Back home in Lake Charles, and I've got about 15 minutes before my next meeting, so here is the most recent update:

This weekend I would say that I got about 80% done of what I wanted to accomplish. I was able to get the bellhousing/oil dam removed with a little help from the boat captain next door. I fought with that thing for 6 hours, and he comes in, does close to the same thing I did, and BAM! it's free, Bought him lunch for that one.

Cleaned the bilge under that engine and transmission. It was pretty dirty. Now, it's as clean as I can make it - took about 2 hours just soaping it up and cleaning it, getting rid of all the nastiness and oil that had spilled out.

Before



After



I was also able to to get the new electronics installed and wires run to everything but the transducer, which I will have to do when I pull the boat out of the water. Running all Garmin - chartplotter/gps/depthfinder/radar. I will also be adding an autopilot, but I am going to have to bring someone in to do that for me. Forgot to take pictures of this work - I'll try to remember to in the future.

Lastly, I was working on getting the Air Conditioning in the Master room working. Works great for a minute or two, then cuts off - High Pressure, E4 error message. Doing some research, it usually means that water is not flowing through the A/C. A/C is a 16,000 BTU Marine Aire unit, and after checking, sure enough, no water is pumping. Created a rig to allow me to push a 'barnacle buster solution' through the system to destroy any marine growth, as this is a common cause of blocked lines in these systems. This particular one was mostly a diluted muriatic acid solution. That did not work.

Picture of the unit, and what was created, piping wise:





After that didn't work, I looked in the front bilge (which I actually had to look up where to access it, as it was pretty well hidden) to try to find the seacock in, any pumps, etc, and found the next project(s). The front bilge was full of water, as apparently the bilge pump was no longer working.

View of bilge from above (and non-working bilge pump).



But why is the water that dark? And what's that smell? Umm, I'm not positive, but I am pretty sure that it has something to do with this.



That is a Raritan Purasan unit, which handles the waste from the bathroom on the boat, completely submerged in the nasty bilge water. It did not seem to be functioning either. So, I have to go down again this weekend, drain the bilge, and re-assess.

After all this, I decided to it was time for lunch, so went to Mickey's Bar and Grill, about a good cast from the boat for lunch. Really good burgers. Had a decent view, and could even keep an eye on my boat (sort of) - at least the top of it.

The passage out of the marina





Until I get there again this weekend, I will be removing paint and rust and working on re-assembling a transmission. That's about all I have for this update, just another case of owning a B.O.A.T. (and we all know what that stands for).

Mickey's! I had lunch there weekend before last (great fried shrimp)....took my boat over from Key Allegro. Will likely be back down this coming weekend. May have to do some harbor cruising looking for a Post under renovation!

If you do, I am thinking I should be there - I am debating bringing a portable A/C unit and staying on the boat. The name currently on the boat is Postman, feel free to stop by.

You can dock in the area circled in red. FYI, I'm in the CC on the front left and at 25', 8.5 beam it's a tight fit. You can parallel dock on the other side but it was full when we came in earlier that day.

I rang twice for the postman but nobody answered

One of the best tools I've found for dealing with bilges like you got is the Milwaukee M18 transfer pump. Getting water trapped in those stringers is always a pain in the ass. With this thing you can stick a hose down in places you cant get to. Especially if you got sewage and an A/C in forward compartments. I've used this thing on gas, oil, diesel, water. I've used it to suck oil out of engines with a homemade quick connect adapter and the discharge connected to a 5 gallon bucket. Also good as an emergency bilge pump. This thing is light and powerful. Gets 5* from me for any marine farm or household application. Impellers last a long time, but pumping gas will decrease the life of it somewhat. Impeller kits can be ordered on amazon for $15-30 and its worth it to keep one on hand. This setup is 100x better and cheaper than those top heavy Jabsco pump buckets that they sell at marine supply. Bet thing about this pump is that it will easily suck up debris that will clog the impeller on the installed bilge pumps.

Ok, finished up earlier than expected, so if anyone comes looking, won't be around. Gonna get back to Lake Charles at a reasonable hour today.

I'll post a longer update later, but another good trip.

Front A/C fixed, front bilge fixed and cleaned. Speakers mounted, bed set up and generally, just everything seemed to work out pretty well.

May get to that update later tonight, maybe tomorrow.

There were signs about I10 being closed in Mont Belvieu, so maybe take a look at waze or google map before you get there.

Thank you for the heads up!

BoerneGator said:

---

Enjoying following your progress! I'd love to find a "deal" like this to work on. How prevalent are they to find? Sounds like you found a tremendous "value", although it's a huge undertaking with a lot of challenges!

---

Boerne - look long enough and you can definitely find the deals. When I found my boat, I was just playing around on boattrader.com - I wasn't really even seriously considering making a purchase. But then I looked at one, inquired about another, and the next thing I knew, I had a massive project on my hands.

The key to finding a good boat is a couple.of things. First make sure it is solid - hull, structure, etc. Those tend to be the more difficult things to fix (aside from engines, transmissions). Second, try to find a boat that is in good running order. For me, I found a boat where 3 of the 4 components ran great. Both engines and a transmission. Unfortunately, that one transmission has taken up a lot of my time, but I'm finally starting to feel like I'm making progress. The engines and transmissions are the most expensive parts of the boat; I was quoted up to $15,000 to rebuild just the one transmission, so make sure they are in the best possible shape. I'll probably come in about 5K when I factor the trips, etc., that I've had to take to get it out.

A couple of things that will make your life easier - If you can, find a boat near you... the 5.5 hr trips each way get pretty old, and if you have a trip where you don't feel like you got a lot done, it can make tou second guess things - a long trip doesn't help. Also, if the seller is friendly, and willing to answer questions even after the purchase, that is extremely helpful, as they have working knowledge of the boat (most of the time). When I get time to post my update, you'll see where that knowledge would have come in handy.

Otherwise, I say go for it. You can really get some serious feelings of accomplishment when you overcome some of the challenges you encounter, plus you'll be in a great position, having learned more about your vessel.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, I'll be more than happy to help.

Just wanted to thank you for sharing your experience Agfencer. A lot of respect for taking this on. I am amazed at the amount of marine knowledge on this forum and thanks to all those who contribute. Between this and the great loop thread I can't wait to check for updates here every morning.

BoerneGator said:

---

Thanks for the reply/encouragement. Never really owned a boat before, so don't know how serious I can get about it now at my age.., but it's a temptation! Enjoy following your progress!

---

My story - Non boat owner but came very close.

I watched the market on Craigslist and a few west coast forums pretty actively for roughly a year. I got a good understanding of what the going rates were for different classes of boats.

One Saturday morning, a deal came up for a 22' Grady White with decent engines and reasonable hours. One of the motors was experiencing a few issues but nothing seemed major. I called a boat mechanic friend of mine and we went to take a look.

We showed up within an hour and his phone was ringing every five minutes. He did a compression test and one of the cylinders failed. He thought it was a straight forward fix.

Long story short, I couldn't get approval from my wife but my friend pulled the trigger at $10,500. He fixed a seal on the engine and flipped it for $25,000 within 3 months.

The seller knew he was leaving money on the table, but he was going on a 3 month work trip and didn't want to mess with it.

Ok, a day late, but I ended up having to take one of my senior dogs to LSU Vet yesterday for some breathing issues that are getting progressively worse. Turns out to potentially be more serious than we thought, so he is still there waiting for a scope of his lungs as well as a culture. By the time I got back, I just fell into bed and passed out.

As I noted in the brief recap, I am considering this trip an absolute success, as I completed everything I was trying to do, and even got a few other things figured out along the way.

First thing that I was able to do was to get the front A/C working - which was a challenge. First, all documentation that I had pointed the location out as being beneath a hatch in the kitchen. First hiccup was - no hatch in the kitchen visible, so I rolled up the vinyl flooring, only to find a spot that looked like it was once a hatch, only now secured by 20+ screws. Removed those screws to find.... an empty section of bilge. saw one hose cutting across to a bilge in the bathroom, so I went over there and looked under that hatch. Voila! the jankiest plumbing I have ever seen, complete with a manifold to direct water 2 different directions (I think one was to the toilet) and one was to, I kid you not, an aquarium pump. Neither were getting any water, because the seacock was turned off, preventing any water from entering the system

I replaced the pump with an actual A/C water pump, cleaned up the plumbing, turned the seacock valve to the on position, and primed the pump and started it. Once I di, the A/C worked wonderfully. So, after that, I made the bed, so I didn't have to pay for a hotel room anymore.



A picture of the old hatch that I was able to find under rolled vinyl in the kitchen. I am going to be turning it into a true hatch again, as there is an unused seacock under there (I'm assuming it works, if not, when I pull the boat out of the water, I will replace it). I am intending to put a watermaker in, and that might be a good spot for it, being pretty close to the freshwater holding tank. That project is pretty far in the future, though.



Actually pretty comfortable for an air mattress.

As you can see, we have ripped out most of the interior, so it is pretty bare. Gotta clean that up and get some stuff on the walls, but it's comfortable enough while I do the work.

After that, I went to work on the bilge. What I discovered is that for some reason, someone bypassed the float switch, which is why the bilge was pumping out before. I had brought one of those and a new 2000GPH bilge pump, wired that up quickly, and got that repaired in about 30 minutes. Can't tell you how good it felt for things to actually happen the way they should.



Pictured is the new bilge pump, with switch. the bilge is still dirty, but working on that. A good cleaning will likely happen next trip. And yes, the pump and switch is already greasy and dirty - that water was FOUL.

I also measured up the door portals that are currently on the boat. at some point, a wall was removed between the master stateroom and the bathroom, and I need to order or find a portal to fit. I also need to rebuild the wall. Not going to be too difficult, as it is literally just marine grade 3/4" plywood that will then be stained, with a hole cutout for the door.



That's what the wall/door looks like between the bathroom and the bunk room. The one I am building will be very similar. Currently there is only a curtain between the bathroom and the master stateroom - and that isn't going to cut it for me. lol.

Saturday afternoon/evening, I got some wiring fixed and even got some lights working in the cockpit that I thought might be bad. That was a pleasant surprised. Also tested the stove, and to my surprise it worked. If I had realized that, I may have cooked for myself, instead, I microwaved some pizza pockets in a 30 year old microwave.



If you squint, you can see the blue lights.

On Sunday, I got to the real important stuff - I installed some speakers in the cockpit of the boat. Got them installed without issues, hooked up the existing speaker wires, and lo and behold, they work! Definitely need a new stereo at some point, but I'll take the win! After that, cleaned up and headed out.



The next few weeks will be at the house, trying to get the transmission rebuilt, and then hopefully around mid September, I can try to reinstall that. Likely just small updates between now and then, but the feeling of accomplishment from this past weekend should help keep me going. Amazing how fixing a number of smaller things can make you feel so much better about a project.

Nice. At least it's comfortable (albeit not luxurious) and only costs you gas now to go down.

Just need to get it up and running to get it home now.


We have family out in San Diego where my wife's family is from originally. One of her uncles had a boat at the marina near all the action. It was a great option to crash there after a night of beverages instead of worrying about driving home or a car disappearing from a pay lot.

A very quick, but important update today. I just got my Coast Guard registration in the mail, so the InconSEAvable is now registered both in Louisiana and Federally.

Other than that, going to be a few weeks before I get back to the boat - some big events at the casino and just the need to work on the transmission, so the thread *may* be a bit silent for a while.

I definitely got the vibe that it was giving some folks a good diversion, at the very least.

Also, I will be heading down tomorrow afternoon, and staying until Monday morning. If anyone is around, feel free to stop by and say hi, just message me and I'll give you my number to make sure I'm there and not getting parts, etc.

Staying on the boat the whole time, this time, and doing a lot of little things, this is more of a get away and enjoy the boat, even if it isn't running, trip
Also plan on watching the game on the boat, with beer in hand and a line in the water.

Hopefully it's a calm weekend, and I can get a few small things done.

Sounds like you've got some solid experience installing a seacock into your bilge, TH36.

TRIDENT said:

---

Sounds like you've got some solid experience installing a seacock into your bilge, TH36.

---

Ah yes, good point. I caught all of that but obviously wasn't paying attention enough. Also a plumber so valve is my terminology, not cock.

The latest installment - Boat work (and did it survive the storm) and Aggies win!

This weekend, I left work early on Friday and headed down to work on the boat - got in around 8pm, which is much earlier than normal for me. Stopped at the store, grabbed a ribeye and was going to cook it on my grill, only to figure out that the regulator had crapped out. Ok, no worries, I'll cook it on the stove in the boat. No dice - Stove wasn't working either. So instead, I had some microwaved pizza pockets while I added 'fix the stove' to my list of projects.

Now, in all honesty, this trip was more about just checking on the boat and relaxing, so that's mostly what I did. But, I did get some things done.

1. Was able to fix the stove. The wiring was loose behind the stove, so once I tracked that down, it was an easy fix. In fact, I used the stove and a cast Iron skillet to cook a steak for while I watched the game. The steak turned out great, and so did the game - a good Saturday.



2. I was also able to pull up all the old roll vinyl flooring that was throughout the downstairs portion of the boat. Most of it was not fastened down in any way. A small thing, but something that needed to be done. This allows me to come in with the Vinyl plank flooring that will be put down in the future.

3. I think all the interior electrical, and most of the exterior electrical is all sorted out. Had an interesting time finding some of the runs, but as of right now, everything inside the boat has power and operates correctly. Outside, the majority of lights work, but I am not yet sure about a few. Not sure if bad bulbs or other, as I didn't have time to get to all of it this trip. Did get this picture of the boat - I like the blue lights, so they'll stay.



Sunday was about looking at the bathroom and trying to sort out the waste management system, which does not work. at all. Dead. Made for a very enjoyable day, since it had apparently not been emptied out.

These systems are designed to take waste, treat it, and either store it until it can be pumped out (this boat has a 50 gallon wastewater tank), or allow it to be discharged offshore. Discharging directly into the ocean near shore is a strict no-no. Unfortunately, the unit that controls it (a Raritan Purasan) was non functional, so I spent time on it. When I first got the boat, I found the unit in the fore bilge, completely submerged. When this happened, it appeared o short out the circuit board and the macerator (chopper) motor and mixer motor. Good news, is that the rest looks salvageable. So I may be able to get away with a $400 repair vs. a $2500 new unit.

Bad news is that at some point the plumbing on this was completely jacked with, and it no longer has the option to push the treated filth into a wastewater tank. Instead, the Y valve which would do this has one hose that goes into the intake of the Purasan, and the other goes to the discharge port of the Purasan. So now, next trip, I also get to have fun with all of that, and see if I can resurrect the toilet. Picture of the Purasan main unit from the top.



After a few hours of that, it was time to relax again, so I decided to do a little fishing off the front of the boat in the marina. Got some frozen shrimp, because for some reason the bait shop was closed (its about 10 boats down from where mine is moored), but at least it was cheap. Started the FSU-LSU game and started fishing. Wasn't expecting much, but ended up with a dozen or so catfish, with a couple in the 5 lb range or so, and several baby reds (first one I caught in the picture). Also had to have a margarita in honor of Buffet, and listen to quite a bit of his music. My dad took us boating all the time and he raised us on Buffet's music while on the water, so that one hurt. My dad and I chatted on the phone on the way home about Buffet, the boat and various things.



All in all a relaxing trip, and I found I can live on the boat (bathrooms are nearby, thankfully, and the air conditioners worked great) while getting work done. Not terribly exciting, but exactly what I needed. And I am pretty sure I could sit on the front of the boat and fish every day from here on out, if I didn't have to work, ha! Next trip down likely in 3 or so weeks, and I'll be working on that danged transmission until then.

But for now, It's 5 o'clock somewhere (and here), so I'm out.

Since you have a large wastewater holding tank, I would abandon the Pura San and install a padlocked Y valve to overboard and holding tank. That way you can still pump overboard offshore, but if you stay in the marina you would need to pump out periodically. Easier to deal with overall.