Renovate a Sailboat and Cross the Atlantic

This book was inspired by my purchase of a 1973 Pearson 36-1 on eBay. I already had a Pearson 26, so I knew the quality of the construction and what I was facing when considering putting the Pearson 36-1 through a total renovation. 

This book details the renovation projects, the suppliers of materials and electronics, the advice that I obtained from older sailors and marine engineers and how over a three year period I was able to visit the boat on Long Island, NY and spent 2-3 months every year for three years just to get the vessel mechanically ready to make an ocean crossing.

In order to get this boat completely legal in the EU, I had to import it, pay sales tax and then subject the boat to a Post Construction Assessment survey. This means that every piece of equipment on board had to be CE-marked or in some cases, convince the inspector that the piece of equipment or the installation met or exceeded the standards set by the EU.

We followed the ABYC standards on the electrical and propane installations, the Yanmar engine was CE marked and much of the other equipment we installed was UL and CE marked.

I outline my experience of shopping for a PCA survey and how I had prices ranging from 3000 euros to 4500 euros. In the end, since the installations were so well executed and the CE safety standards were so completely covered, the inspection company lowered the price for the survey by 1000 euros after the inspection was completed.

The US-used boat market is flooded with fine vessels. Many are in need of upgrading or renovating. This book also gives information about how to obtain "trade" discounts from major chandleries in the US, by informing them of a pending large purchase or estimating an annual expenditure of several thousand dollars. By shopping around for these discounts, one can save 30-50% of the US MSRP and even more over the prices that European chandleries charge.

The Pearson 36-1 cost $40,000 with a new Yanmar diesel, but everything, every cable, all the electronics had to be replaced. In the end, an additional $50,000 was spent on the renovation including specialist labor and all new equipment down to the toilet. The boat has been professionally surveyed and has now been valued at $275,000.