In addition to everything else that needs to be done, we need to remove lots of wiring. Over time people add and remove things but generally leave the wires. There are non functioning instruments, remnants of old electrical installations, the air conditioners have been removed, and all of it was wired to something…or nothing. Yes, there are “wires to nowhere” that have to be removed also. Well, now is the time to do it.

Non functioning instruments:

The pile begins:

Fun stuff:

The pile grows:

Having more fun tracing wires. Some people pay for this kind of enjoyment! Actually we are getting a great understanding of boat systems which was one of our goals going into this:

More later!

This model boat is known for fuel tank leaks. A combination of dissimilar metals, a moist environment, and 33 years of age causes corrosion on the steel tank. Once the tank begins to corrode, small pin holes open up causing leaks. I didn’t think ours was leaking yet but once we dug into it, it looks like it has begun. I’m glad we did our research before hand and planned to replace the tank. 

The lighter colored area at the bottom of the tank is where the retaining boards were screwed in. The boards butted up tight with the bottom of the cradle creating a perfect place for moisture to collect. You can see the moisture stained area all along the bottom edge of the tank and the severe corrosion in the corners.

 (engine bed is getting pretty clean, eh?):

We researched the negatives of this model boat before we bought it so this was no shock. Because of the age of the boat we planned to replace the tank anyway, good or bad:

Now to get it out. I can tell from the way it is fastened in that the boat was built around the tank. Fun stuff.

We are still moving along, removing everything we can that needs repair or replacement. We are almost ready to start repairing, refinishing, and reinstalling. We say that everyday, then we find other things that need to be removed. Everything is going quite well though, the engine and fuel tank come out today. The crane should be here around 0900 and we’ll take pictures and post them. Yesterday we removed everything around the cockpit, and started on the chainplates. The stainless steel cables that hold up the masts attach to the boat at the chainplates. We figured the plates were original 1978 and by the looks of them we were right. We’ll get those replaced! We moved the engine up off its mounts and pulled it back a bit to make the exit a little quicker when the crane arrives. We also prepped the generator for install as well.

Almost everything around the cockpit is fastened underneath:

The beast, ready to move for the first time in 33 years:

 Preparing the generator for installation:

We will post some pictures of the engine removal in the next few days.