Here is a recap of the day by day events:
I have been living aboard Ambassador for over 15 yrs. now. I absolutely love the beautiful location here in Newport Beach Harbor. I am on a mooring can out in the middle of the bay on the Peninsula side of the Harbor affording a view of Fashion Island, Balboa Island and Newport Coast.
On Monday night July 21 I made a trip out of town for a business opportunity land stayed the night at my sister's house in Corona Ca/ about 45 minuets away from Newport Beach. I left her house after traffic about 10:00 AM. and stopped by my storage unit when I got a call from my friend Juan saying my boat had sunk. Well I wasn't too alarmed because I have a 13' dingy that has gotten caught under the doc ramp high tide and sunk 4 times over the 15 year period. But then I got a call from the Harbor Patrol who let me know that it was my 37' home that had sunk at approximately 10:00 AM. (The only night I stayed off the boat, had I been aboard I could have called the Harbor Patrol who would have assisted with a pump until the leak could have fixed the leak)
Here is a shot of the Harbor Patrol boat waiting for me to arrive.
Here are some random shots taken by friends who came to help.
I had to get the boat up immediately because I could have had environmental fines if there was any gas or oil leaks into the harbor so I immediately called a friend, Jeff Warner who inspected the boat for me when I originally purchased it 15 years ago. He is in the bottom cleaning and salvage business. After calling Jeff I broke a window and dug my guitars out of the boat drained the water out of the acoustical and while sitting on the side of the boat I sang; Oh What a Beautiful Morning and How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You to the Lord. My friend J.P. had his video camera running so I am able to share it with you just click here.
Beautiful Mornin / How Sweet to be Loved by You
Here is why my interpretation of "You are in the world but not of the world" tells me that I am to live by faith not circumstances. God never moved He is still my source as you will see thru the remainder of this story. .
Here is the first miracle. Jeff's original quote to raise the boat was $8,000 but that he would do it for me for $4,000 so I tapped a credit resource for the $4,000 to raise her. When it came time to pay I asked if he could carry me for a thousand until next month he accepted $2500 as payment in full.
Because the boat is made of wood it remained afloat approx 20% out of the water. The process for raising the boat is to attach air bags to the prop shafts and then add air.
My son Ben told me if I wanted an adventure I could save some money by putting ping pong balls into the boat to raise it. You can see the process in the photo's. Once the boat is raised so the gunnels are above the water you start pumping. By sunset it was close to empty but there wasn't enough time to properly repair the leaks so I had to stay aboard to monitor the bilge pumps that were continually working through the night. I slept on a soggy couch. (Not too Bad)
The following day I called Clyde the mechanic to see if we could save the motor. It was brand new and never been started. He brought out a friend to help and they spent the best part of two evenings pumping out water from every crevice and crack in the motor and transmission. Then they took out the spark plugs and put transmission fluid in all the cylinders. After letting that sit over night they were able to get it to turn over with a breaker bar. To the point that it will now turn over with the starter. It wouldn't start so they took a break until I got some more money to buy all new batteries, new gas, oil and filter, trans fluid, celluloid, points, electronic control module and a ballast resister. Hopefully he will be out in a few days to get us to that goal post.. Ultimately the motor and the complete house system will have to be completely rewired. $$$ ?
I have discovered that the leak was due to electrolysis. I always knew that it would eat at the metal I never knew that it would attack the wood too. I recently got a new diver to clean the boat and he told me that the previous diver had put the wrong zink on the shafts and rudder. They were too large and not firmly attached thus not doing their job. That of being the sacrificial lamb. The weakest metal is what the electrolysis attacks but with no zink it attacked the wood. And under pressure it finally pushed through a spot and the bilge pump could not keep up. Jeff came back the next morning and we were able to stop the leaks and the zink's are properly installed now but I won't know what it is going to take to repair all the damage. I am believing the Lord will provide the necessary resources to hull the boat out and repair the rest of the damage (No Idea on that but waiting till October as the boat yards will slow down and will allow me time to earn or raise the funds. As for as demolishing the boat which has been recommended, it appears not to be possible due to the fact that the entrance to the land fill is 12' wide and the boat is 12,'6". The quote for that service if it were possible is $6,000.
Back to the story; The leaks slowed to where the bilge pump is working 2 or 3 minuets per hour. Not perfect but OK. Now to the task of drying the boat out in very humid conditions and removing all the trash. Very little was salvageable. Approx $10,000 in personal loss including music equipment, electronics, memorabilia, and stuff/ (Over 100 bags of trash) I gave the trash guy a tip for excessive duty. Plus appropriately 30 loads of wash clothes, blankets etc.
Second Miracle; A friend, Todd White, whom I used to play tennis with lives in a beautiful house right where my boat is moored. He rowed out to my boat offering his dock for 4 days while he and his wife went to Catalina Island. I was able to spread out a bunch of stuff to try to dry it out but went backwards as the dew was so heavy that I believe it was more wet in the morning than after a full day of sitting in the sun. (By the way foam rubber is extremely slow drying I put my knees on the cushions in the dining area yesterday 3 weeks after the event and they are still not dry.)
My best friend William came down spent an afternoon cleaning the boat and then took on the task of memorabilia, leather items and suits. Miracle number 3; Widower's might, he insisted on giving me $100 from his small pension. Another friend Nor sent me a nice card with some cash too.
It was rather a Job experience because there were some other extenuating circumstances. I parked my car out in front of Todd's house only to get a $109.00 parking ticket because of street sweeper day. The ticket was delivered by Dale Ward who had come by to help me move a couch and some other large items to the dump. Miracle number 4 Dale gave me $100 to help with the parking ticket and payed for the trash dump too.
After Dale left I decided to move my clothes from the car back into the newly cleaned V-birth only to discover the I had left the widow down in the car and someone stole the electronic gear I had purchased so that I could get back on line and use my computer (by the way I had my computer in the car when the event happened PTL.)
Moving the boat to the dock and back was quite a feat as well. I had to have a small boat tied to each side of the big boat and a small rubber dingy to bump the nose for steering as the Helm is froze up. (Thanks guys of all your help! Norm, Kevin, Guy, Greg and Peg Leg.)
Then just as I was finished attaching a vent that was torn off to plug the whole while we were raising the boat I kicked the newly replaced cordless drill into the water. PTL
I have solar panels that didn't go under as they were on the 20% that stayed above the water but I had to replace the deep cycle house batteries, the charge controller, power inverter and battery charger. The generator froze up so replacing that will have to wait for another day.
All my books had to be trashed. Did you know a roll of toilet paper totally saturated weighs about 5lbs. it's pretty amazing how much stuff you can store in the nooks and crannies of a boat with approximately 400 sq.ft. of living space.
It's been pretty much a full time job for the past three weeks and it's far from clean but at least it isn't oi-lie grime or wet anymore. I've gone through my upright tool box and doused all the tools with automatic trans fluid and a brush which knocks the corrosion and rust then gone back and cleaned the oil up. I was able to save a few electric tools by pulling them apart and utilizing the same trans fluid and a brush to knock down the corrosion and put them back together. Hooray!
Miracle # 4; It is the 14th of August and today I got an email from Bob Henley and unbeknownst to me he put the word out on his blog www.Servias.com about the condition my condition was in. Miracle number 5 some folks responded along with He and his wife Pam and they are sending me a check for $2705.00. By the way If you want some great information regarding biblical principles regarding money this is the place to look. Thanks Bob and Pam
H A L L E L U J A H
P R A I S E T H E L O R D !!!!!
What a great start on the repair in October PTL.
It is the 15th I checked my mail and found another leak. This one was a good one though I received a note from Make and Kathy Winchell with a check for $100 and they told me they had mentioned my situation to Bob Henley and hoped I didn't mind. Well?
Mike sends out a regular email with scripture and a prophetic interpretation. I had responded to one of them because it was an encouragement in my time of difficulty and of course it came right at the right time. Thank you for your service to the Lord.
SECOND ATTACK
August 16th; Yesterday I left the fan running all day in an effort to dry out the foam pads in the V-birth. It ran the batteries down to the point that the bilge pump quit and I woke up this morning to find the lowest floor in the nose of the boat under water again. It had probably taken on about 200 gal of water in probably less than 12 hours. (haven't gotten to all the leaks yet!
LOOKING FORWARD
Repairs;
Iwent to 3 boat yards to see what the future possibilities are. Two of the boat yards said they didn't want to see it in their yards. The third was a little more accomodating. A hull out and bottom paint is $45. per foot (37) so $1665 plus tax minimuim charge just to see what needs to be done. And the possible down side is that if he didn't think it was repairable he would cut it up and put it in the dumpster for $4500.
I'm checking into epoxy fiberglass resin to hardin up the soft wood and possibly fiber glassing the whole bottom of the boat. That would increase the value because you would have the best of both worlds fiberglass on the bottom so we wouldn't have a recurrence of what just happened and the classic beauty of a wooden boat.
There was a 1937 Mathews leaving the boat yard that had just been sold for $92,000 and was being shipped to Utah.
Seeking the Lord's will.
I am intending to bring the boat back to a condition that will be representative of the Kingdom but many of my friends knowing my desire to use the boat to be a blessing and a testimony have suggested that maybe the Lord intends to give you a bigger boat so as to bless more people. Or He has a complete change in direction for you. So I am posturing myself to let it go or give it away if that is His plan.
I believe He will make His way clear. I am intending to be at the Tabernacles conference in MN. in October and take the boat to the yard upon my return. At which time I'll need $4500 available and praise God I just looked on the www.Servias.com and another $420. has been donated bringing the total to $3125. Hallelujah. It sure is exciting seeing the Lord do His stuff.
Thank you for partnering with me in prayer!!!
To be continued to the Glory of God!
Two of the ladies who are pictured in the Dinner on the Bay video, Jan Kennedy and Cara Grimes joined my friend Dale Ward and I last week for the Angel game and Jan gave me a little card saying open this later. What a surprise as there was a check for $500. inside. God is amazing and it is always surprising who He inspires to be a part of His plan. Thank You Jan for your commitment to the Lord.
Today is Sept. 2nd and I will have the diver come and inspect the bottom again and change the zinks which are the sacrificial lamb hopefully leaving the wood alone. I hope to get a little more information from him as to how extensive the repairs might be to save her. I will then go to the ship yard to get an idea as to how much labor and material costs will be.
Everyone is indicating that the boat will have to remain out of the water for months for the wood to dry enough to repair it. So replacement of the soggy wood may be the only method of repair but we won't know until we pull her out of the water in October.
God is still working behind the scenes as Bob Henley of Servias Ministries sent me another check for $500. Hallelujah!!!
I'll keep you posted...Dave
I have been living aboard Ambassador for over 15 yrs. now. I absolutely love the beautiful location here in Newport Beach Harbor. I am on a mooring can out in the middle of the bay on the Peninsula side of the Harbor affording a view of Fashion Island, Balboa Island and Newport Coast.
On Monday night July 21 I made a trip out of town for a business opportunity land stayed the night at my sister's house in Corona Ca/ about 45 minuets away from Newport Beach. I left her house after traffic about 10:00 AM. and stopped by my storage unit when I got a call from my friend Juan saying my boat had sunk. Well I wasn't too alarmed because I have a 13' dingy that has gotten caught under the doc ramp high tide and sunk 4 times over the 15 year period. But then I got a call from the Harbor Patrol who let me know that it was my 37' home that had sunk at approximately 10:00 AM. (The only night I stayed off the boat, had I been aboard I could have called the Harbor Patrol who would have assisted with a pump until the leak could have fixed the leak)
Here is a shot of the Harbor Patrol boat waiting for me to arrive.
 |
| Notice the Beautiful Skyline of Fashion Island |
I had to get the boat up immediately because I could have had environmental fines if there was any gas or oil leaks into the harbor so I immediately called a friend, Jeff Warner who inspected the boat for me when I originally purchased it 15 years ago. He is in the bottom cleaning and salvage business. After calling Jeff I broke a window and dug my guitars out of the boat drained the water out of the acoustical and while sitting on the side of the boat I sang; Oh What a Beautiful Morning and How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You to the Lord. My friend J.P. had his video camera running so I am able to share it with you just click here.
Beautiful Mornin / How Sweet to be Loved by You
Here is why my interpretation of "You are in the world but not of the world" tells me that I am to live by faith not circumstances. God never moved He is still my source as you will see thru the remainder of this story. .
Here is the first miracle. Jeff's original quote to raise the boat was $8,000 but that he would do it for me for $4,000 so I tapped a credit resource for the $4,000 to raise her. When it came time to pay I asked if he could carry me for a thousand until next month he accepted $2500 as payment in full.
Because the boat is made of wood it remained afloat approx 20% out of the water. The process for raising the boat is to attach air bags to the prop shafts and then add air.
 |
| Jeff Warner (miracle #1 |
 |
| By Sunset She was aflotin |
The following day I called Clyde the mechanic to see if we could save the motor. It was brand new and never been started. He brought out a friend to help and they spent the best part of two evenings pumping out water from every crevice and crack in the motor and transmission. Then they took out the spark plugs and put transmission fluid in all the cylinders. After letting that sit over night they were able to get it to turn over with a breaker bar. To the point that it will now turn over with the starter. It wouldn't start so they took a break until I got some more money to buy all new batteries, new gas, oil and filter, trans fluid, celluloid, points, electronic control module and a ballast resister. Hopefully he will be out in a few days to get us to that goal post.. Ultimately the motor and the complete house system will have to be completely rewired. $$$ ?
I have discovered that the leak was due to electrolysis. I always knew that it would eat at the metal I never knew that it would attack the wood too. I recently got a new diver to clean the boat and he told me that the previous diver had put the wrong zink on the shafts and rudder. They were too large and not firmly attached thus not doing their job. That of being the sacrificial lamb. The weakest metal is what the electrolysis attacks but with no zink it attacked the wood. And under pressure it finally pushed through a spot and the bilge pump could not keep up. Jeff came back the next morning and we were able to stop the leaks and the zink's are properly installed now but I won't know what it is going to take to repair all the damage. I am believing the Lord will provide the necessary resources to hull the boat out and repair the rest of the damage (No Idea on that but waiting till October as the boat yards will slow down and will allow me time to earn or raise the funds. As for as demolishing the boat which has been recommended, it appears not to be possible due to the fact that the entrance to the land fill is 12' wide and the boat is 12,'6". The quote for that service if it were possible is $6,000.
Back to the story; The leaks slowed to where the bilge pump is working 2 or 3 minuets per hour. Not perfect but OK. Now to the task of drying the boat out in very humid conditions and removing all the trash. Very little was salvageable. Approx $10,000 in personal loss including music equipment, electronics, memorabilia, and stuff/ (Over 100 bags of trash) I gave the trash guy a tip for excessive duty. Plus appropriately 30 loads of wash clothes, blankets etc.
Second Miracle; A friend, Todd White, whom I used to play tennis with lives in a beautiful house right where my boat is moored. He rowed out to my boat offering his dock for 4 days while he and his wife went to Catalina Island. I was able to spread out a bunch of stuff to try to dry it out but went backwards as the dew was so heavy that I believe it was more wet in the morning than after a full day of sitting in the sun. (By the way foam rubber is extremely slow drying I put my knees on the cushions in the dining area yesterday 3 weeks after the event and they are still not dry.)
My best friend William came down spent an afternoon cleaning the boat and then took on the task of memorabilia, leather items and suits. Miracle number 3; Widower's might, he insisted on giving me $100 from his small pension. Another friend Nor sent me a nice card with some cash too.
It was rather a Job experience because there were some other extenuating circumstances. I parked my car out in front of Todd's house only to get a $109.00 parking ticket because of street sweeper day. The ticket was delivered by Dale Ward who had come by to help me move a couch and some other large items to the dump. Miracle number 4 Dale gave me $100 to help with the parking ticket and payed for the trash dump too.
After Dale left I decided to move my clothes from the car back into the newly cleaned V-birth only to discover the I had left the widow down in the car and someone stole the electronic gear I had purchased so that I could get back on line and use my computer (by the way I had my computer in the car when the event happened PTL.)
Moving the boat to the dock and back was quite a feat as well. I had to have a small boat tied to each side of the big boat and a small rubber dingy to bump the nose for steering as the Helm is froze up. (Thanks guys of all your help! Norm, Kevin, Guy, Greg and Peg Leg.)
Then just as I was finished attaching a vent that was torn off to plug the whole while we were raising the boat I kicked the newly replaced cordless drill into the water. PTL
I have solar panels that didn't go under as they were on the 20% that stayed above the water but I had to replace the deep cycle house batteries, the charge controller, power inverter and battery charger. The generator froze up so replacing that will have to wait for another day.
All my books had to be trashed. Did you know a roll of toilet paper totally saturated weighs about 5lbs. it's pretty amazing how much stuff you can store in the nooks and crannies of a boat with approximately 400 sq.ft. of living space.
It's been pretty much a full time job for the past three weeks and it's far from clean but at least it isn't oi-lie grime or wet anymore. I've gone through my upright tool box and doused all the tools with automatic trans fluid and a brush which knocks the corrosion and rust then gone back and cleaned the oil up. I was able to save a few electric tools by pulling them apart and utilizing the same trans fluid and a brush to knock down the corrosion and put them back together. Hooray!
Miracle # 4; It is the 14th of August and today I got an email from Bob Henley and unbeknownst to me he put the word out on his blog www.Servias.com about the condition my condition was in. Miracle number 5 some folks responded along with He and his wife Pam and they are sending me a check for $2705.00. By the way If you want some great information regarding biblical principles regarding money this is the place to look. Thanks Bob and Pam
H A L L E L U J A H
P R A I S E T H E L O R D !!!!!
What a great start on the repair in October PTL.
It is the 15th I checked my mail and found another leak. This one was a good one though I received a note from Make and Kathy Winchell with a check for $100 and they told me they had mentioned my situation to Bob Henley and hoped I didn't mind. Well?
Mike sends out a regular email with scripture and a prophetic interpretation. I had responded to one of them because it was an encouragement in my time of difficulty and of course it came right at the right time. Thank you for your service to the Lord.
SECOND ATTACK
August 16th; Yesterday I left the fan running all day in an effort to dry out the foam pads in the V-birth. It ran the batteries down to the point that the bilge pump quit and I woke up this morning to find the lowest floor in the nose of the boat under water again. It had probably taken on about 200 gal of water in probably less than 12 hours. (haven't gotten to all the leaks yet!
LOOKING FORWARD
Repairs;
Iwent to 3 boat yards to see what the future possibilities are. Two of the boat yards said they didn't want to see it in their yards. The third was a little more accomodating. A hull out and bottom paint is $45. per foot (37) so $1665 plus tax minimuim charge just to see what needs to be done. And the possible down side is that if he didn't think it was repairable he would cut it up and put it in the dumpster for $4500.
I'm checking into epoxy fiberglass resin to hardin up the soft wood and possibly fiber glassing the whole bottom of the boat. That would increase the value because you would have the best of both worlds fiberglass on the bottom so we wouldn't have a recurrence of what just happened and the classic beauty of a wooden boat.
There was a 1937 Mathews leaving the boat yard that had just been sold for $92,000 and was being shipped to Utah.
Seeking the Lord's will.
I am intending to bring the boat back to a condition that will be representative of the Kingdom but many of my friends knowing my desire to use the boat to be a blessing and a testimony have suggested that maybe the Lord intends to give you a bigger boat so as to bless more people. Or He has a complete change in direction for you. So I am posturing myself to let it go or give it away if that is His plan.
I believe He will make His way clear. I am intending to be at the Tabernacles conference in MN. in October and take the boat to the yard upon my return. At which time I'll need $4500 available and praise God I just looked on the www.Servias.com and another $420. has been donated bringing the total to $3125. Hallelujah. It sure is exciting seeing the Lord do His stuff.
Thank you for partnering with me in prayer!!!
To be continued to the Glory of God!
Two of the ladies who are pictured in the Dinner on the Bay video, Jan Kennedy and Cara Grimes joined my friend Dale Ward and I last week for the Angel game and Jan gave me a little card saying open this later. What a surprise as there was a check for $500. inside. God is amazing and it is always surprising who He inspires to be a part of His plan. Thank You Jan for your commitment to the Lord.
Today is Sept. 2nd and I will have the diver come and inspect the bottom again and change the zinks which are the sacrificial lamb hopefully leaving the wood alone. I hope to get a little more information from him as to how extensive the repairs might be to save her. I will then go to the ship yard to get an idea as to how much labor and material costs will be.
Everyone is indicating that the boat will have to remain out of the water for months for the wood to dry enough to repair it. So replacement of the soggy wood may be the only method of repair but we won't know until we pull her out of the water in October.
God is still working behind the scenes as Bob Henley of Servias Ministries sent me another check for $500. Hallelujah!!!
I'll keep you posted...Dave
