If you need to have any type of work done on your boat, I
would highly recommend Hutckins Yacht Corporation on Lakeshore Blvd in
Jacksonville. They have excellent customer service and provide
you with a written estimate. Debbie provides excellent customer service and
keeps dog treats in her desk for four legged customers.
This week, Hutckins
completed their part of the work on the MorningStar. The contractor doing the bottom said we must
wait two months for the moisture in the fiberglass to dry out completely. The blisters were caused from locked in
moisture that could not get out of the fiberglass. Once the bottom dries out and is moisture meter
tested, he will begin apply the bottom resins and paint to finish it. Brian the
owner of “ Yachtbottoms” is doing the contracted
work through Hutckins.
Debbie told us she received an email from yachtbottoms and
Brian said the bottom work will be completed sometime in Mid May. Then, Rich, Lucky and I will be free and ready
to go wherever the Lord chooses to lead us. Rich and I are excited and ready to
go exploring the many coastal waters. We will be living our dream one day at a
time as the Lord leads us. Jesus is the
Bright MorningStar! The light that leads
our way!
Rich and I really miss
living on the water and I believe Lucky does too. Lucky gets excited when we go back and walk
on the docks of the Ortega Yacht Club Marina. We have been away for a month and
it has been our home for the past four years.
Lucky knows when we enter the gates of the marina. He gets happy.
When the Morningstar is ready to go back into the water, she
will have a completely restored bottom. All
of her many blisters have been peeled off and she no longer looks like she has a
bad case of the measles. Those ugly,
bumpy, watery, blisters are now removed.
Blisters can be a bad word in the boating community. When people bring up boating topics and start
to talk about blisters everyone has their own opinion. New buyers often panic, and look at other boats
because they know having blisters removed correctly can be very costly. Others
see the value in the boat and understand the work needed and are willing to do
the work, and they offer a fair price. Men like my husband Rich. Rich is the smartest man alive and if you do
not believe me, just asks anyone who knows him.
Rich truly has been blessed with Godly wisdom. It is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
When we decided to buy the 36’ Senator Sundeck Trawler, Rich knew it might have blisters on the bottom.
We were ready to overcome whatever problems lie ahead. When the Senator was hauled out of the water,
and hanging in the straps, Rich knew the extend of work ahead.
Boat repair is all part of the boating experience unless you
buy a brand new boat and our Morningstar is truly almost one of a kind. We have not been able to find another one
like her anywhere on the internet. So
with the Lord’s guidance, the MorningStar will be ready to travel when the time
was right.
Jim and Shirley, the former owners had the bottom done but it did not stay out of the
water long enough for the bottom to complete dry. Blisters formed on the bottom and even a few
formed above the water line. The
blisters that are above the water line, Rich will have to fix. There are quite a few under the swim
platform. He hopes to take the swim platform
off this week.
Jim and Shirley sold us the boat they loved because they
knew it was going to a good home. They were not advertising their boat for sale,
yet I found an old ad they posted years ago on a blog page. One day I was on line searching for sundeck
trawlers when suddenly their boat for sale popped up. I was searching 36’ Sundeck trawlers for sale.”
Jim and Shirley are a beautiful
Christian couple.
When the Morningstar
is completed, Rich and I hope to take a trip up the Saint Johns River and show
them the completed boat before we leave on our travelers. Rich, Lucky and I, love MorningStar and are
excited that we are now able to fix her up and will soon be living our dream.
Rich said the MorningStar is going to drive better now that it
won’t lose horsepower. It lost horsepower
because the cutlass bearings that were locked in position are no longer locked
onto the shafts. It was causing the
shafts not to turn. There was a very
small space to work on the shafts in the bilge.
Most of Hutckins part of the bill was for labor costs.
Hutckins had to put new bearings in the shaft struts and
have the props rebuilt. All new hoses were
put on the shaft tubes. The couplers had
to be cut off, because they couldn’t pull them off. They were frozen and did
not want to move. The bearings have be on
their since the boat was built in 1987.
Rich checked the bilge to see what needed to be done
next. He wants to put air cleaners on
the turbo chargers and change the oil and fuel filters on both 250 horse 8.2 Detroit
Diesel engines. He also has to change
the filters on our generator, and change the oil in the transmissions.
Rich said he needs to clean the bilge and replace the water
hose that goes to the sea strainers. Then he wants to put a new light in the
bilge. The bilge had a light, but when
we had the electrical fire those wires burned too. At that time, He replaced all the electrical
wiring for the generator and inside of the boat but hadn’t got to the wiring
for that light.
To get into the bilge
of the MorningStar, the rug and all of the furniture in the salon need to be moved
and stored. The floor boards must be taken up and then you climb down into the
engine room. When we are living aboard
her that does not happen without planning. Lucky and I must be gone for most of
the day. I am sure that having a light in
the bilge would be very helpful when working down in that hole. We are so Blessed!
Precious
Lord, Please help the MorningStar‘s bottom dry out correctly. Please don’t let us put her back into the
water too early. I really never want to
have blisters on her bottom again. I
know summer is approaching and I get impatient waiting on Your timing Lord. I know
you are teaching me to wait and You
have taught me so many things during the years Rich and I waited for our house
to sell. I held onto Your Promise . You promised those
who wait upon You would rise up with wings as the eagle. They would walk or Run and not get grow
weary. Lord what a fantastic promise! I
would love to rise up with eagle wings, and I know I will one day. I will fly up to meet You. I will fly up to meet you in the heavens. Lord, I love you. You know the desire of my heart. You see I am really trying to work on Your
timing in our lives. I want to one day hear
you say to me, “Well Done My daughter,” go enter into the joy of the Lord.”
And I
will walk proudly into heaven with a royal crown placed upon my head. I will be taken by angels to my heavenly
mansion where all my love ones and pets will be waiting for me. What a home coming party that will be! Oh what a
glorious day when I see you face to face! I love you Jesus! You are the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords and may your named be glorified forever!
Be Blessed!
