I have to admit, the first time I saw this boat sitting hauled out in the boatyard - filthy, covered with a thick layer of dirt and dust, spintered brightwork, faded deck, smelling of well-ripened sewage down below - I wasn't very confident that she could ever become anything that I would want to spend much time on.
Boy was I wrong!
I must say it was a huge leap of faith to purchase this boat without even starting the motor, or doing a sea trial. While Ross (our surveyor) indicated that she was solidly built and needed only minor repairs (although a LOT of them), there were just so many unknowns that would remain unknowable until we got her in the water. And I had some pretty strong fears that launching her, and the subsequent inspections and discoveries, would reveal huge, money-sucking problems that would ultimately bust the budget, IF they were even worth resolving.
My first fear was that the engine wouldn't start. My heart was pounding as she was carefully placed in the water by the huge boat-launching apparatus. Which was pretty cool to watch - check out the pics:
But to my surprise, she fired up instantly! Our first sea trial was a bit hairy - pretty big swells, strong winds, and two out of the three crewmembers had no idea what to do. (It's been 16 years since we sold our first boat, and Dean had never been sailing at all). We had a few stressful moments when the roller furling line got fouled up and Charlie had to climb up to the wildly-bouncing bow to untangle it. He really needs to get a harness, because if one of those big swells had knocked him overboard, I'm not so sure I would have been able to figure out how to pick him up!
Other than that, everything worked great. But there were other potential disasters still to be sorted out. What was that awful engine alarm that kept beeping every time we were in the harbor? Was the rigging okay, or would we have to dump a pile of money into fixing it? Would the batteries hold a charge, or would they need replacing? Will the bottom-cleaning diver be able to replace the zinc for us when needed? How will the boat sail?
As of today, most of our fears have proven to be groundless. Dean figured out the alarm was actually from the incorrectly-set depth-sounder, NOT the engine (PHEW!); the rigging inspector proclaimed the rigging to be fine; the diver gave us a reasonable quote for periodic replacement of the zinc; the batteries are holding their charge; the roller furling is working fine now. And, best of all, she sails like a dream!
CLEANING FRENZY
Starting almost as soon as we got her in the slip, Dean, Charlie and I have been spending hours cleaning and sprucing her up. The first order of business for me was the teak & holly sole (the floor). While the rest of the interior wood looks bright and shiny, the sole is dingy, faded and dull. So I'm planning on varnishing her myself - I've ordered a varnish designed specifically for teak & holly soles. But first I had to completely de-grease and clean the entire floor, which took most of the day and lots of sweat and elbow grease. Now I'm waiting for the varnish to arrive so I can get started.
My next angle of attack was the galley, which was filthy, covered in caked-on grease, with its stainless fixtures pockmarked with corrosion. I scrubbed it all until it shone, and even got most of the corrosion off the fixtures. A trip to Walmart helped me to completely furnish my galley with all the cookware, utensils and dinnerware we might ever need.
And here's the finished galley:
Then the three of us got to work waxing/polishing all the fiberglass surfaces. This made a HUGE difference, especially in the cockpit which previously was filthy, scuffed, and covered with black streaks. Well, after an afternoon spent doing wax-on-wax-off, it is now brilliant white.
Finally, I decided to see if I could do something about the awful whitish fading on the edges of all the treadmaster panels on the deck. Turns out that it wasn't fading after all - it was residue from previous careless wax jobs. I attacked it with boat soap and a scrub brush, and sure 'nuff it came out! Now the entire boat looks bright and shiny. The last cosmetic task is the brightwork, which still is all faded and splintered, but Doug, the wood guy, is going to come by soon to get that done so the entire boat will look almost new!
NAMING OUR BOAT
We went through a number of different ideas and suggestions, but ultimately it was Charlie's choice, as this is really his baby. He chose to name her after the two women in life: Julianne, which is an amalgamation of our daughter (Julia) and me (LeeAnne). I left it up to Julia to select the font for the name, and she chose a lovely one; I added in a graphic of a manta ray. I ordered vinyl stick-on letters online, which should be here in a few days. Here's how it turned out:
There are a couple reasons for the manta ray. First of all, I've seen several manta rays close-up when diving (in Bali and the Marquesas Islands), and to me they represent the best of the sea: they are huge, strong, graceful and peaceful, gliding through the ocean like massive angels. Also, the winged keel on the boat is reminiscent of the shape of a manta ray. Finally I just thought the graphic of the manta ray looks lovely next to the name!
Before we can apply the new name, however, we have to hold an important ceremony. Renaming a boat is not something to be done lightly. Since the beginning of time, sailors have sworn that doing so can cause the ship to become unlucky, as they have defied the gods of the sea by changing the name. We would prefer to avoid any potential unlucky-ness (is that a word?), so we found a suitable boat de-naming and re-naming ceremoney that involves invocations to the sea gods, and pouring a couple bottles of champagne over the deck. Seems a shame to waste good libations, but hey, we'll do what needs to be done!
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