Ms Bettencourt's Next Voyage: Back to work!

About Ms Bettencourt

Ms Bettencourt is a Swedish built 25-foot trailerable trawler. Her hull was completed in 1971, No. 1117 of about 2500 built. The boat is named for my wife Dia, whose maiden name is Bettencourt.

This little vessel came to me as a gift in 2004. Before then she had been abandoned about 12 years on the Savannah River near Augusta, GA. I have repaired and refitted the boat extensively, and I have cruised her along the East coast of the US, from Cape Lookout, NC, to the Florida Keys. I dream of taking her to Havana some day.

This blog started in 2011 to chronicle the building of a hard top for the boat to replace leaky canvas. Since then the blog has become an Albin-25 boatkeeping and cruising journal.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Back to work!

My friend Major and I will be hauling Ms. Bettencourt on her trailer July 23 or 24 for a 10 day stay under the shed at the Augusta Ports Authority warehouse. Here's the work I plan to finish during that period:

Inside pilot house

Mask around windshield, side windows, dashboard

Clean surfaces
Fill and fair holes left from old canvas fasteners

Remove, refinish teak grab rails

Repaint with white Interlux Bilgekote

Reinstall teak grab rails

Interior underside of hardtop

1 coat of Interlux Epoxy PrimeKote primer

1 coat Interlux PreKote primer on rafters and stringers

Sand and wipe down with solvent

2 coats Interlux Brightside including rafters and stringers

Exterior underside of hardtop

Mask around windshield and side windows

Touch up hardtop perimeter with Interlux Epoxy PrimeKote

Surface prep, exterior rafters and stringers

1 coat Interlux PreKote primer on rafters and stringers

Sand and wipe down with solvent

2 coats Interlux Brightside including rafters and stringers

Reinstall windshield wiper motor

Install VHF antenna
Check zincs and cutless bearing
Repair dings and scratches on the hull

I am working to identify a canvas designer/installer now and it is my hope that when the above list is finished, we will trailer the boat directly to the canvas shop.

After that...

...Cruise time!

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Albin-25 Specs

The boat was designed by the late Per Brohall and built in Kristinehamm, Sweden. Hull No. 1117 was originally a sloop-rigged motorsailer. A former owner removed the spars and most of the sailing gear. The boat’s length overall is 25 feet. The water line length is 22.2 feet. The beam is 8 feet six inches and the draft is 28 inches. Ms. Bettencourt is powered by a Universal 54-24 diesel engine, which is really a 24- horsepower 3-cylinder Kubota tractor motor. She cruises at about 6 knots and burns 0.68 gallons of fuel per hour at that speed. Accommodations include V-berths for two in the forward cabin and two quarter berths in the aft cabin.