The Adventure Begins

In July, 2015 I bought a 1975 Columbia 43. Here she is, stripped down, ready to truck from Florida to Bayfield, Wisconsin:

I am about to begin a major project to improve the boat, fix various problems, and to redesign and rebuild her interior. I'll use this blog to document my progress and describe how I solved the numerous challenges I encounter. And because this is a blog, I welcome comments and suggestions from anyone -- especially those with contrary opinions.

Here is my high-level project list:

1. Hull-deck joint. It leaks. Worse, it is the dreaded H-Channel construction, the hardest of all to repair. And you can't tell which part of the joint leaks, because the inboard side of the joint is covered with a flattened aluminum tunnel thing that simply transports water from wherever it enters the boat to wherever there is a gap in the tunnel. Oh -- and I have 86 feet of hull deck joint to repair.
2. Through-hulls. Some are frozen solid. Others need servicing. No big deal. But others are located under parts of the cabin sole that are non-removable. If they ever leaked, I will own a submarine, not a sailboat. But that's OK, because the cabin sole is ugly, and I plan on ripping it all out anyway.
3. Electrical. Rewire the whole boat. Existing wires are not labeled, and don't have watertight connecters. And I have about a dozen switches scattered about that don't seem to do anything, and are not labeled. But rewiring won't be so bad, given the next item...
4. Gut and rebuild the interior. The original Columbia 43 was designed as a racer-cruiser, but was laid out more like a racer. There is plenty of interior space, but it's not well used. So I plan on redoing most of it. Just not all in one go, because I want to use the boat during the summer, and I won't have time to rebuild the entire interior in one winter. Redesigning the interior has been a lot of fun, and I hope I get some comments on what I have in mind.
5. NMEA 2000. I bought a fairly robust set of NMEA instruments (B and G Zeus2 plotter, Lowrance 4G radar, wind instrument, DST sensor, etc. Plus a nifty component that lets you connect the engine instrument panel to the network. The boat has an ancient Cetek autopilot that doesn't work - but I hope to salvage the hydraulic ram, rudder position indicator, and maybe the electronic compass. We'll see.
6. Numerous miscellany. A new 40 - 50 gallon holding tank designed so that it will not ever, under any circumstances, ever, ever smell. Ditto for the gray water tank. Build a new companionway door, beef up the fresh water system, install a diesel cabin heater, sew new sail covers, dodger, and bimini, reinstall four large solar panels that came with the boat (but were located on a huge arch that I disposed of), and lots more.

Now the good news. I am a pretty good woodworker. I have built lots of cabinets, from plain to fancy, and have some experience fitting out a boat's interior. I know from past experience how long things take in real life, and have no illusions about the scope of all the things I want to do. I also have a lot of sailing experience, including years of dinghy racing as a kid, coastal cruising in larger boats (32 - 55 feet), and blue water (two trips across the Pacific, one as skipper). And I have a pretty good idea of how I will use this boat: cruising the Great Lakes for a couple of years with my two young kids, and probably an Atlantic one-year circle four or five years from now. I know those are somewhat contradictory, and will require some compromises in the design. Again, I hope to learn from the comments and suggestions of others.

The adventure begins.