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RWS wrote:so many of us have purchased used boats which have had questionable repairs done, causing us to have to re-do, re-engineer or just replace or upgrade stuff.
Nice execution on this project, makes for a truly enjoyable time aboard.
RWS
Agree 100 %
Some times this can even apply to new boats .
TROJAN F36 Conv.
6BTA Cummins diesels
Life is to short for a ugly boat
2009 TROJAN RENDEZVOUS
Port Kinsale 2010 & 2011. Solomons get together 2011.
The previous owner had this boat for 29 years and made many improvements during that time. The real issue is that it became a dock queen, so a quick run during the survey and sea trial did not give us a real indication of things that were still working, but about to fail.
A good example of this was the bronze elbow on the waste line that had corroded 99% through, but was only visible when you pulled the hose off it. Externally, it looked to be in great condition.
I would love to be fully retired and have a few weeks to work on the boat full time. Sometimes it seems like the to-do list is getting longer, not shorter. Part of owning a boat, I know, but I have a vision of where I want it to be and there is still so much to be done!
Our marina has WiFi and used to have an access point on the dock near our boat. It has not been working for the whole year, so I decided we needed to do something. If it was just my wife and I, it would not matter, but if I want my kids to have fun on the boat, they need to have internet access. You could argue about whether that is necessary, since part of the benefit of having a boat is getting away from it all, but that doesn't happen if the kids don't want to come along. Later on, when we are retired and doing more cruising, it will be helpful to get internet access in remote anchorages, though the solution I picked may need some upgrades for longer distances.
If you have followed the market for marine WiFi boosters, you know that commercial solutions run about $400 and up, with some stripped down versions in the neighborhood of $250. My goal was to get much of what the commercial solutions give at $100 or less. I decided on a system that can also be easily removed from the boat and used at other locations that are WiFi challenged.
Ubiquity makes Cutomer Premises Equipment (CPE) that is the standard for point-to-point solutions in commercial markets and provides the Bullet router that is used in most of the commercial marine solutions. I chose not to use the Bullet as it would have cost over $100 with a quality antenna, but instead chose a NanoSation locoM2 that combines a router with a 60* directional antenna. The NanoSation is designed to be mounted outdoors, but I plan on just setting it in the flybridge enclosure tie wrapped to one of the bimini poles. Power is supplied over the Ethernet cable via a power injector (POE), so the only wire going to the NanoStation is a Cat6 cable and I don't have to worry about weatherproofing the connection like you have to with a Bullet and antenna assembly. The big trade-off that I am making is that you have to aim the NanoStation at the signal you want to pick up, where the Bullet with an omnidirectional antenna does not have to be aimed. At a dock, this is no big deal, but when at anchor swinging around the hook, it could be a problem.
On the other end of the Ethernet cable will be a Ubiquity airGateway access point. This is a really small (1x1.5x2") router/antenna combo that will be used as an access point with the routing being done by the NanoStation. The basic unit has an internal antenna, but I paid $10 more to get one with an external antenna for better WiFi connections on the boat.
The only other piece necessary is an Ethernet cable, which I will make up myself.
You might have noticed that I also bought a GoFree Wifi unit made by Navico, the parent company of Simrad, B&G and Lowrance. This unit is a wireless interface for the marine electronics, allowing a tablet to be used to display and control the chartplotters. With this, you can sit at the dinette and use the chartplotter to plan a trip, set waypoints, view AIS targets on the chartplotter and initiate VHF calls to them using the VHF radio remote. Navico does not make it easy to use this device for browsing the internet or streaming video, though I think you can get into the guts of the GoFree router and make it happen. More important, there are bandwidth issues with the radar and sonar overwhelming the network, making it desirable to separate the marine network traffic from the consumer electronics side of things. That said, having the chartplotters connected to the internet periodically allows direct updates of the software and also uploading of sonar data to Navionics' crowdsourcing database that generates more precise and current sonar data. Once I have this all running, I am going to see how best to make this connection to the internet, as there are multiple options available.
After backing into a piling I needed to repair the swim platform. In addition to repairing the damage, we added a 4-step swim ladder under the plaform. The repair was a bit complicated and I made a separate thread for it: http://www.trojanboats.net/wforum/viewt ... =1&t=10092.
One of the armrests on the captains helm seat was no longer fastened to the seat and was a safety issue if somebody grabbed it to steady themselves. Since this is at the back of the flybridge, I considered it a serious problem and wanted to fix it before we left for a 2-week vacation.
We plan to restore both helm seats later, so this was just a quick fix.
After taking the vinyl off, it was apparent that there was a manufacturing defect or poor quality repair done in the past. One of the T-nuts was missing and a hex nut had been used instead. Unfortunately, this was on a hole very near the edge of the plywood and the end result was that the nut pulled through and the plywood broke, leaving the arm rest flopping.
I cut a new seat bottom out of 3/4" plywood and drilled/countersunk the holes for the T-nuts, including an additional one that I bought. Before assembling, I applied a coat of West Systems 105 epoxy to the board to strengthen and protect it. The seat was reassembled and reinstalled, and it worked great on our trip.
We will eventually completely restore both helm seats, but there are other projects higher on our list. I apologize for not having any photos, but I was rushing to get ready for vacation and never thought to take a single one!
Our boat came with some very nicely constructed drapes at the salon door and matching curtains in the triangular windows by the windshield. My wife hated the dark colors and thought the pattern was like a boy's bedroom from the 60's. Needless to say, they had to go!
My wife and her sister grew up making their own clothes and both are accomplished quilters, so making new drapes was certainly something they had done for homes before and making ones for the boat couldn't be that difficult, could it? After looking at MANY fabric choices, we decided on what we wanted and she bought the fabric and other related stuff. I was assigned to replace or repair the existing track system and we worked together figuring out how to make the drapes less formal and more attractive. Her sister visited us a number of times to help out with the project, which was really nice of her.
This is what they looked like before:
Boat Drapes.jpg (197.61 KiB) Viewed 5250 times
I was able to reuse the original track and replaced the broken snap-in carriers with new ones. To keep the curtain hanging evenly, I used some string to limit the distance between the carriers to 2.2". You can buy carriers that come with the carriers connected by string, but I wanted to have the ability to control the distance between them. I also replaced the string that opens and closes the drapes.
The ladies made the curtains and I did not follow exactly what they did, but they did a fantastic job and all I contributed on the fabric side was to buy the snap tape for them and install the other snaps where they told me to.
As part of this project, I also replaced the old mini blinds with some higher quality ones and we removed the sleeper sofa and bought new Poang chairs from Ikea. The transformation is amazing -- much more cheerful and light. My wife no longer thinks the boat is from the dark ages!
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Last edited by WayWeGo on Mon Dec 24, 2018 11:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
Our hatch seals have always leaked a drop or two, so have been on my list of projects near the bottom. All of a sudden, they all started leaking a lot! Here is what I found when I looked more closely.
Hatch Seal Old.jpg (189.46 KiB) Viewed 5182 times
Some of the joints were OK, but the seals were hard and not making good contact. Other joints had failed and were also perpendicular to the hatch edge, rather than at a 45 degree angle. My wife freaked out and ordered an immediate fix!
Hatch Seal New.jpg (178.97 KiB) Viewed 5182 times
As part of a later project, I will remove the hatches, replace the plexiglass and have them powder coated, but this should keep us dry for a while.
The anchor that came with our boat was a Danforth high tensile 20lb anchor, which is a pretty good match for a lunch hook, but not what I wanted for overnight use. After some research, I decided on a few anchors that would make me happy and waited for one of them to go on sale. I ended up buying two anchors that suited me. The first was a Fortress FX-37 refurb that was originally used during the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This will be stored on the boat in a disassembled state and used as a kedge and storm anchor. The second is a Super MAX 16 anchor that will go on the bow pulpit. The Super MAX is not all that well known, but some people whom I respect have them and like them, especially for the muddy bottom we have in the Chesapeake Bay.
Of course, the new anchor did not fit on the bow pulpit, so I had to make some modifications. The slot for the anchor used to end at the pulley bracket, so I lengthened it by 1 1/2 inches.
Bow Pulpit Cutout.jpg (231.32 KiB) Viewed 5005 times
With the anchor in place:
Bow Pulpit 2.jpg (224.62 KiB) Viewed 5005 times
Side view:
New Anchor.jpg (131.72 KiB) Viewed 5005 times
Still to be done is remove the 40 year old anchor rode and winch in the new one that is sitting in a box in my basement. And of course, refinish the bow pulpit!
We purchased a radar arch from Atlantic Towers and recently installed it. With the arch, we also bought a kit to tip the arch back for reduced bridge clearance. We added some lights to the arch and also new VHF antennas mounted to the arch. The old antennas will be removed and the fiberglass patched at a later date.
Along with this install, we removed the original anchor light on the front of the flybridge and replaced it with one that mounted to the arch. This is a big improvement because it gets the anchor light above the height of the canvas for better visibility, and also moves the light out of the sight lines of the helm, which is most helpful in fog and rain.
Along with this install, we removed the original anchor light on the front of the flybridge and replaced it with one that mounted to the arch. This is a big improvement because it gets the anchor light above the height of the canvas for better visibility, and also moves the light out of the sight lines of the helm, which is most helpful in fog and rain.
Not to mention now legal. I couldnt believe that the anchor light of the 3-decade-old boat that i bought wasnt USCG-compliant. Not having an arch to move it to, i just extended the light support that i had with a removable, plug-in, all-around white light meant to be used on outboard boats and what not. It was LED, which meant a noticably reduced load on the batteries to boot. I dont always get up at sunrise and turn off my anchor light. Its true -- i might have slept in a bit after arriving the previous evening with, dare i say it? Really cold beer! ; )
And a very happy thanksgiving to all!
I needed a less expensive hobby, so I bought a boat!
