KAIAN

Launch day at last !!!!

2009-02-15T07:52:00.001-08:00

The day the CRANE!!! arrived.

2008-11-11T09:27:00.000-08:00

A sailboat doesn't really look like a sailboat without masts!

This was a day I had been waiting and looking forward to for a long time.

Trouble is lot can go wrong when a 60' mast is dangling in the air.

So I assembled a couple of boat yard buddies to help with the process.

First up was the mizzen, this would be the test of my spice joints. The mast needed to be picked up at the balance point. Big sigh on my part when I saw no sag at all.

It was tricky to get it vertical without damage to wind generator.

Making wiring connections at base of mizzen.

All wires connected, looks like it's gonna stay up.

Have to go up the mast to disconnect the crane.

Main mast gets picked next. It was questionable whether the crane was going to have enough lift height to get it on deck.

Barely made it.

Took 3 hrs start to finish.

No injuries, no damage, a big cheers and high fives when it was over.

Now it looks like a sailboat,

We've come along way baby.

Yup, that's Brenda up there!

We were tuning the rig the other day and Brenda volunteered.

She's a natural, no fear.

Details, details, details

2008-11-11T08:19:00.000-08:00

With the paint work complete, on to the mariad other projects.

During the paint process, there where times when the weather simply did not co-operate and I turned to items on the list that could be accomplished in the shop. One of these was the refurbishing of the standing rigging. In all, there are 24 stainless steel wires of various sizes that make up the rig.

Each wire has a turnbuckle at the bottom attachment to enable rig tuning.

Since they are galvanized steel and showing signs of corrosion, I put them through the same 12 step process I had used on the deck.

Here they are, painted and ready when needed.

The planking on the bow sprit was also in need of replacement.

At first, I had considered using aluminum instead of wood, but finally ended up settling on the use of composit decking material because it will not decay, and will stand up to the abrasion of the anchor chain runing on it. Fortunately I found a color that matched the color scheme.

The Saga of the Masts

I may have already mentioned this, but there has been a long saga with respect to Kaian's masts.

They were not on site when I took possesion of her, they were laying in a field about 3 hrs away in Tacoma. I was having a real problem getting them. Their length at 60' for the main, presented what seemed like an insurmountable transportation issue. I couldn't find anyone to transport them, since the state had changed their rulings relative to maximum trailerable lengths. Hence they languished while I went on with other things. One day I get news that the mizzen mast had been stolen. Some crack head came along and cut it up for scrap, they probably would have taken the main except that it was so large and heavy.

After much hassle, I located a replacement missen mast in Seattle, and now made haste to get it and the original main mast in my hands.

This entailed hiring a guy with a pickup truck and a trailer, taking my trusty sawsall and procceding to cut perfectly good masts into two pieces in order to get them under the legal limit and truck them back to the yard.

What ensued was a solid month of making them fit for use.Not only did they need to be put back together into one piece, they additionally needed repainting, (read 12 steps) re-wiring, new navigation lights, spreader lights etc etc.

The replacement mizzen mast I had located, was too long, so not only did it need to be shorted, hardware for spreaders, tangs, radar and wind generator supports all needed to be fabricated from scratch.

Time, time, time, in all, it took a month to get them ready.

Mast sleeve fabricated from 6' of 6" aluminum pipe split in half.

Sleeve is then epoxy glued and 100 counter sunk screws per mast hold it together. The remaining seam is then welded, making for a union that is stronger than the rest of the mast.

Main -- 60' total length.

On to the hull finish

2008-11-11T06:24:00.000-08:00

The existing paint on the hull had not deteriorated as badly as the deck surfaces.

I decided that I would spot prep the areas that had dents, chips and scratches, rather than completely remove all paint as I had done on the deck. The hull had been originally treated with a Zinc Chromate primer, THE best surface prep for aluminum, used on aircraft, millitary equip, etc. However, it's highly toxic, a real environmental hazard and as of last year, banned by the EPA and pulled off the shelves for consumer use. You need special permits etc. to get your hands on it, hence I wanted to save it and leave it on. Additionally it would save time and expense not having to go through what I had just done on the deck.

Spot prepping, still have to go through all the steps.

There was a big dent in the port bow, (collision with immovable object?)

Nice thing about metal boats, they may dent, but they still float.

Nice to see it getting to be all one color.

Speaking of color, we raised a few eyebrows with on lookers when it came to our choice of color scheme. We decided on grey for a number of reasons, I'll not get into here.

There are three tones of grey in the color scheme, all based on the primary color platinum grey.

We mixed in black to form a charcoal accent color for trim, and added white to get a lighter grey for the decks. We like the effect, but of course it's subjective.

We'll be leaving the transom unpainted.

I'll be polishing it up to a mirror finish, and then the boat name goes on.

A lot of wooden boats have their hulls painted and the transom left vanished natural wood.

I thought, why not do the same on Kaian, let her show off her metal.

Finally, it was time to get the anti-fouling paint on the bottom.

Roughly 6 weeks, dozens of brushes, rollers, trays, masks, gloves and in total 35 gallons of paint, thinners, primers, etc. she is finally done.

SWEEEEET !!!!!!!

We're painting!!

2008-11-11T03:51:00.000-08:00

After spending the winter (read rainy season) completing the interior, the weather finally allowed us to get started on the exterior. Last summer I had spent weeks grinding down the deck, now we could start putting on some paint. At first you would think, how difficult can it be to paint a boat? Well it depends, aluminum is a fantastic building material for boats, strong, lightweight, and the marine version (AS TM T-5086) is very corrosion resistant to salt water.

However it does not like to have paint stuck to it.

One has to be very careful to adhere to specific steps, otherwise it will just peel off.

Just in case you ever want to do it (not likely) here it is in 12 easy steps:

Just like another 12 step program, results vary.

1. Surface prep, in this case it was grinding with 36 grit wheel.

2. Acid wash surface with mild muriatic acid solution

3. Let dry

4. Apply surface converter solution ( Alodine 1208) looks like iodine, let it react for 3-4 minutes then rinse off.

5. Let dry, proceed to next step asap, surface of aluminum is like in a way like skin, if you scratch it, it will immediately start to form a protective oxide layer.

6. Apply acid etching primer, a khaki green stinky stuff, you now have 24 hrs to cover this primer coat, otherwise next coat won't stick.

7. Apply intermediate binding coat, orange even stinkier stuff, again you now have 24 hrs to cover or next coat won't stick.

8. Apply top coat, (linear polyureathane) as many as required to get a 10 mil thickness, in this case 3 coats, again a 24hr re-coat window.

Non-skid areas on decks needed more attention:

9. Apply thick coat of final color

10. Sprinkle 36 grit coarse ground walnut shells to cover non skid areas

11. Let dry 24 hrs and vacuum off loose material

12. Apply 2 more coats of final color

Started out with a cheap Chinese grinder, lasted about 10hrs till smoke started pouring out of it. Finally picked up an industrial Dewalt unit, we got to know each other intimately. Highly recommend.

Doesn't look that big, but it's inches at a time, one day's grinding seen here.

Had to wear sunglasses, the surface was got so bright.

Timing is everything, since we're doing this outside, weather is an issue, we have to proceed in manageable sections.

I was kinda getting used to the orange/red color.

Process of putting down non-skid surface, wallnut shell coat

A little message to my crew.

It was harder than I expected to get even coverage, I used a peanut butter jar with holes poked in the lid. Varying success but uneveness is not as apparent when top coats are applied.

The result is a very aggressive traction surface. No slipping on this deck, you would also not want to spend much time with your bare skin against it since it has the consistency of asphalt singles.

Next --- it's time to start on the hull.

Getting near the end

2008-10-29T05:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since the last post, this is a condensed version of what's been going on.

The process of finishing out the interior has been pretty much completed. We worked throughout the winter cutting and fitting what seemed like endless sheets of laminate. In all, 32, 4'x8' sheets were used to complete the job. As with most of the projects in this refit, I underestimated the amount of time and effort this would take, however we're very pleased with the end result. The vessel interior has a airy feel to it. Not at all what one expects from the inside of a sailboat.

Big surprise, Brenda with a book.

The chart station is on the starboard side of main salon, chart table top lifts with storage for charts underneath.

Was a bit tricky getting these ceiling panels up.

Nice to finally get rid of the yellow countertops.

The galley came out looking bright and clean.

The forward 3rd cabin at the bow of the boat was the last to be completed. It has 2 single berths and as you can see, plenty of locker space.

This pic was taken shortly before Brenda joined me last October. Shows the oak floor in main salon as I was washing it with degreaser.

Teak flooring in forward cabins being sanded.

Sanding oak floors in main salon.

Holy *hit! It's starting to look like something!!!

2008-01-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

The interior walls and ceilings of the vessel were covered with either a grasscloth type wall covering or in the case of the ceilings, naugahyde vinyl. Over time, these coverings failed, basically biodegraded with mould and mildew. One of the earliest things I did was strip it all out. For a time, I wasn't sure what would be the best way to recover the surfaces, I explored a number of different options and settled on laminate. The heads had been originally covered with this product and had stood the test of a marine environment. Now I've begun what will be a formidable task. We'll be recovering the entire interior that is not teak, in an off white formica to match the existing laminate present in the heads. Due to the irregular shapes that make up the interior wall and ceiling sections, I've had to use patterns to enable a proper fit of the panels. Making a pattern involves using 2" wide strips of thin plywood to form the perimeter of the intended shape to be cut. This template is then transfered onto a sheet which is in turn cut with a small router. I setup a 4'x8' table in the storage container to enable handling the large panels. Gluing the panels in place is a real pain. You only get one chance at getting it right, once the glue comes into contact, it's there forever. Brenda and I have had to perfect the technique of holding our tongues just right while we're doing it. Oh, that sounds kinda bad doesn't it.

Lost count of how many of these I've made.

Some are 10 to 12 feet long in order to avoid seams.

Brenda striping some teak. She's done just about every piece by now.

Here are some results, we're still putting up teak trim so all the pieces aren't in place yet, but it'll give you an idea of what it's coming out like.

Galley setee before

After - haven't picked out a fabric for the cushions yet.

Main stateroom head - before

After -- yeah, yeah, I know, green stuffs got to go -- it will.

Starboard cabin/head - before

After

Starboard cabin - before

After

Main main cabin - before

After

Main cabin before

After

Main companionway before

After

Main cabin/companionway before

After

Main cabin berth - before

After

Been a while, lets catch up.

2008-01-07T04:59:00.000-08:00

Yeah, yeah, I know, been too long betwen posts.

Truth is, it seems the progress has been so minutely incremental that posting the changes seemed a little pedestrian.

We've been steadily transforming the interior one painstaking step at a time.

While Brenda has been the master wood refinisher, I have been attacking the job of covering the walls and ceilings with laminate. More on that later.

First a bit of catch up on our environment.

On the first couple of days of December, the Northwest Coast was hit with the first of the winter storms. The National Weather Service issued warnings about the impending storm days in advance, forecasting Hurricane force winds for a sustained period. As you can see from pics, the Kaian sits high and dry on the hard, however boats have been know to be knocked off their stands by high winds. This was of more than a little concern to me given we would be inside the boat during the storm, so I set about making preparations. When the Kaian was initially moved to the work yard, the yard guys set up 4 stands or braces to support the boat, I started by adding an additional 6, making a total of 10 supports holding the 55,000 lbs of metal upright, hopefully. Then anything that could be moved by the wind got lashed down or moved inside the storage unit. We then stocked up on survival essentials, water, food, batteries, propane fuel etc and waited.

The storm was enormous, lasted 48hrs, peak wind gust clocked by the Coast Guard weather bouy on the Columbia River Bar was 148 mph, with a wave height of 72 ft, then the bouy dissapeared.

We sat in the boat, feeling the vibrations of the wind as it howled past us, the boat would shudder every now and then as we took a broadside gust, monster old growth trees came down , roofs were flying off buildings, the storm surge was pushing the extra high tide into the little bay behind us. Then the power went out. Would be 4 days before the lights came back on.

At one point, I ventured out to see what was happening in the marina basin only to find that a couple of the commercial crab boats had torn away their pilings and were doing the bumper boat routine while the hands on deck desparately tried to make them fast again.

We were lucky, no damage, no major inconvenience since we were prepared and fairly self sufficient, however up and down the coast, others were not as fortunate, a state of emergency was declared and the National Guard was called out. Here it is a month later and they're still cleaning up.

All Brenda and I could think of during the ordeal was, "and we're not even on the water yet".

Brings the reality of the phrase "any port in a storm" into focus.

The holiday season was a real adjustment for us. First one away from "home", friends and family. It was strange in the way that it was basically a "non event"for us. The upside was that it was essentially free of all the usual stresses involved with the preparations and arrangements that we usually make, the downside naturally was missing all of the loved ones that make for the warm and fuzzies at Christmas. We made the best of it with a long telephone call to where the family was gathered. Brenda cooked up a feast, the turkey turned out the be a chicken in disguise, (all that would fit into our small oven) the we invited a couple of bachelors who liveaboard their boats in the marina to break bread with us. Nice day was had by all.

A Glimpse of things to come!

2007-11-15T08:34:00.000-08:00

Brenda and I decided that we needed to see some examples of what the interior would eventually look like. This was important from a morale point of view. We figured that since we would spent much of off time in the main salon, why not start with the wall we would look at the most.

Just a portion of the woodwork inventory.

Making use of some fine weather to do some wood finishing outdoors.

Sanding station.

There is a bank of drawers on the starboard side (14 altogether) that we started on first. The process is fairly simple. We're using a special teak stripper to get the red stain off the woodwork. Works pretty well, then its sand, sand, sand. The finish we're using throughout the boat is a wipe on satin finish, easy to apply, water based, dries quickly, and more importantly no off-gasing odor.

Before

After

Next project was the port side of the salon. The washer and dryer reside in this space.

Before

After

Next was the heads.

Before

After

Before

After

The process of putting this boat back together has been a bit like figuring out a puzzle.

Each one of these cabinets ( there are 20 located through out the boat) requires locating, identifying, stripping, sanding, refinishing and then refiting 4 pieces which make up the surrounding frame. The pieces are roughly labeled, however the labeling was done in pencil and over time has become almost illegible. Hence much of it is trial and error or a process of elimination. The hardware then needs to be located, (all the ships cabinet hardware was lumped into one box, all fasteners in another) then cleaned on a wirewheel to bring back the bronze finish from what was green oxide.

Our progress has been somewhat slow, however we're pleased with the way things are shaping up and more importantly are having a great time working together and seeing our home come together.

Adjusting to life aboard, not even afloat yet!

2007-11-15T06:47:00.000-08:00

First order of business, get the galley organized.

At first, Brenda was a little concerned that there was not enough room given the size of a normal kitchen when compared to that of a galley on a boat. Fortunately, Brenda is a very organized person and had the galley in ship shape over the course of the first few days.

This is how i was living, note the stack of pizza boxes on rear shelf.
Still looks pretty rough, we haven't done any cosmetics here yet, we are living in a construction zone, but, at least the freezer is stocked, everything works and Brenda is cooking up a storm, YAHOO!

Jack has been having a bit of a rough time adjusting. At first he was really excited about boarding the boat, even though he's not crazy about stairs, he wanted to see something new. When he figured out that we weren't just "visiting", I think the novelty wore off.

I had come up with an idea to accomodate his arthritic joints and make accessing the interior of the boat a bit easier for him. I made preparations before his arrival by installing a series of pull out step extenders on the main companionway staircase. Looked good to me, I figured it would work. Wrong! He didn't like them one bit. Had to come up with a make shift plan until I can figure out a more long term solution.

Getting him on and off the boat when we're in the water is going to be another story. My plan is to use a small hoist the I'm planning to build. It will hook on to his life jacket in order to raise and lower him from the shore boat. Ya right! I don't think he's going to be too excited about that trip.

Road Trip

2007-11-15T05:17:00.000-08:00

First a little story of our journey out to the coast.

We left Ryerse on an unusually hot day for October on Ontario, hence when we got to the border in Sarnia, we were pretty wilted given the a/c in the van was crapped out. Long line at the border meant another hour waiting in a line up of traffic, finally we get to the US side and are confronted with the Customs guy. Brenda and I had always been a little concerned about the boarder crossing, given that we looked like we were moving to the US, which we were, although only temporarily, and the current climate concerning illegal aliens. How to explain the contents of the van and trailer? Just tell it like it is.

Border guard: Citizenship?

Me: Canadian (hand him our passports)

Border guard: (checks passports in computer) Purpose of your trip?

Me: We've bought a boat in WA state, we're going out to do some work on it.

Border guard: What's in the trailer?

Me: Gear for the boat.

Border guard: Open it up.

Me: (long line of traffic behind) what here?

Border guard: Ya here, open it up

Me: (scrounge around for keys) go to the back of trailer, another 2 guards have come over to take a look, I open the trailer. It's jammed from top to bottom with boxes, there's a small wood stove in one corner near the door and a microwave sitting on top.

Border guard: All this stuffs for the boat?

Me: yup, (I move a box, look, there's the ships wheel)

Border guard: and the microwave?

Me: you gotta have a microwave on a boat!

Border guard: get outta here!

I get back in the van and we drive on, Jack's snoozing in the back, Brenda and I look at each other, laugh and say, that was easy. We've got a weeks' supply of food, a dog, every thing we own, we're moving in country for an extended stay, and he was interested in the microwave? Go figure!

Although I had already made the trip across country twice, traveling with Brenda and Jack was a real treat. We made use of just about every rest stop on the Interstate, (why don't we have them in Canada?) stopped to see some sights, stayed at the very pet friendly and cheap Motel 6 chain, and even rented a cabin at a state park in the high plains of Wyoming. All in all a fantastic trip out here. Brenda was ready to do it all over again and was a little disappointed when it was over.

On day eight we arrived in Ilwaco, mid afternoon. I had been previewing this occasion for months now. This would be Brenda's first, in person look at the boat, up until now, she had only seen pictures and listened to me go on and on about how great this was and how much you're going to love that. We pulled into the boat yard, I stopped the van and looked a her, waiting for a response. First words, she's big, boy is she big. I couldn't wait to give Brenda the guided tour and did just that. Jack waited in the van while we looked around the boat, all the while, I watched Brenda's face, and much to my relief, she was really liking what she was seeing.

We spent the evening unpacking a few basics, setting up the bed in the master cabin, managed to get Jack down the companionway and settled in for our first night aboard. The next day I took Brenda for a tour to get the lay of the land and we had our first walk on the beautiful Pacific beach, and it's all good.

Long time between posts

2007-10-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a long time since the last post, will try to catch up. On Sept 15th, I received a whirlwind visit from my long time friend Murry. It was a planned visit since he was attending a wedding in Vancouver, and decided to pay his ole friend Lou a visit while at the same time checkout what I've gotten myself into. After weeks of single mindedness, it was a welcome and much anticipated arrival. Brenda and I then decided that when Murray's one day visit was over, I would hit the road back to Ontario in order to wrap up some loose ends and more importantly, pick up the "crew". Hence I spent the week leading up to Murray's visit trying to get the boat boat ready for Brenda and Jack to join me. It was no small undertaking. Weeks of living like a man obsessed with this undertaking, (without regard for "appearances") had taken it's toll. I had tools, tools and more tools laying around everywhere, not to mention basic services in need of attention. At the end of the week, I looked around and thought, Brenda is going to take one look and this and say you're nuts if you think I'm going to live here, but this was as good as it was going to get, I got on the road back to Port Ryerse and my waiting crew. On arrival, I spent a few days decompressing from the trip, then set out to locate and purchase a small trailer to haul the rest of our "stuff" back to the boat. We spent 3 weeks packing, partying, saying goodbyes before we were ready to head back. Bob and Jo organized a farewell get together with all our "Port" friends as an official send off. This was "it". "On the road" We should have had a sign on the back of our rig " west coast or bust", this finally felt like the launch of our new adventure. Even though I had rolled past the landscape twice before, it was like viewing it with new eyes. Brenda was absolutely agog at the scenery, even Jack seemed excited at the prospect of every rest stop, probably for different reasons. We took our time and arrived on the coast 8 days later. Sorry no pics, someone left the camera behind (oops that was me).

Hatch is welded

2007-09-06T02:59:00.000-07:00

What was a big hole in the cabin roof, is now officially a removable hatch.

Now I have to make a decision on how to finish it.

The combing came out nicely, there is a 1-1/2" flat portion on the top perimeter that will accept a gasket seal.

Then the lid, or hatch portion itself fits on top with an overhanging lip. No way for water to get in. The expedient way to finish this part would be to just bolt it down and end up with a semi-permanent, yet removable opening.

Or I can proceed with cutting yet another hole in order to fit a piece of 1/2" lexan into the lid, install hinges, catches and have a see through opening hatch.

Haven't decided yet, for now I'll just be looking at the inside of the shiny new aluminum panel while focusing on some more pressing items.

Now that the major structural welding items are completed, I'll be bringing some of the creature comfort systems on line.

Installed the hot water tank a couple of days ago, right now it's just working on shore side AC power, but I gotta tell ya, even though I only have hot and cold running water at the galley sink, it feels like bloody luxury.

On Monday, I tackled the refrigeration system. Up until now, I basically knew what most people know about the fridge. You open the door and it's cold inside. Well on a boat, nothing could be that simple. Firstly, it looks nothing like what you think of as a fridge. Ours is built into an L-shaped galley counter, has a freezer on one side and a fridge on the other. Access is through top opening doors.

Nice color eh? Not!

Haven't worked out the cubic footage yet, but it's substantial for the average boat.

It has a rather large compressor, you know, the part that hums away nicely, letting you know that all is well in your world, and the beer is staying cold. This compressor is located in the engine room beneath the main salon. Now I understand why. Not only is it a pretty good size, but it needs to pump seawater through it's system as part of it's cooling operation. Have learned that systems of this type, only on a much larger scale, are used on the commercial fishing boats.

In order to fire up the compressor to see if it worked, I had to fool it into thinking that the boat is in the water. So I filled a 55 gal drum of water outside, and ran the seawater pump hoses into it, to act as a cooling heat sink. Then I started it up, ran it for about and hour while checking the freezer. No cold? Now it was time to learn about refrigeration. Cracked open Nigel Calder's boat maintenance bible and read and reread the chapters on refer systems. This opened up an interesting can of worms. All about CFCs - ozone depleting banned R12 refrigerants and so on. After going through the text and doing a couple of tests, I determined that the system required re-charging, much like an AC system on a car does. I thought, no worries, I'll get the stuff I need, like a set of gauges, refrigerant, and do it myself. Not so easy. Seems it's illegal for the average Joe to go out and buy himself refrigerant gas. You need to be licenced. It's all about the EPA.

After making a few calls, I finally located a guy that would come aboard a boat with a bottle of gas and pressure it up. After much grunting, groaning, crack of butt showing, he declared the system topped up and we could test it. Viola, cold freezer almost immediately. Big relief, compressor is a heavy duty commercial unit and seems to be in good order. I can put away the cooler, stop lugging home blocks of ice and enjoy some cold beer. Cheers!

More on the Bow Thruster

2007-09-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Getting the bow tube mated to the hull worked out well. Today it was time to attach the machinery to it. This sucker is heavy, at about 85 lbs, it's a blend of precision engineering and brute force, will completely drain six average car batteries in 3 minutes flat. It's my pride and joy and I can't wait to throw the switch.

The idea is, to place the prop (nice red job) precisely on the center line of the boat, and centered in the tube. The spec in the manual says, minimum of 1.5mm clearance between the walls of pipe and the prop. Given that this spins at 4250 rpm, it's really just a big food processor and will eat up the walls of the tube in no time if not aligned perfectly. So it's back to making holes, 4 of them, 3 x 9mm & 1 x 30mm, in just the right spot. Again it's measure, measure, measure and viola, I got it right.

Tube then needed to be aligned precisely in the hull because the motor housing and motor itself reside inside the boat where it is dry. It also needs to fit within a specific space which requires a tilt to it's angle. So it was more fitting and unfitting, marking , checking before I was confident enough to mark for the final cuts.

I've also cut out 1-1/2" wide flat trim pieces that will be welded to the exterior of the opening to act as double plates making the hull twice as thick around the tube weld. This will allow a smooth fairing job and a nice radius on the transition.

Must think up something to do with these cut offs, they look kinda modern artish don't you think? At one point while I was fussing with the fit, I had the prop set on it's shaft without the key so as to be able to turn it by hand. A gust of wind blew through the tunnel resulting in a nice pinwheel effect convincing me of how well this was going to work. If you're on dialup you may not want to play the video. Welding is finally all done, took four spools of mig wire to finish it but it's strong as hell. I'll be adding a ton of epoxy fairing compound around the aperture to finish it up and smooth out the transition. Very happy with the result, this is going to be bulletproof. Here's an interesting addition, anyone seen one before? I hadn't. This hook I added to the bow is about a foot below the water line. It's about 8" long, sticks out about 5" and is sharpened to a knife edge on the top curve. I learned of the device from an Alaskan fisherman I met down here. He has one on his boat and swears by it. Seems there are all kinds of nets, fishline, ropes and crap of all sorts floating out there in the ocean, this will cut whatever gets trapped in it before it gets wrapped around the prop. I like it! I like it a lot!!

1/10,000 of an inch

2007-09-02T04:46:00.000-07:00

Once the engine was positioned roughly where it needed to be and I had determined how much of the original rails needed to be cut out, I moved the engine and went at it with the saw.

I ended up with what seemed like an alarming pile of scrap aluminum.

Next step was to build new engine bed rails out of 3/4" x 4" aluminum flat bar about 5" lower than the originals. We were careful to replace any structural integrity lost in the cut out with additional reinforcements, and then some.

Once these main structural components were in place, the engine was moved back and measured for the actual pads that the mounting bushings would attach to.

These pads were then fabricated using TIG welding process for increased strength, dry fitted to make sure they were right and welded in place.

At this point, the rubber bushing mounts could be fitted to the engine and the assembly loosely positioned.

Final alignment could now proceed.

How does one determine this? Most of you aren't asking, and eyes are surely glazing over, but I'm going to answer anyway. The end of the transmission and the prop shaft have matching couplings that have finely machined surfaces. The two plates are about 6" in diameter and are ultimately bolted together to form a solid bond between the engine, prop shaft and ultimately propeller. In order to determine alignment, the engine is eased toward the prop shaft until the two surfaces are almost but not quite touching. Now the gap is measured on all four axises. Using built in adjustments on the four engine bushings, the engine is then moved up, down, or sideways until one has an even measurement on entire circumference of coupling surfaces.

Just how anal one wants to get at this point, determines how long a process this will be.

Took me all afternoon, resulting in an alignment that is within 1/10,000 of an inch.

How thick is that? About the thickness of a human hair. How important is it? Very.

Misalignment translates into vibration which not only creates noise that is transmitted throughout the entire vessel, but results in accelerated wear and premature failure in drive line components. John Deere designs it's engines with an internal counterbalance to keep vibration to a minimum, this feature combined with the care taken in the installation translates into a quieter running power plant which in turn will be appreciated every time we start the engine.

Big Sigh!! Bow Tube is in.

2007-08-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

On the surface one might think, how big a deal can it be, cut 2 holes in the hull, exactly identical, positioned in exactly the same relative position on opposing sides, perfectly horizontally level to the waterline, and at a 90 degree right angle to the hull center line. Oh, and did I mention that the surface you need to scribe a cutting mark to fit a 195mm round pipe is a compound curve on all axises? I had been trying to figure out how to do this from the moment I decided that this boat needed a bow thruster. For the uninitiated, the bow thruster basically gives you a small manuevering engine at the bow of the boat. Very handy and for me an absolute neccessity for handling the boat in tight situations such as docking at crowded fuel docks. Until the last few years, bow thrusters were seen only on large commercial vessels, but due to competition and agressive marketers, just about every boater with a craft over 30' has one of these on his wish list. For me it was a matter of pay me now or pay me later. I figured that given the size of this boat, it is the cheapest form of insurance I can have. If it saves me touching some guy's million dollar yacht just once, it will have payed for itself. I discussed the how=to with a few people over the last months. Prize goes to my dear friend Jimmy. He was the closest on the method I eventually used. It's hard for a guy to edmit this, but I actually read the directions when I received the thruster unit from Vetus. Those clever Dutch engineers included this one line beneath a small line drawing. "Mark hole to cut using homemade tool". This is the result, Jimmy, you'll chuckle at the simplicity of it. I still had to do all the measuring, leveling etc, in order to be able to drill two holes to form the center of my cut marks. The rod extends through the hull exiting on the other side, this simplified the actual scribing immensly. I then drilled 1/4" holes spaced 1/2" apart on the line so that I would be able to use the saws all to cut the hole out. Drill holes were neccessary in order to be able to force the wide blade into a circle. Ok, 3 blades later, first hole was cut. Second hole went easier, based on my experience with the first, isn't that always the way? Crunch, another blade bites the dust.

After a little adjustment with the grinder, I had a near perfiect fit.

Still plenty to do as far as welding things up, installing the hardware etc. But for now, I'm glad this part went as well as it did.

Big Day!! Engine Goes In

2007-08-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

The crane was supposed to be here at 1:00pm today.

Get a call at 8:00am, can we come earlier? Seems they needed the crane for an emergency call across the river in Astoria, it was come earlier or wait a couple of more days. So I hustled to make preparations, needed to pull some peripherals off the engine that were susceptible to damage. By 9:00 the engine was in the air.

The operator handled things like a surgeon with a scalpel.

The lift went beautifully, although it was a little nerve wracking seeing my prized John Deere dangling in the air.

Here comes the test, is it going to fit neatly through the new opening in the deck.

I didn't leave much room to spare, and it was going to require tilting the engine down slightly to get it in, all 1500lbs of it.

Down the hatch!

This procedure adds new meaning to the expression.

It's in the engine room, facing the wrong direction, but the meter was running on the crane and I wanted to let him go. I would deal with orienting the engine using the ugly engine hoist that has been sharing my space all this time waiting for this moment.

Well it's sitting roughly where it needs to.

Now I need to engineer new engine beds and mounts to permanently secure this monster.

Every movement of this thing requires careful planning, even if I'm only moving it an inch.

Working by myself, I can't afford any mishaps, this thing weighs so much that it means instant finger amputation if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Have already determine that in order to get it lined up properly with the angle on the prop shaft, the original engine rails, the beams that it's sitting on in the pic, will have to be cut out and new ones built.

This engine is taller than the previous unit, hence in order for it to fit below the cabin floor, it will need to go down several inches.

The new engine rails and mounts will need to compensate for the fact that this engine has twice the horsepower and torque that the original engine did.

I tend to overbuild things in general, this instance will define overbuild, have lots of new aluminum on hand just for this project.

Estimate it will take a whole day and about 20 blades on the saws-all to do the cut out.

Another day to fab up the neccessary pieces, by Thursday, Cap should be welding.

This was tough

2007-08-23T19:46:00.000-07:00

This week has been focused on stopping the leaks. I mentioned earlier that I had started reconditioning the deck hatches, well it has taken all bloody week to get through all seven of them. Finally they're all done and what do I decide to do next, cut a bloody big hole in the roof!

Yup, that's a 3' by 4' hole you're seeing there. There's an old saying in woodworking "measure twice - cut once", well I must have measured a zillion times before I cut this hole. I only had one shot at it, it had to be perfectly square and in just the right place. the crow bar and the 2x4 are the precision tools required in this type of work, kidding, just props really.

The hole was required in order to get the new engine into the boat, next Monday a crane will be on hand to lower the trusty John Deere into it's new home in the belly of the ship. I'm going to be pulsating a little, you know where, when that takes place. The idea of 1500 lbs dangling through this hole, and then another in the floor of the main cabin, before it finally comes to rest, hopefully where it's supposed to, is a major milestone in the refit. I'll breath a big sigh of relief when it's over.

When I decided that installing the engine in this manner was going to be the best method, I also considered installing an additional hatch rather than closing the hole back up. Now that I've seen the way that the extra light effects the interior of the main saloon, I've decided to go ahead with the hatch treatment. It will mean a lot more work and metal fabricating, but the side benefit of having a removable hatch means that should the engine ever have to come out, "god forbid knock on wood" it will come out the way it went in. Additionally, Brenda and I intend to have regular furniture pieces in the main saloon as apposed to built in seating, this will give us more options as to what furniture we can get into the boat, given that the main hatch is only 21" wide, we would have been narrowly limited in our selection. Try getting a couch up a set of stairs, let alone down a hatch, know what I mean?

Only one more delicate procedure to go through, that will be cutting the hole in the hull for the bow thruster. Will need to change my underwear after that one. But that's still to come.

2007-08-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

Brenda, this is for you. Been humming Pink Floyd's "wish you were here" in my head all morning long.

Yet another hat today - Welder

2007-08-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

First off, this is for Brenda. Went for a walk on the beach this morning, there's a trail down from the North Head Lighthouse, here's the view. Then while on the beach, I saw the most amazing sight, a first for me anyway. Check this out. A parade of Pelicans. Now for the hat stuff. The installation of the new mechanical systems on board will require a number of custom holders, brackets, shelves and so on. On going maintenance on a metal boat eventually involves welding. Hence, I reasoned it would be a very important skill to have in order to maintain the level of independence I would like. So I picked up a MIG welder on Ebay and then asked Cap if he would teach me some basics, to which he immediately agreed. Which reminds me of a story, I once decided that I would like to try my hand at painting, as in landscape painting. So I thought, I'll go out and get a bunch of supplies and see what happens. Went to the art store and stocked up on water color stuff. It wasn't until after I had been at it for a while, that I learned that painting in water colors is the most difficult medium to master. And so it is with my foray into welding, it seems that I couldn't start at the bottom, noooo, I had to start with the most difficult medium to weld in. The fact that the boat happens to be aluminum, meant the die was cast. At any rate my lesson started this morning, with a thorough briefing on how not to get electrocuted and die, I watched as Cap made a number of welds and then took matters into my own hands. Eureka! It seems I'm a natural. The lesson was cut short and I got my first homework assignment. I'll be practicing this weekend on a number of different welds, then on Monday when Cap gets back from his weekend, I'll get graded. Fingers crossed. This afternoon, I completed the first of seven hatches that need re-bedding. The hatches though well constructed, had suffered from UV degradation, causing the old bedding compound to breakdown and leak. I mean really leak. I've been sort of getting by putting out buckets to catch the rainwater, not sure of how I was going to accomplish the repair. The first one is done, and I must say, I'm really pleased with the result. Amazing stuff, teak is, this wood was covered in algae and moss when I first saw it. Some sanding and viola! It is beautiful wood again. Thanks to the wonders of chemistry from 3M, the new bedding compound should be good for as long as I'll need it to be. One down, six more to go.

Put on the Carpenter's hat for a while

2007-08-16T12:20:00.000-07:00

Now that I know we're settling in for the long haul, I've spent the last couple of days building what the local guys have dubbed, "the stairway to heaven".

Firstly, I can't believe how cheap the lumber is out here, compared to the crappy spruce we get back in Ontario, guess it makes a difference when they cut it down a few miles away.

I built these stairs out of Douglass fir, beautiful stuff, seems a shame to think that when we're done and out of here, I'll be cutting it all up and stocking up firewood for our on-board wood stove. Guess I can think of it as recycling. More importantly, the stairs will make it safe and comfortable getting on and off the boat, especially for Jack, our Furkid.

Now, on a technical note for those of you that are interested. I finally selected and ordered a water heater. And you think, "so?", one might assume that it should be fairly straight forward, well it's not. Hot water, lots of it, is a very important thing, something we all take pretty much for granted in our homes. Having it on a boat is another story. Most hot water heaters need to be plugged into electricity. The same is true for on board heaters, problem is, unless one has the power generation capacity, (a lot of it) matters get a little complicated when you pull away from the dock and unplug the cord. On our vessel, I want to have the ability to heat water using waste heat generated by the engine while it is running to charge the battery bank, as well as use the heat generated by the diesel fired boiler that will heat water for the heating radiators dispersed through out the boat. In order to accomplish this, manufacturers install heat exchangers built in to their hot water heaters so that engine coolant can be routed through the heater thereby capturing heat that would otherwise have been lost. Seems simple enough, not really, no two heaters are constructed the same way, resulting in vast differences in efficiency. After going through the specs, (most companies don't even publish theirs), I finally settled on a 20 gal unit made by Heat Transfer Products. Wasn't cheap, almost twice the price of the lowest priced units, however the heat capture capabilities were quite impressive, as well as the heat loss numbers. Built entirely of stainless steel, with super insulation, and an unheard of cuprous/nickle finned heat exchanger, (versus a couple of loops of copper tubing in the cheaper units) this vital piece of equipment should be good for many many years of trouble free service. I hope?

Back to work

2007-08-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

Had a nice break, well, really it was better than nice. Took a week off and went back to Ontario to re-group, re-connect, re-charge, all of those great things. It was a last minute decision, Brenda and I were having our usual evening phone call, when before I knew it, I was booking a flight home to see her. Amazing powers of persuasion that women have. Actually, I didn't need much persuading, truth be known, six weeks of living like a hermit, obsessing about this boat had taken it's toll. The reception and TLC I received from Brenda, not to mention my dog Jack, was worth all of the rubber gloves they could come up with at the airports. There's also been another development, originally I had planned on rushing to get the Kaian seaworthy in order to make the passage north before the weather turned. Last week before heading home, I reconsidered the plan. I came to the realization that the situation here in Ilwaco was not likely to be easily replicated elsewhere. The folks I've met here are great, the work yard and port management are all really laid back and accommodating, leaving here for an unknown might not be such a great idea. It's getting harder and harder to find yards that will allow do-it-yourself boat projects. Environmental concerns along with the crush of real estate prices have closed down or condo-ized a lot of the older yards. So after some consultation with Brenda, we're staying put and finishing the boat here in Ilwaco over the winter. Great news is, Brenda has signed on for the passage, she's taken up the challenge and coming out to join me. YAHOOO!!!! Now my priorities are shifting, I'll be focusing on making the Kaian a more livable space for my crew (family). While I've been getting along on the most primitive level, it's time to get some basic systems in place so that we can spend the coming winter on board. The sooner I can put it together, the sooner I can go fetch the crew. I'm pumped!

Starting with the hull.

2007-08-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

I have had the very good fortune to meet up with a master shipwright/aluminum boat specialist, "Cap" has been a wealth of information. He operates a one man mobile welding service out of his shop/truck and will be handling some of the more critical welding requirements on the Kaian. Since I had forgone the usual process of having a professional survey conducted on the vessel prior to purchase, I was somewhat relieved when after giving the Kaian's hull a thorough going over, he pronounced her stoutly built and structurally in great shape. In trying to make use of the relatively dry weather I've encountered, I decided to start prepping the weather deck for refinishing. Cap recommended getting it down to bare metal and starting from there with a rigorous paint scheme. Striping the deck entailed several gallons of the best chemical striper I could get my hands on. Took about a week to get as much of the old paint off using this method. Then it was time for the grinder. Here again Cap's suggestion was to be aggressive, way more aggressive than I would have been. "Brutalize the plate" he said, she's been over built with 5/16th"plate, so attack it, give the new paint something to bite into. Out came the 16 grit wheels on the grinder. So far about 10 days on and off of grinding is producing a deck so shiny I had to start using safety welding glasses because of the glare coming off the deck in the sunshine. It's looking fantastic, all the surface oxidization that had occurred in areas where the paint had failed, is gone. Cap has assured me that following the proper steps in the refinish process, the new paint system should be good for a long time, he has boats he worked on 20 years ago going strong with the paint holding up and no corrosion. Sounds good to me. On rain days when I can't work outside, I've been tackling some indoor projects. I don't really have a detailed plan of action in terms of the order I am doing the projects. My attitude has been that ultimately it all has to get done, as long as I am not doing something that will need to be undone, or adversely effects another component, I work on what I feel like working on at the time. Sometimes I'll start one job only to leave it after a couple of hours and do something else just because I can and it interests me more at that moment. This may sound a little disorganized, and it may not be the most efficient approach to project of this size, but it suits me. I want to look back on this part as enjoyable, as being in the moment, as doing what I've always wanted to do. So far so good. Here's some really exciting stuff, the "heads". The boat has a couple of wilcox-crittendon skipper heads. When I first looked at them, I thought "these are going over the side", but on closer inspection and some research, I found them not only to be keepers but really good keepers at that. I seems that not only are they still being manufactured, they are a the top of the range in terms of being a premium product. Solidly built completely of bronze, they came apart with no problems, and I even found that when I rummaged around in the boxes of gear I had in container, I came up with a couple of complete rebuild kits. So now the old heads are shining brightly, functioning perfectly with the new rebuild parts in place. Testing was only possible outside with a hose in a bucket since the holding tanks aren't fitted yet. Which brings me to the holding tanks situation. From what I can determine, this boat was originally fitted with the above mentioned heads discharging directly overboard. That was back in the day when it was perfectly legal. Then at some point, 2 Lectrasan units were added to the matrix. These units somewhat "treated" the waste before it went overboard. Through a process of electrically charging the seawater used in the flush process, an acid was created which destroyed any bacteria present. This treatment system is coast guard approved and has become quite popular as an onboard way to handle "black water". The problem with the system is that it is very electricity hungry. In order for it to work effectively it needs to draw a considerable amount of power from the ship's batteries. The upside is that there was actually no black water storage on board excepting what was in the unit itself. Hence the Kaian had no holding tanks whatsoever. This situation is unacceptable due to the increasing presence of areas and anchorages where there is a no discharge rule. Boats must therefore be able to contain and store all of their waste. Here's how I handled the storage problem. The Kaian is constructed with a box type keel. In other words, excepting the portion of the keel that holds the lead ballast ingots, it is essentially a tank. The aft portion was actually in use as a fuel tank, holding around 200 gals of diesel. I determined that since there are 2 additional 150 gal fuel saddle tanks, I would convert the keel tank to a split gray/black water holding tanks. This has entailed cutting open the top of the tanks in order to clean out the diesel crud residue, remove some existing baffles, and weld in a new wall to create a separate tank in the aft section. This will be the gray water tank and will have the existing aluminum surface clean but otherwise untreated. I was advised against treating the black water in the same fashion.

The corrosive forces at play would reek havoc with an aluminum tank in no time. The only solution was to fit a plastic corrosion proof tank within the space. The new tank was constructed by a small custom plastics shop I found in Portland. Jerry at Spectrum Plastics was great, he took my crude drawing a produced a tough PVC tank that will be there forever. I had him place 2 -- 1 1/2" pickup tubes where I needed them, as well as 2 -- 1" vent outlets and 1-- 2" waste inlet. What feeds the system is gravity. I was able to run 2" PVC rigid tubing directly from both heads to the waste tank. In all it's a run of about 25'. Had to go through 5 bulkheads so I cut the pipe in to sections that fit between the bulkheads. Then used 2 1/2" wire reinforced hose as a thru bulkhead connector. Result is that I achieved a 1/4" per ft drainage from the heads to the tank, gravity flow just like on land, with a flush out fitting at the head end so I can connect a deck wash hose and blow the system out periodically. Both gray and black water tanks will have the capability of either being pumped out via a pump out station or being pumped out while at sea via a selector valve and a macerator pump discharging overboard. I'm hoping that we will have a 3-4 week holding capacity between pump outs. Only experience will confirm this estimation.

Time to get the rest of the gear

2007-08-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

When I negotiated the purchase of the boat, there was a large inventory of gear that came with it. The previous owner had removed essentially every stick of removable teak that was on board. Every door, drawer, piece of trim etc was taken off the boat and I needed to get it. One of the problems was that the gear was located in storage about 200 miles from the boat.

This presented a couple of logistical challenges. Firstly I would have rent a truck big enough to get it all in one trip, and secondly I needed to store it all untill I could either install it on the boat, find space to stow it on board or determine that I didn't need or want it and get rid of it somehow. Oh and one more thing, one of the items was the new engine and transmission to be installed, they only weighed a combined 1500lbs.

The solution was to rent a mobile storage unit, basically a modified shipping container that could be dropped off at my site. This unit would ultimately become indispensable and one of the best investments I could have made. It became my storage/garage/workshop/closet.

The day went pretty smoothly, albeit long and lots of slugging. I had a hand loading the engine with a portable engine hoist at the pickup location, but got back so late, the only way to get it off was to convince a forklift driver at the local fish packing plant, to come over and take the engine off the truck that evening, so I could return the truck early the next morning.

It worked, now that the equipment is safely at hand and secured, I can get on with the prep work to rebuild the vessels systems.

Time to get her moved

2007-08-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lousy formatting. I haven't got the hang of the tools for this blog yet. It will probably get better.

My first 2 weeks on board were spent in the storage yard while waiting for a spot in the actual work yard. While you're not suppose to actually be working on you're vessel while in storage, the folks around here are pretty laid back and so I've been cleaning up which is OK with them.

After tearing out all of the wall coverings and headliners, getting the boat reasonably dry in the bilges. I started experimenting with different methods of attacking the mildew and glue residue on the walls. The boat's interior construction is basically a 3" layer of high density foam that was sprayed into the inside of the hull and then covered with 3/4" marine plywood to form relatively smooth wall surfaces. Since the builders intent was to cover the plywood with some sort of wall coverings, the plywood grain orientation didn't matter. Hence it must be covered again because grains don't match. It hit it with the sander using pretty aggressive grit and it worked just fine. Once the surfaces are prepared, I'll be sealing the wood with epoxy primer and at least they'll be clean and all one color until we determine how to recover them to a more pleasing effect.

Finally have a spot open in the work yard, the boys are going to move the boat.

This is kinda cool, in preparation, I've given the old girl a bit of a bath on the exterior. The pressure washer made quick work of most of the moss and lichen, some of it was pretty tenacious.

I'm finally aboard and ready to start

2007-08-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

End of June, the van packed with as much stuff as it would carry, I headed west.

Left behind was Brenda and our golden retriever Jack. It was a bittersweet goodbye. On the one hand I was itching to get on with the project, while at the same time, leaving each others company for what would be lengthy period of time was tough on all of us.

The basic plan is for me to get the KAIAN to a sufficiently seaworthy state where she could be moved on her own bottom up the coast from the Columbia river on the Oregon/Washington border, to the gulf islands of British Columbia. Then drive back to Ontario, pickup the crew, drive back to BC and carry on with the interior refit at a more relaxed pace. That's the broad strokes anyway.

The drive out to the coast was a marathon, 48 hrs of driving over 4 days, and here I am.

First impressions, man this boat is BIG!

Ketch rig.

Length overall 62'

Length on the waterline 42'

Beam 16' 8"

Draft 7'

Weight 28 tons

Height to top of mast 68'

She's built entirely of 5/16" aluminum plate, with rounded chines, a box type elongated keel, clipper bow, and raised salon/pilot house. Very heavily constructed, built to tackle oceans.

Layout below decks starting aft is the full width galley, which is open to the main salon/pilothouse with steering station. Forward and down 3 steps from main salon are the main sleeping cabins, doubles port and starboard, forward and adjoining double cabins are en suite heads with a center line common shower/tub. The forecastle houses a third cabin with 2 single berths.

On the weather deck there is a large working bow sprit platform, 7 large opening deck hatches which provide copious amounts of light and ventilation below decks, a recessed secure full width aft cockpit area with steering helm. Getting around on the decks of this boat is going to be safe and secure in any sea state. Lifelines are tall and robust, the side decks around the pilothouse are almost 2' wide.

As for the condition I found her in, it wasn't a pretty picture.

Imagine anything sitting on the rain coast for 5 years. The only wood on the exterior of this boat are the deck hatch frames and bow sprit planks and they were literally covered in moss and lichen.

The interior was even worse, several leaking hatches and cable thru-deck apertures had allowed a massive amount of water into the boat.

The wall coverings were a combination of teak paneling, woven grass wallpaper like material and vinyl head liners. All of it peeling, moldy, smelly, just the ugliest mess you can imagine.

My first task was to get the water out. The boat smelled of diesel and when I looked around in the engine room directly beneath the main salon, all I could see was masses of algae colonies living in the bilge water.

I attacked the mess by first sticking a sump pump into the lowest place I could access and firing it up, I couldn't believe how much water was in there, easily 800 to 1000 gallons sat in the bilges.

Next I applied with a garden sprayer, 2 gallons of industrial, highly concentrated citrus based de-greaser to every square inch of the bilges, then hit it with a pressure washer while running the sump pump. The stuff worked great, the diesel smell was replaced with orange. Almost too much orange. It made my eyes water.

In order to economize, I had to decided to stay aboard the KAIAN while doing this. I had come prepared with some camping gear, sleeping bags etc. and was basically camping out on board.

Once I had satisfied myself that nothing was going to crawl out of the bilges and start eating my flesh, I spent my first night inside my new home. It felt good.

Since the boat had been virtually stripped of all it's basic systems, there's nothing that works on board. No lighting, plumbing, sanitary etc. This is roughing it in every sense of the word. I have to use the marina facilities for personal hygiene etc, just means a short walk. I have managed to set up a little espresso pot on a single camping burner in order to enjoy my mandatory jolt of java in the morning.

Finally getting around to this, bear with me.

2007-07-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

Where to start, at the beginning I guess? It's all about a change of patterns. Brenda and I are choosing to change ours. We're going to live on a boat. At the time of this writing I'm about a month into a major refit of what will be our new home. This is the KAIAN as she looked about 5 years ago. This is what she looked like when I found her by accident last November, sitting derilect in a storage yard on the coast in Washington state. The previous owners had started - then abandoned, a restoration. I loved her lines as soon as I saw her. What followed was a hasty negotiation on her sale, even though she wasn't for sale (timing as they say is everything). I gotta back up here a little bit, it seem time is just a blur when I think back on this whole process. I had been looking (read obsessing) about the boat that would be our future home for almost a year, ever since Brenda said yes to the idea. It entailed hours upon hours scouring the Internet for possible candidates while at the same time disposing of all of out worldly possessions. Yes, that means house, furniture, knick knacks, basically all of the stuff you carry into the house versus carry out. The old saying that you don't know how much "STUFF" you have until you have to move it sooo true. When we had finally sold the house, it was for real, now we were committed, or as some would put it, we should be committed. I made the first trip to the west coast in late fall to scope out some boats. It was a bust, looked at half a dozen boats and none of them panned out. A second trip in November proved just as disappointing, except for one chance circumstance. While looking at another boat, I spotted the KAIAN sitting forlornly in the corner of the storage yard. Before heading back to the airport for my flight home, I inquired at the marina office as to the situation regarding this boat, since it clearly looked unkept. The office informed me that they had regular inquiries on the boat and that it was not for sale, however since they forwarded a monthly storage invoice to the owners, they could include my contact info, should he wish to reach me. Fine, I thought, send him my email, and home I went. At this point, I had only seen the boat from a quick walk around, I couldn't even determine what it was constructed of. My first guess was that it was a fairly good ferro-cement job. A week after I was home, I received an email from the owner, she was indeed for sale, and she was an Ed Monk designed 62' aluminum motor sailor I was HOOKED, I had to have this boat! Negotiations proceeded and ended with a phone call. We now owned a boat. Funds were transferred pending my survey, and back I went to WA. Now I was able to spend a couple of days crawling through every nook and cranny of the KAIAN. She didn't disappoint me. In the past I have demonstrated a knack for seeing a diamond in the rough, I felt that this vessel had the potential to be a wonderful home for us, given some vision and a lot sweat equity. I came home, the papers were inked and the sale finalized. The KAIAN was officially ours. What follows is an account of the process of turning a basic gutted hull into a floating home capable of transoceanic travel. I realize some of what follows will make some reader's eyes glaze over, however there are those of you that will be with me during every skinned knuckle, or day of being covering in everything from bilge goo to aluminum oxide. Again please bear with me.