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.
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