Color Her Blue

Fran wants to keep the basic color scheme blue and white, but a darker blue than the baby blue she's got now. We are looking at every blue car, boat and baby buggy that goes by, but nothing has been just right so far. About the closest she's come is a boat Marty was selling recently. Check out this color:




And actually, she says now, this isn't really dark enough. Stay tuned.

Selling the Merc

A local friend of ours contacted us a few days ago after he noticed we'd gotten the new engine. He was interested in checking out the Merc for a 17-footer he's working on. So yesterday he stopped by the house and gave it the once-over. I called Marty Loken this morning for his advice on price, and phoned Clint for an ok. Looks like we have a deal. I'll drive the boat over to his shop tomorrow and he and a friend of his will remove motor, controls and tilt/trim pump. I'll post some pictures after the big event.

So, we'll have a little easier time on Wednesday when we head over to Nordland to have the new motor mounted at Marty's shop.

Canvas Top

One of the saddest things about the boat was the old canvas top. The aluminum frame was bent from winters of accumulated snow. The canvas material was faded and torn and discolored. It was a depressing mess. This shot of Linton and Scott actually makes it look better than it was, although it's probably just because your eyes are dazzled by these two great-looking guys!















So even though the restoration wouldn't be done this summer, we thought we'd better get a new top right away. Rain or shine, a top makes all the difference when it comes to me being comfortable in Puget Sound (bald guys, you know - we always know when it's raining.)

We decided to use L & T Canvas in La Conner. Les seemed to appreciate the Skagits, and we wanted to do at least some of the work locally. And they had time to get the job done by early summer; we didn't want the top to hold us up once we got the new engine in place.

Les strongly suggested using stainless for the framework, and though it was quite a bit more expensive, we're glad we made the decision. It just seems more nautical and professional looking, and it's really stout.















We were surprised when we saw the side curtains. They seemed, well, too big. But once you're under the top it's easy to imagine boating in a blustery cold northwest day and really enjoying the extra protection. With the windows in place it feels like the boat got an extra cabin.















Fran opted for blue trim on the windows. We thought it would give the whole job a more "50s" look. We still haven't decided on a new blue color for the hull, but we think this steely blue Sunbrella material will probably go with it nicely.

Here'a a close-up. Notice that L&T has already sewn in the zipper for the back canvas. That will come next year when we've done whatever we're going to do with the cockpit area seating.

The New Arrival

We knew from the start that the old Merc 1150 wasn't going to work out in the long run. We plan on doing some long, slow trips, and the Merc is really designed for performance. It runs well, and is very fast, but it does burn about 6 gallons an hour at 25-30 mph. Great for short, fast trips, but probably not ideal for our purposes.

For some reason we had fixed on an Evinrude E-Tec 90 as the replacement. I must have seen one at the Valley RV/Marine store first. Then we read the brochures, amazed at the specs. The EPA and European Union certifications are hard to argue with. And if the fuel consumption and db levels are anything like what they advertise, we'd be happy. But they're expensive. We had a small engine fund set aside, and we'd save for the rest. We could use the Merc for a couple years.

Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for. Just for the heck of it, I went on Boat Trader to check the E-Tec 90s out, and one jumped out at me. A dealer in Florida was taking one in on trade for a larger E-Tec. 50 hours. Two years old. Still under warranty. Less than half the price of new. Ahhhh!



So we bit. Sent him the money. And THEN came the hard part. Before shipping the engine, our guy sent it over to the Evinrude dealer to check it out. In retrospect that was a good thing. But it took two MONTHS to get everything resolved. First, he couldn't read the codes from the computer. Bad computer chip. Order one, wait, install it, THEN read the codes and discover the fuel pump was about to go out and needed to be replaced. Order one, WAIT again ... and WAIT ... and WAIT. Apparently, the part was on factory back-order. We stewed and worried, and wondered if we were being scammed. Finally I got the number of the Evinrude dealer and called him. No, everything was legit. He had the engine, and was in fact waiting for the part. And everything would be done under warranty.

Finally, just last week, we heard the engine was on its way. And a couple days ago I got the call from a trucker wandering around Mount Vernon. "Got an outboard for you. Can you meet me?"

So, at long last, here it is:















We'll be heading over to Island Boat Shop in the first week in July. Marty and his crew will remove the Merc and install the new baby. Can't wait to try her out.

Fuel Tanks

Skagit 20s came with two custom built fiberglass fuel tanks, one mounted on each side of the cockpit. They are wedge-shaped affairs that nestled against the sides, and seem to have held around 20 gallons. I have heard that newer gasolines tend to attack the fiberglass resin, so most owners have replaced their tanks. Fran's tanks had about 6 gallons of old, smelly fuel in them, and still had active fuel lines running back to the fuel filter in the splashwell. It all had to go.

First step was to remove the old tanks. They were originally tabbed into place with strips of fiberglass. It was only a single layer of glass, though, and very brittle with age, so it only took a light tap with the hammer and WonderBar to release them.


The next problem was what to do with the gas/oil in the tanks. Really, that's a big problem. You can't burn it, or pour it out, or run it through your car engine. Fortunately we have a hazardous waste facility at our county transfer station. I called them and the fellow there told me they could take the gas as long as I had it in sealed bucket containers that I would leave with them. So, I went to Ace Hardware, paid about $10 apiece for two 5-gallon pails, and poured the awful, smelly green stuff out of the tanks. Drat - more than 10 gallons! Back to Ace for another 3-gallon pail. Then off to the transfer station with pails of fuel and two rotten fuel tanks. Good riddance



I had ordered and received two 24-gallon polyethelene tanks made by Moeller, but when I placed them in the cockpit they really seemed too big. So I returned them for 18-gallon versions. A little shorter and wider than the original tanks, they will hold approximately the same amount of fuel. One of the other club members just ordered custom-built aluminum tanks last week, costing about twice as much as these Moellers, but with the advantage of having the fuel fill location in the same place as the originals. I will be having to move the deck fills about a foot forward, necessitating the filling of two large holes. But that's later. Here's one of the tanks in place.

The Compass

I bought a new Ritchie surface mounted compass yesterday to replace the old, perhaps original, compass mounted on the protruding instrument panel just above the steering wheel. The old one works, sort of; when you tap it sharply the compass jogs to life and re-aligns itself approximately in the direction of north. But the housing is badly corroded and I imagine the internal light no longer works. Not worth saving, I thought.

But then, as I looked at the two instruments side-by-side, I thought of all those beautifully re-chromed fittings Tim Jones is about to reinstall on his Satatogan. And I realized that this old compass could probably look just as good, and would certainly add a touch of class to the boat. So I've decided to use the Ritchie in this summer's quickie cleanup project and send the old compass off for re-plating. It'll take hours to prep it, and who knows how long and how much for re-chroming. But it will surely be done in time for the winter restoration project, and it will be very satisfying to know one of the original parts will be coming home to grace the dash once again.

Approved Project List

So we've compromised. The original plan was to completely restore/repaint Fran's Skagit and then "do some boating later in the summer." Now the plan is to give me until the middle of July to do whatever I can get done, and then put away the tools for the rest of the summer. In other words, go boating. July 15th seems a long way off. Lot's of time, right? Well, it's not as many days as it looks because my school job doesn't break for summer vacation until June 19th, and we are gone on a trip to Colorado from June 21 to 29. So I basically have two weeks.

For me, doing the restoration is probably more fun than going boating – I hate to admit that, but frankly, I like sleeping in my own bed at night. And I don't like having a crunch deadline; that's what I have all year long. AND I don't much like the idea of cruising around in an old boat that badly needs new windows, new paint, new cabin interior, and oh, yea, a new motor. (It may come in time, but that's a different story.)

So here's the "must-do" list. It looks daunting, but frankly there are a lot of one and two-hour jobs here.

• Wash and base-coat paint the interior cabin. Probably white.
• Replace the cockpit deck. (Okay, this is a LONG project, but I really need to do it before installing the new fuel tanks.)
• Install fuel tanks.
• Re-hang cabin door with new hinges.
  
• Paint cockpit white instead of the depressing gray it is now.
• Install a fuse box.
• Install GPS, radio, and hook up the running lights.
• Remove old wiper motors.
• Mount fire extinguisher.
• Install new steering cable.
• Install E-tech controls (if they arrive).
• Mount new engine (if it arrives).

Two weeks? No problem!

A Visit to Tim Jones' Skagit 31 Saratogan

We are in Friday Harbor tonight, the advance guard of what we hope will be an army of classic boat aficionados descending on Tim's shop here tomorrow. We'd all been invited to the re-christening and launching of the boat - the end if a two-decade long project. However, plans had to change; there was just too much work left to do. So Tim has made it a "non-launch" party. We got to the shop around 4:30 pm and found Tim masking the boat getting ready to paint. Busy as he was, he took us all over the shop and showed off the various components he's been working on: bright work, hardware, fiberglass components, and the boat itself. It's huge. We offered to help but there wasn't really much we could do, and Tim needed a break for a few hours before he and a friend paint later tonight. We're looking forward to a fun day tomorrow.


























Saturday
And what a great day it was! We arrived at 9:30, visited with Tim for a bit, and helped with painting prep a little. Fran picked up Tim's daughter, Zohana, at the ferry. She was coming up from Seattle to be a painter's helper. Fran and I cleared out and walked around town for the couple hours when Tim and Zohana were closed off spray painting, and by the time we got back, the blue-green paint was done. An hour or so later folks started arriving and we had fun meeting them, touring the shop again, and talking boats.














Finally, after lots of music and food and drink, Tim orchestrated the "rollout" of the Saratogan. I must say it was even more impressive outdoors than in the shop. Long, sleek, beautifully "50s" styling. One of the attendees has commented on the club web site that the boat is destined to be a Northwest icon, and I think he's right. This is really a classy classic boat.













One of the best parts of the day for Fran and me was talking to other classic boat owners and getting their advice about everything from engines to paints. I was happy that I had a little advice to offer myself, mostly about the fuel tanks I've been working with. As I told people about our restoration plans for this summer, though, we did hear the same piece of advice over and over (especially from Mike and Judy Kronick). "Forget restoring the boat this summer. Put it in the water and enjoy it just as it is! Restoration projects are for winter time!" Well, that's not want I wanted to hear, and it's going to take a few days to get used to the idea. I'm making a short list of must-do's, and we'll see how that feels.