Monday March 9, 2015
One of the moments we all have been waiting for….a first look in person at our new custom aluminum boat. Â Daze Off. Â No, that name will not be staying.
Since it has been a couple of months that I’ve written anything about her, let me do a little refresher on her basics. Â Daze Off is a 37 ft custom aluminum boat with a deck house. Â The make is a Trisalu and it’s a French design but was built in Quebec in 1983. Â She has a 7′ draft but also a lifting centerboard so we can bring her down to 3’6″ when we need to.
The layout of the boat features the deckhouse as soon as you step in the companionway, and this area houses a nav station; a seating area with a table; a quarter berth; and a very large and deep storage locker. Â Walking down a few more steps to the main salon you have the galley on the port side and a full head/shower to starboard.
Forward of these items is a settee on both port and starboard.  Not enough to lie down and comfortably sleep, but good for relaxing  and putting your legs up. Then there’s the v-berth, only this one has a twist.  It’s a pull down murphy style bed.  So when we’re ready to sleep we unhinge the ‘wall’ and bring that area down to rest on the settee cushions and it forms the top 1/3rd or so of your bed.  Kind of an interesting feature and we’ll see how much we like it since that is where we plan to sleep.  Although we do plan to convert the deckhouse into our main sitting area, so we don’t think it will be an issue if one person wants to go go bed before the other.
To see an old listing for her (in French) click here. Â If not, here’s a few photos of her from the listing…from when she was still cruising back more than 10 years ago.
Notice how I said ‘when she was cruising more than 10 years ago’. Â She has been sitting on the hard here in Indiantown ever since 2006, and has fallen into a bit of disrepair. Â We knew when we bought her that she was going to be a complete fixer-upper and most likely a gut and rebuild, basically using the hull as an empty shell to begin from scratch. Â A hull which incidentally, has holes in it. Â Yup, first order of business on this new adventure is going to be to get some welding done on the bottom so at least she won’t sink when put in water.
But the first first order of business once we arrived at the marina was to go take a look at her. Â We contacted the broker via email and since he knew that we should be arriving that day and he’d left the boat unlocked so we could get in and poke around her. Â Getting directions from the marina office on what area she was sitting in inside the storage yard we took off, nervous, eager, and excited to finally lay our eyes on her in person. Â So as soon as we walked up to her there was the initial thrill of finally seeing her face to face, followed by a slight wah wahhhh. Â She is indeed a fixer-upper.
I think it was just the initial shock of seeing in person how dirty she is, but it shouldn’t matter because as we said we’re going to pull out and replace everything anyway. Â The rust stained paint job on the hull shouldn’t be an issue either since we’d like to go back to a raw aluminum finish. Â All the components we needed were there though at that’s all that mattered.
Oh wait…it didn’t have all the components. Â It was very apparent and clear once we stepped foot on her that some very important items were missing. Â Ones that we had full intentions of keeping. Â Things such as the solenoid for the windlass; the regulator for the alternator; a very nice self tailing winch; all the blocks; and the plans for the boat which we had seen in photos when the boat was listed. Â But the kicker, at least for me….the boat did not have a wheel. Â It was just gone. Â Removed. Â No longer there. Â We’re planning to switch to a tiller anyway, but seriously? Â How does that not come with the boat upon purchase?!
In all honestly we can partially blame ourselves for this as we never asked for a list of items included when we purchased the boat. Â So none of those things were promised to us…you just think they’d still be there. Â Who’s going to have any use for them and why take them? Â Oh well. Â My rant for today. Â They seem to be happening a bit more now, so I hope this returning to Florida to outfit a boat wasn’t a mistake.
She does have great potential though, that part is for sure. Â We are still very much looking forward to not only designing a layout that fits our needs perfectly, but everything will be new. Â Plus it will all be installed by us so we’ll know the complete history of this boat along with every single inch of her. Â That part excites Matt the most but I do happen to get more excited about cosmetic type repairs…wood materials, fabric colors, a sleek and modern design. Â What can I say..I’ll never be as into boats as most cruisers are. Â I’m here for the lifestyle, not necessarily the sport or functionality. Â Although I have grown to love, and always will, the option to travel with my home.
So now we have a real feel of what we’ve gotten ourselves into and the kind of work we have ahead of us. Â A lot, in case you were wondering. Â Like, a crap ton. Â But we think it will be worth it. Â As soon as I stepped below deck I could automatically envision myself sitting in the Caribbean on her a year from now as the sun shines through the hatches to her bright and open interior. Â Spending evenings in the deckhouse watching the happenings of what’s going on around us and then cooking a meal in my newly renovated galley which will hopefully offer me a little extra counter space and keep me from using the steps to store items as I empty out the chill box.
In the meantime we have to get Serendipity cleaned up and ready to sell since we will not be having two boats in the work yard at the same time for $600/boat/month. Â Hopefully after 2-4 weeks of that though we’ll have Serendipity in a slip and ready to sell, and begin tearing apart the new boat and start putting her back together. Â Let the new adventure begin!
What a project! What a beginning! What a great series of “before” pictures 😛
But I’m with you — NO WHEEL is just ridiculous!!!
Keep the updates coming 🙂
– Leah
That really is a cool boat. Cant wait to see what you guys do with her.
Very weird that things in pictures were not included, as I would take photos in an ad as a list of included items. But like you said, at least some of it would be replaced anyway…
The listing has a list of equipment that includes a wheel and self tailing winches. I would go back to the broker to ask for them back.
Leah, the fact that the before pictures are so terrible will make me feel incredibly better once we’re finished with her so we can see how far we’ve come. 🙂
Jennifer, there’s a long story behind the missing items, but something I’m going to keep from mentioning on the blog. PM me for the scoop. 😉
Wojtek, I should have mentioned (and have now gone back and fixed) that the link to the listing was a few owners ago and not for when we just purchased her in September.
The boat has a great shape and the upper deck profile looks great. When you guys get thru you will know every inch so that’s a good thing. I like the shoal draft opens up some great places and less worries about shallow anchoring. Look forward to lots of pictures and tech stuff as you up-fit her. I see something like this for me so I can get the 40 something footer I want but can’t afford.
So excited to see what you two talented people do with her! Based on your description I thought she’d look a lot worse than she does. Needs some TLC but seriously looks like just what you need. The pilot house looks so cool! Also, the things they took seriously?!!? I would be so mad! Grrrr!
Was it really the previous owner that took the winches and wheel or did someone strip it while it was sitting in the boat yard?
I want a video of how this bed unhinges from the wall!
@ Gimme Shelter…we really don’t know if it was a previous owner that took the items (and if it was, it was a previous previous owner…long story), or if some of the items were taken while it was in the yard. We have certain suspicions on one of the two though.
hi Jess,
Re: leaving the hull aluminum. I did the complete interior work on a 37 ft aluminum sail boat. While I was working I watched how they finished the exterior. Even though they did an excellent job on the skin they still had to apply fillers so it will be as smooth as an egg.
A word of caution about striping the paint. I know you going to do a great job.
George.
Awesome! Pysched for you guys. Kelley might not entirely agree but I loved getting the chance to build our last boat exactly the way we wanted. It’s alot of damned work but it’s so gratifying. I’m going to love watching it come along.
Jason
I think I expected much worse, after hearing about it from Matt in a phone call. The potential is obvious, even to a non-boater / non-cruiser. You two had serious concerns about selling your beautiful house to fund your cruising (4 years ago!), but it all worked out. You later quit your jobs and wondered if your plans were wise ones. When you left from Muskegon one early morning (8/12/12), you were excited but a bit apprehensive about what the future would hold. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean, not once, but twice? Check and check. My point is this: If ever there were two people who follow their hearts and make their dreams come true, it would be you two. So, in spite of the months of renovations ahead of you, I have no doubt about the outcome. One day soon, there will be a shiny “new” sailboat sitting where Daze Off now rests. YEARZ OFF will be a boat/home to be proud of, and the fact that YOU made it happen adds to the triumph. I am so proud of you both that I could burst!
Oh, and I am just joking about the new boat name, although it is very appropriate!
[…] For a look at Daze Off when we first saw her, check out this post. […]