37' Riviera Freshwater sinker, Refurb.

Hello Roamer Enthusiasts, In January of 03', A good friend and I set off to travel by boat, from Trempeleau Wisconsin to Sarasota Florida via the Mississippi river - Tenn Tom waterway.

Our two freshly refurbished vessels of choice, were "Knot a Clue" a 1972 Trojan F-30 and "Seafarer" a 1967 37' Roamer Riviera, hull # RXA-37-3027r, running the 427's.

Unfortunatley, after 3 of the worst days I've ever had on the water, We managed to sink the Roamer in 63' of water, at Kentucky lake, just in front of the dam. It has been recovered ($17000) and We then transported it back to Wisconsin on a lowboy, where it awaits a complete refit, which We have decided to complete this spring. Using hull # RXA-37-125r as a parts boat to replace parts (hardtop etc.) lost in the sinking.

I have quite a few pictures as well as a short video of the Roamer being brought back up by barge and crane. I read in the rules that We cannot use "hotlinks", are youtube and photobucket considered "hotlinks"?

Thanks, Kiwi

Here are a few pictures of the PARTS boat, hull #RXA-37-125r. Purchased about 5 years ago for $3000, in Greenbay Wis. This boat has the Lincolns and has sat uncovered for all that time. Previous owner said that it was pulled from the water for a port motor problem, the heads were already pulled and it came with a fresh set of heads still in machine shop plastic.

If You look in the backround of the first pic, You can see the 37' Riviera sinker project under cover, with only 1 davit remaining, more of the story/pics of that boat to come.

Links Removed.

Thanks, Kiwi

Hello Mr. Forums, after 20+ years on the internet (IBM 8088s and tricolor monitors) I've never heard the term "hotlinks", therefore, My request for clarification of the term, prior to using My photobucket account for posting pics. It's much easier to Me. I did take into account Your preferred pic sizes.

I'm not here to break any rules, only to trade Tech, Tips and Hints with other Roamer people, as is what I think this forum to be about.

I'm also not here for a public repremand, when a PM would have sufficed nicely.

Directions for the edit Please. EDIT: My first 2 post do not show the edit button.

Thanks, Kiwi

Let Me try this again.

Here are a few pictures of the PARTS boat, hull #RXA-37-125r. Purchased about 5 years ago for $3000, in Greenbay Wis. This boat has the Lincolns and has sat uncovered for all that time. The previous owner said that it was pulled from the water for a port motor problem, the heads were already pulled from the port motor when purchased. It also came with a fresh set of Lincoln heads still in machine shop plastic.

If You look in the backround of the first pic, You can see the 37' Riviera sinker project under cover, with only 1 davit remaining, more of the story/pics of that boat to come.








Thanks, a hopefully in full compliance, Kiwi


P.S. After searching for a good/easy/free photo resizer, I have found this from a microsoft site. Click on the link below, scroll down to Image Resizer on the right, downloads in seconds and becomes part of the dropdown window that works in Windows XP, whenever right clicked over an existing photo.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx


.

Hello Seafarer, The managing attachments part is "embarrassingly simple", My problem was editing pics to size off My existing web album, then down loading to My computer, then managing the attachment back to YF. It's over now but thanks for that anyway.

The "[ IMG ] [ / IMG ] tags but should not be doing)" part of Your post makes Me think that My pics may not be seen correctly? Or a rule violation?

I just wanted to tell an exellent story, share some good pics and Tech on a refit of My Roamer.....So far, We have 11 posts, 2 pics of a boat that's a " Shame to see" and 3 paragraphs of a 7 year old story that I can't edit....After 60 minutes.

I'm not really sure that this is the place for this.

Thanks, Kiwi

For all You Roamer guys that have just read thru all this BS to get to THIS point... Here's the payoff...




As hull# RXA-37-3027r sat on 10/7/03












Let the Bashing begin .


Thanks, Kiwi

Mr. Henning, You Sir, are the most astute so far.

My problem is, Stargazer did not beat Me/Us, Seafarer did.

Seafarer has sat for last 6 years since the sinking (in My daily view) because in certain circles, She is considered to have a "negative energy". Call it what You will but don't judge it untill You've heard the whole story.

We bought Her from the Widow of a man who spent the last few years of His life preparing Her for His retirement plan, which was to traverse the inland waterways of America with His wife of many years.

From all accounts, He was a hardworking, self made man who made His living in **** ranching. From the same accounts He had been known to funnel His "play" money into the refurb of the "Seafarer", unbeknownst to His wife it was said. Unfortunatley, a few weeks after the boat was completed, He had a heart attack and died.


I spotted Her on a "for sale" dock in My fall travels of 03', and instantly fell in love. We were already halfa*s looking for another boat to go south in that upcoming winter, so I called the broker and found the asking price was $22,500. I was already familiar with Roamers and knew that in the right place this boat was worth $10000 more if I wanted to resell, as long as She was, what She appeared to be. For some strange reason...I already knew We'd own Her and probably never sell. It was very strange but I do remember that feeling. Anyway I called the broker back an hour later, and arranged for a seatrial, a few days later.


Late September, 03'. Summer was waning fast, most boats had already been pulled and winterized. My good friend Mike and I meet the broker at the Minnesota marina that I saw the Seafarer at, the week before. The broker is a very likeable character called, ******. Not carsalesmen likeable but a guy You'd sit down and drink with likeable. With an earring in His ear, He began to tell us the story about the widowed owner and how she justs wants the boat to go away, so she can get on with her life. We were also told that in their conversation, she asked ****** to price it low, for a quick sale. I've heard this line quite a few times in the past....But for once, I actually believed it.




The three of us walk over to the boat for an inspection and water test. Picture as She sat that day.

(A flashback to Stephen Kings "Christine" is suggested at this point)












Going below was like stepping into a time capsule, mostly original fabrics and surfaces, mahogany bulkheads refinished but redone as new. It was really hard to believe that it was original. Someone had really cared about this boat and it was now museum like.












Captain Mike playing with the the controls as usual










Underway! The 427's run Strong.








More soon, Kiwi

Onboard the Seafarer for the water test, the boat performs flawlessly. Every control works as it should and I'm hard pressed to find anything wrong with it, other then a fine vibe coming from the port motor which I attribute to a bit of propshaft whipping from bad motor alingment or a bad coupler setup. I already know that We're buying this boat, We just have to get thru the BS of purchase.

After We get back ashore, the broker takes Us over to the marina office where the propieter, We'll call him Joel, produces some $40k + worth of reciepts for work done in the last year.
Joel, also produces one of the most heartwrenching stories that I've ever heard, about a boat and her proud owner, a story about a man who comes so close to the fruition of a lifetime of labor....That simply ran out of time and His widow that was understandably, beside herself.

We're all close to tears, when I realize that Joel and the broker are double teaming us, it was like they also wanted the boat and the story to go away. At the same time, I realize, that they think they have Mike and I just where they wanted us, the fact was, they did. I also knew with certainty, without even speaking to Him, that Mike and I were thinking the same thing, We'd take this boat on the trip that She was destined for.

After looking closely at the reciepts Joel had handed over, I see some $6000 for plate work to the bottom of the boat and ask for some detail of the job. Joel tells Us that He hired a local professional welder, that used several hundred pounds of wire and several sheets of the proper steel, to overplate some pinholed steel. We agreed to buy the boat pending repair of the vibe on the port motor at owners expense and a good survey of the boat, paying attention to the bottom work, at our expense.

The Seafarer is hauled and a few weeks later, the survey comes back good with few exceptions (factory 2 conductor 120v wiring etc.), the marina tech replaces the port prop, money changes hands and the deal is done. Except for one last detail, the widow would like to get a few personal belongings off the boat, but she lives a few hundred miles down river. We tell Her about our plan of taking Seafarer to Ketucky Lake and agree to meet Her at a marina down river near Her home.



The Trojan

I'm not really the kinda guy that buys nice boats. I usually buy the junk nobody else wants, You know, the boats way in the back of the yard. Storage derilects are My specialty and it's been a hobby of mine for quite a few years. I'd rather do it this way, because when you do it yourself, then you know exactly what you've got under You.

In 03' My latest project was a "beautiful" 1972 Trojan F-30, That I named "Knot a Clue"









Pictures of the Trojan as I purchased her.








More soon, Kiwi