New E31 owner (2 in one week, is that a record?)

We are the proud new owners of hull #59. She currently resides in Lake Mead but we hope to have her up here in Portland, OR by the end of March. I'm looking forward to meeting her, my hubby is down there and finalized the deal today but I've yet to lay eyes on her in the flesh.

I have been lurking on this site for the past 2 months and although this is my first post I truly appreciate the knowledge, experience, and sense of community this site offers. This site and Glyn Judson's site where invaluable in making the decision to buy an E31.

I'll try to overcome my lurker tendencies and contribute when I can (although I suspect I'll have more questions than answers for quite a while).

Rowan

ps congratulations to Keiffer!

I say it's a record and we hold it!

Congragulations to you as well.

I had looked (on line) at "your new boat" but it was to far away to make it practical for me to consider.

I spent most of my day yesterday trying to arrange and coodinate the 388 mile transport from Virginia to Atlanta. If all goes as planned the Emerald Lady will be on her way on March 23rd.

Glyn was a wonderful resource for my many questions during our buying process. He is a wealth of knowledge and willing to share.

Welcome aboard!

I would be careful about the selection of a trucking company. There was a somewhat scary article in the current March/April Boat U.S. Magazine about this; especially concerning an online site called uShip.com. Apparently this site has no policy to ensure that the trucking companies that register with them are licensed or insured...

Keiffer, I looked at yours as well and the distance was too great to seriously consider purchasing her (though she looks like a very nice boat). I was very happy to find an Independence on this side of the continental divide

Shipping a sailboat is no small undertaking! And making the arrangements from a distance certainly does not simplify things!

mherrcat, I appreciate the words of caution. I think uship.com offers a valuable service but it is definitely a "buyer beware" situation (much like ebay). They do caution users to independently verify the credentials of a carrier before entering into an agreement and they provide some tips and resources for doing so. I did not see the article you mention, I'll try to get ahold of it. Thanks for the tip!

rowan

update

Rowan,

Did you get your boat moved yet?

No, not yet. We're planning to get it loaded on 3/29. It has been interesting trying to get all this arranged remotely, especially since there don't seem to be a lot of people around Lake Mead with much experience dealing with sailboats. Are you still on schedule for the 23rd?

Rowan

Still on for the 23rd

I went back to Virginia last weekend and removed everything that could be readily removed anchors, doors, drawers, etc. The marina is going to de-comission and pull out of the water on the 22nd and should be here in Atlanta on the 23rd. I am going into a service yard for thirty days to do some maintenance and repairs prior to going into the water.

We are replacing the bowsprit/anchor platform, re-bedding all deck hardware, bottom paint, wax and buff the freeboard. We are also going to re-do the interior but will do that over the summer once the boat is in the water.

Hope to be sailing in MAY!

It's really nice seeing some of these older E-31's finding new homes and getting the care and attention they need and deserve. Good to have you all aboard and I know you'll have great enjoyment sailing these boats. They're a real sleeper - you'll have a blast out sailing much more "modern" boats who won't understand why you're passing them, especially when the wind kicks up a little and everyone else runs home and you head out. In all seriousness, I've caught and passed some J's (not sure of the models) reaching in 20+ knot breezes. Both times the folks on the J's were going nuts as we just kept gaining and finally passed Of course, I won't chase them upwind

Keiffer, our plan is similar to yours. We'll have her on the hard for a month as well, both for some maintenance/repairs, but also to be absolutely sure we won't be bringing any zebra mussels into our waters (we'll have her decontaminated after she is hauled out of Lake Mead but we don't want to take any chances). We really want to get something on the exterior teak right away, she's been in the desert and the wood is in good shape but there's not much varnish left to protect it from our rain. We've been reading a lot on the subject of varnish vs cetol vs oil etc. We haven't come to any final decisions but we'll probably just use some good tung oil for now. I'm sure the wood could use some after the desert sun and dry air anyway. I doubt we'll be sailing by May but you never know!

David, thank you for the kind words of welcome. FYI we really appreciate your website and all the info it contains. It's a great resource and probably the only place on the internet to see an E-31 rudder riding shotgun

Hi Rowan,

thank you for the kinds words on my website - sounds like it was a success since my intention was to put together something helpful for folks really interested in these boats

It was kinda fun driving my rudder around. I've got a very good relationship with the marina I haul at - can walk into the shop an borrow tools even. They got a big chuckle as I grabbed one of their senior fellows to take an end of the rudder and wiggle it in.

The tung oil is probably a good start on your teak. I've been battling with my toe rail several years now, and seem to do best with varnishing over some type of oil. I think I am heading back to my original approach which is to oil and lightly wet sand with Semco sealer (http://www.semcoteakproducts.com/SEMCO_PRODUCTS.HTM) and then varnish on top with Interlux Schooner. There are a variety of approaches similar to this, and for whatever reason, I seem to have gotten the best performance out of this combination. I also tried Daly's SeaFin Teak Oil (http://www.dalyspaint.com/catalog_seafin.html), liked the product much, but had better luck on the exterior with the Semco as my undercoat. I have gone to Daly's for down below. It has a nice sheen that's a bit more than a satin but not to full gloss, and it is an oil so it's easy to apply and keep up. I use the Schooner on the sole and nav. table top.

Keep us posted. It's always fun to watch the projects progress.

Lake Lanier on the Hard

Everything came together and the Emerald Lady is now at her new home in Georgia. Thanks to Bo and Kim Smith who transported our boat. I highly recommend them to anyone needing to move a boat.

She's in Portland (finally)!

Well our E31 is finally in Portland. It has been an interesting experience moving her up from Lake Mead. None of the marinas at Lake Mead had a lift capable of hauling her out so the choices were hire a crane from Henderson for $3500 or hire the local sailboat guru and local sailboat trailer for $600. We went for the $600 and feel it was money well spent. They sunk the trailer in the lake on 120 ft of cable, we motored the boat over the trailer, then the sailboat guru donned his scuba gear and tied the boat to the trailer, and the truck towed us out (sounds simple enough but the winds kicked up during the operation making it pretty interesting). Did I mention this was the first time I ever drove a boat (besides sailing our 14' Javelin)? These same winds howled at 35 mph with gusts to 50 mph for the next 2 days, the boat swayed a bit as the boat trailer rocked but she stayed upright. Bringing down the furled sails, boom, and running rigging in the wind was good practice for heavy weather sailing I guess? Anyhow, our transporter arrived just as the winds quit and the marina's crane was able to lift our boat onto the transport trailer. She arrived here in Portland intact except minus a forward hatch cover. The loss of the cover is a bummer but we were planning on rebuilding them anyway (inspired by the work of some of the EYo members). She'll be on the hard for the next few weeks getting bottom paint and prop shaft seal done. Then she goes into the water and we go to work! The low res photos is a traffic cam shot we were able to capture as our transporter arrived in Portland and the final shot is her on the travel lift here in Portland.

Rowan

It's amazing to me the large swing in prices for lifting a boat out, we are located in Oklahoma and we got two quotes.

1: local marina with a 50,000 ton lift, 500.00 per lift plus 80 per man hour to remove the forstay and move the boat to the cradle.

2: local marina having a 50,000 ton crain drive 60 miles to our location, move the boat across the lake to a peir and lift the boat out onto the cradle. $400.00 for lift out and back in.



Amazing stuff.
We got a fixed price to repaint the bottom of the boat for $1821.00 this includes 2 power washes, prep work on the hull, and painting the bottom with interlux bottom coat.


I remember painting the bottom of our 25 for 150.00 plus 4 8 hr days in sanding and painting. It was sanded to 400 wet and vc17

Wow, I am surprised they would drive a crane 60 miles and back for $400 not to mention the actual lift. At our yard here in Portland a round trip lift including setting it on blocks/cradle and one day in the yard would be about $270 (for our 31' boat). The problem at Lake Mead is the water level has dropped so much that their lift can't get far enough out over the water to lift our boat. Plus the lake is in a national park which complicates the situation for bringing in outside contractors and there are NO boat yards at the lake, just marinas. I think boats go in the water there and never come out unless they are trailerable. Lack of regular bottom paint combined with the mussel problem can't make for pretty bottoms!

Does the price for paint look high?

I am thinking 4 gals of paint at 130.00
prep time, sanding hull. ect.
Time to paint the hull- 2 coats.
Time for yard to prep to launch boat
time for boat to sit in yard.

The marina stated that after the 2 power washes the hull has to be out of the water for 3 weeks before he will start work due to water may be trapped in the glass, this also includes small repairs needed to hull, blisters are a fixed price due to amount on bottom.

400.00 is just for the crane, yard supplies all labor that is part of the bottom paint cost.

I don't know, we are paying $960 for bottom paint. This includes standard prep (powerwashing, sanding but does not include any repairs), and 2 coats of Pettit Ultima. This also includes round trip haul and yard time (in our case it includes haul off the transport trailer and then launch into the water when done).

Rowan

Rowan

Which yard are you using (I can't recognize it from the photo)? Is it a DIY yard or are you having them do work also?

Congratulations. Yours is only the second E31I on the Columbia system that I am aware of. The other is in St. Helens ("Enchantress"). I look forward to hearing about your progress with her.

The yard is Multnomah Yacht Repair (no DIY unfortunately). I'll have to keep an eye out for the Enchantress. There is an E31 (Passion) documented with a hailing port of Everett but the owner's address is in Hillsboro. I haven't seen the boat though so I don't know where she is moored.

Rowan

Back in the water

Rowan,

Are you back in the water yet? We went in last week after 39 days in the yard. We are still at the service yard courtesy dock. Mast goes up Friday and we plan to move it to our dock sometime this weekend.

We still have a lot of things we are going to do but they will be completed over time while floating - with a little sailing in between.

Hi Keiffer,

We also are back in the water, finally splashed a week ago. We don't have the mast stepped yet, but we should have that done early next week. We spent most of this week doing some engine work (replaced head gasket and fuel filter, adjusted valves, etc). We also pulled out the head and holding tank (we are planning to put in a composting head) and did some cleaning. We are moored at the boat yard but plan to move to the marina next week. We probably won't be sailing for a few more weeks. The deck hardware all needs rebedding and the exterior wood needs lots of attention, hopefully we'll get most of it done in the next several weeks. Did you rebuild your bow sprit? We haven't decided if we need to do that yet but I'd be interested in hearing how yours went.

Take care,

Rowan