I’ve purposely toned down this post because it’s not supposed to be just about the negative, it’s a new beginning for us and the boat.
Hot Wife made a point to tell me to “move on” Saturday in the parking lot after we had done all the work you’ll see below, cause we’re not continuing to focus on the negative. We’re moving on to the strength and stability this boat will give us on true blue water and in life as we move onto her as a family. She’s our new (to us) boat and we’re looking forward to all the TLC we need to give her to bring her back to Bristol shape. But take a look at my photo essay below and you’ll see just the first day of cleaning work.
Warning: Don’t continue to look closely if you’re easily grossed out!
But don’t worry, we started cleaning immediately!
On the flip side, we did find at least one set of (new) treasure:
And this was just our first day on the boat,,,,Saturday.
4 Responses
Wow, brutal not how you hope to start out your new boat ownership, I’m sure it’ll look ship shape in now time!
Ok…. stop the sniveling. I know you are looking at a lot of work and a lot of money. might be uncomfortable now, but just you wait. Yeah… you are dealing with an older boat so listen up.
This is an Aleutian 51. One of these days you are going to be running before 50+ knot winds with just a rolled in Yankee and you are going to look behind you and see a monster wave about the height of your Mizzen spreader bearing down on you. There is nothing you can do except hold on. That wave is going to take you on your port quarter and it is going to slew you around like you can’t believe. Then the long deep keel and barn door rudder is going to develop enough grip that the Aleutian will accelerate with the wave, giving the keel and rudder even more bite and she will lift and ride and the wave will disappear over the horizon with nothing except a few bubbles where it hit you. When you glimpsed at the knot meter you will have seen the boat was hitting 14 to 15 knots surfing down the face of that wave.
Then, after you start breathing again and you pry your fingers off from whatever you were holding on to, go down below and get the “boatyard bills” folder out and read them again and see how you feel then.
If you are tired of fighting the heavy seas and you have plenty of sea room, you can heave to. Backwind that jib, turn the rudder hard over and all of a sudden peace and quiet. That same long keep and big rudder makes this the most comfortable hove to boat ever. Go down below, eat something (we always found that a flour tortilla with peanut butter settles the stomach in rough weather) and get some sleep. The boat will tend itself and keep you and your family safe. Just do not run into the hard stuff around the edges. The Aleutian will handle the seas way better than even the best sailor.
You done good buying this boat.
One additional thought…. before you decide to use a Home Depot generator think. Down in Zihuatanejo we had a jerk in the anchorage who would fire up an on deck generator and then leave his dog and go to town to drink beer. The generator noise carries over water and is really disturbing. As soon as the guy and his wife left the dog would start barking to add to the problem. Eventually some folks took to putting by on their dinghy and throwing a bucket of salt water on the generator. Electric generators are much quieter after several buckets of salt water.
He never responded to complaints about his dog and eventually the dog disappeared also. It all worked out in the end because one afternoon a strong offshore wind came up. Most everyone that was in town rushed back to the anchorage to sit on anchor watch. Not this jerk. He had about a 2 to 1 scope on 15 feet of chain and the rest rope anchor line. The boat dragged through the anchorage and eventually ended up on the rocks at the north end of the entrance into Zihuat.
There is a God.
Please pass my e-mail on to the fella that bought my old boat Amnesia. I would like to hear from him.
I see you have changed the name on Integrity. What is the meaning of the new name? Speaking of names, my favorite all time boat name was the “Never Again II”.
I will be following your progress as I am sure the spirit of the former owner and our friend, Mike will be.
Again…. you done good.
Mike Fuller
Tucson
Hi, we’ve been busy and named and christened her yesterday. I’ll share pics and more info,,,,there’s a lot of work to do on here but that’s par for the course. Thanks for sticking with us!
Builds character! Just hold your nose and go!