Sandance inboard 9hp engine - Yanmar 1GM10

We were informed that the auxiliary engine a Yanmar 1GM10 had clocked 130 hours running time since new.
The old twin fuel tanks were disconnected and removed along with the fuel piping, and a new 31 litre plastic fuel tank was installed in the stern locker.

Quay Marine of Fairlie serviced the engine, replaced all the electrical wiring, and connected the new fuel tank.
The water pump was heavily corroded which was repaired and a new impeller, gasket, o ring and cover bolts were fitted. The engine and gearbox oil was removed and a new oil filter was installed along with fresh engine and gearbox oil.
A battery isolater switch was fitted along with new starter motor cables.

Expenditure - May-June-July - 4966.93

Sandance 1800.00
Haulage Beaumaris to Fairlie 1020.00
Lift off Fairlie 106.65
Boatyard May-June monthly storage 237.00
New Anodes 171.00
Welding 100.00
New Fuel Tank & Fittings 161.00
Quay Marine 709.00
New Battery Switch 34.90
Fuel Vent Cap 31.40
Boatyard June-July monthly storage 237.00
Set of Sails 200.00
Bilge Pump 55.00
2 New Marine Batteries 103.98

David hard at work

David removed the cockpit sole, and the cabin sole, and then he cleaned all the bilges and painted them. He sanded down all the teak foot-rails around the deck, the tiller, and the cockpit combings.
He made new battery casings and fitted the new fuel tank casing that I made for the stern locker.
He also removed the side strapping in the saloon.

The first few days

The first few days in the shed were spent clearing out the contents of the boat in order to clean the interior.
There was a tremendous amount of junk that went to the skip...

new stern anode and drainage weld

The first serious job was to remove the aluminium cockpit flooring which was bolted, and glued to the sole framing. It was a difficult dirty job as the sealant used was a sticky substance that was very messy. Once it was removed the complicated cockpit drain system was exposed. This drain system was also cut out and removed and the two drain holes beneath the waterline were welded up, as we intend to drain the cockpit out through the transom.



The large gerry can fuel tanks and the metal fuel feed system was also

new keel anode

removed, and the cockpit side benches that were rotten were also taken out.The stern locker door along with the companionway doors were also rotten and removed and the cockpit and stern locker bilges were cleaned and painted.

The welder charged 100.00 pounds for cutting out the old drainage system, welding up the holes, cutting off the old anodes and replacing them with new ones. The anodes cost 171.00 pounds

Lift off truck onto cradle shifter into shed...

tensioning the slings for lift off

waiting for the cradle shifter

shifter reversing into position

easing her onto the cradle

towing her into the shed

forklift removing the mast

emptying her out for cleaning

The Sandance Project

It did say in the advert on the Eventide Owners for sale page that Sandance was in a sail away condition. When we got to Beaumaris and climbed onboard I immediately had serious reservations about that statement. She had been sitting on her triple keels in the boatyard for several seasons and looked to be in quite a shabby neglected state. It was only a short sail to get her back to the Clyde, maybe two or three days if we sailed her during daylight hours, surely it was worth taking a chance? The cockpit side benches were sodden wet, delaminating and crumbling between my fingers. The cockpit drains were a strange configuration with two drain pipes well below the water line. The standing and running rigging were over ten years old, and the topping lift had frayed and snapped off along with the aerial in a winter gale
I was very disappointed because the cost of bringing her home to Scotland by road would be expensive, but I was not willing to go to sea with her in such poor condition.

Below in the saloon there was a strong smell of diesel fumes which caught the back of my throat. There was no ventilation in the coachroof, no forehatch, and all of the portlights (nine in total) were sealed and could not be opened. There were two 10 gallon gerry can type fuel tanks, one secured in the toilet compartment on the starboard side and another on the portside under the galley sink, and both of them were vented inside the saloon.

The hull though, was in great condition and she was well built, possibly over engineered... and where could you buy an eight metre steel hull for two thousand pounds? Regardless of the rest, she was still a lot of boat for the money and an excellent buy, so we bought her... It would cost us a further thousand pounds to bring her home to Scotland, but we would have a solid seaworthy hull to work with...

Sandance

Sandance is a steel Eventide 26, built in a backyard in Bolton by Ray Royds during 2004.
She was purchased from Ray in May 2014 and road hauled from Beaumaris her homeport in North Wales to Fairlie Quay Marina North Ayrshire Scotland on the Firth of Clyde.