So, I was taking this "Labor Day Weekend" to reflect on this labor of love of
mine and I've come to this conclusion; this journey has not been all that bad. For starters, I did a recap of expenses. I was very wary of even attempting this, as I was afraid that I hadn't paid close enough attention to the outflow
of cash. Surpsingly, I only have about 1600-1700 dollars in her, including the purchase of the boat. Bear in mind, the boat was only $600.00 so it's obvious from here how much was invested in the restore, but two items took up over $800.00 of that figure. Essentially, I've only spent a little over $200 on the cosmetic issues and trust me, there were plenty. For some reason, I can only post one photo at a time, so I've decided to post an interior shot that hopefully gives you a good view of the transformation. And, in light of that fact, I'm going to give you a short summary of what I did, how I did it and for how much. I hope this makes sense!
1) The original floor was linoleum, circa 1979 so you can imagine what that
looked like. I've always felt that a boat should be 'wood' at least in
appearance. But, since that is both impractical and expensive, I went
with faux wood strips. Basically, I spent $25.00 on a box of fake wood
linoleum strips that came with built-in adhesive. So far, about 2 months
they seem to be holding well and have had plenty of water on/under
them. Very easy to go down, almost no maintenance and the "look".
2) I'm a fan of cockpit cushions but those things are usually at least $200.00
and have to be custom to your boat. Not in my budget. However, camp
mats that cost $7.00 a piece were, and once cut to size and with velcro
applied to the back, they work perfectly. Not as cushy, but hey, $14.00!
3) Paint is obviously something I spent money on, but I didn't use "Marine"
paint. That stuff is about $100.00 a quart (I think) and here Lowe's sells
housepaint for about $11.00 a quart. Again, a no-brainer once I
verified that it is basically the same stuff. Now, my deck is white. Oh,
they offer a "no-slip" for the paint as well. Enough said.
4) I wasn't a fan of the "mauve" color table in the dinette, but I also wasn't
going to spend $100.00 for a sheet of formica to only have a bunch of
waste. What did I do? Spray paint designed for outdoor furniture. It
probably won't last but a season or two, but at $2.00 and 2 minutes???
5) The on-deck Jib sailbag, lifeline cushions and tiller cover all came from
Ebay at a total cost of $35.00. Who says I'm not a good shopper.
6) Built new companionway boards and brightened up all the teak on deck.
I used cheap 'pine' that cost me $8.97, bought some close-to-teak color
stain and a can of polyurethane and voila, instant new brightwork!
7) Interior cushions all redone by purchasing outdoor vinyl from WalMart for
$3.97 per yard. I needed a total of 8 yards to do everything with enough
left over to make some cushions for the little powerboat I picked up. I
reused the factory foam and added plywood bottoms to offer rigidity and
to make it easier to assemble (staples instead of sewing).
All in all, when you stand back and take it all in, the Tequila Sunrise is now a respectable little cruiser/daysailer. You don't even have to squint that hard to see it. I'm not even ashamed to sail up close to the guys from the local Yacht Club anymore. The wife even says she's looking pretty good and isn't ashamed to let her friends know that we have a sailboat now! Woohoo, now that's a real accomplishment.
The moral to the story is simple; put in enough effort, and I'm talking about blister-getting, knee-scraping, sweat-pouring effort; throw in a little ingenuity; add some learning on the fly and you can end up something that makes you proud, AND, you did it yourself! Sure, no boat is an investment. But, the point to this project was I invested in me and that, dear reader, has been a dividend that has paid out way more than I put in. Good luck with your own project!!

So, lots has happened since the last post. I knew going into this there'd be no time to update the blog, but, hey, it was worth the try. The way I figure it, not too many readers of said blog, so I don't think I've upset a volume of folks. Anyway, on to the updates.
First of all, the Tequila Sunrise (still not renamed) has motor sailed 16.5 nm to the north and
is now resting in her permanent home. We've moved houses and were blessed to be able to
have a dock in the back yard and that's where she resides as we speak. Having her this close has allowed me to accomplish a LOT more than when she was 15 minutes away. Each night, if I choose to, I can do my normal household routine and still sneak in 30 minutes or so of work on the boat. She has become what I had hoped and that's my 'piddling' outlet. I enjoy the water so much, I'm finding that I can climb aboard, either stay in the cockpit or go into the cabin and just sit without getting bored or distracted. So, I'm quite the dock sailor, if you will. Anyway, what I've been able to do is install lifeline cushions in the cockpit; install cockpit seating which I fabricated out of $7.00 Wal Mart purchased camping mats that just happened to be the perfect color; painted the table top a neutral tan so that it matches both the teak wood work and the navy cushions; made and installed all cabin cushions in the aforementioned navy by simply replacing existing covers and using 1/4 plywood to both solidify the cushions and to provide a staple point; installed marine VHF radio & AM/FM/CD stereo along with a new depth finder; finished floor covering by using faux wood strip linoleum and of course, mounted the rudder. Which, leads to an interesting story and further proof that I'm not a vain person as it's a rather embarassing tale as well. On to the story: I purchased a custom built rudder simply because there were none to be found in a vast internet and local search. The owner of the company, JO WoodWorks, is named John and he proved to be both talented in his woodworking and very patient and friendly with the questions that came once I received. After talking with him and having a friend help me with drilling holes in the stainless steel plates for the tiller, I assembled the entire thing in my living room without problem (once I figured out which was upside and/or rightside up). I went to the effort of tying off the lines, "red for the bottom down haul", "blue for the top, uphaul" and then disassembled it for transport and installation at the boat. Somewhere, between the house and the dock, (she was still in Tarpon at the time), my memory decided to switch the 'blue line' with the 'red line'.....you guessed it, I installed the kick-up portion upside down. Now, for the longest time, I didn't realize this mistake, I only noticed that I was having a difficult time lowering the lower part of the rudder. I finally wrote it off to both being new and the fact that we were docked at Anclote River which is a very strong current. I assumed that once I got her away from the dock and out of the current flow, I'd finish the lowering, hence the installation. To make a long story short, I drove the entire 16.5 nm (nautical miles) with the rudder in the 'up' position. Let me share something with you. Yes, a 22' sailboat WILL steer with a rudder that is not down, HOWEVER, it takes almost all the strength this 45 year old has. So, you can imagine, once I got to the new house, I was exhausted. Luckily, I was too tired to call poor John in Texas, once again, to ask why he had built a defective device. It would wind up to be embarrasing enough as it was. Monday morning as I was driving to work it finally dawned on me what my mind had done. Sure enough, when I got home that evening, I pulled the rudder off, switched the lower half around, and don't you know that thing works like a charm!!! Amazing how things that are designed a specific way are so picky about going togther a specific way?! So, anyway, that brings us pretty much to today. I still need to finish the wiring, although I have all the major systems working, because the prior owner made quite a mess of it. I've yet to finish the install of the headliner because I need to get to the upholstery shop and get more material. And I also need to decide and then purchase and install whatever choice I make for the hull liner (the walls of the cabin). Other than that, she's ready to sail now. As a matter of fact, I had been hesitating actually sailing her because of the depth finder but now that that's fixed, I'm just waiting for the next weather window. For some reason (probably because I'm ready to sail), we are getting abnormal amounts of rain every day. Yes, we're used a little afternoon showers in these parts this time of the year, but this has been from sunup to sunset. Oh well, it'll break soon enough. Oh, and lastly, major news is the real owner of the Tequila Sunrise has been let in on the story. Obviously with her being parked in the back yard, it would've been very difficult to keep the secret a secret. So, at the risk of her lack of vision being a problem, the daughter and I sat her down before we moved and broke the news to her. Much to my surprise when we introduced the two, the "Admiral" (Melanie) didn't frown too much at her current state. As a matter of fact, she even said something like, "Ok, this will work"....which is a lot considering the source. I'm telling you, the lady can't see the forest for the trees when it comes to something that's needs repair or in this case restoring. So, to get an "Ok", just verifies why I've gone to all this effort; she's happy about the whole idea. Now, let's see what I get when I take her sailing for her (oops, I meant 'our') first time.

May you have the calmest of seas and the stoutest of winds........smooth sailing.

Well, not only am I having to learn about restoring a sailboat, sailing principles in general, and general navigation, I'm also learning about blogging. Did you know that if you type the body of your text, get distracted and walk away from your computer, that "Sailblogs" actually logs you off for security purposes? So, what happens is, you don't know you've been logged off, you click submit on your entry, it takes you to a login screen and guess where all your text is? Yep, you guessed it, gone. Anyway, although you don't know it, I'm back for round 2. Today's picture shows a view of the cabin in it's current state. What I hoped to be able to show was several things, to include; the ugly linoleum that is the floor, the putrid brown checkered cabin cushions, and the very dull, off white deck color. I don't think the HTC Hero's camera is of good enough quality to pull that off, so use your imagination where needed. Remember, the Tequila Sunrise was sold as a 'weekender', so the designers were asked to cram as much as you could into her small cabin. They did, and since it was 1979, the used the materials of the day. Hence, we're left with ugly tan colored linoleum for the floor and a really rough and ugly, brown seat cushions. Now, as I mentioned before, dye was the route of choice for changing out that ugly brown. However, it's been recommended that I actually tear down each cushions, use it as a pattern, cut out replacement material and then find a seamstress to bring it all together. I guess by buying the material and then doing the cutting part, most will only charge a nominal amount to stitch it all together. I'm investigating that route as of this writing and I'll update you when I make the decision. I figure if I go that route I might as well buy new foam and just have all new cushions, eh? Anyway, the floor is the main topic of conversation today. If you look closely in the pics you'll see two 'wood planks' laying in the center walkway. I think that since the original designers chose linoleum, why not keep in that theme, but make it more attractive, thus, the linoleum 'faux wood' planks. The whole job should be completed tonight and I estimate will only take about 45 minutes. After cleaning the current floor, I'm going to use the self adhesive backing and just stick the planks in place. I'm using a box-cutter and a pair of shears to cut the pieces to fit. Truthfully, I know you should chalk a line and start at the center, etc., but I'm just too lazy to do that and quite frankly, I've had success in the past doing it my way. I start at a fairly square and straight edge with the first plank and lay out the rest from there. It saves a lot of time and energy, and you'll still end up with the cut pieces at the edge where they should be. I will stagger the seams for a better fit and I'll post pics next blog of the completed project. My hopes are for the look of a teak floor without the cost or maintenance expense. I want to also discuss the condition of the deck paint. The previous owner, I suspect, had attempted to start a repaint when his circumstances changed. Currently, the Tequila Sunrise is an eggshell, off-white color and the paint is very flat and dull. She looks even extra ugly since all her surrounding boats are all nice and shiny white. I'm using Latex Enamel, semi-gloss white and should have that job finished, for the most part, tonight. My fabricator and I have had several conversations, and I've verified his plan will fit by making a template and 'attaching' the rudder to the back. However, we've hit a snag when it comes to the cost of shipping the completed project from Texas to Florida. Because of the sheer enormity of the rudder (over 60 inches), and it's weight, UPS is asking over $125.00 just to ship it! Yikes, that's not a budgeted item. So, we are now (I should say 'he is now') looking at a 'kick up rudder' option. Not only will I gain the advantage of shallower depths with the kick up, it will be much easier to ship and in a smaller package as it will be in parts as opposed to the original design being one big old rudder. Once he starts working on it, he has estimated 10-12 days to complete and give over to the shipper. With the 9.9 Evinrude Yacht Twin in the storage shed, once I get this little project on the boat, she'll be ready to at least sail. I'm getting stoked, AND, a little nervous as I'm not sure the recipient of this little beauty and 1st mate; my wife, is going to be able to be fooled long enough to allow me the 'away time' it's going to take to get out to the boat and work on her. As it stands, I have Tuesday nights and at least an hour or two on Saturdays to safely work on her. If she gets suspicious, I've already committed to coming clean as I won't allow her to think the worst as we tend to do when there are unknowns. Heck, I didn't make it to 24 years being ignorant, I'll say! Anyway, that's enough for today, as always I hope you have smooth sailing, the wind at your back, the sun on your face and the Grace of God to carry you home! Wish me luck.

So, in order to hold myself accountable, I thought I would post a list of what I hope to get accomplished this weekend on the Tequila Sunrise. For any negative nancys who will say, "Your list isn't much", remember I have to do this work on the 'down low', as the boat will be an anniversary surprise for my closest friend and wife. Anyway, enough of the 'whys' and on to the 'whats'. Since the list is so extensive of what's to be done, I'll only post updates on what I actually get done. I have to take a pattern for a new rudder and measure to make sure the real McCoy will work. Once that's confirmed, I'll be shipping it off to the builder on Monday and then the wait begins. I'll post for detail, info, pricing, etc. once those things are in order in the event someone else needs a rudder. Which, by the way, I've found is the most difficult item on this boat to get information on and practically impossible to find. That's why I'm having it made. So, I also hope to;
1) Get the primer and first coat of paint on the deck. (I'm using regular
latex enamel house paint from Lowe's, as I've read many articles that
confirm that there's no need to overspend on 'marine' paint. As a matter
of fact, one of the author's of said articles retired from DuPont so I'm
trusting his judgement). I'll be using regular latex rollers and a sponge
brush to try and remove any 'lines'.
2) Begin removal of headliner. It's saggy, moldy and otherwise ugly, and
although it's going to be a major undertaking, worthwhile to replace.
I'll be using padded vinyl that I plan to get from the local craft store,
unless I can find a better alternative.
3) Finish the floor covering. These boats came with standard linoleum and,
as expected it's old and ugly. So, after scratching my head for about
an hour, I've come to the conclusion that I will also use linoleum, BUT,
I'm going with the 'faux wood strips' in order to get that custom boat
look with no maintenance. These are self stick, and I'm a little concerned
with how that will hold up, but, I can do the whole floor for $29.00!! I
mean, heck, at that price I can redo it once a year.
4) And, lastly, I plan to remove all the cushions, and clean everything out
of the boat. I still haven't decided what to do about the cushions and
their covers, themselves. I debating between staining/dying them a
blue or making covers. The 'covertness' of this operation creates a
problem in that it will be difficult to pull out the sewing machine and make
boat cabin cushion covers without drawing attention. I've found that
the automotive upholstry paint will cover the brown, and it comes out a
nice blue, but it will take at least one can per cushion. Still, that's only
about $40.00 in supplies. Much less than having new cushions made.
I will update next week with both progress pictures and some 'before' shots so that I can verify to my lovely wife that I didn't spend much on the boat to begin with. I realized today that if I don't do that, she may be a little suspect when she sees it, because I will not settle for anything less than nice. She might not believe me if I don't have 'proof'. My 22 year old daughter, Ashleigh, has asked if she and her boyfriend could help with this project and of course, I emphatically said "YES". We'll see if she honors that offer when Saturday comes. That's enough for today, but I'll include a shot of her that I took from the back in order to continue with my "Picture Per Post" committment. Happy sails!

So, I suppose one should start out with both a little introduction and some background as to where we (I) expect this mini blog to go. Having said that, here it goes.....
At the tender, mid-life crisis age of 45, both the wife and myself are nearing upon our 24th wedding anniversary this September. She's a wonderful lady, foremost for being able to tolerate the likes of yours truly, but also for being the driving force behind our little family of four. We've raised two wonderful kids together, Ashleigh, who is 22 and her younger brother, Hagen, who is 20. As you can see, we started life very early. Now, I have no intent to bore you with the sorrid details of our rather normal life to-date, I will say that I don't feel as if I've ever 'wowwed' her in the gift-giving arena. Keeping that in mind, just a few weeks ago, she got the crazy idea that we should charter a sailboat, complete with captain, for a day and thus, we did. Now, we've owned several power boats over the years when we were living in Kentucky, but have never stepped foot on a sailboat until this particular outing. In a manner of quick summary let me just say, she was in absolute Heaven. To use her words to describe her feelings, I quote; "It's like a giant Valium". How's that for the ultimate compliment? Being constantly on the lookout for opportunitites to waste more of our disposable income, and being sans boat for over 10 years now, I capitalized on this moment and decided post haste that I will accomplish many goals with this one decision. First, and foremost, I will for the very 1st time, 'wow' my wife with an anniversary present that she is definitely not expecting. Second, I will return to the water and the enjoyment that boating offers. And lastly, and probably most importantly, I will develop skills that will carry me into my retirement years and what will hopefully be a lifelong love affair with sailing. Oh, I forgot to add, I may have enjoyed our day of sailing more than she did. So, all of that said, leads us to our current situation. Not wanting to alarm her to any inkling of an idea as to what's up my sleeve, I knew I had to find, and obtain, a 'fixer-upper' sailboat, if you will. "Fixer-upper", I'm sure, has many differing meanings to many different people, but let's just say in my case, it is definitely a capital F and capital U, if you get my drift. After looking at a few boat ads both locally and online, I came across the Tequila Sunrise; a 22' Bayliner Buccaneer fractional sloop, offered for a pittance (much less than $1000.00). Quickly, I emailed the seller, including my cell phone number with the question, "Is it still available". With a day, my phone rang and a very pleasant gentleman told me that he was sorry, it was sold, however.......It seems as if the buyer had left a deposit and was supposed to return to finish paying for the boat. After a couple of weeks, no response and the owner was getting frustrated with the situation. Being firm in my fairness, I offered to 'be next in line' and he agreed to the same. We, here I am, the proud owner of a 22' sailboat, that at least has sails and floats. Outside of that, I need to starting reading this "Learn to sail" book before I can tell you any more. My hopes are that this blog will be a great place to document my work over the next 3 months, in hopes that I will have an at least, semi-finished project come September 26, 2010 which happens to be the 'day' of presentation. I'll take plenty of photos, join tons of online diy forums, pillage, scrounge, beg, borrow and steal and hopefully end up with at least a nice sunset cruise complete with a light dinner and bottle of wine, and more blisters than I can count, but hopefully a very happy wife. Wish me luck!