Boat Refit

In January 2010, we finished up in the U.K. and temporarily relocated to Savannah, so, we could start making the necessary changes and do the maintenance required for a boat to be capable of making a long, offshore voyage and support a liveaboard lifestyle. G had finished up work in the U.K. at the end of November so was able to devote full-time to the project doing just about all the hands-on work. A was still working, but, was able to pitch in on weekends and also managed the project management, gear research, ordering and financials etc. We rented an apartment for four months to have somewhere for A to work, stage the new gear and store the old gear while we had the boat in pieces for maintenance.

The boat wasn't in too bad shape mechanically, although there were a lot of very complex systems for such a small boat (more on that later). However, the cosmetics were another matter. The brightwork (wooden accents) had been let go and was in varying states of finish, mostly peeling, or, absent varnish.  The exposed wood had weathered. The gelcoat was faded and chalky. The teak decks were grooved. The dodger was coming apart, the interior upholstery was very old and ugly. There was mildewed wallpaper inside. The previous owner's custom changes weren't to our taste etc. The boat has an all-teak interior, but, even the galley counters were teak, so, it also needed to be lightened up
and modernized. All in all, the boat looked very tired and needed a thorough going-over.

'Before'

Here's a summary of the maintenance items we did:

1. painted the hull black. In hindsight, if we'd know how much work this was going to be, we probably wouldn't have started it. The  gelcoat wasn't that bad and could probably have been brought back. However, we've always been partial to dark-hulled boats and we started, so,  had to finish. G had to hand-sand the hull five times. Once initially, then between each of two coats of epoxy primer undercoat and then between two coats of topsides paint. We applied the paint together, using the 'roll-and-tip' method. It worked ok and we are reasonably pleased with the results. A professional could probably have done better, but, then it would have cost way more too. As long as nobody looks too closely, it's fine!
1. reupholstered interior, added lee cloths
2. painted interior lockers, stripped wallpaper and painted salon walls
3. Corian overlay on galley counters, new faucet
4. sanded teak decks, rebunged where necessary
5. stripped and applied eight coats varnish to all brightwork. This was an incredible amount of work taking G almost a month  to just strip the wood. Used Interlux Schooner Gold varnish.
6. removed and painted bowsprit, replaced dolphin striker bolts
6. replaced chainplates
7. replaced running rigging, fenders and docklines
8. replace some standing rigging including bolts, clevis pins etc.
9. cleaned and repaired sails, added a third reef and new boltrope to main, replaced suncovers
10. replaced dodger skin, replaced all boat canvas
11. cleaned and polished all fibreglass and stainless
12. rebuilt chain locker partition, removed and replaced some rode and marked and sorted out the rest
13. replaced water filters and watermaker membrane
14. unstepped mast, cleaned/waxed, replaced VHF cable, installed wind system
15. removed davits and bimini frame
16. removed old aerials and cables from radar arch, ran new ones
17. new valve/fuel pump for our diesel heater
18. sand bottom and two coats bottom paint
19. new hand-painted lettering and bootstripe
20. new gaskets, glass and screens in all twelve bronze portlights
21. built plywood covers for offshore use on butterfly hatch
22. new interior bookshelves, storage cabinet
23. rebuilt teak boom gallows
24. removed and rebedded most deck hardware including headsail tracks, stanchions
25. replaced keel bolt for grounding system
26. refrigeration serviced
27. rebuilt the head (toilet), checked seacocks, seawater manifold etc.
28. installed a hydronic heater to be used for free engine heat when motoring
29. new lifelines
39 fibreglass repair to leading edge of keel
40. rebuilt generator, installed new alternator on it, installed separate water pump switch
41. repaired exhaust manifold on main engine,

Here's list of new gear we added to the boat:
1. Nasa Clipper Wind System
2. Nasa LPG Gas Detection System
3. Standard Horizon Matrix GX2100 VHF with built-in AIS
4. Icom, model IC-M34 Handheld VHF Marine Transceiver with battery pack
5. Standard Horizon CP300 GPS Chartplotter
6. Aqua Signal, Series 32 LED nav lights
7. Bitstorm Bad Boy Extreme Wi-Fi device
8. McMurdo G5 Smartfind EPIRB
9. Iridium 9555 Satellite Phone
11. OGM LED tricolor and anchor light
12. Aqua Signal steaming/deck light
13. Nasa Target HF3 SSB receiver
14. Astra III-B Sextant
15. Viking four-person liferaft
16. Monitor windvane
17. ATN storm jib (Gale-sail)
18. Fiorentino para-anchor
19. ATN top climber (mast climber)
20. second depth sounder
21. all new flares to SOLAS requirements
22. offshore medical kit and fire blanket
23. two immersion suits
24. lifesling
25. replaced prop line cutters

Here's a list of existing gear we kept:
1. Sitex, model T-180 Radar
2. Autohelm Boat Speed (2)
3. Autohelm Depth (2)
4. Autohelm, model ST6000 Autopilot
5. Magellan GPS
8. PUR Survivor 06 hand-held watermaker
9. PUR 35 watermaker

'After'

Launch Day!

Most of the cost of the refit was hiring a mechanic to help us with our 45 HP Perkins 4-108 diesel engine and Kubota generator. Our surveyor pointed out that the end fitting on the exhaust manifold looked like a problem. It was. The mechanic found a dangerous exhaust leak that led to an expensive, custom made part repair. Of course, one thing led to another and a few more jobs got done. Although expensive, it was well worth it as we are now confident our Perkins should last a few more years and the Kubota one-cylinder generator is functional again  after it was rebuilt and reinstalled. In the process though, we 'fried' our battery monitor and as it was obsolete had to install a basic one so we at least had something to look at. It also didn't inspire much confidence when our mechanic stated that '...the charging system on this boat is the most complex that he's ever seen in thirty years in the business...'. The former owner of the boat that installed the system must have been an engineer with too much time on his hands. We tried to avoid problems and not change the existing system design (i.e. kept the generator and didn't install wind/solar options), but, I'm sure we are going to pay the price of an overly complex system in future.

We've read and heard that most people planning to live aboard often spend years preparing the boat. We did our refit in four months flat. It required a high degree of organization, an incredible amount of hard, dirty work and more money spent that, if we'd known how much, we probably wouldn't have
started! However, it's all behind us now, we're proud of the boat and are enjoying all the positive comments on it that we've been receiving wherever we go.