Author Topic: Boat life, it's been a long road.  (Read 1000 times)

RoadKingLarry

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 21,841
Boat life, it's been a long road.
« on: September 07, 2021, 04:50:55 PM »
I bought my current boat in July of 2017. (probably not the smartest thing I've ever done) I was just sort of contemplating the idea of moving up to a bigger boat from my 27 footer and got "boat struck" when I saw this thing. I knew it needed a lot of work but I got it for a decent price and I really didn't find any major "gotchas" during the refit and the plan had been to haul it out for repairs all along.



I'd been having some trouble with my right hip and back for a while but it really went bad in late 2017 and I got in the hip replacement pipeline. Scheduled the haul out and transport to my local lake and had it set up in the boatyard. Hauled out in late January, had to play icebreaker to get it up to the travel lift to get it out of the water.





Wasn't able to do much with her while I was recovering from the hip replacement till the 2nd half of 2018 but I made good progress till my left shoulder decided to crap out on me late Summer of 2019 followed by the right shoulder falling apart in December of 2019. 2020 was mostly a bust for any serious work.

I did manage to sell my Cal 2-27 last July to finish funding the refit, great little boat and I sometimes miss her but she's still at the lake and I'm friends with the current owner



After I retired from AT&T I've really been working hard to get the old girl spiffed up and back in the water.



Got the masts back up last week and the last bit of work has been done to get her ready to launch.



Hoping to splash tomorrow if the crew at the marina can get their act together. Got a bad tire on the trailer that needs to be fixed, bad valve stem so the tire has to come off.

Cross you fingers.

« Last Edit: September 07, 2021, 05:10:42 PM by RoadKingLarry »
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

Samuel Adams

RoadKingLarry

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 21,841
Re: Boat life, it's been a long road.
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2021, 05:13:10 PM »
OK dummy me put this in he wrong forum, if a mod could move it the roundtable I would appreciate it.

 :facepalm:
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

Samuel Adams

MechAg94

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 33,620
Re: Boat life, it's been a long road.
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2021, 05:28:59 PM »
Might be a change of pace to see something nice in Politics.  Been pretty negative lately.   =)
“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.”  ― Calvin Coolidge

grampster

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 9,435
Re: Boat life, it's been a long road.
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2021, 06:28:53 PM »
Can't say I ever was motivated for a sail boat, though I did have a small one that came with when we bought a cottage back in the late 70's.  I forget what it was called...single mast, maybe 19 or so ft long with a small cockpit for 2 in a pinch.  One step above a surfboard with a sail.  I only used a couple times and sold it.

We lived on lakes for around 32 years, so I've had 4 runabouts, open bow; one 90 hp outboard and 3 sterndrives each around 120hp.  I've had 3 pontoons, the last one was 22 feet with a 90hp Evinrude, a couple paddle boats, a couple jet skis and a couple fishing boats.  Never had much serious trouble with any of them...but had to do maintenance and repairs on nearly all of them.

Hope you enjoy the pretty sailer.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2021, 09:20:53 AM by grampster »
"Never wrestle with a pig.  You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it."  G.B. Shaw

230RN

  • It's like swimming to shore in an ebb tide.
  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18,825
  • Pushing back. Help me out, here...
Re: Boat life, it's been a long road.
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2021, 05:30:32 AM »
What's a vessel named Wahini doing in the middle of Oklahoma?

I often wondered if there was a real island named Taratupa.

Nice boat, and I was overjoyed to find out you and your grandson were working on it.

Me, with my oddball semicircular canals, can't stand anything that doesn't stay level, or can bank in a turn to fool them.

Nice !!

Did you ever read up on the actor Sterling Hayden?  Quite a guy.  He once remarked that he disliked acting, and only did it to continue his sailing addiction.  "Stole" his kids once and sailed them to some island in the Pacific.  Got in trouble for that.  He was also an OSS operative behind the lines in WWII.

Terry "No sea legs", 230RN


RoadKingLarry

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 21,841
Re: Boat life, it's been a long road.
« Reply #5 on: September 08, 2021, 08:32:39 AM »
Quote
What's a vessel named Wahini doing in the middle of Oklahoma?

The Original Owner was a wealthy Tulsa (Cushing) oil man.
The boat has a bit of South Pacific history. I have three different sources that places it in Pape'ete, Tahiti in the late '70s early '80s. An article in a Tulsa newspaper that mentions him and his brother, who was a big Lyndon Larouche supporter, that says he spends most of the time in Tahiti on his sailboat, A blurb in the Seawind Owners Association newsletter that mentions it is for sale and lists the Pape'ete broker and I have a sales contract from the broker for selling the boat that I found folded up in a manual I got with the boat.

The story I was told by the guy I bought it from was that the Original owner bought the boat from the factory/boatyard in NY, had it shipped to the west coast where it was fitted out for sailing the trade winds, (some of that rigging remains but won't get used much in an inland lake).   He and his girlfriend sailed the boat to Tahiti from California. Apparently, not long after their arrival in Tahiti the girlfriend and his wife found out about each other. Much hilarity ensued.
I don't know if the original owner brought it back to Oklahoma and sold it locally but that seems likely. I have scanty documentation of the early years of the boat but none after the listing for sale in Tahiti or it's history on Grand Lake in Oklahoma. I have installation and instruction manuals for all the fit out on the west coast as well as manuals for the New Yanmar engine and electrical equipment that was added about 15 years ago.

When I renamed the boat I wanted to pay a little homage to it's South Pacific history and my wife jokes about me spending too much time with my other woman.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wahine
The anglicized spelling for the Tahitian version would have been Vahine but I decided that would be too much of a reach for the local audience.

As for showing Taratupa as my hailing port, I was a big McHale's Navy fan as a kid (reruns) (still am) so why not. =D  I am a little surprised to find that folks my age and slightly older don't know about McHale's Navy Wikipedia lists Taratupa as a fictional island Shouldn't surprise me really, most folks had no idea what Halcyon (last boats name) meant either so  :facepalm: .

I have a copy of Sterling Hayden's book Wanderer that tells of his sailing away with the kids, I am saving it to read on the boat.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2021, 08:51:01 AM by RoadKingLarry »
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

Samuel Adams

230RN

  • It's like swimming to shore in an ebb tide.
  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18,825
  • Pushing back. Help me out, here...
Re: Boat life, it's been a long road.
« Reply #6 on: September 08, 2021, 09:21:52 AM »
Both Halcyon and Wahini were familiar to me.  Except for their firearms nonsense I have a lot of admiration for the Island culture.  I think I'm still a member of 2ahawaii.com but haven't been active on it for about a year.

I still don't know for sure whether Taratupa was a real island, but I guess with the thousands of South Sea islands, it's possible.  There might even be one named "Terry," or even "RoadKingLarry."

Loved McHale's Navy except for the absolutely atrocious gun handling.  You'd think Borgnine would have said something, since he was in the Navy for a long time.  I suppose there are still a couple of genuine PT boats around, but IIRC, after the war they lined them all up on a beach and burned them.

Terry




dogmush

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 13,668
Re: Boat life, it's been a long road.
« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2021, 09:29:14 AM »
Loved McHale's Navy except for the absolutely atrocious gun handling.  You'd think Borgnine would have said something, since he was in the Navy for a long time.  I suppose there are still a couple of genuine PT boats around, but IIRC, after the war they lined them all up on a beach and burned them.

Terry

There's one on Lake Pontchartrain you can ride on.

https://www.neworleans.com/listing/pt-305/32438/

MechAg94

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 33,620
Re: Boat life, it's been a long road.
« Reply #8 on: September 08, 2021, 09:33:38 AM »
I used to work with a guy who was part owner of a sail boat.  Sailing was something he had done all his life and loved.  Made me want to try it out one day.
“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.”  ― Calvin Coolidge

RoadKingLarry

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 21,841
Re: Boat life, it's been a long road.
« Reply #9 on: September 08, 2021, 02:52:02 PM »
We got her in the water this morning!





Damned stressful evolution for me.
So far everything looks good. Engine started and ran first crank and no leaks that couldn't be stopped with the turn of a screwdriver on a hose clamp.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

Samuel Adams

RoadKingLarry

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 21,841
Re: Boat life, it's been a long road.
« Reply #10 on: September 09, 2021, 01:46:34 PM »
Planned on spending the night on the boat last night. Couldnt get the AC to working. Wasn't getting cooling water flow, 89 in the salon at 8:00pm so the grandson and I wimped out and went to the house.
Reprimed the system this morning and got it running properly, dropped the temp in the cabin by 12 degrees in less that 20 minutes.  Evenings with no sun beating on it should be able to hang meat.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

Samuel Adams

cordex

  • Administrator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,570
Re: Boat life, it's been a long road.
« Reply #11 on: September 09, 2021, 03:53:21 PM »
Evenings with no sun beating on it should be able to hang meat.
You kids and your newfangled slang.

bedlamite

  • Hold my beer and watch this!
  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 9,769
  • Ack! PLBTTPHBT!
Re: Boat life, it's been a long road.
« Reply #12 on: September 09, 2021, 10:06:06 PM »
Quote
Boat life, it's been a long road.

You're doing it wrong. They go in the water. :P
A plan is just a list of things that doesn't happen.
Is defenestration possible through the overton window?

makattak

  • Dark Lord of the Cis
  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 13,022
Re: Boat life, it's been a long road.
« Reply #13 on: September 09, 2021, 11:15:39 PM »
Nice! Now that I'm near some lakes, I hope to get out sailing eventually.
I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.

So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you also were meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought