More Cleaning

I was able to spend a bit of time this weekend cleaning a little bit more. I was able to remove a bunch of stuff unrelated and unneeded for the restoration. There are long shelves above the V berths(bunks) that had collected a bunch of stuff that proves that entropy exists! Rusty rusty stuff and a bit of moldy cardboard. All gone now and appropriately recycled. The metal might return in your next Chinese product! A huge amount of scrap is shipped from Portland to China. MMMM does that make us sort of like a colony, providing raw materials to the mother country? I digress. I was also able to remove a bunch moldy life jackets, the horse shoe type. The great find though was a moldy but still intact canvas cover that I can use as a pattern when the time comes. We had a great run of warm dry weather so I took the tarp off and opened her up to air out a bit. She is beginning to smell less damp and a little sweeter...........gotta love a sweet smelling woman!
My plan for this coming weekend is to bring her down to the shop and remove the engine, marine gear and probably the shaft, shaft strut and cutless bearing, prop of course and the rudder. Removing all of the above before bringing her to the Neill Family EZ Bree Z ship repair facility will make access to all her innards and outards much easier thus not having to pay the Pirate like fees the EZ BreeZ yard charges.
When you get right down to it my biggest desire is to get her here in the EZ Bree Z yard and get to work scraping 35 years worth of mung out of her bilges. Only then will her hidden secrets begin to be revealed!

Home from NYC

Home now from NYC after a wonderful trip visiting my grandson Clyde. What an amazing little fellow he is plus he is so fortunate to have the great Mom and Pop that he has.
Sunday friend Neal and I went up to my sisters where Redwing is parked for the time being and spent 3 hours working on her. We pumped a good 200 gal of water out of her, exposing more of her innards. So far I have yet to see anything to alarming or unexpected. I am not naive though. I am sure she will reveal some interesting and challenging secrets as I go along. I was able to determine that the engine is definitely a 292ci Chevrolet 6cyl. The 292 blocks measure exactly 11" from the bottom of the block to the top whereas the 250 measures about 10.5 in. The 292's were built expressly for truck applications hence the taller block which allowed a longer stroke. They develop somthing in the neighborhood of 215 hp which will be quite nice in Redwing giving a good balance between power and economy. I would have been a little concerned if it had been a 250ci engine. It would have had to run a good bit harder to move a larger boat such as Redwing which would certainly shorten it's life due to the increased duty cycle (wider throttle openings).
The next step now is to get my working area in the backyard configured so that I can bring Redwing home and really get going.

Much work to do

As can be seen from the pictures Redwing requires a great deal of work to make her whole again. Doubtless there is even more work that does not meet the eye. I am anxious to get to work and discover all her hidden secrets both good and bad, I must be patient though, until I return from my trip to NYC visiting my grandson Clyde, the most delightful child imaginable. When Redwing is finished I can introduce him to the delights of being on the water in an able craft.

Bringing her home

Saturday the 7th saw good friend Neal Naigus and I traveling down to Astoria to complete the purchase of Redwing. All went well with an amusing sidelight. Of course as could be expected the trailer lights were not operational but I had come prepared with a bucket of tools, test light, DVOM spare bulbs, wire and many crimp connectors. After about 45 min. of futility the little professional mechanics time clock in my brain began to chime loudly reminding me that this was taking to long for a tech of my experience and that I was losing money. I quickly stepped back mentally and reminded myself that this was not a customers car with an estimate and a deadline. Time was mine, to enjoy the process of diagnosis and repair for what it was, just the first problem to solve of many to come when embarking on a project of this magnitude. So on I went, hazards, and L turn ok but both L&R flashing together on R turn, no brakes, dim taillights etc etc and on and on. A funky ground was found and repaired, a big rain squall arrived....... Thankfully the seller Mr JC Bristow had a huge shop and allowed me to back down to work in the dry. He was also able to find amongst his things a long coil of flat trailer wire so I just rewired the whole shootin' match from stem to stern. Thank you JC that was a life saver! Off we went into the dusk taking Redwing up the Columbia to her new home. We were 55ft over all, truck and trailer!

Here she is

Redwing is a 1972 factory built 26ft Calkins Bartender. As can be seen she has been a hardworking vessel having spent most of her years as a charter boat out of Warrenton Oregon. My plan is to return her to solid seaworthy condition.