Making big purchases at the Big Seattle Boat Show

One of the most popular blog posts of last year was Making Big Decisions at the Big Seattle Boat Show about last year's trip to the show. I received many comments and advice from readers, which I really appreciate. Last year we made a few key purchases, but we left the big ones for this year.

We attended the show on my wife's 60th birthday. "The sound of my screaming you hear on that day will not be from me turning 60, but from all the money we will spend," she told our friends.

Here's what we bought and what we didn't:

Built to last: Hydrovane and my wife.

Hydrovane

Last year we decided that a Hydrovane would be the best self-steering device for our Columbia 43 sailboat. We didn't buy it then and we are glad we didn't. The Hydrovane is made in the UK and the Pound is weaker than the Dollar right now. With the "boat show price," we saved about $1,200. Even with the savings, it was our largest single purchase so far for the boat.

We are pleased and excited about it nonetheless. Mike Snyder, who owns Distant Dreamer (the Columbia 43 that won her class in the 1971 TransPac as Encore) contacted us last year and said the Hydrovane works superbly on his boat.

Adios sailing on the Columbia River.

New mainsail

We actually decided to buy a new main from Dale Waagmeester, the sailmaker for Banks Sails Northwest, at the "little" Portland Boat Show. There is not much to interest sailors at the Portland show, but it's a fun date. We met Dale at a previous show and liked him immediately. He is making us a full-battened, loose-footed main that he says will be bulletproof. Our old main belongs in a museum.

We are also getting a Strong Track. With the full battens, we will need it. Dale made a full-battened main for Adios, a Columbia 43 that's famous on the West Coast for it's racing and cruising accomplishments. Craig Shaw, the owner, really likes the main and highly recommended Dale.

Lazy jacks

A couple years ago we attended a seminar at the Seattle boat show put on by Port Townsend Rigging. We were impressed with their lazy jack system. It looked to us like they had perfected it. This year we ordered ours at the show from Lisa Vizzini. This was another case where it paid to wait. Because they now price the system "a'la cart," we saved a few dollars.

Lehr propane-powered outboard

Last year we decided we would get a Lehr 2.5 hp propane-powered outboard for our dingy. So when we saw them at the show Virginia walked right up and showed them the money. After much running around and wasting our time by the rep, we gave up. Turns out his dealers didn't have any to sell, so we'll just buy one later from West Marine. The $100 rebate was not worth the hassle.

We are still excited about getting one, in spite of the poor system in place for buying one at the show. One sailing friend in Tacoma says he loves his.

Virginia models her new foul-weather pants and boots while holding the San Juan Islands: A Boater's Guidebook.

Pants!

Virginia's quest to find a pair of foul-weather pants that were comfortable and fit finally came to an end at the show. She found the perfect pair made by Gill at the Seattle Sailing Club booth. She bought a pair of boots too. Thanks SSC!

Dickinson Mediterranean galley range

We decided that the old, hand-me-down propane stove was just too scary to use. We have no idea how old it is or even what brand it is. There is no lock on the door either. As if propane on a boat is not scary enough, big chunks of rust fall out of it just about any time we moved it.

After looking on online, we decided before the show to go with a Dickinson Mediterranean three-burner propane stove. The Force 10 three-burner was a close contender, but the Dickinson is clearly better in our opinion.

Sure Marine in Seattle had the best price on the web, so we visited their booth at the show. Unfortunately they were sold out of the Mediterranean. We went ahead and purchased the Dickinson Newport, a propane fireplace, and an 11-gallon water heater. I made arrangements to pick it up at Sure Marine's store the next day while Virginia played with some of the grandkids.

On my way to Sure Marine on Friday, I stopped in a Fisheries Supply, the largest chandlery in Seattle. I saw they had the Dickinson Mediterranean on display, but a Fisheries employee looked it up on the computer and found they were sold out as well. Discouraged, I walked back to pick up some rigging supplies.

I asked the fellow who helped me in the rigging department if there was a manager on duty. He directed me to Dave at the front counter. I found Dave and introduced myself and told him I really wanted to return home to Newport with a Mediterranean cookstove. Would he sell me his display model?

We came to an agreement that was about $100 less than the price I would have paid at Sure Marine. And I wouldn't have to pay the $200 shipping from Seattle to Newport. The wood cutting board that comes with the stove was missing, but I can make a new, better-looking one. I was happy. Thanks Dave!

Dickinson Newport

In last year's boat show post I wrote about a forced-air diesel heater made in Finland. While these are very nice units, we decided to go with the simple and less expensive Dickinson Newport 1200. Mounting one on the bulkhead close to the mast is near the center of the boat and should keep us warm and cozy.

Harry James, a friend of mine from Alaska who is restoring an old Columbia 38/Constellation, gave me this good advice: "In Southeast Alaska, where reliable, dry heat is essential, I see lots of cruisers come north every summer. The majority have some variation of the Espar or Walbro furnace. I also see lots of commercial boats; none of them have an Espar or Walbro heater. I have never seen one on a commercial fish boat. There's a clue there. The Primary heat stove for the commercial fleet is some form of a Dickinson.
    "I've skippered a 65-foot 73-year-old classic power boat since 2009. The Dickinson cook stove on it runs 365 days a year without a hiccup. If you are planning on living aboard in the Pacific Northwest, then you need some kind of reliable, simple diesel heater. I have a Dickinson Newport ... I remember a trip in my Triton from Juneau to Pelican in 2008. I pulled into Lisianski Inlet and anchored after 15 hours in the cockpit in 55 to 58-degree weather. The warmth from my little Dickinson left a memory that makes me feel good still."

'Nuff said. Thanks for the good advice Harry. It saved me time and money and will give me better results I'm sure.

We decided to go with the propane Newport over the diesel on the advice of the folks at Sure Marine. Running the propane line will be much simpler than the diesel line with a fuel pump too.

Northwest books and charts

Since we hope to go north in the spring before heading south in the late summer, we bought San Juan Islands, A Boater's Guidebook from Heather Bansmer, who wrote it along with Shawn Breeding.

We thought it was about time that we updated our San Juans Afoot and Afloat book we used when we cruised the San Juans. The book got dog-eared from using it every summer with our three kids and a boarder collie in a 27-foot sailboat in the late 1980s and early '90s.

Heather and Shawn are also the authors of two excellent guidebooks we have: Sea of Cortez and Pacific Mexico. It was nice to meet Heather. We love all of her and Shawn's books.

We also bought two cruising atlases from Evergreen Pacific: West Coast of Vancouver Island and Northwest Waters, which covers from Olympia to Queen Charlotte Sound. No shipping or sales tax and a 20 percent boat show discount. I couldn't pass it up.

Cali-optics binoculars

At last year's boat show I looked at the 7X50 binoculars that are a Chinese knockoff of a much more expensive German brand. I didn't buy them, but wished I had. So this year, I did. The optics are amazing! Viewing at night is super bright. These are the best binoculars I've ever looked through and they have a compass. The boat show deal was about $100 off their internet price.

Pam Wall

The only seminar we had time to attend was the two hours presented by Pam Wall. I have a lot of respect for her and her late husband. These folks were out cruising and raising their kids on board their boat when I was still in high school. She had a lot of great ideas. One of my favorite was putting reflective tape on your mast, stantions and other places so your boat is more visible at night.

2014's accomplishments for the Oceanus crew

Hauling out Oceanus was only one of a list of accomplishments in 2014.

2014 was a seminal year for Virginia and me. We made several major steps toward our goal of cruising full time. Last year left us exhausted, but elated. Here's a list to buoy us up and to inform our readers.

Sold our house

Our house was a very very very fine house. We don't miss it.

Leaving the house we lived in for 11 years and getting rid of a lifetime of stuff was the hardest thing we did last year. Maybe in the last 10 years. We were pretty excited when we got a near full-price offer less than a week after we put it on the market in early summer. The excitement faded quickly when the buyer's agent fired off the first of nine adversarial revisions to the offer. The deal almost collapsed several times until finally closing more than four months after we put the house on the market.

Even though we loved our 1400-square-foot house, it was clearly too big. "The only thing I miss is my bathtub and washer and dryer," Virginia said.

Getting rid of our stuff

We are not hoarders by anyone's definition. But still we accumulated a small mountain of stuff. Paring it down to what fits in our Columbia 43 was just plain hard work. We sold tools, wood and excess boat stuff on Craig's List and on Ebay. Our kids rented a large truck and hauled away tables, chairs, beds, pots and pans.

With each trip to the dump or truckload of donations to the thrift store we felt lighter and more free. In the months since we haven't missed any of it.

Hauling out

Sanding down to the original gelcoat.

I hoped the haulout would take only two weeks. Boy, was I naive! It took almost seven. But the haulout was worth the effort, we:

• sandblasted the bottom and the keel taking off about six layers of old bottom paint;
• sanded, faired with epoxy the keel and bottom;
• painted three coats of epoxy barrier coats on the bottom and keel;
• painted two coats of Trinidad hard bottom paint;
• removed four through hulls and repaired the hull with epoxy and lots of fiberglass;
• installed three new through hulls;
• replaced two old through hulls;
• unstepped the mast and rewired it as well as taking apart all the rigging and inspecting it;
• removed an old transducer and replaced with a new one;
• removed rust and painted the mast step;
• made rigging improvements to the mast;
• sealed deck with epoxy around mast partners;
• removed and replaced the cutlass bearing;
• more than doubled the capacity of the cockpit drains
• and the most noticeable improvement -- we spent days and days sanding fairing and sanding some more before having the topsides professionally painted with the AwlCraft 2000.

It was the most physically demanding work we've done in a long time. We literally worked our butts off: we lost weight even eating almost exclusively fast foot for the entire haulout. We called it the boatyard workout. And it was every day, all day for both of us.

Toward the end of the haulout it was tough to haul our tired selves out of bed. "This is like the movie Groundhog Day," Virginia complained, "the same hell every day. Sanding and fairing and sanding some more."

It was dangerous too. Oceanus's deck was 12 feet off the ground and we made dozens of trips up and down the ladder each day. We also worked on scaffolding and with power tools. To make things even more scary we had no health insurance because we both ...

Quit our jobs

It was hard leaving a job I enjoyed and which provided a regular paycheck. It felt like stepping off into the abyss. I miss many things about the job, especially seeing my many friends.

Virginia resigned as a full-time nurse, but still works per-diem at the hospital, picking up about three 12-hour shifts a month. She is something of a minor celebrity when she returns. Her co-workers introduce her to patients as the nurse who lives on a sailboat and is about to sail away.

Oceanus leaves the dock under her own power

Oceanus heads down the river after her haulout. For 12 years she didn't leave her slip.

For most boats this wouldn't be a big deal, but Oceanus hadn't left her slip, except with the help of a tugboat, for more than 12 years. When a previous owner trucked her to Oregon from California he launched her at the Toledo Boatyard and found the engine didn't work. So he hired a tug to tow her down the river to Newport where she stayed in her slip for 12 years.

One of the things Jason, the owner we bought her from, did was rebuild her Perkins 4-108. But several engine issues remained when we bought her, including a leaking raw water pump and a prop that was the wrong size. Jason helped me replace the water pump and, after two trips to Astoria and three attempts by a professional diver, we installed the proper propeller.

Selling Ravn

I sold my beloved faering in 2014.

I suppose I should have included this in our second section, but Ravn deserves special mention. I wanted to build a faering for more than a decade and in 2010 finally finished a 19-foot version designed by Atkin. Before our lives changed, it was to be my last boat. I even joked that my family could use it to give me a Viking funeral when I died.

I loved that boat and poured three years of hard work and the finest wood I could find into building her. She was and is a head turner and won the People's Choice Award at the 2011 Toledo Wooden Boat Show. So selling her was a big deal to me. Luckily I found great new owners for her in Paul and Maryann. It helps that they are good friends and love the boat almost as much as me.

Finishing the head

Virginia gives a final coat of paint to the head.

The most unfinished space in the boat when we purchased her was the head. It was wonderful to build it just the way we wanted it, but it was a lot of work too. It turned out great with an AirHead composting head and a real bathtub.

Bimini and two enclosures

Virginia used the first enclosure, made from Sunbrella View, as a pattern for one made from clear vinyl. 

Virginia's skillfulness and ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. With the help of a local canvas guy, she designed and then he fabricated a stainless steel tubing frame for the bimini. Then she sewed the canvas for it, including a small window so you can see the masthead fly from the helm.

During the haulout (while the boat was in the paint tent and out of the wind) she patterned an enclosure. Once the boat was back in the slip, she sewed a warm-weather enclosure out of Sunbrella View fabric. Then she used that as a final pattern to sew an enclosure with clear vinyl windows for rainy, cold Northwest winters. Since we moved aboard, we are thankful for it every day for the enclosure.

Cabin sole

Varnished teak on the saloon sole gives way to paint with non-skid beads in the rest of the boat.

The plywood cabin sole of the boat was strong, but ugly. We considered several options, but in the end we replaced the ugly plywood in the main saloon with beautiful marine-grade teak plywood and varnished it. In the rest of the boat we cut access hatches to every section of the bilge, then faired, sanded and Virginia painted it. It looks good and is easy to care for.

Painted deck and non-skid

Virginia primes the deck for the first coat of non-skid.

Another huge project Virginia did almost singlehanded was stripping the old paint from the decks of Oceanus and repainting. The decks were repainted several times over the years filling the weave of the original non-skid pattern and making it unsafe. The decks also just looked ugly!

Virginia spent countless hours on her knees using Citrus Strip and a wire brush to prep the decks for painting. Then she did most the painting herself. I only helped with the tipping of the polyurethane paint in the water channels that border the non-skid sections.

Other projects

Oceanus never had curtains until Virginia sewed them using Sunbrella and a track from Sailrite.

We finished several other projects including more wiring, a real AC panel, plumbing projects, a 600-amp house battery bank and a 60-amp Sterling smart charger for the house battery bank and engine battery. I also rebuilt three more hatches and installed a freezer. Virginia sewed curtains for the main cabin. I will highlight several other projects in future posts.

Oceanus received notice in the media being featured in Three Sheets Northwest and named an honorary Columbia 50.

Adjusting our plans

As the haulout stretched into late October it became painfully clear to us that we were not going to sail south in 2014. The weather window slammed shut just days after we relaunched the boat. We also have several projects that need finishing before Oceanus is ready for blue water.

While we really wanted to celebrate last Christmas in the Sea of Cortez, moving our departure date forward has its advantages. One is that we will be around when our eighth grandchild is born in early May.

Another is the relief we felt when the deadline pressure was off. We now will have time to sail north and do our shakedown cruise in the familiar waters of San Juan Islands and Puget Sound. We will then sail south and take our time exploring the Channel Islands and other places in California before going to Mexico in the late fall.

Merry Christmas!

Our little nativity scene on our starboard deadlight is both lovely and space efficient. It has the added advantage of staying put when 50-knot gusts rock the boat.

Merry Christmas everyone. We are having a wonderful holiday both on and off the boat this year. Hope everyone else is too.

Brandon and Virginia

A Seafarer’s Christmas Poem

by Robert Louis Stevenson

First published in the Scots Observer in 1888

The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand;
The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand;
The wind was a nor’wester, blowing squally off the sea;
And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only things a-lee.

They heard the surf a-roaring before the break of day;
But ’twas only with the peep of light we saw how ill we lay.
We tumbled every hand on deck instanter, with a shout,
And we gave her the maintops’l, and stood by to go about.

All day we tacked and tacked between the South Head and the North;
All day we hauled the frozen sheets, and got no further forth;
All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread,
For very life and nature we tacked from head to head.

We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide-race roared;
But every tack we made we brought the North Head close aboard:
So’s we saw the cliffs and houses, and the breakers running high,
And the coastguard in his garden, with his glass against his eye.

The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam;
The good red fires were burning bright in every ‘longshore home;
The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out;
And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about.

The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer;
For it’s just that I should tell you how (of all days in the year)
This day of our adversity was blessed Christmas morn,
And the house above the coastguard’s was the house where I was born.

O well I saw the pleasant room, the pleasant faces there,
My mother’s silver spectacles, my father’s silver hair;
And well I saw the firelight, like a flight of homely elves,
Go dancing round the china-plates that stand upon the shelves.

And well I knew the talk they had, the talk that was of me,
Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea;
And O the wicked fool I seemed, in every kind of way,
To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessed Christmas Day.

They lit the high sea-light, and the dark began to fall.
‘All hands to loose topgallant sails,’ I heard the captain call.
‘By the Lord, she’ll never stand it,’ our first mate, Jackson, cried. . . .
‘It’s the one way or the other, Mr. Jackson,’ he replied.

She staggered to her bearings, but the sails were new and good,
And the ship smelt up to windward just as though she understood.
As the winter’s day was ending, in the entry of the night,
We cleared the weary headland, and passed below the light.

And they heaved a mighty breath, every soul on board but me,
As they saw her nose again pointing handsome out to sea;
But all that I could think of, in the darkness and the cold,
Was just that I was leaving home and my folks were growing old.

(Thanks to John Kohnen, the King Coot of the Western Oregon Messabouts, for reminding me of this great Christmas poem from my favorite author.)

Settling in for a winter aboard

The new cockpit enclosure will make living aboard much nicer this winter.

Life aboard Oceanus is good. We continue to check projects off of our to-do list. (I will post more on that later.) One huge project Virginia completed was to sew not one, but two enclosures for Oceanus's 10-foot cockpit.

While we were hauled out in Toledo and securely in the paint tent, Virginia took advantage of no wind and scaffolding to make patterns for the enclosure. While we were at the dock in South Beach she was constantly frustrated in her efforts to pattern the side panels for the enclosure by the northwest winds that blow all day every day during July, August and September.

The plan was to make the enclosure out of Sunbrella View, a shade product. This is pretty neat stuff. It keeps out most of the sun, insects and even a lot of the wind and provides privacy: when it's sunny, you can see out, but people can't see in. We first learned about the fabric when we watched a series of videos about the makeover of a 43-foot Hans Christian sailboat named Galetea in Olympia, Wash. Sunbrella made the videos featuring professional dodger and boat-canvas makers. We thought an enclosure with side panels made of View would be just the ticket for Oceanus.

The Sunbrella View fabric enclosure provides privacy as well as wind and sun protection.

Several months ago when Virginia tried to buy Sunbrella View from Sailrite, she found that it was no longer available. She quickly searched the internet and found an outdoor fabric store that had 20 yards available in our toast color and she bought it all.

As soon as we got the boat back to her slip in South Beach she went to work on it. First, she modified the connector piece that joins the aft end of the dodger with the forward part of the bimini. By making it more hourglass shaped, she was able to make it tighter and flap less in the wind. She then sewed the five side panels out of the View fabric. She figured they would  make a good pattern for the more expensive vinyl enclosure. It took her about a day to make each panel.

The View through the enclosure.

The enclosed View cockpit was wonderful! It kept the wind out, but still breathed and gave us privacy. When it rained, the View fabric kept most of the rain on the outside. But when the wind blew during a rainstorm, it drove water through the fabric. So Virginia replaced one panel at a time with a vinyl one. Now we have two enclosures: one for our cold, wet Northwest winters and one for summer and warm, sunny climates.

The clear vinyl enclosure makes life aboard much more pleasant, especially when it rains. Things in the cockpit stay dry and when you come in from the rain you can strip out of your wet gear before going below. It is also much brighter than the View enclosure.

Inside the new enclosure it's dry and warm.

 This will go a long way toward making this winter bearable. As I write this rain is coming down in sheets and the wind is gusting to 50 knots, in other words, it's a typical winter day on the Oregon coast. Inside the cockpit enclosure it is dry, except for a little rainwater that trickles down the backstay.

Friends of ours who spent the winter aboard last year turned their boat so it pointed north giving a southern exposure to their vinyl enclosure. They lounged in the solar-heated sun room in t-shirts even on cold winter days.

Oceanus home at South Beach

Oceanus steams down the wild Yaquina River.

We launched about a week ago on Oct. 21.That night and the next day were rainy and windy, so I waited to bring the boat to South Beach until Thursday. It was a great trip down the river. The engine purred along and I was able to spot all the channel markers along the 11 miles of the meandering Yaquina River from Toledo, Ore., to the South Beach Marina in Newport.

The fenders don't look so great, but I was single-handing it down the river and I didn't want to scratch the new paint.

There was some current in the marina and I had to take a second run at my slip, but the important thing is I didn't scratch the new paint job.

Virginia was waiting for me at our slip and snapped these photos.

Virginia sewed coveres for our old fenders out of special material so they won't scratch our new paint.

It was nice to have Oceanus snug in her own slip because the next day we had the first big storm of the winter on Saturday. Gusts of wind to 50 knots of wind struck from the south and east and then southwest sometimes all within a few minutes. The wind had the boats bucking and dancing in their slips in the heavy rain. When the wind shifted to a steady 45 knots from west in the afternoon it was a relief. With the wind screaming in the rigging, I had a two-hour nap (I've been fighting a cold).

That night Virginia and I slept ashore and Sunday we moved aboard. We are loving it.

Back when we were hauled out at the Yaquina River Boatyard the yard employees kept saying "Boy, that's a big boat." And it is... but the first couple days aboard my wife and I felt pretty cozy with what remained of our earthly junk in the boat. We spent the first two days organizing and finding places for things. We also jettisoned more junk. I suppose this will continue for a while. But the boat is organized enough that we are moving ahead on our project list. We are loving it! Virginia is working on an enclosure for the cockpit. I'm installing a new battery charger.

The most frequent question we get is "When are you leaving?" The answer is we don't know. We were really hoping to spend this winter in the Sea of Cortez, but we still have a lot of work to do on the boat. We will have no problem completing it by this spring. If we work hard, and if there is a good weather window, we just might make a run south this winter. The Oregon coast has a well-deserved reputation for wicked winter storms so I'm not holding out much hope. What we do when we break free is still nebulous. We do want to take six months and check out French Polynesia, Tonga, the Cooks and Fiji. We also love Hawaii and want to spend some serious time there before heading back to the grandkids (and the kids) in Olympia, Wash.
  We plan on making Oceanus our home for five to ten years and cruise in southern climes at least two of those. Longer, if I have my way. But those grandkids are super magnets for my wife and I. We'll see.

Columbia 43 Painting finished

Oceanus coming out of the paint tent ready to receive her mast before launching.

Here are some photos and a short video of the new paint job on our Columbia 43 Oceanus. It only tells part of the story of our six-week haulout. In addition to the professional application of the AwlCraft 2000 on the topsides we:

• sandblasted the bottom and the keel taking off about six layers of old bottom paint;
• sanded, faired with epoxy the keel and bottom;
• painted three coats of epoxy barrier coats on the bottom and keel;
• painted two coats of Trinidad hard bottom paint;
• removed four through hulls and repaired the hull with epoxy and lots of fiberglass;
• installed three new through hulls;
• replaced two old through hulls;
• unstepped the mast and rewired it as well as taking apart all the rigging and inspecting it;
• removed old transducer and replaced with new one;
• removed rust and painted the mast step;
• made rigging improvements to the mast;
• sealed deck with epoxy around mast partners;
• removed and replaced the cutlass bearing;
• more than doubled the capacity of the cockpit drains.

Roberto sprays on the bootstripe on Oceanus.

There are several smaller things we did as well, but those are the main things. In all, Oceanus looked good for not being hauledout for more than 12 years. These are tough old boats and can put up with a lot of neglect, But the piper was past due and had to be paid.

Virginia unwraps the masking on Oceanus's stern.

This was a very tough project with Virginia and I working all day nearly every day from Sept. 5 to Oct, 22. We were bone tired every night and in the morning it felt like the movie Groundhog Day where we had to relive the previous days until we got it right. For Virginia is was mostly sanding, fairing and sanding some more followed by painting. While I did a lot of that too, I tackled some tough projects that were difficult and intimidating -- the through hulls and the cutlass bearing were the two biggies.

Roberto times how long it takes the Awlcraft 2000 paint to drain from a measuring funnel. He's a great guy with a lovely family in addition to being a terrific painter.

The yard painter, Roberto, was excellent. He did the sandblasting and sprayed the topsides paint. He also did an excellent job replicating the original cove and boot striping on the boat. He directed us on the prep work and the bottom painting. In all, I thought the yard workers at the Yaquina River Boatyard in Toledo, Ore., were excellent. Thank you Leo and crew.

SV Serendipity: A great home now for sale

Tom and Samantha Gray with Serendipity in the background.

I received a wonderful email from Karen Gray after I inquired about her Columbia 43 Serendipity, which is for sale. I'm always on the lookout for other Columbia 43 owners and their stories. This is a great one and Karen tells it well.

She has lived aboard Serendipity full time for 25 years, but after the death of her husband and now that her daughter (who was raised and schooled on the boat) is leaving for college she's decided to sell the boat and downsize, but Karen tells it much better than I could.

Karen: "I am very much a fan of your blog but did not know how to contact you, so thank you so much for taking the initiative to email me! Having been through so many of the same refit efforts with my late husband Tom that you and your wife have been through (though I must say not with such beautiful results as I have seen on your blog), I get a laugh at some of your comments...most recently the pleasure you took at sanding off the "stupid stripes," which we did in Grenada in 2002, along with several other coats of paint.

Ah, where should I start with Serendipity. She was purchased by Thomas Gray in Boston in late 1986. At that time her name was Swallow. I believe Tom was her third owner. I know little about her history before us, except that she was definitely out of the Virginia plant, and Tom was told she had crossed the Atlantic to the Med and back under a prior owner. Tom had Serendipity laid up in a yard in Winthrop, Mass., stripped of her mast and rigging, when I met them both in 1989 (my little Catalina 22 was a yard neighbor). A retired Navy chief and electronics technician, he was in the midst of replacing all her electrical wiring and electronics when I joined the crew. Serendipity has been my full-time home for almost 25 years.

The Grays added extra storage, counter top space and a nav station in place of the dinette.

 
In 1989 we ditched the propane heater in the main salon and headed south to Florida, where we began what was essentially to become a ten-year refit (and you thought things were going slow on Oceanus!). I realize the C-43 could accommodate a racing crew of six, but there were just the two of us back then, and we were living aboard and planning extended cruising.

We didn't need the large dining area opposite the galley; we wanted the nav station and all electronics aft, more accessible to the cockpit; and we needed lots more storage! Other changes were dictated by our "grow your own crew" program - our daughter Samantha was born in 1996. So below decks, we converted the U-shaped dinette into a nav/computer workstation and lots of additional storage space for provisions. I like to cook, so I appreciated the extra counter top space.

We closed off the galley completely from the main salon with bulkheads port and starboard, and a dutch door (so we could close the bottom half when we were in the cockpit and still keep an eye on the youngest crew member securely below).

Serendipity's main salon with a fold-down table.

We kept the upper/lower berths in the salon to port, but added a drop down table (for dining and schoolwork) to starboard. Stowed up it secures the vertical bookshelf next to the mast and opens up lots of space in the salon (important when your six-year-old invites all of her friends over to play).

We also used the underneath of the table as a whiteboard/blackboard combination. The original nav station opposite the head was converted initially into a built-in crib, then a toy box. And we added more enclosed, shelved lockers to the V-berth for clothing storage (without cutting down on sleeping space). To brighten up the entire interior we added two deck prisms in the salon, and a light oak herringbone parquet cabin sole throughout. Tom did all the cabinetry and cabin sole work himself.

Tom and Samantha at the helm. Note the custom radar arch in the background.

To prepare her for cruising (the Eastern Caribbean was our destination), we replaced her Perkins with a new Yanmar 63 hp turbo in 1999, and had a custom boom gallows and radar arch/dinghy davits constructed (the welder who made them for us owned a C-43 in the West Palm Beach, Fla., and used his own boat as a template, so everything fit together perfectly). To these we attached four Siemens 99-watt solar panels and a Four Winds wind generator. We also fully canvassed the cockpit for sun protection and to create additional 'all weather' living space.

Serendipity's all-weather cockpit.

Then we went sailing. Tom, Samantha and I cruised aboard Serendipity from Florida to Grenada and back for eight years. In Grenada, her topsides received some much needed TLC - lots of fairing and a spectacular Awlgrip job that still looks good today. We also discovered a corrosion issue with her 60-ft. mast at the keel step, and had the bottom four inches removed, and the mast step reconstructed and raised four inches (so the mast no longer sits in a wet part of the bilge), with no net change in the rigging dimensions. Her standing rigging was replaced at the same time, and the mast has been dry and corrosion-free since then.

Serendipity under sail.

Serendipity has been in Florida (we returned as Tom was ill and passed away in 2007). My daughter and I have continued to live aboard when we are not crewing with friends in the Eastern Caribbean half the year. And we continue to work on her. Two years ago, we replaced about 70 percent of her cored deck (which had gone soft in a number of spots). We cut out the deck surface, removed the rotted core, dried the area then painted it with West System epoxy resin, layered new epoxy coated balsa core and woven glass (heavier weights in stress bearing areas), faired it to a smooth finish then resurfaced with Interlux Interdeck. A huge project, but worth the effort.

 Last year, after a lifetime aboard and 12 years of boat-schooling, Sam started college. It's time for another couple, or perhaps a young family, to enjoy Serendipity. Like many land-based empty nesters, I've decided to down size. She is in the water in Titusville, Fla., for sale but not listed with a broker. I've created a website for her http://www.columbia43.com with all the specs and lots of photos, or someone can email me at svserendipity@gmail.com for more information or if they'd like to take a look at her."

Serendipity's optional skeg-hung rudder.

Brandon: Serendipity has another rare, I believe, feature; a skeg-hung rudder. According to a flyer of standard features and available options for the Columbia 43 from about 1969, a skeg-hung rudder was offered as an option. It looks to me more like the standard rudders on the Columbia 45, which has basically the same hull as the 43. The rudder is just another cool feature of a really cool Columbia 43 called Serendipity.

If I didn't have Oceanus, I would be on a plane to Florida with a check in my pocket. I hope Karen can find new owners who will take care of this classic as well as she, her daughter and husband have.