the products they recommend.

http://www.alexseal.com/docs/general/ALXS_caremaintenance.pdf

On old inherited paint jobs when you don't know the paint or what treatment has been previously used, you're in no man's land and do what it appears needs to be done. However, on a newly painted boats I always recommend following the paint manufacturer's guidelines.

At the aft end of the house is an area I call the back porch. The floor is laid with a cork floor that is caulked between strips. At some point a PO had coated it with a sealer of some type. The sealer was disintegrating and the area looked bad. I thought about pulling it up and replacing it with Plasteak or similar. After eraser have I found the cork stuff was distributed by Marquip in Florida so I called them up. He told me that the stuff should last forever and did not need to be coated. Early in it production some owners had no believed in its longevity and had used sealants. He told me to sand it with 80 grit and it would be fine. He also told me to wash it occasionally with OxyClean and a stiff brush and it comes up nicely.

I thought the back porch was a waste of space because it wasn't well protected and got wet when it rained, meaning that I couldn't put nice comfortable furniture out there. My solution was to enclose it in canvas and eisenglass.


Back Porch floor


Close up of planks


Same area after sanding and with screen. No my favorite place to sit and drink my morning tea.






I think it improves the lines of the boat, don't you?


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Sorry for some of the nonsensical wording. Autocorrect on my iPad has some strange ideas about what I am trying to say.


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BandB said:

Not Awlgrip....

Topcoat Maintenance

Click to expand...

Yes Awlgrip. Awlcare yields poor results and mediocre protection, IMO. Guess if you want to do it 6 times a year it's ok. Much happier with the Collonite wax. Been using Collonite for 10 years on the charter boat with no adverse effects. When you put the new coat on the old coat is removed.

Ted

O C Diver said:

Yes Awlgrip. Awlcare yields poor results and mediocre protection, IMO. Guess if you want to do it 6 times a year it's ok. Much happier with the Collonite wax. Been using Collonite for 10 years on the charter boat with no adverse effects. When you put the new coat on the old coat is removed.

Ted

Click to expand...

I've heard very good things about Collonite wash and wax, know some highly rated detailers who use it. Our boat with Awlgrip gets far different use than your charter boat, but has held up nicely, looks like new.

BandB said:

I've heard very good things about Collonite wash and wax, know some highly rated detailers who use it. Our boat with Awlgrip gets far different use than your charter boat, but has held up nicely, looks like new.

Click to expand...

In an average 4 month season, the charter boat can get washed 60+ times. The Awlcare didn't hold up to repeated washings. The Collonite is still there the following spring after sitting outside all winter.

Ted

Next thing on my list was the interior. The master cabin, while huge by boat standards,was extremely dated. Plus it was the only place on the boat that emanated a musty smell. I didn't know if is was coming from the head or the carpet or the mattress and bedding or wood paneling below the portholes or all of the above. The main visual element of the cabin was the mirrored headboard that was painted with Chinese ribbons and lotus flowers. Plus the silvering on the back was peeling off.

The cabin was a gut job. I don't have many before pics, just what was in the surveyors report. But you can't smell photographs so they don't tell the whole story. Here is how it went:


Start by removing the mirror headboard


Remove shelves and teak trip on starboard side

remove cabinets and teak trim port side






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We did the head, shower and vanity at the same time


Shower floor removed. Took the opportunity to renew shower drain pipe as it was a slow drain


the shower had been paneled with white faced hardboard. That was all removed.








View of the vanity area with wallpaper


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