It's what the previous owner made...just plywood box that slides over the existing settee.

Engine started!

Bill ( left ) and Rusty

Yesterday afternoon, with the help of my friends Rusty and Bill, we managed to get the engine running. After sucking out the remainder of the old gas ( some had fortunately been stolen recently, so it made the job easier ) adding fresh fuel and a can of Seafoam additive, and changing the fuel filter, she pretty much fired right up. Changing the filter was a real challenge. The old spin-on filter was on so tight that we had to remove the whole filter housing in order get a good enough grip on it. At the end of the day, it was a milestone moment and helps keep the momentum in a forward moving direction.
My sincere thanks to Rusty and Bill!





Transom Step Repair

Steps down at Folsom Lake, CA

While the boat was stored in California, some damage was caused to the boarding steps that fold down on the port side of the transom. They are supported by two cables and I guess one of the pad eyes broke, causing the steps to twist to the right, cracking the fiberglass along the hinge mounts.

Rusty hard at work

My friend Rusty offered to help with the repair and recently showed up with his new cordless grinder. He proceeded to make a horizontal cut along the damaged area to expose and check what needed to be done.

We discovered that someone had done a previous repair and had simply filled the void with resin and over time the unreinforced resin had broken down into loose chunks about an inch long and a half inch thick. We removed the broken bits and filled the space with resin soaked wood along with glass matting and finally several layers of fiberglass cloth.
The following day we applied a further top coat of colored fairing compound and sanded that down to a point where we can begin the finishing prior to painting the hull.
We'll also reinstall the hinges before painting. The main thing is that the repair is done and the hull integrity was not affected so there should be no further concerns at this point. That's not to say that there no other areas that need work ( there's plenty ) but none below the waterline, and that was my main worry.

Simplification!

Cupboard door removed and working on fascia

We're all familiar with the term " Keep it Simple" and there's a good reason. The more complicated systems get. the more they screw up. I truly believe that when it comes to boats and even MORE SO when applied to USED boats, this rule should be posted on a sign over the companionway, so you'll have it in mind before you even get aboard!
   So following up on the aftermath of the burst water pipe in my previous posting, and while discussing the matter with a number of expert friends, on multiple occasions, over a beer or three, the consensus was easy. SIMPLIFY!
  Now Tim suggested on that very first day, that the initial step should be to remove all those pesky cupboard doors. I should label them all, then put them in hefty trash bags, after which they could be stowed up top on the flybridge where they'd be safely out of the way. That way it would be much easier to see what was going on back in the dark recesses of the cabinetry.
   This seemed like a great idea to me and I've set about doing that very thing. The door removal has been quick and easy with the help of the handy cordless electric screwdriver/drill that I recently purchased at Walmart in Bellingham, along with an assortment of bits and screwdriver looking things all in a neat case.
   Anyway, after removing the doors I discovered that the cabinets were built on a wood framework  ( makes sense ) to which some previous owner has applied a fascia panel. The fascia appeared to be secured with screws ( about one every inch, like rivets on an aircraft ) but after removing the first thousand of them I realized that the fascia was also GLUED

into place, which meant it would need to be chiseled off. Hey, it's only time and I have SO MUCH of THAT! Seriously though....it's ok....there's still cold beer in the cooler and work is progressing! Really, it IS!
More about "Simplification" in a later post!
  

Water, Water, Everywhere!

The fresh water pump aboard Delta Blue appears to be dead and since there's a back-up pressure system by which one can connect a hose, turn a few gate valves on or off, and have the boat on city water, I decided to give it a try.

Split copper water pipe

  I had my friend Tim along to give a hand ( do all the work! ) On arrival at the yard, I found that the hose that I'd installed the previous day, had been cut off about three inches from the deck fitting and used to siphon gas from both the Seacamper and a couple of vehicles that were stored nearby.
I drove up to the local hardware store and bought another hose and after reconnecting it all, I turned on the water. Tim was onboard and I was in the bowels of the old storage building alongside the boat.
I was pleased when Tim announced that the water was indeed flowing from the galley taps, however that glee abated almost immediately, when he yelled out that it was also flowing from underneath the galley counter and out onto the carpeted cabin floors. Water began forming a deepening pool near the aft cabin step.
Clearly, all was not as it should be and I could see that measures would need to be taken ( probably large, rapid steps, in the opposite direction, but I'm dense that way and not too quick to learn by mistakes )
Besides, it was nearing "Happy Hour" and I could see little that was amusing about our present situation. I DO know when it's time to "cut and run" to the closest bar! This was obviously one of those times.
A burst copper pipe turned out to be the culprit....more on that in the next post!
  

Progress? NOT!

"Delta Blue" is still sitting in her temporary home near Birch Bay and I have to admit, progress has been slower than I anticipated. We've had a wonderful stretch of warm dry weather here in the Pacific Northwest, so my time has been split between our old Bayliner at Blaine Marina, and the Seacamper in storage. Of course the "boat IN the water" is getting a disproportionate amount of our spare time. The company of new friends, an abundance of fresh local crab, and a few Canada Day Daquiris, has made getting anything done on the Seacamper, all but impossible.


Life at Blaine Marina has been great this season and it seems that the move from Point Roberts was a good one. I still miss the old gang from D-Dock and I have to admit that the weekdays can be pretty quiet over here, but on the whole it's been good. Blaine gives us a lot more selection as far as supplies, food and restaurants, not to mention cheaper gas and liquor. Needless to say it's been difficult to pry myself away from the good life.

Time sure goes fast!

It's been almost three months since we brought the Seacamper north. The weather being what it is, nothing much has happened since then. The weather doesn't always cooperate so outside projects have been on hold. I've done a lot of exploring inside, and I've made a few discoveries.
   I've replaced two of the four batteries at this point and I have the boat hooked up to shore power. The left side 110 volt wiring has a dead short someplace and I still haven't found it. We cut the 110 wires to the three overhead lights on the port side ( over the dinette, in the head, and over the port side settee ) The breaker still blows.I'll most likely get rid of the 110 lights anyway, as they're old and outdated, and 12 volt lights are much more economical, especially the new LEDs. In any case, at this moment the three lamps are hanging by their respective wiring and the whole boat looks like a bomb went off inside.

   The fridge is another problem. It's a Dometic ( Swedish 3 way 110.12v/ LPG ) and not getting cold on 110 volt. It's an absorption so does not have a compressor, which makes it hard to know if it's even on. The 110 element could be bad and I don't expect much cooling ability from the 12V. I haven't wanted to get into the LPG side of it all; that's a whole other ball game! Probably the best idea for that is to rip it out and replace it with a standard 110V bar fridge. The problem with that is finding one that will fit. I have a height restriction of about 30 inches, which allows it to fit under the forward dinette seat.
 

Thanks, Bill!

Thanks to Bill, my "Delta Blue" is safely stored at her new home in Washington. After a two and a half day drive up from California, we arrived at the yard about 5PM on Sunday.
The trip north was uneventful; just the way I like it!

Rest stop on I-5

We made a stop in Grants Pass, Oregon to do a bit more shopping and have dinner, but then drove on to Woodburn, Oregon where we stayed the night. Sunday morning we made a last check at Walmart, just to make sure there was nothing left on the shelves for us to buy! We were rolling again by 10AM.






Bill

New home in storage, Birch Bay

  The weather was good the whole drive up from California and only we began to see some rain when we reached Washington. It came down pretty hard a few times and we even had some hail/sleet for a spell, but eventually it gave way to clear skies again. By the time we reached the yard it was all good.
As I said, we arrived at 5 PM and I was home by 6 PM so I have to say it was a successful trip.
    Also a big thanks to Alex, the owner of Gold River Motorsports in Rancho Cordova, CA. He definitely came through for us and was more than fair for all he did.
Again my hat's off to Bill for all his help and the use of his truck. There's no way this would have happened without his help.

It always takes longer than you think!

And it costs more too! Here we are about six moths later, and back in California with yet another of my hare-brained schemes. This time I've decided that it would be wiser to have the Seacamper up north, in Washington State. Rather than making expensive trips south (and often NOT getting anything accomplished ) I thought that it would make more sense to have the boat closer to home.
  With that in mind, and the help of our friend Bill Hay, we set out in Bill's truck to retrieve the boat from the storage yard in Rancho Cordova, CA.
   When Pat and I stopped by to check the boat on our way back from Las Vegas in February, we discovered that the out-drive had come down and was now embedded in the blacktop.
The batteries were dead, so there was no way to do anything at that time.
   Bill brought a new battery with us and after installing it, we had power but still no movement at the leg. It was about then that Alex, from the motorcycle shop next door, offered his assistance. He brought a small jumper battery as well, but discovered that it was a low hydraulic fluid issue, and he soon had it working fine.
We strapped the leg firmly in the up position, in preparation for the trip north.
   Unfortunately, we were far from ready. I asked Alex to have a look at the surge brake on the trailer, as when I tried to remove the cap from the master cylinder, it crumbled in my hand. To make a long story short the trailer needed pretty much the whole brake system replaced. New master cylinder, 4 new wheel brakes assemblies, clean and flush the lines, new surge brake shocks, and even the tail lamps, which had corroded and blown the bulbs. Alex moved the boat and trailer over into his yard and began the work.
   So, we had a couple of extra days to explore the Delta and show Bill some of my favorite watering holes. We did Old Sacramento,
our traditional Happy Hour at Crawdad's, and dinner at Hooters, as well as the drive down Hwy 160 along the Sacramento River to Rio Vista, and a short visit to Fosters Bighorn Bar.
  We thought we might be ready to hit the road by late Thursday, but that turned into Friday morning, which proved to be 4:30 PM before we actually pulled away. The good part is that it was all done, and it all worked. With the late start, we just wanted to get through the Sac rush hour and out onto the quieter section of I-5. We drove a couple of hour or so, and called it a day at Red Bluff.
It was a good day but tiring as we'd been ready to go since morning but gremlins kept rearing their ugly heads. The hotel in Red Bluff was nice, a Super 8 run by a cordial couple who seemed intent on us having a quiet and restful night. They assured us that the truck and boat would be safe on the street and that they would keep watch throughout the night. Dinner at Denny's and that was it!

Checking out Delta Marinas

As Chuck was not going to be available until the following morning, we decided to take a drive down I-5 and check out a few marinas that I'd short-listed for either storage or work space.
The first was Tower Park, where I've stayed several times in the past, but haven't been there for at least 15 years. Tower Park is located on Hwy 12 about 5 miles west of I-5. It's easy to get to and has a full service marina, with launch ramp, dry storage, docks, a restaurant and bar, and all the usual amenities.

We had lunch at Rosa's and I checked rates and availability with Sheila at the office. I tentatively reserved a space in the dry storage yard but told them it may be a month or so before I can get the boat moved down there. I showed her photos so she could see exactly what the boat looked like as I didn't want any misunderstandings later on. She seemed fine and gave me space #211.
  Tower Park at one time used a small stationary sling lift and could only launch small boats. That has since been replaced with a ramp and a launch tractor. Valet service is included in the price of the monthly storage. For me, this system is a real no-brainer as there's no way I could handle the launching myself without a tow vehicle and that's precisely what I'm trying to avoid. They only require a very short notice to get you in the water, so it's a very convenient method indeed.

Norstar Automotive

At Norstar Automotive I introduced myself to Jim,the owner and explained my situation as best as I could. He confirmed that Chuck had brought the boat down to have the fuel system checked out and while Chuck insisted it was "all done", Jim hadn't actually worked on it himself. He checked with a couple of his mechanics and we found that they had indeed looked at but had not actually run the engine, so we couldn't be sure. The batteries needed charging first so we saw to hooking it up to shore power overnight. We agreed to return the following day.

Road trip recap

The road trip was short on time, long on driving. We got away about 10 AM on July 31, so a bit of a late start. In Seattle, the Express Lanes were closed and I've found that when things begin to go downhill during the first hours of a journey, they often continue that decline!

Stupidly I chose to disregard this omen so we drove on to Portland, where we encountered the first of the evening rush hour traffic. After crawling across the various bridges and snaking our way south, we at last got a clear stretch and began to make some time. With very few stops other than the obligatory "P" breaks, we managed to get to Grants Pass, Oregon by about 7:30. I'd checked prices at the Motel 6 but I thought I'd give the Sunset Motel a chance to compete. He didn't want to play this round so we checked in at the 6 and headed off for dinner at the little Chinese Restaurant and Bar next to the Sunset.

A combo platter each and a beer to wash it down was all I needed to put and end to day one.

Wednesday morning; our second day, we made a quick stop at Pat's favorite store; the Walmart Super Store at Grants Pass. I bought a couple of shirts and a 30 pack of Bud. Wilburne had a look around but didn't find anything he needed.

   By about 10 AM we crossed the Siskiyou Pass into California. There was plenty of road work going on through the mountains and on down I-5 so making good time wasn't really going to happen. It looked like we weren't going to make Sacramento in time to get checked in and still make "Happy Hour" so I thought we may as well drive out and get a room in Rancho Cordova, where the boat was in storage. I thought we could at least drive over and assess the situation while there was still daylight.

I'd booked our room at the Red Roof Inn on-line, but when we got there, they had no record of the reservation. It took a few phone calls to get it straightened out but we did eventually get our room and it was nice enough. 

After we settled in, and gulped down a cold one, we headed over to have a look at the boat. The access code I'd been given had remained unchanged and the gate swung open first try, but that relief faded rapidly as the boat was nowhere to be found.
  The main storage office is only a block away so we drove there and after a few frantic calls discovered the boat's whereabouts. Chuck had sent it over to an automotive shop to have the fuel issue re-checked and he assured me it was now fixed!

  

  

Another road trip

I've decided to leave on Tuesday July 31st to go back down to Sacramento. My boat buddy Wilburne is coming along this time to lend a hand with the next stage. I'm hoping that between us we'll be able to get the boat in the water. I've been in touch with Gregg in Stockton, who is on my Bayliner Explorer 2670 Yahoo Group. He has a business with Stockton waterfront and his own dock. He's kindly offered his help and the loan of a tow vehicle so things are shaping up!

Keeping the dream alive

Early this June we made a trip down to Sacramento to check on the boat and to visit our friend Elias. The boat has been moved from her original storage location up in Loomis, to a new yard down in Rancho Cordova, which is about 15 miles east of Sac.
  The boat appears to be safe and sound and the yard seems secure. We ordered a new set of tires for the trailer while we were down and left a copy of the invoice with Chuck who kindly agreed to haul the boat and trailer over to the tire shop and get them mounted. Apparently that's all been done as of  July3rd, so the next trip down I'm hoping that we will actually see her afloat. Everything takes longer than what we expect and getting this new venture up and running has certainly been no exception to the rule.
   The other thing I discovered during this recent trip, was that there are not many marinas in or around Sac where one can do a little work on the boat, and it's something that'll definitely be needed, especially in the first few days. As she's been on the hard for a year, at the very least she'll need water, fuel, propane, and some clean-up, not to mention a few days of sea-trials with a safe haven close by. With this in mind I've decided to trailer her to Stockton and launch at Ladd's Marina. I've been there several times in the past with my Catalina 22 "Friday". It's close to I-5, West Marine, and contacts that I have in downtown Stockton, so I feel better about putting her in the water down there.
  So here we are at the 3rd week of July..... still no firm date for launching, but keeping the dream alive!
                                                                                               

Flybridge

From what I've been able to find out so far, not too many Seacampers came with the factory installed flybridge. Fortunately, ( I think! ) mine did!

My first and only time up top was when the boat was sitting on the trailer at Chuck's boatyard up in Loomis, CA. I have to say that it seemed a long way up, and my initial thoughts were that there was no way in Hell that I'd be riding around up there, but after my initial sea trial, and considering the overall stability I've felt so far, I think I could actually see myself up there on some calm, sunny day. Drifting along with an icy cold Budweiser, the view from up top would have to be nothing short of spectacular. Some new fold-down camper style seats would make sun tanning up top, an absolute delight! I'm so looking forward to it!

Dinette/ double berth

This view shows the dinette which drips down to make into a double berth. The area is raised to allow for the refrigerator to be located under the forward seat. The aft dinette seat contains more storage.

Looking aft there's ample cupboard space and plenty of storage under the stove and sink.

There are drawers in the counter as well as overhead storage cupboards along the inner roofline. For a boat of only 24 feet in length with a beam of 8 feet, there's a surprising amount of usable storage, in fact much more than on my 27 foot Bayliner. The fact that the vessel is basically rectangular in shape ( no pointy end! ) allows for the added liveability.

Some interior views

A closer look at the forward settee and entrance hatchway. My plan is to have some upholstery work done throughout the boat.
There isn't a lot of cushioned area, so overall costs shouldn't be prohibitive.

Both of the windshield glasses are a bit weathered and cloudy, but I'm looking into either getting them polished or replacing them entirely. Visibility at this point is still acceptable but would be greatly enhanced with new windows. It would also improve the overall look of the vessel from the exterior. The small windscreen up on the flybridge also has a crack in it, so I would more than likely replace that at the same time.

Looking forward

It's March now and I'm one leg closer to being onboard.

I had my first surgery on Feb 17; that was two weeks ago today. I can walk and even drive a bit now, so I feel more positive about the the future and I'm looking forward to the day when cruising the delta again, will really happen.

For now, I'll put up a few more photos starting with an interior shot looking forward from near the rear entryway. The galley is on the starboard side and the table makes down into a double berth. Just forward of the dinette table is the enclosed head with a mirrored door. The settee on the port side up forward, pulls out into another double bed. This feature was an add-on done by the previous owner, but it's quite handy and seems to function well. I will probably try to keep it as long as it doesn't get in the way of any restoration plans. I'd like to keep the boat as close to original as I can.

"Delta Blue"

The photo shows a 1974 Seacamper. She's a 24 foot trailerable houseboat aboard which I plan to explore the backwaters in and around the California Delta. The plan is to base in either Stockton or Sacramento and make short trips over an extended period of time.

I found the boat on Craigslist in November and after a some e-mail inquiries, and a few phone calls, she seemed worth a closer look so in mid December I took a road trip south and spent a few days with our friend Elias in Folsom, CA.

The boat was up in Loomis, CA in the care of boat broker Chuck Howson of CHH Marine Services.

Chuck was very helpful with putting this deal together. He made numerous trips up to the lake where he fought with a consistent high rpm cut-out, then a rough idle and stall situation. With the help of mechanic Don, the problem was isolated to a clog in one of the fuel lines. The line has now been replaced.

With my available time running out we managed to get her running on my last day there and I was able to take my first "on the water" trial at Folsom Lake. At that time we were running on a small day tank so the gas supply was definitely limited.

With that in mind and a brisk wind coming up, I opted to make the run a short one. We took her out past the 5 knot markers and made a couple of loops and "S" turns before returning to the launch ramp.

She performed quite well despite the short chop developing on the lake. For sure she'll need some TLC and a few dollars spent to make her my own, but other than that I was quite pleased with her.

I've named her " Delta Blue" for now but this could be just temporary. I'm sure something more suitable will come to mind once the adventures get under way.