In the beginning there was.... OMG!!!!!

wantokex · #1 (**permalink**) 03-30-2008

For those with a strong stomach, below you will find a link to 100+ picts just taken of our new boat in the classic "BEFORE" shots!!!!

before - a photoset on Flickr

As you can see lots and lots of work to do!!! The idea is to get the systems all pulled out and redone then down to south to do the cabinets and interior to the boss's taste.

Any and all comments welcome!!!

Wantokex

bestfriend · #2 (**permalink**) 03-30-2008

Yeah, um, good luck with that. I am glad I am old and out of energy, therefore I don't even consider taking on projects like that.

camaraderie · #3 (**permalink**) 03-30-2008

I think I'll wait for the "after" pictures. Good luck to ya...you poor misguided soul!!

Faster · #4 (**permalink**) 03-30-2008

Yikes - looks like this boat's been submerged or flooded at some point.... if so all that wiring is going to be pretty suspect.

Hooray for pressure washers, though!!

Lotsa work there....

Stillraining · #5 (**permalink**) 03-30-2008

Yup...Ditto...FWIW...we had a dude a while back take on a freebie that was worse off then that one...and he sail it 90 miles home..Good luck

wantokex · #6 (**permalink**) 03-30-2008

nope not flooded, guy who owed it 8 years ago died, and a group of his neighbors purchased it from the widow. the boat just sat out front of one of their houses as one or the other added this or that or removed this or that after a while everybody just stopped doing anything at all to the boat and is sat for years tied to the dock. very few leaks... I read the survey they had done when they bought it and the hull was in great shape then. Only one spot of rot under a bunk and no soft spots on the deck after I had it looked at.

Wantokex

Jeff_H · #7 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008

Congratulations on your new purchase. I wish you a lot of luck. This is a huge project. I visited your blog and I sure hope that some of it is tongue in cheek. If I read your S.O.'s comments correctly and interpret the photos, you are planning to essentially, more or less, build a new boat (less the hull/bulkheads and rig) between now and July and then take off from Miami and head across the Carribean to Guatemala during the heart of Hurricane season. I sure hope that you are highly organized, have lots of cash, lots of boatbuilding experience, lot of energy, and/or are prepared to look at your scheduled July departure as a very loose goal with the serious intent to leave in November after hurricane season if not this year perhaps next.

One word of advise, as the Gulfstar 36 Motorsailors (BTW, you do know that these were motorsailors, and not really pure sailboats) left the factory these were not exactly robustly constructed- offshore capable vessels and so I hope that you are planning to beef her up some, replace the 35 year old lexan ports, and add better deck hardware.

I think I did some work on one of these back in the early 1980's, and there was an issue where the rudder post comes through the hull. At least on the one that I was aboard there was minimal reinforcing in this area and so there was cracking that was weeping around the base of the rudder post shaft log. So you might want to add a larger transverse and new a longituninal knee where the rudder post log comes through the hull and replace/repack the stuffing box.

Good luck,
Jeff

Gramp34 · #8 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008

Isn't it amazing the difference a pressure washing will make?

We got a boat a couple years ago that had sat sealed up in a boatyard for six years, and the interior was better than what you've got, but not by much. The PO had left about a dozen empty bottles of different kinds of mold and mildew cleaners. Apparently none of them worked on a sealed boat for long.

The interior cleaned up quickly with bleach (after removing a pickup load of garbage). I bought an inexpensive solar vent and put it in the main cabin roof hatch. We haven't had any problem with mold since then. Sealing leaky ports probably helped a lot with humidity, too.

So, solar vents are highly recommended.

If you go through and make up a shopping list of what you will need, then you can shop at your leisure when good buys come along. You can set eBay to search for particular items and email you when any come up.

Otherwise, welcome to the world of 'classic plastic'!

Tim

T34C · #9 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008

Wow, good luck with that one! Keep us posted on your progress.

wantokex · #10 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008

Jeff, thanks for the input... as for hurricane season and moving the boat. I figured if I gave the capt a July date for departure, with the way she works I would at least get her all moved down to Florida by then and have the hurricane season to work on the boat in Miami its all about partner time management~!!!!!

I fixed up a Pearson 2 years ago, and am learning that the difference between a weekend cruiser and long term boat is huge!!!! been making shopping list and work list like mad. And picking a Motor sailer was the Capt requirement for leaving the country in a boat. She wanted to be able to "drive" it away in case I got bonked on the head or some other emergency. With luck I can put some love into this one get her comfy on sailing and trade to a nice full keel ketch I been dreaming about :-) I might drop you a PM regarding the rudder post at a later date.

Wantokex