Here lies the first blog entry for my 1973 E29. I am so full of optimism about this boat, that I seem to be undeterred by the book of issues that come from its old age. A couple of friends have known the boat for 10 years and tell me that the 2 previous owners did not sail it very often. Sigh. So, I hope to get it under sail as soon as possible so I can see what else needs to be added to the ever-growing ToDo list. For the past 5 weeks, I have obsessed over it and neglected the house I live in, in favor of wiping out grimy storage lockers pondering what lies between the exterior and interior hulls.
So far, I have come up with 3 pages of things that need attention (I'll spare you the detailed list, but I am very happy to share if you ask). It has a non-working Atomic 4 and a Johnson 30 outboard. I have no interest in keeping either, but have to get the boat out of the creek where it is docked, so I am hoping the Johnson 30 does the trick. Because the Atomic 4 is missing a head, among other parts, and my dream is to convert it to electric with solar panels, I am planning to temporarily ignore the inboard engine while I tackle more immediate priorities.
Here is my short list of areas I’ll be focusing on this month (May 2020).
The Seacocks - Gate valves. I bought a bag of wooden bung plugs before I touched the plumbing. It appears I may be able to keep the boat in the water for some time. I am hoping that I can hold out until the off-season special is offered by the marina where I want it dry docked.
The Head and the Holding Tank - Fucking gross! The holding tank is a Kracor recirculating tank that I have no information on. I called the company and they told me they do not have any documentation for such old products (I bet they do in a mold-spore covered cabinet someplace. Sigh). But, I did successfully pump it out, manually. The head annoys me because of this tank and appears to have no intake seacock. Instead it gets its water for flushing directly from the Kracor, which has a 3.5 gallon capacity for freshwater. It appears to be from 1973 as does the “freshwater” that makes its way into the toilet when I flush.
The Bilge - So far, I manually pumped out some standing water that was beneath the cabin sole. There was a 500 GPH bilge lying on the bottom without the wiring connected and no power switch. Upgrading this and having a switch installed is my immediate priority.
The Batteries - They have enough juice to power the cabin lights without shore power plugged in. Testing the cells before installing the new bilge pump.
Running Lights - All but 2 work. I will probably replace the non-working ones with new LEDs. To be determined.
Upholstery - it was shredded in several places, so I pulled it all out and had it measured by an upholstery expert. I am waiting on her estimate and am optimistically naive that I’ll be able to afford it.
The lines - all seem to be covered in green growth of some variety. I plan to clean them in a bucket before giving up and buying new ones.
Hardware - I suspect at least one of the chainplates is the source of water in the bulkhead area of the interior. Or, I may spend the summer investigating the source of the water.
Portlights - for starters, I am going to rebed the portside window in the forward berth. My first purchase was butyl tape and getting it in the mail was super exciting!
All of this and it’s not even a dent in my list. I am so excited that nothing seems to be a deterrent, not even what appears to be corroded keel bolts (more on that in a future post).
So far, I have come up with 3 pages of things that need attention (I'll spare you the detailed list, but I am very happy to share if you ask). It has a non-working Atomic 4 and a Johnson 30 outboard. I have no interest in keeping either, but have to get the boat out of the creek where it is docked, so I am hoping the Johnson 30 does the trick. Because the Atomic 4 is missing a head, among other parts, and my dream is to convert it to electric with solar panels, I am planning to temporarily ignore the inboard engine while I tackle more immediate priorities.
Here is my short list of areas I’ll be focusing on this month (May 2020).
The Seacocks - Gate valves. I bought a bag of wooden bung plugs before I touched the plumbing. It appears I may be able to keep the boat in the water for some time. I am hoping that I can hold out until the off-season special is offered by the marina where I want it dry docked.
The Head and the Holding Tank - Fucking gross! The holding tank is a Kracor recirculating tank that I have no information on. I called the company and they told me they do not have any documentation for such old products (I bet they do in a mold-spore covered cabinet someplace. Sigh). But, I did successfully pump it out, manually. The head annoys me because of this tank and appears to have no intake seacock. Instead it gets its water for flushing directly from the Kracor, which has a 3.5 gallon capacity for freshwater. It appears to be from 1973 as does the “freshwater” that makes its way into the toilet when I flush.
The Bilge - So far, I manually pumped out some standing water that was beneath the cabin sole. There was a 500 GPH bilge lying on the bottom without the wiring connected and no power switch. Upgrading this and having a switch installed is my immediate priority.
The Batteries - They have enough juice to power the cabin lights without shore power plugged in. Testing the cells before installing the new bilge pump.
Running Lights - All but 2 work. I will probably replace the non-working ones with new LEDs. To be determined.
Upholstery - it was shredded in several places, so I pulled it all out and had it measured by an upholstery expert. I am waiting on her estimate and am optimistically naive that I’ll be able to afford it.
The lines - all seem to be covered in green growth of some variety. I plan to clean them in a bucket before giving up and buying new ones.
Hardware - I suspect at least one of the chainplates is the source of water in the bulkhead area of the interior. Or, I may spend the summer investigating the source of the water.
Portlights - for starters, I am going to rebed the portside window in the forward berth. My first purchase was butyl tape and getting it in the mail was super exciting!
All of this and it’s not even a dent in my list. I am so excited that nothing seems to be a deterrent, not even what appears to be corroded keel bolts (more on that in a future post).
