In at the deep end

Hi all. Longish time lurker, retired and had thought about getting a boat for a while.
We had narrowed the field down to a few makes and sizes, and early this month decided on a road trip to go aboard such of them as were for sale around the Southeast.
We were not intending to actually buy a boat, yhat was planned for next Spring.
We eliminated a couple of makes, looked at a dozen or so boats which focused our attention on what we really wanted in a boat which could become a home for us, and kept on.
In Stuart FL a boat we wanted to look at could not be shown, as the seller was out of town, so (as I have learned to say) the Admiral looked on Craigslist to see if any boats were for sale, and one was.
We called, the owners invited us aboard and showed us their 15 year labor of love, the La Vita Dolce, a Cheoy Lee 40 LRC.
She had been well maintained, upgraded, and cared for as the POs winter home, and was everything that we wanted, at a very reasonable price.
Th he owners took us out for a day cruise, after having led us through the boat and her systems, equipment, and upgrades. She performed well, her twin Lehman 135s started instantly from cold, without smoke, ran to full revd without strain, and warm at load carried 80lbs oil pressure.
Back at the dock, the owner yolc us how his health was forcing the sale, and that he wanted to sell her to someone who would love the boat as much as he did.
The Admiral nodded at me, I nodded back, and we told the owners that we would buy it, subject to survey.
The survey went well, only one medium problem, disclosed in advance, that the rear heads drain to the black tank was plugged.
We are researching replacing the heads and tank with composting heads.
As we had not expected to buy a boat, the rest of our life is not ready.
We have moved her from her home slip in Stuart to dry storage in Indiantown while we close up and sell our house in Indianapolis.
Once this is done, we will move aboard and start working on this new adventure.
(Yes, I know that adventures are dangerous, unpleasant things which happen to other people a long way away)
This seems to be a fun group, and we look forward to meeting you all, either online or in person.
John and Priscilla Sage, La Vita Dolce

John and Priscilla, a great story and welcome to TF. How about sharing some photos of your baby with us.

Congrats and welcome!

Welcome aboard and congrats on your new baby. Have a great time.

I will try to post some pics soon.
Trying now to figure out how to do that.
Will RTFM and see how that works
John

Dare to Dream

Welcome aboard!

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Life moves in mysterious ways. I note your comment regarding replacing the heads with composting models. May I strongly suggest you hold off on making any changes of this magnitude for at least a year.

Get Peggie Halls advice about heads before you do anything.

Awesome story! What is meant to be is meant to be. Congrats. Looking forward to pictures of her and hearing of your adventures.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Life moves in mysterious ways. I note your comment regarding replacing the heads with composting models. May I strongly suggest you hold off on making any changes of this magnitude for at least a year.

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Totally agree. Over time you will find some things that you thought would need changing don't, and things that you liked will need changing.

Welcome aboard, John and Priscilla! Great to have you onboard as new boat owners!

Lots to take in with a new boat. Many have learned to go slow with the mods and improvements until you have a good feel for your use and preference patterns. Many here have been influential in my ongoing mods and improvements...talking me into good ideas and out of bad ones. Feel free to ask if in doubt.

After 10 years of ownership, I'm finally starting to feel as if I have my boat "dialed in" for my uses and preferences. That's not to say I have no work left to do...that's a constant, but the big mods and upgrades are behind me now. Only with lots of forethought, advice and encouragement have I reached this point on my little boat. I learned to slow down and consider the big-system picture when considering upgrades. Heads, electrical and fuel mods certainly each fall into that category warranting great consideration.

Good luck and enjoy the adventure!

Cheers!

Great story well told, thanks for sharing, and good luck with your adventures!

From one Cheoy Lee owner to another-Congrats!!!! Hope you love it as much as previous owner. Agree with previous posters, hold off on composting toilets, there are much better options out there.
Look forward to hearing about your adventures.

How is a composting toilet different from an outhouse???

Welcome from Michigan!

markpierce said:

How is a composting toilet different from an outhouse???

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Why don't you dig a hole in your hull and find out

A friend went with composting toilets and when he ran out of peat moss in the Caribbean and realized that it didnt grow in the tropics, he was sad...........

John and Priscilla, great story. Thanks for sharing and welcome aboard. Would love to see pictures when you get it sorted out.

Greetings,
I was only using Mr. JS's mention of switching to a composting toilet as AN EXAMPLE. My point, and it still stands, is live with the boat for a period of time before you initiate ANY significant changes. Read Mr. FW's next to last sentence in post #11.

The non functioning aft head may be an easy fix or Mr JS may be up to his elbows in "The joys of head repair". Worst case, the hose will have to be replaced BUT it will have to be removed IF he goes to a composting head in any case. He may also find that if the aft head is repaired, it may not be necessary to replace it...Take your time. Do not emulate Lord Ronald...

"Lord Ronald said nothing; he flung himself from the room, flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions.

• "Gertrude the Governess", Nonsense Novels (1911) Stephen Leacock.

Hi John,

Here's a heads up for your first thread; desiccating toilets stir things up around here even more than which anchor is best.

Weird...

Heads

The decision to do something about the heads is forced by the condition of the existing drain plumbingof the aft head, all behind cabinets or tanks. This drain line has been plugged for years.
PO used it as a urinal, draining directly overboard, with the forward head only draining to the waste tank.
First estimate was 2k to redo or repair bc of location of the line. The existing y valve and related plumbing at the forward head also fail current regs.
That led me to the composting heads, but as little as I know about the alternatives, I am open to any suggestions.
We intend to live aboard at a marina near Stuart FL for 6 mos to a year, while learning about our boat and getting experience cruising in her.
We may later cruise the east coast and the Bahamas, or even try the great loop. She should be capable of the loop as she draws only 4' 8", and the mast is hinged.
Thanks all for the welcome and the advice.
John

Congratulations on the new boat!

If the forward holding tank has a deck pump out fitting, bringing the forward head into compliance could be as simple as removing the Y valve.

If the back head still functions, routing a flexible hose from head to tank shouldn't be that expensive. You may find more competitively priced head mechanics in the Indiantown area.

Ted

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Life moves in mysterious ways. I note your comment regarding replacing the heads with composting models. May I strongly suggest you hold off on making any changes of this magnitude for at least a year.

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Welcome aboard.

La Vita Dolce

Trying some pics. Hope it works.
John

Get a plumber and or replace the hose to the aft sanitary tank.
Lift the throne and run a snake down to the tank.

Are you handy as in DIY? If so there is always a way to get a hose from one place to another. There are 2 really good sewage hoses made, one of which is really flexible. You may have to do some surgery to route it. It really isn’t rocket science, maybe just hard physically to do. Don’t rely on just an estimate on holding tanks hoses, it isn’t much fun so the estimate may be high to discourage you from having the work done. At least if you are not able to DIY then get a couple of estimates.

JohnS said:

Trying some pics. Hope it works.
John

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Nice interior.

Sounds like a well cared for boat and a good find for you. Good luck with your plans!

markpierce said:

How is a composting toilet different from an outhouse???

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Surprised you have to ask that Mark. An outhouse is, as the name implies, outside, and the lot can go down it. A composting toilet is inside with you, in close proximity, and also you have to separate wet waste from essentially dry.
But you knew that...

Congratulations!
Life works in mysterious ways. I think it’s great you acted and bought the boat you fell in love with. Better to not have any regrets on letting it get away. The rest will all work itself out.
Best wishes to you. Fun times ahead.