Bringing the boat home

[mkh8911]

I purchased a 1978 Albin 36 classic trawler back in late April 2012. I have purchased other boats in this size range and had them trucked, removing the fly bridge (like Boatmon did, Michael, you are an inspiration) and then having to put the boat back together again once its home. I decided that I was going to bring this boat home on its bottom.

I live in middle Tennessee, just outside Nashville along the Cumberland River. The boat was located near Crystal River, Florida. I now know that this trip is not just a hop, skip and jump. Its ±1,350 miles by water. First, you leave Crystal River, Fl, cross the Gulf of Mexico to Carrabelle, Florida. Then you travel the GICW (Gulf Intracoastal Water Way) to Mobile, Alabama. Then you are a mere ±750 miles from home, traveling up the Tombigbee River to the Tennessee River to Kentucky Lake cross over to Barkley Lake and up the Cumberland River to Ashland City, Tennessee.

I considered buying a restored trawler but I really did not want to spend $50-75k and still not know for sure what was left undone behind the panels. I reasoned that if I did the restoration, I would know what I had when I was finished. The boat I purchased has the typical Albin issues; leaky decks, leaky windows and some rotted paneling. It has a Perkins 6.354-4, having been repowered from its original Lehman in 1994. The driveline appeared to be good. The boat seemed to have good bones. It’s biggest plus was that it was all there, all in original condition. In other words the previous owner had not screwed the boat up.

A huge negative was that the previous owner had not used the boat in 8 or 9 years. Accordingly, I had no real idea about the engine, except that it had ±3,000 hrs and seemed to run fine. The PO replaced the fuel tanks 4-5 years ago but the bad news was that the jackleg that did the work simply cut the battery cables and wiring to get the tanks out w/o removing the engine. Thanks to this forum and Pbase (MaineSail from SailNet), my time in the bilge to replace/repair the battery wiring was well spent.

Having made the decision to drive the boat home (and knowing it sat for 8 yrs), I set about replacing everything made of rubber or had rubber seals or components. This included the impeller, hoses, belts, fuel lift pump (rubber diaphragm), water pump (on the front of the engine) and bilge pumps. I changed the engine oil, coolant and transmission fluid. I flushed out the fresh water tanks. I purchased a Garmin 740s and an iPad with iNavX. I was almost ready to go… so I thought.

The first leg of the journey was 135 miles across the Gulf. I had no experience in the Gulf or ocean and decided to hire a Captain for the first leg. Good thing I did because he was the only person telling me to “go, just go”. Everything in me and all of my friends were saying “you should fix this and that before you go”. It does not seem to matter if you have no where to be at a particular time, you still feel the push of external pressure. Hurricane season, insurance, survey, dockage, all issues externally pushing me to hurry up and get out of Florida. The forecast was for 2-4 ft seas for the 2 day crossing. Forecasters were correct the first day. Thanks to Tropical Storm Debby (she was still 750 miles away), the second day we were battered with 6-8 foot confused seas. Waves breaking over the bow, breaking over the sides, pretty much zero comfort factor. I did not fear for my life or anything. In fact, I knew the boat could take far more than I. The joy and tranquility of open ocean cruising eludes me. Good news is that we did not get seasick at all. I was glad to get the boat tied up in Carrabelle.

Because of the pending threat from TS Debby, I took the fly bridge curtains down, leaving the bimini up through the storm (while I hightailed it back to Tennessee). Only expected 40 mph wind gust. Bad mistake. Actual wind gusts of 77 mph. Shredded the bimini. Lesson learned.

I traveled back to Carrabelle on July 2, 2012 with crew in tow. We traveled from Carrabelle to Mobile over next 3 days. Was having trouble with the depth sounder being intermittent. When we reached Mobile, I decided to have boat hauled and install the through hull transducer that came with Garmin 740s. Had boat hauled at Dog River Marina. What excellent people. They installed my transducer, fabricated a new fairing block and repacked the rudder post. All for a very reasonable fee. Rudder post packing is ½” if you’re wondering.

Good thing I hauled the boat. Worms had eaten the old fairing block and all that was holding the old transducer was the bedding material. It’s a miracle the boat did not sink. Lesson learned: never travel offshore in a boat if you have not seen the bottom. I was going to have the Garmin transducer installed at Crystal River but I thought the rates were too high. I thought it could wait. I’m very fortunate that I did not end up in my RIB with the Coast Guard looking for my epirb signal.

I lost my crew at Mobile. He had to go back to work. It’s difficult to find friends that can be away from home for 3 solid weeks. Everyone’s got stuff. Work, spouse, children, grandchildren. I single handed the boat the rest of the trip. 13 locks, six in one day. I saw my first water spout crossing Mobile Bay. I could have sworn it was following me. Then it just disappeared. Yeah!

The boat can travel about 90 miles per day if all of the planets align properly. Factors that effect ones progress include tow boat traffic, fishing boats, jet skis and dam (not damn) traffic.

Over the next 3 weeks I traveled steadily north and eventually arrived at Rottgering Marine in Eddyville, Kentucky. The folks at Rottgering are fantastic people and dear friends. They hauled my boat and had the bottom blasted, epoxy barrier coated and painted. I had the boat surveyed to satisfy BoatUS insurance. I installed all new thru hulls, seacocks and strainers. I needed a breaker bar to close the old seacocks and they still would not close completely. No matter, all new now. I am blessed that I did not have to close them in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico…

Once the bottom and the thru hulls were complete, I splashed the boat and headed up the Cumberland River for a 2 day jaunt to my slip at Harpeth Shoals Marina in Ashland City, Tennessee. Now the boat sits in a covered slip waiting for its next trip, if I can get my family interested enough to step foot on her.

The only mechanical issues I encountered were a broken brass fitting on the transmission coolant line and an engine coolant hose. The transmission coolant line burst just after I splashed in Eddyville, Ky, within 5 feet of the dock. The engine coolant hose popped at the Clarksville Marina dock in Clarksville, Tennessee. I went across the street to Autozone, bought some coolant, a foot of rubber hose and went into MacGyver mode.

Thanks for listening...

[jleonard]

Sounds like you had a great trip and experience. Congrats on a job well done. Now you know the boat well

[RobS]

A great experience and some nice upgrades/improvements along the way. Nicely done.

[DougSea]

Quite the trip!

So, why the hesitation from the family? Looks like she'd be a fun boat to travel around on!

[mkh8911]

I'm not sure why I can't get them interested. My wife's family boated all of her life. The reality is that they can find other thing they would rather do other than go boating. I keep hoping for a change in attitude toward it. We'll see...

[Nancy]

Thanks for the writeup! Enjoyed reading it.

[DougSea]

I'm not sure why I can't get them interested. My wife's family boated all of her life. The reality is that they can find other thing they would rather do other than go boating. I keep hoping for a change in attitude toward it. We'll see...

Well, based on my experience there are a few things to try...

- Are there places that you can go and anchor out that you can't get to except by boat? We have several we go to.
- Can you meet up somewhere with smaller "play" boats / jet skis and act as the "Mothership"?
- How about a dinner cruise with a few other enthusiastic couples / families?

Are you a calm and happy Captain? I love boating, but if I'm out with someone who's overly stressed or yells, well, I just want off of their boat!

One last thing - my wife gets VERY uptight if the boat is cluttered and messy. Feels it reflects on her. So I try and make sure everything is shipshape well before she or guests step aboard.

Don't have any insight into your situation, but all of the above is an integral part of our families boating enjoyment.

Good luck!!

[mkh8911]

Doug,
I think you got me on both counts. The first few times we went out on our other big (Hatteras 34 Sportfish) boat, I was very stressed because of never before having to concentrate on buoys, channels, boat draft or other such things. I would hope that I'm better now that I have much more experience.

Since the boat is a bit of a project (aren't they all), the boat usually has tools, shop vac, spare wire, clamps, etc. cluttering up things. Also, my daughter is terrified of spiders. Have you ever been on a dock without cobwebs and spiders?

Thanks for the insight, I'll try to make the boat a happy place.
Kevin

[RobS]

Running a boat at hull speed will reduce your stress too. You can "take your eyes of the road" a bit. BTW, how old are the kids? Have them bring a friend, or two, you certainly have the room on that boat.

[Sea Crawler]

Very interesting writeup. Reads as though you had a great trip...

I too am guilty of turning the boat into a project.

I'm in the 2nd year refitting most systems on board our Albin 36. The PO had lots of work done (new decks, new windows, painted hull...) and stuff added (Bow & Stern Thrusters, Generator, SAT TV, Raytheon C80 Chartplotter/GPS/Depth...) over the years, but not much was done wrt upgrades to the original mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems. You can imagine how many tools, shop vac, spare wire, clamps, etc. are cluttering up things.

For the duration of the project, I have made a deal with my wife that the forward cabin was off limit for the time being. It is my workshop leaving the flybridge (ours is under a full enclosure over the entire length), aft cabin and salon as living quarters (except when I open up the floor).

The secret I found with women is to engage them in the boat interior design and furnishings. This gives them a sense of belonging. Also, make sure that the diesel smell is gone. The smallest drop of diesel in the bilge is most unpleasant.

Good luck...