Ceres out of the marina

We've had Ceres for one year. Because we didn't know much about the boat when we bought it due to the unusual circumstances of the previous owner, we hadn't taken it out before except to move it about 500 feet from its current slip to its new slip. Also we are active sailors and it's much easier to take out a 6000 pound 32 foot sailboat than a 30,000 pound 40 foot trawler.

We do know cylinder a loud knock, and some visual evidence of overheating near cylinder 1. We've had two experts look at it and a quote to replace the motor, which is the size of a kitchen table. It's on Jarred's list to get in there and have a look after making a number of other fixes. We'd had a diver look at the prop and rudder before we bought the boat. And we'd sort of tested the linkage to the rudder from the inside steering station.

But it was Christmas Day and it was calm, and our end of pier dockmates were gone, which meant we had 90 feet of open runway to take off and land, just in case.

Living on Ceres

 When we started talking about living on a boat, I started downsizing. I took carloads of stuff to Goodwill. It went in waves, starting with interview outfits and Halloween costumes. It kept going. After a year, I fit on a boat with room to spare.

There was a brief period when we were maintaining two households, two sets of cookware. We lived on Ceres 2-4 nights a week, at home 3-5 nights a week. I learned the importance of bags for bringing stuff to and from the boat, like laundry and lunch, and so on.

Then we finally had the opportunity to rent out our house and kick ourselves out of it, in June 2019.

Except we kept a lot of crap in our bedroom and we had laundry access, and a garage. And Elixir's first mast in the yard.

Ceres was not ready to live in. The previous owner had neglected her. Here are things Jarred and sometimes Megan did:

Engine

All new heat exchangers for engine and transmission

Freshwater engine pump

New and updated raw water pump - old ones tended to shear off a part

Head rebuild

Cylinders honed

Two pistons replaced - 1 2

New rings

New rod bearings

New oil cooler hoses

New all hoses

Electrical

All new wiring to AC outlets

New battery charger

Cleaned up electrical panel - better connections

New house batteries

Came with new starter battery, installed

New shore charger for starter battery

Two small solar panels, and charging and monitoring system

Heat

Two heat pumps 12000 and 5000 under settee bench

50 amp circuit for heat pump

Gave away wood stove and installed diesel heater Antarctic and day tank, hydronic coils, partially plumbed heat radiators, circulation pump, heat exchanger for both diesel stove and engine (engine part not hooked up yet)

Wall heater and baseboard heater

Weatherproofing

Coated and sealed decks with polyurethane over penetrating epoxy

Removed built in steps to back deck, replaced rotten wood (M found replacement steps)

Plumbing

Cleaned and fixed old electric toilet, added external macerator pump, all new plumbing

Fixed rot in shower - new concrete pan, moved drain to center

New fixtures

New ship freshwater pump

New seawater pump

Navigation

New VHF

New GPS

Open Plotter raspberry pi

iPad data from rp via wifi

Wired up depth sounder transducer to a used chartplotter

Galley

New RV stove and propane system with bottle in flybridge cabinet

Aesthetic

Sanded teak floors

Redid doors and drawers in kitchen and bathroom

Cleaned and painted bow area

Painting ceiling and some interior walls

Started stripping teak railings and trim

Upholster some cushions

To do

Hull paint

Topsides paint

Cabin paint

Generator

Transducer with paddle wheel thru hull install

Galley counters and fixtures

Bathroom counters and fixtures

Forward bathroom

Upholster the rest of the cushions 

Finish teak railing and trim

 About half of the photos on my phone the last two years are Ceres photos, but they represent less than 5% of our awake hours during that time. Due to work mostly. We have taken her to Whidbey Island Race Week, where she served as home base when we raced Elixir. We just very recently developed a habit for Manzanita Bay, about 1.5 hours from our marina, where we anchor easily and watch sunset, and take the dinghy to shore where there is a winery a mile down the road, and there is a good winding slough for paddleboarding at high tide. We also anchored off Marrowstone Island for a couple of nights, although on the way back we suffered from a clogged fuel filter and drifted awkwardly but conveniently, in settled sunny weather, for two hours as Jarred learned how to change the filters and we primed the fuel system. I guess if I could say two things: one, it is great to leave the dock and only pack groceries for an overnight. And two, it is great to walk away from land lately. Also, birdwatching.

Ceres bought on winter solstice 2017

Elixir got a big sister on December 21, 2017 and will have to share this blog with her. It was an accident. We were just kicking the tires but walked into an extraordinary situation that takes about 10 minutes to explain plus probably another 10 minutes of Q&A, better in person for many reasons. 

Ceres is a 1978 Bluewater 40 and we are its fourth owner. It is in Shilshole on L dock. 

We want to try living on board at least part time, and maybe do some winter cruising, and parties. But first we have to get Ceres back in running and living order. 

I managed to get into contact with her second owner, and Jarred's established contact with family of the first. This is very exciting, as we had very little interaction with the third owner and we're excited to get to know more about the boat and its history. The first owner was Kirby Atterbury, who had sailed the world and was larger than life according to his obituary. We are looking forward to getting more information about him.

We are new to boats without sails, and the Bluewater is especially tricky, since Bluewater was a boatyard in Taiwan, and you could get semi-custom boats through various yacht brokers. There isn't a lot of information about them.

Almost two months after purchase, and we've cleaned and organized a lot, Jarred has gone through many of the systems: freshwater, seawater, blackwater, coolant systems, heaters, and so on. The master stateroom head was a Trainspotting situation, now tolerably smelly and flushes with the push of a button, and makes a terrifically satisfying sound thanks to the new macerating pump installed downstream. I can tell you more about that in person. Jarred could tell you even more, but you probably don't want to hear it. He's also looked over electrical systems. A new cookstove is on the way since the old one just made sparks and smoke. The oil lamps work again, and even the ship's clock now chimes sweetly on the half hour again (I take credit for figuring out how to swap the batteries.) And the first thing Jarred did was install a diesel heater since it was December when we bought the boat.

Ceres as bought.

One of the first things we did was give away the dinghy. Jarred tried to resuscitate it, but it had a large hole and wouldn't hold air. It was carted off on top of a van with racing stripes. We gave the guy all the crab pots on the boat too.

During the Christmas eve snowfall four days after we bought it.

We spent about two weeks straight cleaning. The cushions had to be removed and cleaned. We washed the covers 5 times. The foam was surprisingly quick to clean up.

Bow before.

Bow (Deck B) after a good clean and some sunshine.

Looking forward. We also gave away the Shipmate wood stove pictured here. While I am a huge wood stove fan, we swapped it for a diesel heater. The Shipmate went to a nice couple who bought a bus to live on San Juan Island while they built their house. The Shipmate unbolts and separates into about 40 pieces for moving.

New diesel heater where wood stove was, nicknamed R2HeatU.

Deck C after the first cleaning.

Deck A after the first cleaning.

The view of the Olympics from Deck C.

Drawings for the boat layout.

Spare bedroom after much cleaning and some paint.

After second cleaning. Mast and boom still lying about unrigged.

One of our first meals on board. Wasn't even a meal, since we still had no heat and no stove. Just cheeseball, crackers and wine. Since then I've been cooking with a pressure cooker and a hot plate.

After third cleaning.

On Deck A after third cleaning. Mast and boom now rigged and out of the way.

First day warm enough for windows and doors wide open in early February. Buy a boat in December and it just keeps getting better after that.

Motor ran when bought, but had knocking sound and grayish smoke that puffed out the exhaust. Knowledgeable friend visits, has a listen and a look, says probably bad injector on cylinder #1.

Engine accessed underneath main cabin floor.

Jarred pulling all injectors, sent to injector spa. Compression test good.

Elixir cruising 2017

We went on a 2.5 week cruise in June 2017 in the San Juan Islands and Gulf Islands. Our cruise was sort of bookended by racing the Friday night OIYC races, which we did two of. We ended up skipping a few of our favorite spots as a result. But there are still many stories. But the photos from cruises are mostly my occasional "out of boat experiences" where after an afternoon jog and dinner, I go into the dinghy with a glass of wine and camera and take a bazillion photos of the boat during sunset.

 

By luck, headed straight into the Orcas Island ferry terminal.

Tumbo Island.

Tumbo Island sunset.

 

 

 

Got a parking spot and off to the pub in Maple Bay, BC.

Halfway to the pub in Maple Bay, BC.

Montague Harbor, north side.

Montague.

Portland Island, BC.

Portland Island, BC.

Edmonds, adding spinnaker halyard hauler.