The Good, the Bad, and the Plan

I've had a few days to sit back and reflect on the decision to purchase this Newport 28. And while there's that voice in my head telling me that it's only a 28' boat, and that it's not the same layout inside as you wanted originally, and it's this, and that, and the other thing - there's another part of me that has really grown with the idea of keeping the boat a little longer. So that said, here's some of the high points, the lows, and what I need (and want) to do.

The Good Stuff:

The hull and deck are sound. No blisters on the hull, no weak spots, no soft spots on deck, no noticeable leaks. Not around the port lights, or the hull-deck joint. Now, that isn't to say maybe it's not an issue somewhere, but - and Matt, I'm sorry for how this will sound - the gent I bought it from doesn't seem like the type of guy that would've gone through and scoured every sign of water dripping, and not cleaned the rest of the boat to match. So, I'm confident she isn't leaking.

There are a bunch of little goodies that are included. And, also all the requirements are included - sails, anchor, sheets, etc. Basically everything needed to sail, will be there. There's an old autohelm in the mix, it might even work.

There is plenty of headroom and the cabin area is fully functional. The head works, the lights work, it's clean and clutter free (well, will be once stuff is moved around but it's not like there are bits and pieces falling all over the place. There is working water, and an electric pump for it. So there are positives.

The Bad Stuff:

• The bow pulpit needs to be repaired.
• The stanchions need to be reinstalled, and new lifelines fed through.
• Needs repainting where a storm caused a good scrape.

And yeah, that's really it for "Bad". There really doesn't seem to be anything that's a major issue, or structural. However, that's going to lead us into the plans. Ready for a long list? And I suck at breaking things down into order of importance, so.. yeah. Here goes.

The Plans:

I want to redo the vent for the head, since the tubing itself (as you can see below) isn't just unsightly, but when it was done, it was drilled straight through the bulkhead into the V-berth but not below the berth floor. I didn't take a picture in the V, but basically it goes through the wall, and then down into a hole cut into the storage cover. But it also mean there is no way to actually use a cushion. The port side is unusable until I can fix it. And really, it makes no sense to me, since they only had to drop down about 6" and then it would've gone into the space properly. Who knows. 

Another thing that I want to do is some major wiring refurbishing. While everything that I know of currently works, there will be a desperate need to fix and add stuff. Here's a good reason why:

This is the backside of the starboard side. That instrument is some really old depth sounder. I'm 90% sure that it doesn't work, but it isn't hooked up either. I did find what appears to be a transducer, or the housing at least. Just like there's a paddle transducer for speed, but well, you can see there's a few missing gauges. That's actually a piece of plywood, that also will need to be replaced.

Along with the wiring, I also intend to rewire the mast, and fish antenna wire up the mast. Right now, there's one light on the mast - a steaming light. And that needs to be redone. I'm actually going to, instead of just fixing it, I'll replace it with a new steaming/deck light. I also intend to add a new mast-top anchor light. I don't think I'll skip to a tri-color on top, unless the standard nav lights are too junked. But in re-wiring the mast, I also will need to re-do the connection at the deck, since that's just worthless. Since this mast is 38' long and a lot heftier than the 30' long mast on my Excalibur, this will be stepped with a crane and not on a hinge like I had done. It'll be a relatively easy process, thankfully. 

I intend to add an arch at the stern, with a pair of solar panels, feeding probably 4 GC2 golf cart batteries for a 430 amp hour battery bank. Or, effectively 215 useable. The A4 that used to be in the boat has since been removed, but the empty space it left behind will house the batteries just about perfectly. Unless I decide to get more creative, and someday upgrade to either a re-power or converted to electric propulsion. But for the immediate time being, an outboard on the kicker bracket will work fine. It does have shore power which right now just feeds into existing 110 volt outlets on the boat. This doesn't really bother me, but I thing I'll change it around a little more. I don't expect to really need that very often. My immediate thinking is to split it up, and leave perhaps one outlet wired for the shore power connection to allow for, say, an AC unit - and move the rest to run off a large wattage inverter. That way they can be used for small appliances when I'm not at the dock. 

The electric upgrades will allow me to add more creature comforts to the boat. Not that I really need them, but they'll be a welcome relief for when entertaining on the boat. Better lighting, a small TV set for movies, charging phones, tablets and laptops, and music. Things like that. I likely will not go (yet) with a massive navigation setup - just a small depth sounder, and the VHF radio. Though if I can score a good buy on something I can mount in the bulkhead that is in that picture above, then who knows. Maybe even an electric hot water heater for limited duty. People cringe at the thought of running one on electric. But with only using it once in a while, and only turning it on when it's needed (turn it on an hour before using the water, for example, then off after), there's no reason that a couple hundred watts of solar with a bank that size wouldn't handle it and easily recover.

Back to the arch, I'm also thinking that it could pull double duty and allow me to also build in an extendable bimini cover that can be opened up to keep more sun off at anchor or even under way if need be. The nice part about the N28 is that it has mid-boom sheeting for the main, so there's no lines to trip over in the cockpit, and no need to worry about it for when there's a cover over the cockpit. 

And see this blue in the picture below? Yeah, that's gotta go. Not because it's such an awful color - it's just very awfully done.

And the floor could use something too. While I would love some of that Teak & Holly PlasTeak stuff, that is not even remotely in my budget. It's $50 a linear foot for a 6' wide piece. And from companionway to the end by the V-berth, is closer to 12' long. And I don't need a $600 floor right now. So those plans are undecided.

I'd like to upgrade the galley area, and redo the woodwork (sorry Matt, I know you said you put it together as it is now from where the previous guy destroyed it, but it just doesn't flow with the rest of the wood in the boat yet). Plus adding a better way to mount the propane stove full-time would be nice. And to redo the ice chest area better, or at least find a way to mount a small fridge or something in there, or an electric cooler. SOMETHING. But I mean, does this not scream 70's studio apartment styling?

There need to be some new cushions made up, for the back of the settee's, as well as the V-berth and the cockpit. Yeah, sailing without cockpit cushions is a no from me. I like a padded backside. Curtains would come in handy too, with something other than velcro to hold them on. That's what all the black spots are in that picture above. Annoying, really. Which also reminds me I need to make up some mosquito nets for the companionway and hatch. 

Really, when I think about it all, it's not really that massive an undertaking. The only other things I'd add, would be a furler for the head sail, and probably a new Fortress anchor. But those are luxuries (ok, so people might consider a new gen anchor to be a necessity but we're not braving hurricanes right now). Maybe a couple spreader lights, who knows. New fancier cabin lights? Little things. Most of what I want to do is going to be relatively simple, but take time and labor to do. And really, that's what turns A boat, into YOUR boat. 

So it begins

Welcome to Horizons Found!

This is the beginning of a new chapter for me, and hopefully you guys as well, in the quest to find continued peace on the water, and afar.

Ok, now that the obligatory opening statement is out of the way, let me get right back to the point. My name is Charles, and I like to sail. So before I get into the rest of the beginning of this story, let me give you a short recap of the last one.

Years ago as kids, our father had a sailboat that we enjoyed for a time. Then more years passed, and times changed. A few years back though, my brother found himself enjoying his own O'Day 23 and I followed suit with an Excalibur 26. Whereas his was in great shape, mine wasn't. I started from a solid hull and rigging, and not much else, and used that as a springboard platform to teach myself more about sailing, and also about repairs, and the like. I kept that boat for three years, the first on Cayuga Lake (one of the Finger Lakes in NY for those unfamiliar), and then two years on Lake Ontario, where the shores are countries apart, and seeing for miles, the weather can still sneak up on you. All in all, I logged over a thousand miles in that cockpit. But all good things must either come to an end, or get better. So at the end of the 2016 season, I passed my sailboat along to someone else. Ok ok, it was to avoid having to pay for winter storage - but I knew I was now ready to move on to a larger boat.

This isn't that boat's story. However, it IS a longer post, being the first of a new start, so if you don't like to read, catch up next post I guess.

I have a short list of boats in mind, for my "forever" boat. You know, the boat that you look forward to keeping for years, and many many miles. I had a checklist of criteria, and was fully ready to wait another year or so in order to check as many of those boxes as I could. And then that good ol' brother of mine, plays this mean prank on me by sending me a link to a boat for sale, payments accepted!

The Newport 28.

Displacing 7000 pounds with over a ton and a half of lead ballast in the keel, the Newport 28 is a C&C designed boat from the 70s era, built from 1974 to 1987, and including the Mark II version introduced in 1984, over a thousand were produced by Capital Yachts. 

Now, to be fair, there are a couple boxes that this checks off. First and foremost, it's a boat. That's kind of an important step, since it's hard to sail without one. Second, it has 6' headroom in the cabin. Certainly more room than my last one had. It does have a quarter berth in addition to a galley (if you can call it that). It's also not 30' or longer, it doesn't have a nice curved sitting area in the cabin, and no roller furling headsail. The original Atomic 4 engine has long since been removed, so it has to rely on an outboard on a kicker bracket right now. And this is just stuff that I knew from pictures on the ad, and from what research I did in the two days leading up to meeting the guy for a viewing. 

However it's hard to argue with the striking hue of this hull.

My original intent going into this viewing, was strictly to assess the boat for how seaworthy she was, what work would be needed, how solid the deck was, and what equipment was included. This is just an in-between, I'm telling myself. Something to use for this season (My brother is selling his O'Day so between us, we wouldn't have a boat set up for next year yet). And then after the season, sell this one for about what I've invested, and then use that towards what would then hopefully be THE boat. That was my intention.

I met Matt at the marina it was stored in, and he was extremely friendly and accommodating. After sourcing a ladder, we made our way aboard. Now, I had already done a quick hull check before he arrived, no blisters, no issues other than some scraped paint that's set to be repaired in spring anyway, and just a mussel-covered prop shaft which isn't used any longer. Once topside, I did a quick walk over of the deck, nothing soft or giving, and no signs of intrusion near any fittings. I'd re-bed them anyway, so that's no worry. The bow pulpit had a broken end fitting from the storm that scraped the paint, but other than needing some lifelines for the stanchions, it was solid enough to check a box.

We stepped down into the cabin. And by stepping down, I mean, down, which is something I'm not used to. Two steps on a ladder AND then the cabin sole? And I was standing upright? What a novelty! We chatted a little bit more about what he had done in the short two years that he had the boat. He had added a Bluetooth stereo and four speakers, in addition to building framing for the galley which he mentioned the previous owner had pulled out.

So we only talked a little bit, and then he told me the original 9.9hp Nissan he had intended to sell with the boat, he actually had sold with his OTHER boat (Matt and his Wife upgraded to a Morgan 32 so they were selling the two other boats they had in order to get into it). He did however, offer to drop the price down five hundred dollars, and give me the Mercury that was going to go with the other one. He said it should be fine but, it's a Merc and they can be fussy. Still more than a fair offer because of it. I decided it would certainly hold it together long enough for me to use for the year, we wrote out the agreement, I gave him money down, and lo and behold, I now own a boat again.

Matt left, so I took the time to jump back aboard and just take a look around more. Not to be a jerk or anything, but sometimes it's harder to see a bigger picture when you have someone talking to you. It isn't that he was trying to be distracting, or anything like that. But he was excited about the prospects of someone ELSE being excited about the boat too.

I won't get into the details so much here, but I'll give you my thoughts.

I could keep this boat more than a year. That's what I found myself thinking after I looked around. Sure, there are things that I would change around a little, there are things I'd fix or do better (wiring, for example), and things I might repaint. I might find a way to repower it with either a replacement A4 or who knows, maybe go electric? But whereas my thoughts going in, were bare bones - Handheld VHF, cheap depth sounder, use my phone for charts, and call it good - I suddenly found myself picturing the actual potential of this boat as something to be used and enjoyed for a few years instead. Add a few more batteries, a bimini with solar panels to power, some other creature comforts, and I could see a lot of enjoyment on this boat. 

So onward we go, seeing what fun we can have with this one!