At fall Liberta visited the Hopeasalmi dock, where the electrics were checked and some of the damages caused by the short circuit were fixed.
Category: 2016
Not Just Fixing The Boat
At the end of the summer we got to enjoy the sailing itself and few nice trips were made.
Improving The Interior
The first painting jobs brought already a lot more light and confirmed that we are on the right path. The amount of work needed is so huge, that it was good that we started one piece at a time
Learning New Things
When you do something for the first time, it’s a guarantee that you’ll learn something new. That was the case here too.
Sailing At Last!
Trust towards the boat and the engine grew rapidly.
Nothing Ever Happens If You Don’t Do Anything
Power on and WTF?! There’s sparks and smoke everywhere!
The Companionway Fiasco
With a good hobby one don’t count the hours spent. But in this case I have to say, I would have rather missed this learning experience.
The Sewing Club
The more I got to know the boat, the more parts seemed to fall off.
Cleaning The Teak
The boat was literally growing moss! How could I get the moss off the teak parts?
The First Renovations
Hope is alive. I accidently poored some coffee to the floor… it looks as though the worn out and dirty floor could look good if renovated properly.
Buyer’s remorse hits in the face
After the first rush of emotions had settled, it was time to get take a serious look at what I had bought. The first thing on my mind was the sheer size of the boat. Everything felt huge after the old 7,7 meters long Maxi 77. One could walk straight up and the mast was almost as thick as a man’s waist. And I must admit it felt good have your boat at the dock of the big boats … =)
What, instead, began to bother quite quickly, was how alone I discovered that I was with the boat. Everything was new, starting from where the batteries could be found, how to start the engine, how to put all ropes etc.
The problem was that the former owner of the boat had Alzheimer’s disease and could not help at all, and his wife did not know anything about the boat. Things had to be learned the hard way. For example, to find the batteries, I had to open the floors and follow the wires. Finally, the batteries were found beneath the base of the storage space underneath the table …
I felt as though I was the anti midas.
The second big thing that caused the buyer’s remorse was the condition of everything. A few out of use also meant a lack of maintenance. For example, some of the railings were bent, the ropes were poor, the grommet for the electrics came off after touching it, as well as the drawers, the water pump was on half a minute and stopped working, the toilet did not empty etc. etc. I felt as though I was the anti midas.
At the same time, I was fixing the old boat for sale condition, so things moved on slowly. When there was no one interested in buying the old boat, the good drive was changing into despair.
Jussi
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Liberta, love at first sight?
In the spring of 2016 my online search alert brought up, after years of scanning, a boat that was meeting my criteria AND was suitable for my wallet. I immediately rang up and was on my way to take a look at it. And that’s where this story began.
The boat was an aluminum Van de Stadt 34 which met the criteria set for the boat: more than 10 meters long, engine 20 hp or more, standing height within the entire boat, separately closed bow and aft cabin. Also, thinking of long distance sailing, I was fond of aluminum boats, of course having drooled after Jimmy Cornell’s Ovni and Garcia.
The owner of the boat had the Alzheimer’s disease, and therefore the boat had been out of use for several years. There were a lot of things that were in need of care and attention. But most importantly, hull, sails and the engine were in good condition. The inside and the outside surfaces were in weak condition, to put it mildly. Seeing beauty in the middle of chaos asked the right character. Also, the comments from my friends were not encouraging, on the contrary.
Balancing with reason and emotions… The fact was that the reason part said never, while there was a strong yes coming from the emotion part. In the end deal was made. Spring and boat fever makes a man crazy! 🙂
Thinking of the condition of the boat, the thought in my mind was “Opportunity often presents itself in work clothes.”
Jussi
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