9-5-16 Free Stuff

Free stuff is always great, especially when it comes to boat restoration.  Some if it is readily apparent what you will be using it for and other stuff - remains to be seen....

I have a friend who recently completed a 3 year sailboat renovation and needed to get rid of the remaining epoxy and hull patching supplies.....This is a great start to my upcoming work.

My father in law acquired some used Tug Boat tow line and has since dropped it off at my shop...not sure what I will use it for, but time will tell.

Cart with supplies to start with

Tug boat tow line (approx. 3" diameter braided - this is massive line)

Fiberglass mat and cloth

8-26-16 Cleaning part 1

So I ended up having some time on my hands this afternoon - with the help of my father-in-law - Jeff, we mounted a hitch to the bucket of my tractor to allow me to move the boat and trailer out of the shop as necessary.   So we gave it a try and sure enough my old John Deere could pull the trailer right out of the shop and onto the gravel so we could start pressure washing the grime off the boat.

During this process I discovered a couple of things -

1.  On the trip home I lost the teak sliding roof hatch cover.  I thought it was secure when we left, but should have made more of an effort to verify.  This goes on the list of item to fabricate.

2.  The wood trim on my boat is indeed teak - which is what I had hoped for.  It is great boat wood, but sure does come at a premium price.  I will need to decide how far I will take this on the restoration.

3. Buying a cheap ($8.00) in line pump that hooks to your drill motor to "suction" out the water from the bilge is waste of money.  After burning the contraption up, I ended up resorting to a bucket and scoop to get 90% of the water out of the bilge.  The rest will need to be done with a shop vac.  Oh yeah - bilge water is not very nice stuff, I have no idea how long it has been in the boat, but it is great to have most of it gone.

Pressure washing the deck and hull.  Pulled boat out of ship with a hitch mounted to my tractor bucket

Existing condition of interior trim & cabinets - not much worth salvaging other than the teak

Bilge hatch covers - all will need to be replaced/rebuilt

8-24-16 Coming Home

After nearly 2 months of preparation - it was time to bring her home.  With it only being about 1 hour from my house to the boat yard, I had assumed about a 3 hour ordeal.  In the end it took about 6 hours, but we were able to safely make the trip home.



Completed Trailer at Boat Yard

Lifting Boat From Cradle Onto Trailer

  At the last minute, I added a 7th brace for the bow, not knowing the exact angle of the bow.  I took a guess and got close enough, but will put this on the work list of items to be addressed down the road.

Loaded Up, Tied Down, Ready For Travel

As we were picking the boat from the cradle and setting it on the trailer, it became apparent that even though she was sitting correctly over the trailer axles, we still didn't have as much tongue weight as we should.  It was fine for the short trip home, but when I replace the mobile home axles with new trailer axels (both to lower the trailer to the ground and to add the ability for trailer breaks, I will need to look carefully at where the weight distribution is at that time.

On the trip home there were no issues, she road steady with no bouncing (helped to deflate the MH Tires down to 60psi from the original 90psi).

Summary of Costs to Date:

1.  Used Boat Trailer - $400 (craigslist)
2.  Used MH Tires - $200 (craigslist)
3.  Steel pipe and angle iron for brace fabrication - $166 (Ramm Steel)
4.  Welding equipment & supplies -$50
    5.  Tools (welder & grinder) - $0 (borrowed)
    6.  Tow Vehicle ( 2007 Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel) - this thing is a beast -  1 tank of diesel & 6 pack of beer  (thanks Dale!)
    7.  Boat Cost - $1050
    8.  Trade in value on old blue trailer (too small axels - see earlier post.  ($300)
    9.  Value of boat cradle not needed ($150)

  So the total cost to date - $1,416.00






Parked in my Shop, her new home for the next season

8/7/16 - Trailer Part 3

Work continues on the getting the trailer ready/ converted to a sailboat hauler.  I never thought that a sailboat restoration would involve so much welding or steel work.  Great leaning process through it all.  Used 2" schedule 40 pipe stanctions with 1 1/2" schedule 40 for the interior portion,  1 1/2" x 3/16" angle iron for the braces.  The keel sits on some L 4x6x5/16 that I had laying around.....should be pretty stout.

7-24-16 - Trailer part 2

Wheels off for evaluation

The fixer upper trailer is now in the shop.  Old wheels off for now and time to evaluate the state of the hubs and brakes...Good news is that the hubs/bearings look to be usable for the trip to Eugene and back.  The unfortunate part is that there will be no brakes for this trip as a part of the trailer. The remains of the brake pads crumbled off and water & insects have seen to the demise of the mechanism.

I have been reading up on mobile home axles and now see why they are not a good long term solution for a trailer that gets regular use.  After the boat renovation is complete, the plan is to refit the springs with new axles and brakes.

Not much left of the inner workings of the brakes or pads

7-20-16 -Trailers....

So the great part about trailers.... they make your boat moveable over land.....the bad part....one more thing to go wrong.

I received a call from a friend that he was not going to be needing the trailer for his sailboat anymore (it was damaged in a collision), so he was offering up the trailer to me at no cost.....ah...free is never free.

Less than a mile from the location I picked up the trailer, we had a blowout.....limped over to the boat yard and are now determining if the trailer will work for the weight of my boat.

thank goodness for tandem axel trailers....

July 17, 2016 - The boat trailer

Found a very used trailer here locally - now the work begins to get it ready to haul the boat home.

25', 20,000lb capacity trailer

Tires need a look as to the lights

Beginnings - June 2016

It has been about 2 years in the making.  After hours of research, YouTube videos, boat books and conversations, I have just taken the plunge into starting the restoration of a sailboat.  I have just put money down on a 32' Ericson Scorpion - Hull #25.  The boat is currently stored in Eugene and I am working getting it my shop for the project.

Boat on cradle in storage

First look



Looking Aft