Deam On Lists

2009-02-23T11:12:00.000-08:00

Boat list, work completed through
November 2, 2009

(from log book and expense book, all receits on file)

In April of 2005, boat was hauled in Puerto Vallarta and surveyed. Bottom was cleaned, sanded and painted, zincs replaced, all filters and oil changed. A week was spent inspecting and exploring boat prior to purchase. All radios and instruments checked. All work except tachometers. Use engine temp gauge for trip north. Oil tests (3 independed labs) verify main engine, genset engine and transmission all in “like new” condition. Replace all zincs. April 2005, new Garmin GPS/Chart plotter installed.

1. May, 2005, Cabo San Lucas, New engine shaft (3.5 inch stainless steel) Rudder was pulled, rudder shaft inspected (great shape), all new packing in rudder shaft gland.
2. May, 2005, Cabo San Lucas, New cutlass bearings on shaft at both ends
3. June 2005, rebuild both heads. New tile floors, new holding tanks with macerator pumps to empty, and all plumbing, two new macerator toilets, woodwork repaired and varnished. (original idea was to use “Vacuflush” toilets, but advice from many was that they are expensive, difficult to install and repair and are very overrated. Advice was to go simple and with what always works. So far, so good.)
4. June 2005, Repair Inverter/Charger unit and replace most wiring.
5. July 2005, Kabula hydronic heat system, seven radiators with two speed fans, three thermostatically controlled zones. All hang locker’s have radiators and most drawers have tubes under. Lazarett area cleaned, primed and painted prior to installation.
6. August 2005, Renew propane tanks to new legal standards, inspection, new valves, repainted. (note: full tanks cook for almost two years)
7. August 2005, New propane system, solenoid, galley saftey switch, all wires and tubes.
8. August 2005, New Force 10 four burner stove with oven
9. Fall 2005 Upper office/bedroom, built in Western Red Cedar, with Jamacan Raintree wood desk, book case, settee with three large drawers that folds to double bed, book cases, new cusions, new top hatch, windows in auto safety glass,
10. Fall and winter 2006, build cabinet at bottom of ladder for aft stateroom to match design of boat.
11. Fall 2006, Rebuild front hatch area completely, new Lewmar hatch, new plywood coved with Epoxyed fiberglass mat. Solid and waterproof, better than new. With new trim inside.
12. May 2007, boat hauled at Bay Ship in Richmond, bottom cleaned, sanded and repainted, new “Simrad” depth sounder and readout installed, all bottom steel inspected for rust, through-hulls all inspected and lubricated,
13. Spring 2007, rebuild upper port propane locker. Replace most plywood, recover with three layers of marine grade 4oz cloth bedded in marine grade epoxy, prime and paint.
14. Fall 2008, Ports side of fly bridge rebuilt, with new plywood supported by western red cedar framing where needed. Recovered with two and three layers of Marine Grade epoxy and 4oz fiberglass cloth.
15. Winter 2008, rebuild fresh water system, new tubes, new “Sureflow” premium quality silent pressure pump, new valves.
16. Rebuilt Starboard entry gate.
17. Winter 2009, reorganize and rewire 12 volt system at batteries, with new wires, terminal strips, etc. Repaint most of engine room two coats primer, two coats white topcoat.
18. Summer 2008, replace refrigeration seawater cooling pump with new high quality “spa” pump.
19. Jan 2007, New cushions in main saloon and upper room.
20. Jan 2009, clean up wiring at aft end of engine room, repaint and clean around 32 volt panel,
21. Varnish maintenance and repainting is ongoing project. Many smaller projects not listed.
22. Spring 2009 Rebuild Starboard side flybridge. Extensive rebuild, with new framing, new plywood structure, new marine grade epoxy fiberglass, to original design but with much better materials. Three months of full time work. Whole flybrige now better than new.

23. May 2009, install new 12 volt wire buss at batteries, clean up 12 volt wiring and put in order.

24. Spring 2009, clean very well and paint all bilges with two coats primium grade rust preventive paint.

25. May 2009, boat was hauled and ultrasound test, all steel good! Rudder refinished, new Zincs, hull cleaned and paint touched up, she looks good!

26. October 2009, dismantle and clean the whole engine sea water cooling, the intercooler, the sea water pump, sea water strainer, from water intake to water exhaust. New impeller on pump, new hoses where needed, and fill engine with fresh coolant.

27. October 2009, rebuild the sea water cool system for the refrigeration unit, remount pump, new hoses and clamps

28. Clean sea water system for gen set, clean strainer, remove pump for rebuild or replacement.

Boat “Go to Sea” list
September 24, 2009

This is the minimum list if I need to sea with smallest expenditure, to reach the Sea of Cortez or Costa Rica and kick back and just relax.

1. Change two smaller oil filters in main engine and gen set. Clean well the main engine switchover filter system. Change main engine oil. Have mechanic set valve adjustments on the big Caterpillar, they were done about two years ago, should be checked before a long or very long voyage.
2. Clean and paint bottom, polish prop, check zincs. (boat was ultrasound tested April 2009 and passed test with flying colors, whole bottom tests good.)
3. Fix leak in steering system by replacing “O” rings in hydraulic rams at rudder, new hydraulic hoses for good luck. (on my list this spring)
4. Renew radio antenna leads and maybe replace two main (VHF and SSB) antennas. I just found out they are less than $200 each)
5. New lines on Floppy stopper system, inspect and paint poles.
6. Good dingy mount, new rope and blocks for dingy hoist system.
7. Fill fuel tanks, propane tanks. (Note: main diesel tanks filled Jan 2009! Have about 1400 gallons of good diesel in them, enough to go about 3000 miles non-stop)
8. Check spares and tools
9. Food and water and boat is ready to go.

This is the basic list, about $2500.00 with Cat mechanic included. With this done, and good weather, I am confident in this boat and would take it north to Seattle or south anywhere. With good weather! And be comfortable to live on anywhere.

The next list is what I would really like if my pockets were a little deeper, if I wanted to bring the boat up to the level and condition of a new $550,000+ steel trawler.
1. Garmin 4 kw 48” open array radar with radar/chart plotter unit, weather forecast addition, about $6,500.00 in the boxes or about $8,000 if someone else installs it all. (Old radar works fine as it is but does not have the sharp image, range or bells and whistles of new radar)
2. Remount floppy stopper system so the vanes are aft nearer the waterline so I could set and retrieve them myself without banging up hull or house. And I would remount the pole holders or add some braces so that the strain of the floppy stoppers is carried directly to the steel hull. I saw this on a Defever in Santa Barbara and really wish I had made drawings or photos.
3. New water maker. The old unit is 110 volt, not very efficient and needs work. And I paid for and installed a great water maker on my sailboat we took to Mexico and never used it. This boat holds 400 gallons of water and there are places to refill everywhere I went. I’m not sure I would really pay for a water maker until I was sure I needed one.
4. Replace bow thruster with engine driven hydraulic unit or larger electric unit. The 12-volt unit works, but only in calm water. The back of the boat can be controlled with the big barn door rudder and the 35” five blade prop, together they kick the aft end just where I want it now with some practice. But the bow cannot be controlled in strong tide or wind. I saw a hydraulic unit really kick a boat just into place and this seemed a very good answer. The front end of the engine has an extra pulley, the tube is big enough in the bow, the unit is a bolt in, but is expensive. This is about a $20,000 wish, but it I was going to places where I had windy landings to make by myself or with my wife, I sure would like this. A cheaper upgrade is a new 12 volt unit with counter rotating props which they claim is much stronger than my old unit.
5. Change the engine exhaust system. Sooner or later, it will need a new stainless exhaust system, new muffler (now they can put it in the stack for much more room in engine area) This was quoted at about $7500 by Bay Marine last haul out, including the gen set system at the same time.
6. While I was doing the engine exhaust, I would replace the wood stove with a new, closed combustion space unit from Italy where I’ve seen some really fine small wood stoves, and replace the whole stack integrating it somehow with the engine exhaust or parallel to it. This is a whim more than a real need, but the wood stove is so cozy on a rainy night!
7. I would like to remount all the radios, the new radar, and some other instruments on a new wood overhead unit over the windows at the driving end of the main saloon. It would neaten up the whole area, make it all easy to see anywhere in the cabin, and clear the top of the built in cabinet for living area. When I was bringing the boat up from Mexico, I saw I liked to wander, to cook, read and look at a movie while keeping watch, and I wanted to be able to see the instruments anywhere in the cabin easily.
8. On the way south, I would stop and Baja Naval in Ensenada and get the boat repainted. The boat looks good now, but if I wanted it to look like a brand new boat, (at the $550,000 level) paint is the trick. They do great work and the cost is much less than here. Short of that, the fly bridge needs finish paint where I’ve done the rebuild work (it is white primer now), the green on the hull needs minor patch and touch up (I did this touch up this spring and it looks good)
9. Not needed, this is a personal taste thing: Replace the floors through out the boat. I don’t like the oak very much. My wife hates carpets. And I’ve seen some really fine prefinished high quality flooring that would transform the interior. I would do this now if funds were available. My Mexican helper and I could remove all the old flooring inside of three days and have it done in another week of working together. He is $150.00 a day, and the super quality flooring is about $2000. Real temptation!
10. Replace the “U” channel on all the sliding windows. I would have this done at Baja Naval if I didn’t do it myself. It is not expensive with regard to materials, but could consume hours of labor to do it right. The “U” Channel is what was used on Automobiles up until about 1960 and is available on the web.
That is my list. Other than maintaining the boat, this list done well would make the boat as good for me as any new boat I’ve seen. Better in some respects as I have not seen a new steel boat (or fiberglass) that has the style and character of this boat. And none have a low center of gravity like these Defevers for a good sea ride. Coming north, I was traveling along side other Trawlers and fish boats and they were all bouncing more than I was.

Maybe you wonder why I would sell a boat I obviously love? Hah, there is something I love more! My wife. She is Italian, we've been married for some 17 years and she wants to go home for a while. We have a stone house we've rebuilt over the last 22 years we've been meeting each other and it is time to go and live there, we just can not afford two country live on Social Security. So, somebody is going to end up with a damn fine boat.

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