A little help for a "Saucy Lady"?

Well, boys i have to say, today i aquired the Saucy Lady.....all thirtyeight feet of her stem to stern.
Shes got twin 6-354 Perkins diesels with outdrive stern drives.....
She gots radar and depthsounder with auto pilot and a laptop nav system.
The Hull is fiberglass of two layers with a filler in between...
Shes got a head, shower stove fridge sink, and hot water on demand.

The girl was built for the Deptment of Fisheries as a patrol boat for the west coast of Vancouver Island....
Shes a 1974 vintage baby.
From my preliminary survey, the port engine and outdrive are or were running fine last year.
The starboard engine runs but runs warmer than the port,as well as being weaker....
(This is what i am told by the owner)

The way she floats right now, there seems bery little to do but pressure wash the outer surfaces and wax her/... a small section of mahogany rail base should be replaced
one winshield sections cracked...the batteries need a charge
she has about 2-3 inches of clean fresh water in her (not enough to come anywhere near the engine room floorboards...

The outdrives are a kelpy mass of hairy growth that obscures them completely...
and the hull needs a good cleaning and copper bottom...
The rest, is just cleaning contacts and making switches and circuits long idle work again....
who knows what shape shes really in, and what adventures await....

My plan is to make her a home for a year or two...maybe longer...
Tomorrow i have to return to pay the moorage and secure a transfer of dockage...
first hurdle....

Gotto meet big Sam.....the warfinger.......if he doent "take to me" right away....ill be out of luck for moorage....
its a hour and a half drive there and i want to be there by 7 am sharp....but im too wound up to sleep yet....
Hoping to make a good impression on Big Sam....

Anyone with any experience or knowledge of such size boats and type of motors
is welcome to give me their take on this because this is only my second big boat, and the first one didnt end well...but thats water long under the stern so to speak now.....and im ready for another turn at playing pirates.

The first order of business is to try tpo run up the port motor after a stiff battery charging. well see if theres any life left in em tomorrow i guess...The water intakes have looking glassso ill know if shess plugged her intake right off......dont know if ill get the staroard one to go but i would like to see it turn over and make a little oil pressure on the guage maybe....
well see.

Any advice dont be shy...i just know theres lots of nautical ATSers who may have a tip or two....im a novice really...
like whats the very best diesel restorer and water eater tp put in the tanks?
Is it a good idea to throw a can of auto tranny fluid in there too....depending on how full they are of course....
ill know lots more tomorrow....
I havent a clue how radar operates yet..or the nav system....lots to find out.
soo far im itno it for a thousand bucks.the first thousand into the ocean....
we made a reciept and i counted out ten one huns and we shook on it....
all i have to do tomorrow is catch up 2000 in arears and the boats paid for...
good deal you think?

i sure feel like i cant lose right now...but things could still go sour i guess.....
any cautions adivice or helpful hints of things to check?
things not to do?

You have heard of what the letters in Boat stand for?

Bust Out Another Thousand.

Lots of luck with your new venture. If you got a deal, good for you. If you are a "novice", find an expert to really give it a good look over. You may find that it will cost you more in the long run than you want to afford. Find that out now, rather than after you sink more money into it.

I have seen how a boat can gobble money......thanks for the warning....
Soon as i get the engines set straight and the props and legs cleaned off enough to turn and swivel...., i plant to putt on over across the water to the local boat hauling yard.....
Their will be the real reckoning probably when the yard foreman gives her the squinty eye....
Till then it just me and my tool box against the raging seas....and of course my Saucy Lady....

I don't know a thing about boats, except that they're supposed to float and move around, but I'm really excited for you. That's wonderful news and I hope you'll be happy for years. I'm envious.

You do know that you'll have to put a faraday cage around the entire boat though, don't you? I've heard that HAARP waves are particularly effective over water, and so are mind control microwaves.

I just don't want you to forget the fun on ATS when you're having a good time on your way to Bermuda.

Sounds a little like Mrs R when i read between the lines!

Just care for the little beauty the best way that you can mate and give her all the love and attention that she deserves and will one day give back to you!

Don't forget to bring her to France so that we can jump on her and have a ride! (the BOAT i mean!)

Kindest respects

Rodinus

Good luck with her and Sam

You'll get out of her what you put in as for cleaning and maintenance. Definitely get that starboard engine looked at - are the air intakes clear? Cooling system?

Well stirling, I had no idea what to expect when I opened this thread

It made me smile reading about your passion, she sounds a beauty. I'm pretty jealous actually, I'd love to have a boat...

We were wandering around a boatyard a few weeks ago and with all the proud buffing and polishing and varnishing and painting going on it kind of reminded me of being at the salon

I hope you and Saucy Lady have lots of fun together and that she doesn't give you too much trouble

I had a boat, just long enough to prove the old adage.....the happiest two days in a boat owner's life....the day you buy it, the day you sell it.

It really was a hole in the water I poured money into. You got this without checking the functionality of the engines? I hope I read that wrong. I guess it doesn't matter much if using for a home, but yikes. What are you doing for power? Is there a hookup where you are mooring? At least it isn't your first, so you know what you are getting into I suppose.

I had a cabin cruiser before (no sail, just an inboard). If I ever get another one, it will be a small sailboat with an inboard. Had too much engine trouble to ever want to depend on that alone, again.

WhoooooooooooooooooBoy!
Allll Mine!
Big Sam turned out to be a fair sized native with huge paws and greying hair.....
My hand literally disapeared when we shook hands....but the bone crush was gentle and BigSam was amazingly friendly when i forked over the back moorage and three moths advance.....the princely sum of 2300$ he almost smiled.....and solemnly wrote me out an illegible longhand reciept for my next three months rental....
With moorage paid to sept and another long boring drive in the rain ahead of me, i made my way back up to the Island freeway and headed south once more....silently adding another 100$ tank of gas to the price of the boat......
Im still a little giddy....excuse me....but i begin to see the pit yawning open before me....

Theres a decent mechanic living down the dock a few boats from me (the end of the dock boat is mine...)
His names Bob they tell me, and hes a whiz with diesels....Ive been told he fixes all the Vietnamese prawn boats for them up island...so if they like him maybe hes OK....
I didnt get to meet him yet, but already im feeling the rustle of more brown hundreds stirring within my back pocket....ill have to wait a week to go back, because the couple that were staying on the boat have to move across the dock to their own again.....
for this they get a week...as i have to move as well soon....

Fortunately theres no hassles as yet and John and his paramour Miss Magnolia.... are agreeable to the move.
They have been living on the boat all winter and havent paid up the moorage as per agreement with the landlord...(the former boat owner) so i think everyone realizes the situation.....we all need a home....

Now my next objective is to selll most of my worldlies....
Goodbye guitars
I already found my Hientzman piano a new home where it may repose for as long as i cannot house it....
Two little girls will hopefully get lessons on it sooner or later...as they both love to play on it and are very gentle for youngsters......
Now to get rid of a lifetime of musical instruments....got to get down to only two or maybe three.....
that would be a start....maybe ill just keep my faithful old school bus home too.....put her in storage for a while....
boats have been known to sink unexpectedly from time to time....

Got to get geared up for UFO spotting too....Ill have a 360 view a lot of the time....
Ive got a few old Sony handicams that work well enough to do day night side by side shots....
And wonder of wonders theres an adapter antenna for internet that will work on the boat when in port....
free internet. how convenient!
One of the boys on the dock showed me...they all seem to be hooked up there.."..bought it down town at the computer store...just say boat and theyll fix ya up...."
so i will be still online for a while yet....
When i get some help ill upload a few pics of the boat in her bedraggled just bought apearance.......as well as a few progressive shots later.....
peace out for now.................stirling

I have to go take formal possession of the boat tomorrow thursday...
I doubt ill sleep tonight....taking some tools and clothes and a few odds and end ill maybe need.
Plan to survey her mostly and sleep aboard tomorrow nit.
Ill drive back friday and hopeflly be able to document some more details.
decided to make this a sort of diary for a while till the newness wears off....
new town, new boat, new life.