Not looking for a project
Randy,
I am sure you recall that I had sought your advice on the E29's a couple of times. The E29 in NY was listed on line and was shown to be in pristine condition. The owners had moved over 100 miles away and I felt that I would be in a good position to negotiate. I truly do not think they had been to the boat in two years. The cover had come loose and all of the grime and damage you see in the photos is what I found. I had almost made a trip just to see that boat! boy would I have been a little upset. It was actually in overall sound condition and would have been a great project for someone. Not a project I was willing to haul from NY to Atlanta, and I was not looking for a project anyway.
When we arrived at the Emerald Lady walking down the dock we knew this was the boat we wanted. We also new it was above what we were looking to spend on a boat. Imagine our surprise when the owner opened her up to find 6" of water above the cabin sole!
What I know now is the shore power had tripped, the bilge pump ran the batteries dead, and the boat began to fill with water from a cockpit hatch. There are cockpit drains, but the seacock was closed because there was a leak in one of the drain lines (below the water line) that had never been fixed. Upon attempting to use the whale gusher to manually pump the boat out we discovered the diaphram was torn and would not pump! At this point in the comedy of errors we excused ourselves and headed for home. Once again I suspect the owner had not been to the boat in months if not a year.
On the way to the parking lot my wife suggested maybe we should re-consider and make him an offer. This boat that we could not afford might just be affordable if purchased while slowly sinking and being bailed out with a cut off bleach bottle by someone who REALLY no longer wanted to own this boat.
I made a call to Glyn Judson in CA to find out what damge may have occured with this much water in the boat. He told me to check two things, has the water reached the stater, and is the water below the dip stick? Other than those two items it was simply teak under water. As a side note Glyn has been an absolute amazing resource for anything I have ever asked, and is one of the few people I know that answers his cell phone everytime and anytime I call, Thank you Glyn!
As it turns out the boat that we could not afford became quite affordable. My wife wrote the check, I created a makeshift bill of sale, and then took over bailing with the bleach bottle.
So much for not wanting a project, but I will say we love the Emerald Lady, and cant' leave the dock without looking back at her.
And, we continue to enjoy every minute of OUR PROJECT.
