The Waiting is the Hardest Part...

[sopwithcamel74]

I'm still less than halfway done with the home construction projects (bedroom demo & reno, carport conversion to a garage, adding another 2 rooms on the other side of that, rear patio) that I promised the wife I'd complete before I began restoring my '88 Capri. So, in the meantime, I may as well just notate significant purchases, boat-centric happenings, and the impending restoration ideas that I'm either still pondering or have fully committed to.

The local retailer that I'd already purchased a few things from, and whom I'd planned on purchasing a lot more from (all my fiberglass supplies - cloth, resin, the whole shebang) suddenly closed, without warning. I initially hoped they'd be selling off all of their inventory - maybe even at a discount - but they didn't. Boarded up the windows and doors and announced their immediate closing in the local paper, all after being open for business just the previous day.

It was depressing... Dunno if a store closing has affected me as much since we lost the only real arcade in our area when I was still a kid (it reopened under a different name, but was never the same). I figured that a little retail-therapy was in order, so I picked up one of the items I'd been eyeing for immediate purchase from an online store - a dual circuit switch. Hoping to pull the trigger on a 2-bank marine charger before the week's out.

The wife's revisionist history would have one believing that I'd agreed to not spend any money on the boat until all of these other projects are done. I actually LOL'd when she suggested as much to me the other day.

Silly girl, that one...

 

[chevymaher]

LOL know the feeling. I called about a 3 liter and the sold the business the day before. I am working my tail off catching up on thing to. Things I was neglecting while I did the boat. I about to do trailer and motor work before spring.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

I know that if I were to begin working on mine, I likely wouldn't touch anything else around here until it was to my liking.

The stuff I'm doing with the house is a handful, and then some. I know the boat will be more of the same, but different. I guess I can look at these around the house projects as me getting more room to store boat parts securely and out of the elements when I get that work underway.

I'm still bummed out about having to go more out of my way for fiberglass supplies, but I'm more or less over not having that place around for the other items. The prices were comparable to online - lower for some things, higher for others... But it made me feel good knowing that I was spending those dollar locally.

Finally decided on an on-board battery charger, found the right price and got my order in. It's a small thing, but it'll tide me over for a bit longer.

 

[chevymaher]

To me here in Northern Ky. Availibility of fiberglass and the Haz Mat Rape charge is the worst part of doing the boat.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

I sympathized as I was reading your account of it all; I'm willing to drive a fair distance to avoid that. Just hope that something works out by then.

Few more acquisitions last night and today: a fixed mount VHF, and a key chain float for good measure.

VHF is equipped DSC equipped; one less reason for the wife to worry when we're in the middle of a lake, or way up/down river from launch.

 

[chevymaher]

I agree a good radio is important in a boat. I got one after I finished. I still do little things to it all the time.

Deal is there is no phone reception down in the river on a phone. 5 carriers and none reach into the river for whatever reason. A radio is the only way. And you can get a long way from civilization quick. Most boaters have them here. And of course the coast guard. and 3 different state police on the water in the same place even.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Same deal around here... There are a lot of inlets off the main rivers and lakes that are deep enough to navigate in a boat like mine, but pretty well out of range of good cell reception.

And while there's plenty of water to fish and cruise nearby, I still plan putting some miles on the trailer in the coming the years; get back to some of the places I've not visited in forever, find some new ones that I have only seen from the bank. I want to have all the bases covered, no matter where we end up.

I got a good pile of things I'll be adding on during the resto, but like you I figure there will always be something to fix, swap out, or add to.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Battery charger and VHF radio came in last week. Been long enough of a wait - the itch is back.

Latest purchases: Lead top post battery terminals (2 pair) with anti-corrosion rings, & a 20 position bus bar.

 

[dezmond]

I’ve been sneaking things in for
the boat as well. I get my packages delivered to work. That way she never really notices. can’t wait to see you start digging into the boat. Good luck

 

[chevymaher]

I’ve been sneaking things in for
the boat as well. I get my packages delivered to work. That way she never really notices. can’t wait to see you start digging into the boat. Good luck

I am lucky there. My wife wants a new motor. Nooo stop fooling with the old one and get a new one. How much we need? She all for the boat.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

I’ve been sneaking things in for
the boat as well. I get my packages delivered to work. That way she never really notices. can’t wait to see you start digging into the boat. Good luck

Over the last few deliveries, I can't tell whether my strategic purchases for her (clothes, jewelry, odds and ends for the house) are working or she's finally become apathetic to it all. Either way, I get more complaints about dragging my feet on the home reno than I do on the 2 or 3 packages being delivered every week.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

I am lucky there. My wife wants a new motor. Nooo stop fooling with the old one and get a new one. How much we need? She all for the boat.

You're more than lucky... Mine will occasionally show some optimism about the boat when she sees the end results from some of the YouTube restorations that I watch all the time. But she is still dead set about going out on it until it's gone over. And of course I can't start that until the home reno's done.

Feels like a catch 22 if you ask me.

 

[mickyryan]

i just got busted with 8 packages from amazon.... its not pretty

 

[chevymaher]

But she is still dead set about going out on it until it's gone over.

Feels like a catch 22 if you ask me.

That is what this summer was about.Me learning it all. Towing and handling the boat in the water. I showed her a video of what i did the last time out. Hard turns under full power. She said you are crazy. Now she is ready to go in the boat. Her opinion is this. If i can act like a idiot and survive. I have mastered the boat and they will be safe if I drive it right.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Latest purchases: Fish finder/Chartplotter and a new pair of fish scales.

Found a place that sells cloth and resin locally. Not sure how long the stuff's been sitting, and also not sure about the brand name, or the price. Researching that now - also seeing if there are discounts for bulk orders.

Also looked at a few bilge pumps and associated accessories. Comparing prices with what's online to see if the local places get my money, or if the online stores win yet again.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Wife is actually in the boat for the first time since we got it. Yes, it's trailered beside the house at the moment, but that's still progress!

She's cleaning out some of the debris from where I've been poking around on the sly. Kids are both in there saying how they can't wait till I get it finished.

Progress

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Before posting the above I was explaining fiberglass lamination to my curious 7 year old. Figured the wife was listening, but wasn't sure. Told my boy how that, even though the floor felt solid, I was gonna pull it all up anyway and redo it the right way.

In the time it took me to come in to write that post and head back out, wife has decided that she's ready to start pulling up the carpet.

What a time to be alive.

 

[chevymaher]

Good you feel so much better knowing it is literally a new boat. You take care of it and you know what you got.

 

[Flukinicehole]

sopwithcamel74, I'm not sure where you are located but if you have a boat builder somewhere near by I'm sure they will help you out with supplies. I have done two boats and the local builder here has saved me hundreds if not thousands. I'm lucky enough to have a few builders within a 2 hour drive.

 

[sopwithcamel74]

Good you feel so much better knowing it is literally a new boat. You take care of it and you know what you got.

Can't say it any better than this. If it were just up to me, I'd run it until something major went down. Tried to talk her into us all going out in it this afternoon, but she wasn't having it. Supposed to get down to the mid 30's the next couple of nights. I really don't want to winterize, even though I stocked up on Sea Foam and Sta-Bil anticipating that I would at some point. It's even uglier than it was, but I'm still gonna get some fishing in this winter. Just gotta make sure on the weeks that I don't take it out I crank it up.

sopwithcamel74, I'm not sure where you are located but if you have a boat builder somewhere near by I'm sure they will help you out with supplies. I have done two boats and the local builder here has saved me hundreds if not thousands. I'm lucky enough to have a few builders within a 2 hour drive.

Great suggestion that I hadn't even considered. There are several here local to me. Was going to buy an old Formula PC 26 from the closest one a year ago, almost to the day. They were in the middle of a pretty extensive restoration at the time... We lost touch after a few months, and I set my mind to finding something a little smaller for my first foray into ownership so I set my sights elsewhere.