After the renovation of a Feeling 286 Special (resold, because too expensive to maintain) and then a First 210 (resold, because too small for life on board) ...we find Augustine again in search of a sailboat. We are at the end of July 2019. Augustin, who has finished his studies, is now employed. His financial means have therefore increased a little.
A first 285 ashore for 5 years
This time he is looking for a yacht that is habitable enough to sail comfortably as a couple. On the port of the Moulin Blanc in Brest he spots a First 285 . Obviously the owner hasn't been on board for a long time. Indeed, after making inquiries, he learns that the boat has not moved for 5 years. Through the porthole in the aft skirt, the one that lights the aft cabin, he discovers an interior whose linings are completely unstuck. It's not a pretty sight.
A first offer refused
As usual, Augustin tries to get in touch with the owner. Via the harbour master's office, a letter of proposal is sent to him. But no answer comes. It will take 3 months, until mid-October, for the owner to show up. The yacht was owned by a retired person of 80 years of age, but alas the advancing age of the owner did not allow him to sail anymore.
Augustin visits the boat and discovers a clean sailboat inside (not on deck!). The sails are beautiful and well stored. Only the aft skin needs to be redone and the cracked porthole needs to be changed. Augustin owns 12 000 euros. He offers to buy the boat at this price. But the daughter of the owner refuses and asks 15,000 euros. Augustin doesn't have it. End of story.
The art of negotiating well
In December, 2 months after the first visit, Augustin, who no longer believes in it and has moved on, receives a text message from the owner who accepts the selling price of 12,000 euros. Only in the meantime, Augustin has spent the money to buy a car... He has only 9,000 euros left. He explains the situation. And after a very good contact with the owner, he agrees to sell his boat to him at this price! "Zigzag" thus changes owners.
Augustin buys the sailboat with confidence. He spotted that he should work on the aft cabin, but that for the rest a clean sweep should suffice. So he tackles this yard which does not seem insurmountable to him given the 2 upgrades previously carried out.
More compression on the Volvo
Mid-February 2020, before launching, he leans over the engine. It's the same one he's already repaired on his first Feeling 286: a 2001 Volvo. It's a single-cylinder diesel engine with 9 hp. But this one refuses to start. After disassembling the injector, checking that the diesel is getting through, it ends up compressing. That's when the verdict comes down. The cylinder is dead, there is no compression. The engine is dead..
Unaffordable engines
So Augustin sets off on the track of a new engine. Even if he manages to resell his for parts and get back 3 pennies, he doesn't have the 7 or 8,000 euros for a new engine, or even the 4,000 euros for a second hand. Then comes an idea from his brother: "Why not buy a used boat with a working engine and get the engine back?" It would also be an opportunity to put in a more powerful engine. To go from 9 to 18 hp, the maximum power approved on the First 285.
In search of a boat+engine
Augustin finds a fishing trip on Jeanneau Parkway Cap 540. It is equipped with an 18 hp Yanmar that runs. For sale 1000 euros in Lorient. Here is Augustin now owner of 2 boats ! At the pontoon helped by his Dad, he manages to take the engine out (150 kg anyway) and on a trolley, to bring it back to his car. Arrived in Brest, very naively, he presents this new engine in place of the old one. But something he hadn't thought of in the ardour of his youth, nothing corresponds. It's not the same frame, the propeller shaft is no longer on the axis... The whole engine frame has to be rebuilt.
Construction of a new engine frame
Neither one nor two, he attacks the frame with the grinder. He has to rethink everything in terms of inclination and alignment. It's a real ant's work with multiple tries where each time you have to move the 150 kg of the motor. But on the 10th try, the motor on its new frame is perfectly aligned. Stupidly, Augustin hadn't spotted anything when he dismantled the engine. He did not dismantle the electrical circuit or the control panel properly. Reconnecting all the components takes time. But finally, after 10 seconds of starting, the engine started. Augustin does not hide his joy.
The hull of the recycled fishing walkway
We must now separate from the hull of the now engine-free Cap 540. The boat will be deconstructed using the end-of-life boat recycling network (APER). And although the demolition is free, it still costs him 200 euros to have it transported to the deconstruction plant. But despite this and the purchase of the boat, the price of the engine will still be much lower than any other solution.
Waiting for ports to reopen
Now that the engine is operational and the sails are set, Augustin and Justine are in a hurry to get back in the water. The crane operator is scheduled for April 12, 2020... But the Coronavirus passes by and paralyses France. So we have to wait another 2 months before we can take advantage of it. Especially since the day before our exchange, Augustin got a berth at the Moulin Blanc.
An offshore program
However, the programme is gradually taking shape. The first summer objectives will be South Brittany towards Belle-Île. Then it will be a trip to England. And if all goes well on board, in 2 or 3 years time, Justine and Augustin plan to leave to live on board for a while and do a transatlantic crossing. So Zigzag has some fine plans to come under her keel.
