End of June, the van packed with as much stuff as it would carry, I headed west.
Left behind was Brenda and our golden retriever Jack. It was a bittersweet goodbye. On the one hand I was itching to get on with the project, while at the same time, leaving each others company for what would be lengthy period of time was tough on all of us.
The basic plan is for me to get the KAIAN to a sufficiently seaworthy state where she could be moved on her own bottom up the coast from the Columbia river on the Oregon/Washington border, to the gulf islands of British Columbia. Then drive back to Ontario, pickup the crew, drive back to BC and carry on with the interior refit at a more relaxed pace. That's the broad strokes anyway.
The drive out to the coast was a marathon, 48 hrs of driving over 4 days, and here I am.
First impressions, man this boat is BIG!
Ketch rig.
Length overall 62'
Length on the waterline 42'
Beam 16' 8"
Draft 7'
Weight 28 tons
Height to top of mast 68'
She's built entirely of 5/16" aluminum plate, with rounded chines, a box type elongated keel, clipper bow, and raised salon/pilot house. Very heavily constructed, built to tackle oceans.
Layout below decks starting aft is the full width galley, which is open to the main salon/pilothouse with steering station. Forward and down 3 steps from main salon are the main sleeping cabins, doubles port and starboard, forward and adjoining double cabins are en suite heads with a center line common shower/tub. The forecastle houses a third cabin with 2 single berths.
On the weather deck there is a large working bow sprit platform, 7 large opening deck hatches which provide copious amounts of light and ventilation below decks, a recessed secure full width aft cockpit area with steering helm. Getting around on the decks of this boat is going to be safe and secure in any sea state. Lifelines are tall and robust, the side decks around the pilothouse are almost 2' wide.
As for the condition I found her in, it wasn't a pretty picture.
Imagine anything sitting on the rain coast for 5 years. The only wood on the exterior of this boat are the deck hatch frames and bow sprit planks and they were literally covered in moss and lichen.
The interior was even worse, several leaking hatches and cable thru-deck apertures had allowed a massive amount of water into the boat.
The wall coverings were a combination of teak paneling, woven grass wallpaper like material and vinyl head liners. All of it peeling, moldy, smelly, just the ugliest mess you can imagine.
My first task was to get the water out. The boat smelled of diesel and when I looked around in the engine room directly beneath the main salon, all I could see was masses of algae colonies living in the bilge water.
I attacked the mess by first sticking a sump pump into the lowest place I could access and firing it up, I couldn't believe how much water was in there, easily 800 to 1000 gallons sat in the bilges.
Next I applied with a garden sprayer, 2 gallons of industrial, highly concentrated citrus based de-greaser to every square inch of the bilges, then hit it with a pressure washer while running the sump pump. The stuff worked great, the diesel smell was replaced with orange. Almost too much orange. It made my eyes water.
In order to economize, I had to decided to stay aboard the KAIAN while doing this. I had come prepared with some camping gear, sleeping bags etc. and was basically camping out on board.
Once I had satisfied myself that nothing was going to crawl out of the bilges and start eating my flesh, I spent my first night inside my new home. It felt good.
Since the boat had been virtually stripped of all it's basic systems, there's nothing that works on board. No lighting, plumbing, sanitary etc. This is roughing it in every sense of the word. I have to use the marina facilities for personal hygiene etc, just means a short walk. I have managed to set up a little espresso pot on a single camping burner in order to enjoy my mandatory jolt of java in the morning.
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