Fixing up “this old boat” sure makes for a short season! 🙁
We did get out for a handful of weekends and a few daysails once we got the major work done. Enough to sink the hook deep – we’re more committed than ever to getting her back in shape. More than that, it was enough to decide what we do and don’t want to do in the next phase of work. Now it’s into the yard where we can start on that list.
High priority items include:
- finish the electrical upgrades (new Victron inverter, some new wiring, LED lights)
- replace the alternator
- new dodger
- replumb the waste system
- install davits – found a used pair at Bacon’s 🙂
- lots of little things… (it’s a boat!)
Will definitely keep our weekends busy!
Kathy at the helm
Labor Day 2011. Finally got enough of the major chores done to take off for the weekend. The Dalby’s joined us and we sailed from Whitehall Creek down to the Rhode River.
The Rhode is only about 15 miles south of Annapolis, but it’s very different. The shoreline is mostly Smithsonian Center environmental.
The trip down was great, mostly because we were back on the water. All the new parts worked the way they were supposed to. Well, almost. The house batteries were pretty much trash. So new batteries moved way up on the priority list. Good thing we had already bought the new Honda generator!
Rafting with Coram Deo
The Chitterling’s joined us and rafted up for the weekend. A little embarrassing to be seen rafted up with a powerboat, but what are ya’ gonna do?
Of course, we mixed relaxing with checking a few more things off the project list. While tracing some wires, we ended up pulling apart the port settee. Didn’t take much to pull it apart since it turned out to have some serious problems. And the extra hands made it possible to rebuild the whole thing as we put it back together!
Underway at last!
Felt great to be back on the water instead of always at the dock working! Definitely a major milestone in the journey!
Now the work starts. As Lyn says all too often, we’re living “this old boat.”
Arriving on the truck
After we trucked our ‘new to us’ Pearson 422, Paperbird, to Annapolis from Houston, we splashed her on the Magothy river and started on the list. And what a list it is…
and going in the water
The good news is that we get to refit the boat exactly the way we want her. The bad news is that we HAVE to refit her to get her exactly the way we want her. Lots of repair/upgrading to do so this will be an ongoing saga. No quick fixes here.
So far this summer, we:
Working on chain plates
– replaced the stem fitting, chainplates and headstay
New bow sprit and stem fitting
– replaced the bowsprit. Special mention here to Jeff Carter at Carter Fab in Millersville. There was no way possible to replicate all the angles and get that thing to fit right.
Even when we started putting the new one on, I was sure it would never fit right. But it just slid right into place, nice and snug. Amazing workmanship!
Working on the new windless
– replaced the windlass and added a washdown system in the anchor locker
Installing the wash down system
– replaced the furler with a Hood SeaFurl V. Turns out they offer a 50% discount if you trade in your old furler. Even if the old one doesn’t work any more. No argument here…
New batteries
– recut the jib to accomodate the different height off the deck of the new furler
– replaced the house battery bank. Also added 2 echo chargers (engine and windlass) to simplify and improve the charging system.
Phil Dalby: "know anything about a gas stove???"
Working on depth and speed gauges
Phil Dalby helping with wiring: "try the red one..."
Noah helping
Of course, there was the usual and expected maintenance along the way: joker valves, light fixtures, resoldering wires and the like. But that’s just the normal state of affairs on a boat. If you don’t enjoy fixing things, either get rid of the boat or be prepared to write big checks often. 🙂 ip tech info .
Once the search was on we had to get more specific about what we wanted to find. A couple things stood out as preferences:
– not filled up with electronics that were really great when installed a few years ago, but were essentially obsolete now. You pay for them. You’d like to replace them. But they work so…
– low engine hours. Swapping out a diesel is not high on our list. Do-able, but not a desire.
– sound. We can handle lots of repairs, upgrades, and mods. But some things can’t be fixed.
In Houston, we found a 422 that had been used mostly as a dockside condo for over a decade. And then she had been neglected for a couple years due to a family situation. 
The Previous Owner had started to rehab her, replacing the cabin sole, rebedding the portlights to cure some bad leaks, and repairing much of the damaged interior wood work. – BONUS
The POs original plan was to retire and sail her to the islands. Part of that plan was to wait until the last minute to add electronics – CHECK
Because she had mostly been a condo, the engine (repowered with a Yanmar 55 turbo diesel, was lightly used – CHECK
The PO was a pleasure to deal with. We spent a few days poking, prodding and then took the plunge!
Some years ago, a friend told that the 1st step in going cruising was … “sell your boat.” We didn’t believe him. Actually, we didn’t want to believe him. But he was right. Two reasons:
1 – you start saving money. Without the ongoing expense of maintaining a boat, slip, etc, you start to build up a kitty for a future purchase
2 – you figure out if and why you really want a boat. Then you can buy the boat you really want to do what you decided you really want to do.
We sold our Pearson 10m and waited.
Turns out we really did want a boat to cruise. So then we started looking at the features we wanted in the next boat.
After looking at way too many boats and designs, we settled on the Pearson 422. Only 39 of them were built in the 80’s and they didn’t seem to come on the market that often. But all the reviews and owners reports all said the same thing – people loved them, they cruised great, were extremely comfortable at anchor and underway, was easy for a couple to handle but had room for guests (with grandkids!)
The key feature that everyone, including us, really liked was the aft centerline queen with walkaround space!
Next step – find one… ip information www.myretirement.americanfunds.com .
