Getting Her Home From Louisiana

Now we had our boat.  According to the eBay listing agreement we had 3 days to pay for and remove the boat from the storage yard in Sulphur Springs, LA or a storage fee of $25 a day would begin to apply.  The race was on to find a boat mover.  The listing had stated that a $200 crane fee would apply to load the boat onto a tractor trailor.  I had a few questions for the yard about the boat so I decided to call and talk to someone to get all the info before contacting a moving company.  I found out that they actually didn't have a crane at all and were in fact located behind some kind of auto repair place.  I was on my own to either find a mover with a hydraulic trailor or arrange for a crane on my own.

I did a little internet research, requested some quotes and decided to go with a company out of Texas called Load A Boat.  The representative I spoke with, Scott Steinbaugh, was so helpful and courteous.  He arranged a crane for me at a really good rate.  (He tried to hold the yard to the stated rate of $200, but in the end I paid $400 for the crane.)  The mover showed up when promised and delivered the boat here to MD on the date agreed.  Everything arrived in good order.  We were extremely pleased with the cost and the service and I would not hesitate to recommend Load A Boat to anyone.  They can be reached at 512-858-2701 or 877-277-2628 or online at www.loadaboat.com.

When she arrived here in Essex she was offloaded at the Boating Center of Baltimore where she would sit until her new trailer was ready.

The photos below were taken upon her arrival.  Her condition was worse than indicated in the eBay pictures.  (Isn't that always the case? Photos are always deceiving that way.)  But it was not enough to dampen our enthusiasm for the project. 


Overall, and with 20/20 vision, (from 20 feet away and going 20 miles per hour) she didn't look too bad.

We will need to remove and refinish the cockpit coamings, the trim and the tiller.  The cockpit sole feels solid and there is no crazing of the gelcoat to speak of. That's a very good thing.  Laying on the fantail you can see what is left of the bow pulpit.


The remains of the roller furling gear looks like a crushed tin can.  Our new jib will be a hank on.  This picture confirms what we have always believed about roller furling.  The bronze bow roller is bent as well.  But the decks feel solid all over and for that we are grateful. The entire deck will be painted and new non-skid applied.  My husband does the most beautiful job with non-skid.


On the port side she was rubbed against until the actual hull to deck joint was opened up in some places.  We suspect she was on a mooring and this damage was caused by the mooring line.  That is until she broke free and ran into "God only knows what".  It appears she went aground and pounded on the starboard side.  It was pretty well crushed in about a half-dozen places.  The mast came down at some point and since the spreader is also broken off on that side, we think that happened after she took the ground as well.   We found a parted anchor rode aboard (but no anchor). 


More port side damage.


Still more port side damage.


A puncture wound up forward by the bow on the starboard side


Starboard side damage.  The fiberglass is actually crushed in several places and will have to be ground away to solid glass and rebuilt.


This area is probably the worst and is completely crushed through.


Another area of crushed fiberglass on the starboard side.


We can't imagine what caused this damage here.  It looks like something was actually sawing up against it.


The bottom of the rudder took a beating.  We will remove the rudder and rebuild it.  I can't imagine that it hasn't been penetrated with water.  The leading edge that meets up with the keel is worn thin also.  This is a problem common to Cape Dories.  We had to make that same repair on our Typhoon.


This motor mount has to go.  It seems to be "sprung" and doesn't work properly, and we would like a more traditional mount that doesn't detract from the beautiful lines of the boat.  We are going to try the mount that Bristol Bronze makes.  It is identical to the one that Spartan makes for the Typhoon only a bit larger with a longer drop.  When she is recommissioned her new name will be "Tough Cookie" (that's another entry).


The mast looks good except for 1 bent spreader.  The standing rigging will all be replaced of course.


We already gave away the 10 horsepower engine that was on the boat.  Much too large and heavy for us.  We only had a 4hp on our Bristol 24, which had a 6000 lb. displacement.  We have already purchased a 3.5 hp Nissan with a 20" shaft for the 22.


The good news is, the inside is in awesome condition.  That Weems and Plath lamp on the wall has never been lit.  There was a new porta-potti inside that has never been used (still had the original paperwork inside the seat).  I will redo the upholstery but I feel sort of bad to throw this out as it is only a little dirty, but hardly even worn.  I don't think anyone spent much time inside this boat.  There was only a small amount of water in the bilge, rainwater I imagine.


All of the interior wood will be cleaned and varnished bright.  The white fiberglass liner only needs a good cleaning and maybe some wax.  There is a small area on the sole that needs some repair (new veneer).  But the interior of this boat is the least of our worries.

Lance and his new baby.  Looks happy, doesn't he?


Tucked in at the marina for the rest of the winter.  As soon as our new trailer is ready we will move her to our backyard to begin work on her.


The boom was inside the boat with the mainsail and sailcover still attached.  The sail cover is torn, but the mainsail looks pretty good.  We are going to take it to Ullman for a good cleaning and any repairs it needs.  It has at least a couple of seasons left in it.  (7/1/2007 - After inspection by Ullman, we determined the mainsail needed replacement.  A new one has been purchased with 2 reef points.) We have ordered a trailer from Triad which will be ready mid march.

Anyone having experience with the particular issues we are facing with this boat, we welcome your comments and suggestions.

Last week I ran into my first glitch at the Dept. of Natural Resources when I went to register her. When the insurance company (Progressive) paid off the owners and took possession of the boat to resell, they had the wife sign the Bill of Sale and Power of Attorney over to them. Problem, the wife wasn't listed on the title or registration, only the husband was. DNR of course would not accept the papers because they had no way of knowing whether the wife had any authority to sign on the husband's behalf.

When I called Progressive to ask their assistance in correcting the matter, they told me quite frankly that they weren't really concerned about whether or not I could register or retitle the boat. They sell them as salvage only, not to be retitled. The clerk at the DNR even talked to them for quite some time, trying to convince them that the transaction was still illegal because they didn't have authorization from the actual owner of the boat to resell it. They couldn't have cared less.

Fortunately, the owner's name and address was on the copy of the registration I received and even more fortunately their phone number was a listed one. I called and even MORE fortunately, they were extremely nice people. They told me to send them any paperwork I needed signed and they would sign it. They also offered to sell us the brand new spinnaker, dodger and bimini they had gotten built for the boat (and never used) for $100.

Moral of the story (actually there are 2): Be extra cautious about the chain of title when buying salvage boats and Cape Dory owners, whether past or present, are awesome nice people.

Becky