What's in a name?

When we first saw the boat, we didn't know her name.  It may have passed our way, but it kept going strait past our memory banks.

Her name is Vitte III and she was built in 1967 by the Van Dam Nordia Shipyard in Norway.  The site where it is located dates back to the 17^th century, and the company proper was established in 1881 by Arie van Dam.

Since we didn’t know her name, I (lovingly) nicknamed her “Time Cop,” because she’s a Van Dam and the only Jean Claude Vandamme movie title I could think of was Time Cop.

As the purchase moved forward, we started thinking more seriously about her name.  I was in Topsail Beach, NC with the Stubbs family brainstorming name ideas when the thought to name her after a Norse goddess was suggested.

Chris conveniently pulled out his iPhone and went to work searching for a goddess that fit the ship’s personality, and we found her: Freyja/Valfreyja.

Freyja is the Norse goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, gold, witchcraft, war, and death. 

Her primary mode of transportation is a cat driven chariot, she has a pet boar named Hildisvíni, and she wears a cloak made of falcon feathers.

I’m sure most people have heard of Valhalla (hall of the slain), a type of heaven for warriors that die in battle and is ruled over by Odin.  Well, Freyja has her own heavenly afterlife field for those slain in battle known as Fólkvangr.

So it’s safe to say that Freyja is (pardon the language) a bad ass and a worthy name for our beast of a boat.

When the day to move the boat came and we met with Will and Sandi we learned her name, Vitte III, and the story behind the name.

The original boat owners were German and once owned a home in Vitte, Germany.  Vitte is a port town on Hiddensee Island in the Baltic Sea and was a popular vacation destination for East German tourists.  That is, until the Berlin Wall prevented travel to this area and the home (Vitte I) was lost.

Vitte II was the couple’s first boat (specs unknown), named for the home lost when the Berlin Wall was erected and the Steel Curtain was drawn. 

Vitte III (our boat) was purchased in the late 1960s.  She was primarily sailed in the North Sea, but she’s circumnavigated twice.

Knowing this history and imagining the heartache that must accompany losing a home containing so many memories, we could not, in good conscience, change her name.

Week 8 (12/20-12/24)

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
-Lao Tzu

Although we have only been working since November, it feels like we have already undertaken “a journey.”

This week was short due to Christmas, but on the eve of the biggest holiday of the year, we took the biggest steps thus far on the boat. 

This week’s projects:

·     Baked some special Christmas cookies for the marina guys to say thanks for all the hard work…and for turning a blind eye to all the DIY projects

 Yummy cookies!

They were a big hit, and didn’t last the day  ^_^

·     Finished painting rust stop enamel in water tank, it’s now ready for the water bladder

Finally, the job that wouldn’t end is O-V-E-R

·     The guys started prepping the bottom hull for painting

Areas where the paint was chipped or cracked were

sanded down and covered with epoxy

Primed for paint

·     Painted rust stop enamel in aft cabin and engine room

Aft cabin after painting…I still need to get the very back

·     STEPPED THE MAST!!!!!  Stuart and Gerard came out to help.  It took two attempts to get the mast up, but we eventually had success!

Spreaders, stays, and shrouds attached

Getting ready to hoist her up!

Up she goes!

And up…

…and up…

…and up as high as the lift will take her. 

Too bad it’s not high enough

We took it down, adjusted the fulcrum,

and added chain to keep her steady

I think she’s going to make it this time!

Over to the mast step

Lining it up…

…is it going to fit?

The added rubber makes the mast too tall...

Easily remedied with a saw

Round two…

LIKE A GLOVE!!

I can’t wait to see this under a starry sky

anchored in some distant tropical sea

She’s a real boat!  Just look at those lines!

Tightening the turnbuckles

·     Rick delivered our brand new Yanmar and helped drop it into the engine compartment

Shiny and new

Lining up the lift

Strapping her in

And up she goes!

yummy

Fits perfectly!

(and check out that awesome paint job)

Weeks six and seven

“The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.”

- Winston Churchill

On Saturday Ransom’s family came in for Christmas and their excitement for the boat has been refreshing.  Seeing our project through their eyes has opened ours to the amount of work we have completed.  It’s very encouraging to get oohs and aahs when we show them what we’ve done.

This week’s projects:

·     Cut front floor panel for v-berth and cut cubby hole for storage

·     Met Mark and Jim to talk about and order new Yanmar for Vitte.  

·     Prepped engine for removal.  Turns out we also need a new prop and prop shaft since the old Mercedes ran in reverse.

Prop (side view)

Exhaust pipe (rusty, dirty, nasty) 

·     Moved boat into yard for work

Prop

 Lining up the travel lift

Strapping her in

Her new home in the work yard

·     Installed v-berth panels, something was lost in translation from cardboard templates to wood panels.  We ended up with gaps and have no idea how this happened.  The plan is to install trim to hide the gaps.

Lost in translation...too bad Bill Murray and Scarlette Johansson aren't here to help us. 

  

·     Removed engine

All strapped in

Goodbye dinosaur

Ransom with the engine

·     After removing the engine we put it up for sale on Craigslist and it quickly sold to a man by the name of Buddy Greg (LOL).

Side view

Back view

Side view

Front view

Empty engine compartment

Empty engine compartment

·     Our new Yanmar came in last week.  As soon as we finish painting the engine compartment we’ll drop her in.

  

Side view

Front view

Side view

Side view

·     Removed starboard aft panels to remove exhaust pipes, clean, and paint (the hull was BLACK where the exhaust was).

  

Starboard aft cabin without exhaust pipes and with a fresh coat of primer…I forgot to get a before picture, but if you look to the right you can see an area that hasn’t been painted.

·     Cleaned engine compartment and painted with rust stop primer.

Ransom painting the engine room…isn’t he lovely?

·     Painted rust stop enamel top coat in v-berth

·     Built and installed custom electrical panel.  We haven't wired everything yet, but the nav lights are connected and in working order ^_^

The panel is hinged and has a clasp on the back for easy access

So much cleaner and organized than the old panel

·     Attached navigation lights

Stern nav light

Bow nav lights