New Owner

[Fanfare]

Hey, it's taken me 53 years so far--and she was new when I started!

 

[Jammin']

I appreciate the encouragement. I was at a bit of a low point after last weekend. We have 3-4 years to get it in shape for extended cruising. My small victory of the week was finding a pair of stainless steel exhaust elbows in stock at Johnson & Towers in New Jersey. Turbo versions were easy to find, but not for the naturals. I will need to do a little modification of the water inlet as it has a 90* elbow and I need a straight inlet. I'll post pictures when it's done.

 

[ralexa6808]

Hi Robert,

Congrats on the boat.....

Like the others said, don't get overwhelmed / depressed by the "to do list".....I have been working on my boat for the last 2 years since I retired and there has been many times when I thought it was either to daunting or a never ending endeavor.

What works for me is to pick a project that you can do now that will make the biggest impact with the least amount of time/effort. When I did that and completed it, it lifted my spirits up making me wanting to do the next project.

This forum is also a great way to find tried and true solutions...... and a lot of them are very well documented (which is worth it's weight in gold)....you don't have to go it alone, we are here to help each other.

Best of luck with your beautiful boat.

 

[Walter P]

All really good advice... It would probably be a "spirit lifter" if you also pick a project that may be only
cosmetic but you see it every time you go aboard. Be aware that you will never have anything that needs
to be done.... it's called boating.... Jim Grove (Fanfare) is a perfect example as he says that after over
50 years there are still things that need to get done from time to time. I actually looked forward to
working on the boat (when I was younger and had the energy). The feeling of satisfaction is wonderful.

Walt

 

[BFDfirefighter16]

Robert,
If you need anything let me know. I will be out at my boat almost everyday for the next 4-5 weeks knocking out my "Do Now List" since I have to haul out and have Brad Burns survey for me to get a new insurance company since I was dropped with only a few months notice due to my boat not being worth 125k or more.

When you had your survey done where did the boat get hauled out? was it Tripp's in Shallotte, NC? You and your wife are more than welcome to come look at my 44TC anytime.

 

[Jammin']

Thank you. It was Grande Harbor Marina. I picked Brad coincidentally to do the survey as the previous owner had already enlisted him to do an insurance survey for the same reasons you are. I plan to be down in March next. I'm waiting for some parts to come in to take down.

 

[BFDfirefighter16]

Sounds good Robert!
Get in touch with me when you come down. I am planning to haul my 44 between the second and third week in March. I found a DIY yard without having to motor to Wilmington, NC. I'm planning on doing the bottom paint, Replace a thru hull valve, Zincs, Rudder posts, restoring the function of the trim tabs, and pulling all the bronze portlights to sandblast, paint, and re-bed them. But hopefully I will have her back in the water when you come down.

 

[Fanfare]

I was surprised to find that I had several different sizes of bronze portlights. Jack Hargrave's artist's eye made all harmonious until I measured.

Bear in mind that if you mark the location of each frame in magic marker on the port that this disappears when you strip the paint. (I didn't make this mistake but the guy who stripped them did!)

 

[BFDfirefighter16]

Thank you Jim!!
I didn't realize that so I will hopefully keep them straight when I pull them. Did you paint them?

 

[Fanfare]

I have the bronze portholes with curved, half-round ends common to early Hatteras yachts. I had a pro paint mine, probably sprayed the paint because they looked like new. Each has an interior bronze frame for its screen. The screen was originally copper but became brittle with age. Some newer ones are stainless screen soldered to the frame, others fiberglass screening. My two guest cabin ports are often open but not so much in the aft master cabin because so much salt and paint chips fall inside. Instead I usually open the screened deck escape hatch under the outdoor settee. (But not open too wide or people shove their feet through the screen.) On a couple occasions when the generator fails I am happy to open everything to the outside breeze.

I have had two ports on the port side of the master crack, possibly from hull flex in heavy seas. I replaced the glass with Plexiglas which stays strong but crazes after a decade or so of sun. Replace any of these while apart. There is a gray square extruded gasket material with a hollow center you can use to replace any of the old material to seal better. Measure carefully, cut at an angle, put the gap on the top so water won't drain in. Seal to the hull with 3M 4200 because someday you will need to do this again and unlike 5200 this comes off.

 

[nautibake]

Congrats to both Jammin and Tiparootom!!

We are just about 3 1/2 years full time live-aboards, and the only regret is not doing it sooner. This forum is a great source of very specific information on these magnificent vessels, based on decades of experience and a willingness to share that expertise and wisdom with us newbies. Don’t get discouraged, it’s all worthwhile for the time you get to spend on her underway or anchoring, or whatever you enjoy on the water.

Guess, my wife and i get to chime in on this thread. We closed on our 1972 53'MY on Friday. We get to pick her up on Wednesday in Deland, FL and we'll be bringing he r down to Palm Beach. Too excited.

Tiparootom: How was your trip down? We are in Palm Beach Gardens next to Carmine’s, love this area. Hope to see you cruising.

Don’t get discouraged. Take one or two items and finish them completely. Before to long things start getting ship shape. Good luck and post photos of before and after.

This is good advice, and keep in mind on any given day there are the projects that you know about, and almost an equal number that you don’t know about (yet). On a good day they are mostly aligned.

I have noticed that some of the things I thought were priorities when we first bought the boat weren’t such a big deal after all, so you might focus on the most important things (water tight, safety, mechanical, electrical) and give your self some time to think about the less critical as you learn her nuances.

Good luck and happy cruising to you both!!

 

[stuben]

Congratulations on the new boat!

 

[Jammin']

We're making slow progress. Every time we find a new problem we say, "Good news!". We're thinking maybe we should change the name of the boat to Good News.

Friday we had the holding tank pump out boat come by. Wouldn't pump out a thing. I took it apart and the tank is full and all the lines are bad. Good News!

There was a smell in the aft cabin that really bothered Jean. Turns out the shower sump pump was malfunctioning and pumping soapy grey water into the bilge under the floor of the cabin and festering. Good News!

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

We're making slow progress. Every time we find a new problem we say, "Good news!". We're thinking maybe we should change the name of the boat to Good News.

Friday we had the holding tank pump out boat come by. Wouldn't pump out a thing. I took it apart and the tank is full and all the lines are bad. Good News!

There was a smell in the aft cabin that really bothered Jean. Turns out the shower sump pump was malfunctioning and pumping soapy grey water into the bilge under the floor of the cabin and festering. Good News!

Well, at least there's lots of info on both issues on this site. The holding tank issue is well covered. I might direct your attention to this professionally produced video on Hatteras holding tank repair. I found it both informative and inspirational.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o_Qa38KNBA

Be sure and view the entire twelve part series.

 

[Jammin']

Well, at least there's lots of info on both issues on this site. The holding tank issue is well covered. I might direct your attention to this professionally produced video on Hatteras holding tank repair. I found it both informative and inspirational.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o_Qa38KNBA

Be sure and view the entire twelve part series.

I skipped to part 12. The beginning was full of crap!

 

[Jammin']

 

[BFDfirefighter16]

Robert,
Are you in town? I'm still in my slip for a few more days till i get my heat exchangers and cooling system reinstalled since I am completing a cooling system overhaul. I saw you had another post about Alexseal and my boat was painted with it back in 2011. I am located on M Dock all the way down near the inlet to the harbor. Give me a ring sometime.


Alex Sherard
(330) 233-3782

 

[SEVEN]

View attachment 30827

Change out all of those hoses. That will help with the flow as well as the smell. Hopefully you’re changing out the tube that’s in the waste tank to PVC. We don’t live aboard but we put a 1/4 cup of bleach to help with the smell of gray water that sits in the sump each time we leave.

 

[Jammin']

Robert,
Are you in town? I'm still in my slip for a few more days till i get my heat exchangers and cooling system reinstalled since I am completing a cooling system overhaul. I saw you had another post about Alexseal and my boat was painted with it back in 2011. I am located on M Dock all the way down near the inlet to the harbor. Give me a ring sometime.


Alex Sherard
(330) 233-3782

Alex,

I'd love to see it. We are not in town now. I'll get in touch when we are back there.

Thank you.

 

[Jammin']

Change out all of those hoses. That will help with the flow as well as the smell. Hopefully you’re changing out the tube that’s in the waste tank to PVC.

The pickup tube is already PVC although I measured it about 1-1/2" from the bottom of the tank. We are changing the pump out hose, the waste in from the aft head hose and the vent line, and installing a Raritan Elegance toilet in the aft head. We are temporarily capping off the line from the forward head. At a later date, we plan to replace the forward toilet and hose, install an overboard discharge for the holding tank, which the boat no longer has, and a Purasan EX treatment unit. We are using Raritan Sani/Flex hose for ease of future changes.

For now, it will just be good to have one working head.