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Ensenada 20

 

First look

Ensenada 20. This is a new project boat my son and I will restore. The boat was given to me by a friend of my brother in law (thanks Ted!). Upon initial inspection, the boat is in good condition for being about 30 years old and being kept outdoor. The gelcoat has a little oxidation with minimal defects. The trailer looks in good condition. The interior will need some TLC. I think this will be a fun restoration project which will involve mostly cosmetic work.

 

Cabin interior

The cabin interior is in good condition. You have to look beyond the faded wood and the 1970's style decor. A little paint, woodwork, and new fabric will do wonders. Believe me, my son will be making his parents sleep with him in the boat on those cool summer nights.

 

Bunk support boards

The bunk support boards are rotten and needs to be replaced. The challenge is that we will have to do this on site, before we can trailer it home. Hummm, how are we going to raise the boat to fix the boards? We will deal with that later.

 

Port bunk support board

The port side bunk support board has broken away and now the boat is sitting on the bracket. Not a good thing. We have to replace this before we can trailer it home. Hummm, those 30 years old nuts and bolts looks rusted and may need some work to get them off.

 

Trailer tire

The owner said he towed this boat about a year ago and the trip was over several hundred miles. Thus, we think the bearings are in decent condition. The tires are new. We should be able to trailer it 60 miles.

 

Top side

The top side looks in pretty good conditon. The nonskid surfaces are intact. The mast looks in good conditon too.

 

Bunk support board replacement

July 8, 2006
Today, I recruited my good friend Chao to help me replace the bunk boards. We started early to beat the heat which will be 102 by noon time. It's too hot to take my son today.

 

Raising the bow

We raised the bow using a car jack and two tree stumps. We put a shorter stump on the jack and raised the boat 10 inches. We then postion a second stump behind the hydralic jack for support just incase the hyrdralic jack fail.

 

Raising the stern

The stern was lower to the ground than the bow. The hull was also wider in the stern. We used a car jack with a piece of wood on top to raise the boat. We lifted the boat 10 inches.

 

Stern support

We use jacks with pieces of 2x4 to support the hull just incase the hydralic jack gave way. One jack was on port side and one on starboard side. We had 10 inches of clearance to replace the bunks support board.

 

Port bunk removed

The port bunk are now removed. Luckly, the screws and bolts came out with no problems. A squirt of WD-40 help a great deal.

 

Starboard bunk replaced

The starboard bunk is now replaced. We will put in the bunk carpet at a latter time.

 

All done for the day

It took us just under an hour to replaced the boards. We had a hard time removing the brackets, but overall we did not have to cut any bolts. The board does not have the bend that contour to the hull, but we think in time it will. We removed both tires and everyting looks good. We were unable to get the tail light to work, so we decided to purchase a pair of travel lights. The next visit will be to trailer the boat home. The boat should be road worthy now.