I bought a yacht… well a boat.

I finally found a nice boat or small yacht from the 1980s that I like. It was neglected, but the hull was strong, it just needed some love and restoration. It’s a 1987 Sea Ray 230/235 Weekender with pretty much all the options and a big block 454 (7,4 liter) mercruiser engine.

After buying the boat May 1st 2024 and getting it transported to me, I first thought it was just an easy restoration project, with just sanding and painting the hull, sanding and oiling all wood trims and parts etc. This is what I thought because I was told the engine was running and good shape, and I didn’t suspect it was not true as the boat had been maintained buy a professional boat repair and service company in Jyväskylä, Finland (middle of Finland).

After sanding and painting the hull, and doing some other stuff to get it ready for the water, for example the first suprise was that I had to change the steering cable, sterring drum and the steering wheel, as they did not work.

After doing this, changing the oil, new batteries I tested if the engine would start, it did, so ready for the water.

Short version, after dropping it into the water, all the problems where found, engine overheating on the short drive to my boat pier, about 1,5 kilometers (1 mile)… and that was where 2 months where added to my project when I had to start looking for the overheating problem, repair the trims, and more.

At the moment I have the engine running in an ok shape, test driven for about 3 hours and it seems to work ok and now I’m working on the trim, hopefully I will get it done fast so I can enjoy the summer on the boat.

I will continue writing about the project with details on all the work that I have done to it. Stay tuned for more.