What a ride its been! In December of 2021 we sold our beloved Nordhavn 40, R Lil’ Ship and purchased a 47 Nordhavn we have renamed MV Escapade. Since physcially aquiring our new boat, we have not had much of an opportunity to cruise as we have been making alot of repairs and additions. Normally we would be on our boat close to every weekend throughout the winter months. It was hard to beleive that we had not really boated for close to 6-months while making repairs and upgrades.
Escapade did not have diesel heat and although we tried really hard to learn to live with the heat pumps, after 2-weeks of snow and very cold weather here in the Pacific Northwest we caved and decided diesel heat was a must for us! We plan to cruise to Alaska for at least 1 summer after retiring so being comfortable is very important to us. The diesel heat also allows us to heat the boat and have unlimitled hot water and, it run easily on 30-amp power.
In addition to diesel heat, we needed to have the lithium batteries that the previous owner had installed reconfigured so that they would charge and discharge more efficiently. The original installation had long cable runs from the bow to the stern which created issues along with some safety concerns. We added a wakespeed regulator for the alternator, abandoned the ballmar, replaced the original hot water heater, fixed plumbing leaks and removed the antequated central vacuum system, replaced all the head hoses, replaced the cock pit entry door lock set, upgraded the water pump with a head hunter and replaced the AC raw water pump .
Once the primary concerns were taken care of we started in with some of the more cosmetic needs. We had our starboard boarding door’s gelcoat repaired as it was pretty beaten up and had the paint matched so we could have more gel-coat repairs done down the road. We added shower head water regulators, a new air horn, changed out the light sconces, installed new door stops, patterned the entire boat for new carpet and aqua mat, patterned a large section of the porteguese bridge for dog turf, re-upholstered the pilot house cushions, re-upholstered the main stateroom’s headboard, repaired the zippers on the back awning, sewed a new cover for the storm windows which are stored on the portuguese bridge, replaced the antiquated Bose system with an Xbox and Bose sound bar and mounted the smart TV on a swivel stand that will raise up 10″ and pivot for better viewing.
When we purchased Escapade the simmer burners of the Thermadore stove did not work and we had a very difficult time getting a repairman to the boat. Apparently since a boat is not considered residential, many appliance repair companys are not insured and upon hearing the stove was on a boat, they promptly declined. I must have called 20 different applicance repair companys before we finally found an outfit that was willing to come out and luckily they had most of the parts needed to get the burners up and running and some of the other functions working better. But as fate would have it, once the stove was fixed, the stackable Washer/Dryer unit went out. We think these appliances must be orginal and at 20 years, not surprised. Mike did his best to troubleshoot but in the end we decided to yard the w/d off Escapade and purchase individual stackables which will be more water efficient.
Now whats left? If you have not heard the old addage, “owning a boat is doing boat repairs in exotic places” that is pretty much what our summer will consist of. Cruising on the weekends and working on improving the electronics, getting the dishwasher up and running, unpickling the watermaker, repalcing the flybridge canvas and organizing the engine room. We started to strip and refinish the interior woodwork which is in pretty rough shape. We are using Total Boat products which seem to be working well and at this point we really can’t make it any worse. The woodwork project is one that will probably take a very long time, but hey we are not going anywhere! We will eventually get it all done!
I’m sure that our list will continue to grow vs. getting shorter, but what is left is not critical and we can still enjoy cruising on Escapade. It seems one of us is always saying to the other “wouldn’t it be nice to have___________” and so the projects continue…
Before and After Pilot House Cushions
rlilship.net 