Thoughts and mutterings on commissioning my 'new' boat.

[Mark.Wilme]

As some of you may know we recently bought a new boat (new to us) and as part of that purchase had budgeted for some replacement items and upgrades. Now buying a 5 year old boat I wasn't planning on major expense but we had put money aside to replace some of the running rigging, or some pumps, dock lines etc - just a provision and nothing close to the 20% you read about in various articles..

I thought it might be beneficial for me to share with you some of the purchasing decisions we did make (so far) and the rationale behind them in case any of this is useful to others.


Water pump.
As I outlined in a recent post the water pump was leaking between the sea water seal and the shaft. I bit the bullet (today) and bought both a replacement pump AND a rebuild kit for the current pump (which will become my onboard spare). I will also be buying globe impellers for the new pump as by reputation they appear to be superior with a 'run dry' margin of error. Interestingly the new pump comes with an O ring seal not a gasket which is a plus. Access to the impeller on my engine is awesome (right out front) so a speed seal would be overkill, however I do plan on replacing the cover seals with allen head set screws. Costs from Hansen marine - Rebuild kit = $130, new pump = $415


Docklines.
What came with the boat were suspect and I had budgeted for replacement. I have purchased 147ft of 5/8 double braid line off of Ebay and I plan on splicing up 5 new lines this winter (2 spring lines at 35ft each plus 2 bow lines and a stern line at about 20ft each). Ebay price with shipping = $90. Splicing = free (my time).


VHF.
The installed VHF does not have the ability to accept a RAM mic nor does it have DSC capabiliies so we will be replacing that with (probably) a Uniden UM525 and a wireless "WHAM" mic. Install depth is an issue but this unit should be OK. Best price so far = Defender : $275 with shipping. I am thinking that the old unit (working just fine) should be worth $25 making my net outlay $250 which I can live with.


Fenders.
Between the new boat and the old boat we had a mish mash of fenders so we took (are taking) the opportunity to buy some new fenders and make sure that we have the right number and the right size of fenders on each boat - including sufficient fenders for any storms that come our way. We decided each boat should have 7 fenders - our old boat (32ft) will have 8.5" fenders (4 against the dock - 2 amidships at max beam and one fore and one aft, plus three on the other side to protect against the boat in the slip next to us). The new boat (39ft) will have 10.5" fenders - same configuration.

My ! aren't new fenders expensive ??? - we did however find an ebay store that has a good deal on Taylor made fenders, works out with shipping at about $25 per fender (for the 8.5's). See link here :
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/4-Taylor ... dZViewItem

he has plenty of others.


Fender whips.
It's a personal thing but I don't like three strand line for fender whips and I have read some poor reviews on the ready made whips (apparently they degrade under UV) so I like to make mine out of 3/8" double braid. I was going to reuse some line I have (old topping lift) but even after washing it it is pretty grungy so I will probably go out and buy new 3/8" line and make up my own. My preference is to tie fenders to the stanchions with a round turn and two half hitches - I don't like to see fenders hanging from the lifelines, no matter how easy it makes it to slide them fore and aft.

I am also debating the best way to thread the "hole through the middle" fenders. My experience has been that a stopper knot (single fishermans, double overhand, figure eight) in 3/8" line can pull through or least jam, at so I am thinking about making some plastic washers with a 3/8 hole that will prevent this. The one knot that does work well is Ashleys stopper knot (also known as an Oystermans stopper knot) but it is a bear to ever untie if it has carried a load.

Note of interest - for stopper knots in regular lines to prevent them pulling through blocks and cleats my preference is what I have always termed a "single fishermans" which is what you would use if you were joining two lengths of line of the same diameter with a double fishermans knot, but you do it with just a single line. I realized as I was writing this though that it is actually known as a double overhand knot. Anyway, I find it ties quickly and works well providing you leave a little tail on it.

The other knots I frequently use are of course a clove hitch, a round turn and two half hitches and the bowline. I used to use a figure eight in the bight of the rope back when I was rock climbing but I have since learned it weakens the rope considerably and is a bear to untie if it has taken load - if you have the end to work with use a bowline and even if you don't - use a bowline, but tie it in the bight.

( Enough about me and my knots, I'll probably start a flame war )


Refrigeration.
The refrigeration was suspect when we had the boat surveyed (wouldn't go down to temperature although we could hear the compressor running). After we bought the boat I tried adjusting the thermostat and it wouldn't budge - all corroded, so I bought a new thermostat ( $41.00 ) online I installed that on December 3rd and now I need to top up the R134a and clean the fan. IF this works then the total expense should be less than $75


Carbon Monoxide detector
I purchased a 12v Carbon Monoxide detector (Fireboy Xintex CMD-3M Carbon Monoxide tester) which will be hard wired to the boats batteries.


Fire extinguishers.
The boat now has five new fire extinguishers on boars - one in each cabin (3) mounted inside the mini closets. One underneath the Nav and a fifth in the cockpit locker. They are of various types depending on location and are (will be) checked twice each season for pressure and date validity.


Water strainer on pump
My water pumps (fresh water etc) all have those little ITT Jabsco strainers on them and my experience is that the bowls crack where they are threaded to go on the base. (Link here for picture : http://shop.torresen.com/ships_store/in ... 0000&frm=g ]. I am irritated that you can't just buy the bowls and you have to buy the complete unit, I guess I should be lucky that the ones on the boat are all the same (5 of them) so I only need to carry one type of spare !


Mooring Pendant.
Not being sure that I can always trust the mooring pendant on a guest mooring I could be using, I bought some 3/4" double braid on ebay and I plan to splice up my own with a thimble in one end and a loop in the other. Total cost will be about $20 each (I am making two), plus my time which of course is free ! I already have chaffe protection which I will need to add of course.



Oil filters.
I have over time come to appreciate WIX filters, I think they are good filters and I found the right model for both the Westerbeke in our new boat and the Vetus in the old boat. I highly recommend them. I bought 6 filters for the Westerbke and when I get down to the last 2 I will buy six more. They work out at about $6 each, I may get a better bulk deal online next time.


Oil and lubricant.
For the Westerbeke I am using Shell Rotella - available off the shelf at Walmart of all places and I change the oil every 100 hours or twice per season whichever is more frequent. I also use Rotella SAE30 for the transmission.


Small inverter.
I bought a Xantrex 100W small inverter in case I needed to run the laptop or anything when I am not on shore power. This is a great little unit from Radio Shack - on sale when I bought it for $30


Tool bag.
I've always had problems with tool boxes etc so I bought a soft sided bag off of ebay - has a rubberized bottom so it wont slide around and with this and an existing smaller bag I can store all my tools on the boat in a usable format. I have two bags and I now need to split the everyday tools from the other tools for ease of access and use. They will probably be stored in the cockpit locker - right now they are in use and spread all over the v berth.

I have a 12v Hitachi drill (see : link) on the boat with the flashlight, 3 batteries and a 1 hr charger which I find more than adequate. Note I got this all for $50 at a HD sale. It is no powerhouse but it works for what I need it for and the flashlight is great too.


Quick step.
With a higher freeboard then we are used to I bought a "Quick step" from WM (they had it at the same price as everywhere else). I could have made one but I bought it instead. Seems to work so far.


Fugawi boots.
We found a great deal on Sperrys Fugawi boots ( see here for the boot : http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?pat ... &id=326743 ). We paid $125 for two pairs with expedited shipping via Amazon. The price is (unfortunately) back to full price right now. P.S. - they are GREAT boots and highly recommended.


Engine zincs.
I found a good deal online from Torrensen Marine. I bought 12 in one go to save on shipping, they work out at about $4.62 each including shipping.


Prop zincs
I found a good deal online from boatzincs.com. Note the Beneteau has a prop-end zinc, not a shaft zinc. I also bought shaft zincs for the Elite at the same time and brought the combined order to $100 to get free shipping. One thing is for sure and that is you will always use up the zincs ! My prop zincs (CMAN230) come in oder $10 each which is as good a price as you'll find them (if you can find them anywhere)


Replacement CD changer.
The CD changer in the boat was acting up - an "R-4" error. Repair costs were excessive ($200 +) so we purchased an identical used model on ebay for next to nothing and then swapped them out. The intent is now to resell the old unit on ebay honestly declaring its "R-4" error. Someone can probably fix it.


Anchor rode.
Still need to look at this, it's three strand and is spliced to the chain - it needs work, I may reverse the rode and resplice the other end. Funny but although I have spliced double braid many times I have never spliced three strand - how difficult can a rode to chain splice be ?


Type V device.
Fortunately I was given a Lifesling 3 as a gift. Lucky me, Case closed.


Compass.
I had a bubble in the compass so I looked into having it serviced - the cost was close to $200 and I could get a new one for that ! I ended up with $10 of compass fluid and I refilled it myself after a little trial and error. I can do that every couple of years, if it gets worse I will then replace it.


Batteries.
This was a known expense and I had figured $800 to replace all the batteries as a reasonable scenario. The plan is for two Group 27 starting batteries and four Trojan T105's as a house bank. The current 8D house battery is toast so that's going straight to be recycled, the 2 group 27's from the Beneteau and the 2 group 27's from the Elite are going to my battery supplier this week to be load tested -I think one, possibly two of them are still good.

Waterproof toggle switch.
This one irritates me too. The switch is on the binnacle and is for turning the light on above the compass. I will have to to replace the entire switch because the rubber "boot" on it has a hole in it and I couldn't find a new boot anywhere. Vendor ???????????? Cost ?????????? TBD.


Handheld vhf.
We have a handheld vhf already but as I start to think about a ditch bag I began looking for another. I think one that takes AA batteries is beneficial because you can throw a pack of batteries in the bag too. Of course I haven't even started thinking seriously about what else goes in the bag yet. Actually as I do think about it I may start a new thread on this topic - the contents of a coastal waters ditch bag (when you are using your dinghy as your life raft maybe) could be very different to that of a blue water ditch bag, the biggest difference being proximity to rescue and whether it's about waiting to be rescued or whether it's actually about true 'survival' !

Hmmm



It will be interesting to see both how my budget holds up as well as how this compares to my commissioning list back when I was dreaming about a new, new boat back at the end of September.

If anyone has any questions or observations, please let me know.



Mark.

[catamount]

I am also debating the best way to thread the "hole through the middle" fenders. My experience has been that a stopper knot (single fishermans, double overhand, figure eight) in 3/8" line can pull through or least jam, at so I am thinking about making some plastic washers with a 3/8 hole that will prevent this. The one knot that does work well is Ashleys stopper knot (also known as an Oystermans stopper knot) but it is a bear to ever untie if it has carried a load.

Tie a small loop with a bowline in the end of the line on the far side of the fender. Then if you lose it overboard, you have a loop with which to retrieve it with the boathook.