Chanticleer is back in Detroit

[tjshuler]

We bought a 79 53MY in March in Deale, MD.

The boat is solid and mechanically, all of the important stuff seemed to work.

Brought the boat back to Detroit over 14 days.

Mishaps were as follows:

New batteries were installed on port side by the previous owner this spring. Had to hang out on the Erie canal one night with no electricity. In the morning starter solenoids only mad that little clicking sound. Turns out one of the cells was never filled with water. Never thought I had to check brand new batteries for water. We learn stuff every day. 3/4 gallon of distilled water and we were good to go.

Port transmission filter seal on outer canister was dripping a little bit when we left for the trip. Got worse and worse and worse. Ran in the last 1.5 days on the starboard engine. Have a lead on new seal.

Forward waste tank vent was plugged. Couldn't empty the tank. After some precarious investigation and trying to minimize the amount of ick that was introduced into the forward bilge area, was able to pump out the tank yesterday.

Onan generator has 6500 hours on it. Started consuming 1-2 quarts per day toward the end of the trip. Hoping to get it to limp through this reason, but pretty sure it is on the short list of upgrades.

Only consumed a gallon of oil per side on the way back. For old Detroits, that is pretty good, I think.

Am in the middle of gutting all of the vintage electronics. So far have torn out 2 old radar systems...they had vacuum tubes inside. New HD Digital Raymarine open array radar, new VHF and antenna, new 12" flat screen Raymarine display. Hope to have all the electronics redone by the end of the season.

Used Polar Marine nav system with my laptop, usb GPS antenna (will be replaced with Raymarine antenna soon) Not the best, but very adequate considering the cost.

For 1000 miles on a boat that we bought with only a 1 hour sea trial, so far everything seems to be going well.

Now to start figuring out how to get all of the dirt and grime off of the interior wood finish. It is really dark and is obviously oils and 40 years of filth.

That is all for now.

 

[buzzk]

Congratulations overall it sounds like the trip went well considering the boat was new.

 

[bobk]

We bought a 79 53MY in March in Deale, MD.

Now to start figuring out how to get all of the dirt and grime off of the interior wood finish. It is really dark and is obviously oils and 40 years of filth.

That is all for now.

FWIW, my 1981 48 had dirty walls and trim too. My finish was oil, so acetone was out of the question. Murphy's oil did almost nothing. Resorted to Windex, followed by straight rubbing alcohol. The cleaning left the wood surface looking somewhat blotchy, but after applying a couple of coats of Watco Teak Oil, it looks great.

Bobk

 

[spartonboat1]

First of all, congrats on the new to you 53 footer...they are beautiful.

But this is total TMI, but here goes.

The olde Chanticleer was a 1947 118' Cruisemaster line of Steel hulled yachts built in Bay City by Defoe boat works, as one of 7 such hulls constructed. She was built for: J C Pace & Ralph Evinrude; The Chanticleer was owned by Ralph Evinrude, of the outboard motor fame and his wife Francis Langford, the pretty singer of the WWII era. See a list of those hulls at:
http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/defoe.htm

Other sister ships were:
Savitar, Natoya, Walmar, Nunalvares, and Cruisemaster.

I sailed as a deckhand on a sister ship called the Natoya out of the Grosse Pointe Club (the "Little Club"), in the early 60's (I was 4 yoa lol). The Natoya was owned by Harold DuCharme of the Grosse Pointe Windmill Pte and descended from the Detroit Stove Co. money. Old Detroiters will remember a large stove, as big as a house, along one of the main drags in Detroit, which was owned by the Detroit Stove Co.

The Chanticleer was sailed in the No. Channel for many years, until Ralph E. passed away. A few years after that, the steel hull was shot/badly corroded (saw photo out of the water) and was replaced by a shorter Burger Alum hulled boat, 112' LOA, in the late 90's and moored in one of the Grosse Pte clubs; don't know which. Mrs Evinrude/Langford passed away about 10 years ago or so, and the Burger Chanticleer was sold; saw her on the internet.

Now for massive trivia. The Natoya, at the end of her life in the late 60's/early 70's, was featured in the James Bond film, Thunderball, in which a white boat separates into two sections for a high speed chase at the end of the movie and runs on hydrofoils. The Natoya is the ship shown in all the shots, in which the boat is sitting still at anchor; the average person could never tell the two ships apart- but they are two different boats.

The two shots in which it is the easiest to see her are when Jame Bond is shooting skeet out over the water with the Villain, while they stand on the shore and the white boat is seen offshore laying at anchor. Later, Bond rides in a dingy with a spy and runs up to the White Boat, which is very easy to see, riding at anchor; I used to raise an lower that anchor. I am told that later, after the move, the Natoya was sunk over a reef in the ocean.

The most trivia I know.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I hope you locked down that shaft when you ran on one engine.