Gone...long gone like turkey through the corn. She had been in repair status since she sank and was refloated some 8 years ago. Yes...sank. At my dock behind the Swamphouse. No she did NOT leak fluids...no oil, no fuel as there was none in her. What caused her to sink was a plethora of olde (circa 1930's) iron fasteners (screws) that over the years rusted away largely hidden from view underneigth many layers of paint. I had been assured by the previous owner (s) that she had been completely refastened with stainless steel screws and was "sound" of hull. We bought her in 1989, in the spring right after we bought the Swamphouse. She was seaworthy as they come (or so we were told) and had a great story to tell of her adventures through the years. We motored her all over the Delta and SF Bay and joined the Classic Yacht Association so had rights of reciprocity everywhere, meaning we could stay at the local yacht clubs throughout the Bay Area and the World and gain docking at any time. In 2001 we bought a small cottage in France and that became our main interest and Zulu was tied up at our dock behind the house covered but unused for up to 6 months a year. The aforemeterntioned iron screws rusted away, day by day without indicating anything until she sunk the day after we returned from France in the fall of 2005. MORE TO COME!
HERE'S MORE:
So my dear neighbors pitched in and soon we were visited by not one but two fully outfitted DIVERS who "dove" ZULU to close whatever was open, various hatches and windows as well as portholes plus insure that the toilet fitting was in the OFF position. Then we proceeded to pump her and pump and pump with 2 each 20,000 GPH motorized pumps with full sized 6" diameter fire hoses back into the marsh. What a scene! It took over 2 hours for her to finally move an inch in the rising position as she was firmly stuck into the fine mud of our docking tie-up. When she did she came up in a hurry! Water shedding down both sides of her cabin, looking for all the world like those old pictures of World War 2 submarines emergency surfacing! Amazing! Within a week of drying out we got a crew of neighbors together and towed her 25 miles to the dry-dock in Rio Vista. Within a few days an agreement was reached to "do" ZULU and get her sea worthy again. This was a rather open ended agreement with no set times or dates but with the proviso that I was willing to put $15,000 in as the maximum dollar amount for any or all needed repairs. At first I came weekly to see the progress, the new hull boards, the removal of rotted ribs, the removal of buckets of 65 year old #10 and #12 IRON Screws, some rusted till only the head existed as metallic iron, the rest...rust and ferrous sulfide. I had been told when I bought her that she had been "refastened" with fine STAINLESS STEEL fasteners and there were a few found here and there but most were rusted until failure IRON sad to say. The yard was doing it's best and was making progress all along but other troubles began to show, more rotted timbers as well as ribs and the tiller post fitting could not be convinced to depart the hull at all. The wood around the fitting was in serious need of repair too. Months went by, much work was done as he could get to it and I continued to write 1000 dollar checks. She was quickly becoming an albatross for him and for us as well. Lots of work done and little to show in the way of progress AND she was out of the water which is the bane of all wooden boats.
HERE'S MORE:
So my dear neighbors pitched in and soon we were visited by not one but two fully outfitted DIVERS who "dove" ZULU to close whatever was open, various hatches and windows as well as portholes plus insure that the toilet fitting was in the OFF position. Then we proceeded to pump her and pump and pump with 2 each 20,000 GPH motorized pumps with full sized 6" diameter fire hoses back into the marsh. What a scene! It took over 2 hours for her to finally move an inch in the rising position as she was firmly stuck into the fine mud of our docking tie-up. When she did she came up in a hurry! Water shedding down both sides of her cabin, looking for all the world like those old pictures of World War 2 submarines emergency surfacing! Amazing! Within a week of drying out we got a crew of neighbors together and towed her 25 miles to the dry-dock in Rio Vista. Within a few days an agreement was reached to "do" ZULU and get her sea worthy again. This was a rather open ended agreement with no set times or dates but with the proviso that I was willing to put $15,000 in as the maximum dollar amount for any or all needed repairs. At first I came weekly to see the progress, the new hull boards, the removal of rotted ribs, the removal of buckets of 65 year old #10 and #12 IRON Screws, some rusted till only the head existed as metallic iron, the rest...rust and ferrous sulfide. I had been told when I bought her that she had been "refastened" with fine STAINLESS STEEL fasteners and there were a few found here and there but most were rusted until failure IRON sad to say. The yard was doing it's best and was making progress all along but other troubles began to show, more rotted timbers as well as ribs and the tiller post fitting could not be convinced to depart the hull at all. The wood around the fitting was in serious need of repair too. Months went by, much work was done as he could get to it and I continued to write 1000 dollar checks. She was quickly becoming an albatross for him and for us as well. Lots of work done and little to show in the way of progress AND she was out of the water which is the bane of all wooden boats.
