Work on the Sobre las Olas
I spent all this week in Los Angeles, working on the Sobre las Olas (her name means “over the waves”), a beautiful fantail yacht:
All the pieces I shipped to California arrived, but I had a nasty surprise at the airport. Since when are you allowed only one check-in bag? At least all of the boxes were under 50 pounds, but the “extra” baggage charges nearly killed me.
Once on the boat, I removed the remaining relief valves and chased all the threads to be sure that all the parts will fit and are interchangeable (since it’s not a “spare part” unless it’ll fit anywhere you need it). I found that there is one set of relief valve and “tee” that are not interchangeable and must remain together, but other than that they all fit well.
In addition to the valves, I worked on the expansion tanks. The sight tubes were hard to see, so I swapped their locations. This would have been easy, except that several fittings on the tanks broke and I had to spend a lot of time trying to remove the broken fittings.
After the expansion tanks, I then installed the new water collection manifold, finished the cooling water plumbing, installed temperature gauges to each engine, and installed an air bleed line in the uphill side of the water collection manifolds.
I also did a lot of cleaning and painting. The Sobre is going to be featured in a boat show and I want the engine room and the two 6HM464 Atlas-Imperial diesels to look as nice as possible for invited guests:
The Portola for sale
I visited the Portola last week while in California. She’s also a classic fantail yacht (built in 1929), and is in perfect condition thanks to Rick, the owner’s son-in-law. He’s been working on it for about 25 years and knows it inside and out.
This week, she was hauled out at the Gambol Boatyard in Long Beach to replace some mildly compromised planks and perform the routine cleaning, painting, and re-zincing that all boats should have done yearly.
Charlie, the owner, has had the boat for most of his life and said he feels married to it, but he’s not using it much anymore. He feels that it’s time to find another good owner. Anyone looking for an elegant yacht should take a look at the Portola. It’s a comfortable, classy yacht, its original and historically significant Winton diesel runs great, and it has the parts and support to keep it running along time.
They’ve got a great website with lots more pictures here.
Bonus: mention this blog when purchasing the boat and receive a free Old Tacoma Marine Inc polo shirt to wear while yachting.
A visit to the Ready
I also took the opportunity to visit the Ready, a great tug in Long Beach powered with a 400 horsepower Atlas-Imperial diesel:
The new owner realized that the boat may be too much for him and may be looking for a buyer. If you’re interested in a project boat with an Atlas-Imperial, contact me.
OTM Inc Weekly eBay Auction
This week’s prize from the OTM Inc shop is a handmade piece of maritime sculpture:
