We had the bow bulkheads checked out as the starboard one was thought to have water in it. Turns out it was completely full of water and rotten foam. We now have access hatches to those areas to keep an eye on them. We had the mast pulled off for re-rigging and to check for a "soft spot" under the mast. Turns out we had the mast re-stepped for nothing, since under the mast was perfectly fine. In fact, most of the fiberglass repairs we thought we had, didn't actually need to be repaired. That turned out to be a good thing as the spot under the windlass was way worse than expected. The whole thing had to be pulled off, cut out, and repaired. It took awhile to fabricate and install a manifold plate to ensure a permanent fix. It was so rotten, the old owners are lucky they didn't pull it right off the boat!
Both engine manifolds were rusty, so we had them replaced. It should have been an easy fix except the starboard one had rusted out due to a part that fed into it being completely corroded. To get a new part was a month out, so they had a welder come by and repair it instead. It's as good as new now, but took a week to fix.
We had new electric heads installed. The port side didn't have a holding tank at all, so we had to have one installed. I swear it took them over a week to get that holding tank in and plumbed. The seacock on the port side was frozen and completely clogged with excrement. So, needless to say, the whole port side got new hoses. While wiring in the starboard electric head, the water tank vent was accidentally "bumped" and started shooting water everywhere (apparently the water tank was completely full). They spent several hours fixing that.
We moved onto the boat on February 13th (we had been spending our days at the boat, and our nights in a hotel). The boat was an absolute mess from sitting in the boat yard and having people tramp all over her. We spent the weekend finding a place for everything and washing the boat. The new starboard head wasn't flushing right (turned out to be a bad joker valve on a brand new toilet) and the water pump decided to break (we got a new one and installed it ourselves). The weekend wasn't all bad as we took the boat out Sunday to get the starboard holding tank pumped out. We moved her all by ourselves, drove and docked her like pros.
There were positives to note. The boat got hauled out for a new bottom paint job. It's hard to move the boat when people are watching and you are newbies. We drove her perfectly and even got a "nice" by a worker when we cleared the barrier perfectly. She got washed and waxed as well. We installed new carpet onto the existing shelves.We designed and installed new shelves in the port side companionway (they look built in). We designed the logo for the boat's new name, and it looks amazing on the sides and transom. It's so cool that they used our actual design when the time came:
We left the boatyard February 18th to head to Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale. We are still anchored there now. We've been living "on the hook" watching the boats around us. We've seen dolphins, manatees, and sea otters in the short time we've been here. The trip down the intracoastal was fun. The kids saw big freighter ships and cruise ships up close. We navigated our first draw bridge. Our dinghy has become our "family car" and we are starting to get accustomed to our new life. The kids had a good time with the "renaming" ceremony. They enjoyed pouring champagne into the water for the sea and wind gods. Unfortunately we will be back in the boat yard next week. The starboard holding tank has decided to leak into the bilge. It is cracked. I'm guessing it was jealous of the port side...
