Overview
Welan is a turnkey vessel ready for sail. If you're looking to sail
or cruise offshore this is an absolutely perfect candidate. This
Norseman has been completely restored with the owners sparing no
expense. Here is an account of the current owners journey with Welan:
As
we had intended to sail around the world, we did an enormous amount of
research, including reading Steve Dashew's book twice. We narrowed it
down to two models, Kelly Peterson and Norseman, both of which are
reputable blue water sail boats. Between these two we favored the
Norseman 447.
We bought this boat considering
all the good things about this model even though we knew the interior
would require a total remodeling. After we bought the boat Alan went
inside on a rainy day. His eyes were pouring tears while it was pouring
rain inside the boat. Everything on the deck was leaking! It was really
heart breaking.
There was not much available for
working on boats in Dominican Republic (where we bought the boat). What
little available was three times as much as it is in the States. Our
goal at the time was to make the boat sea worthy so we could sail the
boat back to the States. It took us four months to get to that point
because nothing on the boat worked, nothing, not even a light! Even
today we still have trouble believing we sailed the boat back safe and
sound. We stopped in Haiti, Jamaica and Cayman. We had some trouble with
the engine overheating and the steering was sloppy, but we did it and
we had a great adventure!
After we pulled into Saint Petersburg
our journey of rebuilding the boat started. We knew what we needed to do
to fix the boat so we could continue to sail the boat around the world.
Knowing that quality labor on yachts is very hard to find we decided to
take it on ourselves, but we had no idea it would take six years. Four
years of two engineers working side by side pretty much every day from
dawn to dusk and two years off and on while cruising or traveling. We
didn't take any shortcuts because of our hard working nature and we
intended to sail the boat to wide open water. This boat truly has a
soul. Even people walking down the dock will say so. She is a good old
girl! Our good friend who has dedicated his whole life working on boats
for over 40 years commented:" this boat is very strong! You guys can do
anything!"
Here are some highlights of Welan
today from the bottom to the top and from the outside to the inside. We
list them here because we are proud of what we did. Hope you will have
respect for what we did and be proud of her also if you are going to own
this girl next.
Here are the highlights of this model of boat from our point of view:
1. The Hull shape is such that it's fast despite its heavy displacement.
2. The shape of the bow makes it cut through waves so the average size waves will not pour on the deck.
3. The ballast and displacement ratio makes it a very stable and safe boat even though it's a fin keel.
4. The fin keel makes it easy to make sharp turns.
5.
The shape of the keel makes the boat stable when grounded.(We were
grounded on a sand bar north of Marathon one Christmas Eve and the boat
pretty much just parked there without leaning until high tide, despite
the wind).
6. It's easy to balance the boat with the sails. The boat can pretty much sail herself when it is well balanced.
7. The low profile makes for much less windage, yet there is still plenty of head room and storage space inside.
8. The great access to the engine is an amazing plus.
9.
It was strongly built by a reputable shipyard and we were amazed to see
how thick the hull is and there is no delamination of fiberglass
anywhere.
Main Description
Welan is a turnkey vessel ready for sail. If you're looking to sail
or cruise offshore this is an absolutely perfect candidate. This
Norseman has been completely restored with the owners sparing no
expense. Here is an account of the current owners journey with Welan:
As
we had intended to sail around the world, we did an enormous amount of
research, including reading Steve Dashew's book twice. We narrowed it
down to two models, Kelly Peterson and Norseman, both of which are
reputable blue water sail boats. Between these two we favored the
Norseman 447.
We bought this boat considering
all the good things about this model even though we knew the interior
would require a total remodeling. After we bought the boat Alan went
inside on a rainy day. His eyes were pouring tears while it was pouring
rain inside the boat. Everything on the deck was leaking! It was really
heart breaking.
There was not much available for
working on boats in Dominican Republic (where we bought the boat). What
little available was three times as much as it is in the States. Our
goal at the time was to make the boat sea worthy so we could sail the
boat back to the States. It took us four months to get to that point
because nothing on the boat worked, nothing, not even a light! Even
today we still have trouble believing we sailed the boat back safe and
sound. We stopped in Haiti, Jamaica and Cayman. We had some trouble with
the engine overheating and the steering was sloppy, but we did it and
we had a great adventure!
After we pulled into Saint Petersburg
our journey of rebuilding the boat started. We knew what we needed to do
to fix the boat so we could continue to sail the boat around the world.
Knowing that quality labor on yachts is very hard to find we decided to
take it on ourselves, but we had no idea it would take six years. Four
years of two engineers working side by side pretty much every day from
dawn to dusk and two years off and on while cruising or traveling. We
didn't take any shortcuts because of our hard working nature and we
intended to sail the boat to wide open water. This boat truly has a
soul. Even people walking down the dock will say so. She is a good old
girl! Our good friend who has dedicated his whole life working on boats
for over 40 years commented:" this boat is very strong! You guys can do
anything!"
Here are some highlights of Welan
today from the bottom to the top and from the outside to the inside. We
list them here because we are proud of what we did. Hope you will have
respect for what we did and be proud of her also if you are going to own
this girl next.
Here are the highlights of this model of boat from our point of view:
1. The Hull shape is such that it's fast despite its heavy displacement.
2. The shape of the bow makes it cut through waves so the average size waves will not pour on the deck.
3. The ballast and displacement ratio makes it a very stable and safe boat even though it's a fin keel.
4. The fin keel makes it easy to make sharp turns.
5.
The shape of the keel makes the boat stable when grounded.(We were
grounded on a sand bar north of Marathon one Christmas Eve and the boat
pretty much just parked there without leaning until high tide, despite
the wind).
6. It's easy to balance the boat with the sails. The boat can pretty much sail herself when it is well balanced.
7. The low profile makes for much less windage, yet there is still plenty of head room and storage space inside.
8. The great access to the engine is an amazing plus.
9.
It was strongly built by a reputable shipyard and we were amazed to see
how thick the hull is and there is no delamination of fiberglass
anywhere.
Interior
This is the area where most of time and effort was spent. The original
cabinetry work was no doubt gorgeous but it was in bad shape from years
of being exposed to moisture. In process of taking the old plywood out
the sellers noticed they were mostly delaminating because it was cabinet
grade plywood instead of marine grade plywood. To take the old ones out
and to install new ones was a lot of hard work because it required
extensive fiberglass grinding and large sheets of plywood were very
heavy and awkward to deal with.
The current owners bought a set of blueprints from Bob Perry and kept the original layout of the interior.
More than 90% of wood inside is brand new.
All the plywood we used for the sole and bulkheads is marine grade plywood.
All the plywood edges were sealed with Epoxy glue, even the edges of
all the holes we drilled for plumbing or wiring. This is a very time
consuming job because there were so many of them but they did it so
moisture won't penetrate into the wood through the edges.
All the stringers are either clear cypress or red oak.
All the wood was sealed with varnish or two or three coats of epoxy.
All the fiberglass we used to attach the wood to the hull is 1708
cloth and 2:1 epoxy. No polyester since it doesn't adhere to wood well.
The old sole including all the supporting stringers underneath were
stripped out completely. New larger stringers were sealed with epoxy
and fiberglassed to the hull with high density closed cell foam
underneath the ends to prevent hard spots.
3/4" marine plywood was
screwed and glued to the stringers, then fiberglassed to the hull with
two layers of cloth all the way around. 90% of the bulkheads have been
replaced.
The major bulkheads were replaced with 3/4" plywood while the minor ones were replaced with 1/2" plywood.
They even replaced the plywood core inside the three bulkheads in the keel and the bulkheads for the chain plates. Major work!
All the bulkheads were attached to the hull with two to five layers of fiberglass tabbing from the top to the bottom.
1/4" thick high density closed cell foam was placed between the bulkheads and the hull or the deck to prevent hard spots.
The cabinets: All the doors are original. Most of the drawers are original except the two drawers for the chart table.
All the latches are new, most of the hinges are new.
The counter closest to the transmission detachable in case you need more access to the transmission one day.
They also did away with the toe relief underneath the settee and the dinette to gain more storage space.
The settee and the dinette was raised to a more comfortable height for sitting and also to gain storage space.
They also made the makeup table detachable for access to the strut bolts and more access to the engine from the back.
The finish: While the owners do love the look of teak they found that
too much would make it too dark inside. The overall interior is red oak
with teak trim. They also lightened the place with some white vinyl or
Formica finishes.
The wood finish has six coats of Epifanes varnish.
All the counter tops and the table tops and some of the shelves were
covered with Formica. As much as we like natural wood it could be too
much to take care of on a boat so they decided to go with teak and holly
vinyl as the finish for the sole. So far they have really liked the
look and the feel of the vinyl floor. It tends to be pretty durable too.
There are all new cushions on both front and aft berth.
INBOARD & PROPULSION
1. The owners of Welan are proud of the work they did to the
inboard engine, Perkins 4-236, which is basically like new. 84 hp is
much better suited for the boat than the original engine.
2.
The engine control is located at the pedestal in the cockpit. All new
control panel, new throttle control lever and shift lever
.
3. You can also start the engine from down below in the engine room to make it easier for troubleshooting.
4.
The pistons and rings are well within specs as you would expect for a
rebuilt engine, the head and the injection pump were rebuilt recently.
5. All new hoses including exhaust hose.
6. New muffler.
7. New rear main seal.
8. New heat exchanger and oil cooler, and we always stayed on top of changing the zincs.
9. Most of hardware is new.
10.
Dual fuel system, completely redundant from tank to engine. Two new
custom stainless tanks, two filters, two electrical pumps and a
selection manifold for choosing combination or for transferring fuel
between tanks. Each tank has a sump at the lowest point and a system to
pump from the sump to check condition of fuel. Fuel level indicator for
each tank. Sump pump also pumps oil from engine for simple oil changes.
Fuel capacity 110 gals.
11. New blower motor.
12. Engine room is newly insulated with 3/4" thick insulation from Soundproof Cow.
13.
New IOOamp Balmar alternator with its own smart regulator, and has a
serpentine belt conversion kit for the alternator which is almost worry
free once it's tensioned right.
14. A specially made removable piece on one wall in case anybody needs to drop and remove the oil pan.
15. All new motor mounts.
16. Everything that needs to be changed or worked on periodically was moved to the front so we have greater access.
17.
Borg Warner transmission was removed from engine and totally rebuilt.
All bearings, seals, gaskets, bushings and pressure plates replaced. All
gearing inspected and checked for wear and damage. Shaft coupler was
newly machined. The overall runout of the prop shaft is less than .003
inches.
18. New prop shaft, new shaft saver and dripless (Shaft Seal).
Deck
1. The teak on the
deck was removed by the previous owner and the current owners removed
all the teak on the cabin top, in the cockpit and on the toe rail. Even
got rid of the teak hatch bases. The only teak on the deck is a few
spacers we put in for deck hardware.
2. The teak
toerail is one major source of leakage for old boats and they are
extremely difficult to fix. We decided to remove them and fiberglass the
deck and hull joint. We consulted with Bob Perry (boat designer) and
his answer was: "it's the best way to go except it's very labor
intensive." To stop those leaks permanently and to eliminate the forever
chore of teak varnishing we chose the hard way. We replaced all the
deck and hull joint bolts with new hardware, faired out the joint,
fiberglassed the entire toerail with six layers of 1708 fiberglass cloth
and isophthalic resin (each layer was wider the previous layer and the
last layer went all the way from the deck to the top of the green
stripe). Glassed in a piece of plastic lumber on the
side for
the rub rail to screw into. From design to the finish this is a
masterpiece and one of a kind. Plus, the deck and hull joint is super
strong now.
3. Brand new 1" wide stainless steel rub rail.
4.
Everywhere we pulled teak off a layer of fiberglass was added to the
top to eliminate all the screw holes from the teak having been removed.
5. Re-cored the soft spots on the deck and the whole deck is very solid.
6.
The core in places where the two primary winches mount was replaced
with solid fiberglass without any core. These two winches have to handle
a tremendous load in a heavy blow.
7. Pretty
much everything on the deck or cabin is bolted down instead of screwed
down. Even the hatches and windows are all bolted down.
8. All new Lexan in all windows.
9.
Pretty much everywhere there is a bolt going through was filled with
solid fiberglass around the holes to eliminate potential leaks from
penetrating the core. All the exposed core from drilling holes (deck
fills, the mast, and the windlass or wire holes under the arch bases)
were sealed with fiberglass.
10. Most of deck
hardware sits on a raised section made with fiberglass to stop standing
water from going through bolt holes for less potential for leaking.
11. New AwlCraft paint on the top side and the hull, fleet white and forest green.
12.
All the horizontal surfaces have nonskid, the majority of which is
nonskid mixed in the paint while the bow section and the aft deck have
the more aggressive diamond shaped nonskid.
13.
All the hatch bases were custom built in place with fiberglass, which
means there is no more rotten wood left under the hatches. Many people
are in awe of these fiberglass bases.
14. A
fiberglass sugar scoop was added to the original transom. The floor is
solid fiberglass without any core. The floor has plenty of supports
built in underneath so it's very steady. Two storage boxes are
fiberglassed to the original transom and the new sugar scoop; they also
function as two seats on the back end and the step up to the deck. The
whole thing is built so strong that it won't have any problem with waves
from behind. This is another one of our engineering marvels.
15. Handrails, cleats and a swimming ladder are bolted somewhere on the sugar scoop for convenience.
16.
Custom built fiberglass scuppers are flush with the deck and they drain
the water on the deck off fast even in heavy rain or waves. The
original ones were above the deck after the teak was removed.
DECK HARDWARE
1. New stainless steel pulpit.
2. All new stanchion bases and new lifelines with all new lifeline fittings.
3.
New pushpit with built in seats. And the pushpit is all bolted down.
Originally part of it was screwed down on the deck and the welds were in
horrible condition. The new pushpit is rock solid.
4.
New aluminum arch for solar panels and other equipment. The pushpit and
lifelines are tied to the arch so it's very strong. The arch has custom
built bases welded on the legs and they are all bolted through the
deck. All the wires and cables go through the inside of the tubing as in
conduit. The design of this section is another one of the sellers major
engineering marvels.
5. All the deck lockers are equipped with new hinges and new flush mount latches.
6. New t tracks for the jib sheets.
7. Extra heavy duty cleat added on the bow.
8. The two rear cleats are moved to the top of the toe rail so they work better for spring lines.
9. New stainless steel handrails, no more teak handrails to take care of.
10. New foldable cockpit table attached to the pedestal.
11.
Fairly new cockpit enclosure and dodger, well supported and solid. You
can unzip the center piece of the Bimini quickly to work on the main
sail or to see what's ahead of you when you are docking.
12. New sunbrella covers for the winches, windlass and all the hatches.
Electronics
- Garmin 4012 Chartplotter
- Standard Horizon GX2150 VHF with in mast RG4 antenna cable
- Garmin GHC 20 autopilot
- Garmin depth sounder
Electrical
1. Three battery banks:
- Two Lifeline 4D AGM house batteries, 210Ah each.
- One Lifeline group 31 AGM windlass battery.
- One group 31 lead acid battery for starting the engine.
2.
You can switch to the windlass battery for an emergency starting
battery. You can also switch to engine starting
battery for using as emergency house battery.
3. All batteries are fused for safety.
4. All of the batteries are in battery boxes that are bolted down and have a clear protective cover.
5. Three different ways to charge the batteries: shore power, solar, and the engine alternator.
6. (2016) Promariner smart battery charger charges from shore power, 40 amp output capacity, and charges all batteries.
7. New alternator with smart regulator from the engine, 100amp charges all of the batteries.
8.
Two 280w solar panels (installed in December 2016) with smart
controller can have an output as high as 35 amps under direct sunlight,
has its own monitor, and charges the house batteries.
9. All old the old wires have been removed and replaced with new marine grade wires including the 2/0 cables for the windlass.
10. A total remodel of the chart table area including:
-
The electrical panel is hinged so you can unlatch the panel and get to
work. You have excellent access to all of the circuit breakers and
terminal boards.
- The panel for mounting electronics is also hinged allowing you to open it for access to the wires behind the panel.
Plumbing
1. All the old hoses are out of the boat even the ones buried underneath, like the ones for the two shower drains.
2.
All the hoses and pex pipes in the boat now are new! No matter what
they are for, water, fuel, oil, exhaust, sanitation, etc. everything is
up to marine grade requirements.
3. Galley sink
drains straight over board, the two bathroom sinks and the two showers
drain into a sump box down in the keel. No gray water goes into the
bilge!
4. The boat has a toilet in each head,
one composting head(Air Head) and one manual marine toilet. The
composting toilet is still pretty new and it is very convenient
sometimes. The manual marine toilet is brand new, including the toilet,
the holding tank, the deck pump out, the vent and all the plumbing, not a
single piece in the whole system is not new!
5. All the hot and cold water lines for drinkable water are mostly pex pipes.
6. All the hoses connected to the thruhulls under waterline are double clamped with 316 stainless steel clamps.
RIGGING & SAILING
1. New Seldon mast, boom and rigging were installed in 2005, still in great condition.
2.
All new chain plates except the one for the back stay. The new chain
plates are all 316 stainless steel. All new hardware inside the boat for
bolting down the chain plates. Even the chain plate for a future inner
stay is brand new.
3. The rigging is properly tensioned with tension gauge. The tension gauge will come with the boat for convenience.
4. The aluminum mast step in the bilge is in excellent condition.
5. Where the mast goes through the deck is reinforced with liquid plastic.
6. The mast is sealed with EPDM rubber and it lasts for many years before it needs to be replaced.
7.
The main sail has been fixed last year. The main sail has three reefing
points. The main sail sheet is controlled in the cockpit. The main sail
has a brand new stack pack which makes it much easier to put the sail
away.
BOTTOM
1. There are no blisters on the bottom after being in the water for
three years. We fixed all the blisters with fiberglass instead of
putty.
2. Rudder is rebuilt and it's solid. We
actually opened up the part that was damaged and replaced the core. We
threaded a stainless steel threaded rod in the stainless steel plate
inside the rudder for mounting the zinc so no water can get inside the
rudder.
3. Added fiberglass to the front end
and bottom of the keel. Even added a couple layers of fiberglass where
the keel and the hull meet for additional strength.
4. Added a couple of layers of fiberglass where the skeg meets the hull for additional strength.
5. New Interlux epoxy barrier coats, three coats on the whole bottom.
6. New heavy duty bronze strut for the shaft since we didn't like the original stainless steel strut.
7.
Replaced the prop shaft and added a cutlass bearing inside the stern
tube for additional support of the shaft. The shaft was long enough to
require another support to meet the 20/40 rule of shaft support.
8.
Reduced the number of thruhulls under waterline to a maximum of six,
five of which are 1-1/4" and one of which is 1-1/2". They are easy to
locate and all thruhulls and ball valves are brand new bronze ones (All
the ball valves under waterline are made by Buck Algonquin). All the
deleted thruhulls were fixed in the correct way, the holes were dished
out and then layers of fiberglass were bonded to the hull inside and
outside with Vinyl Ester resin.(the best polyester resin)
9.
Installed two three feet long bronze lightening protection plates, one
on each side of the keel. The mast, the riggings and the metal tanks are
tied to the plates.
10. New bronze transducer for the depth sounder and it works great.
STEERING
1. The whole steering pedestal in the cockpit has been newly
painted and re-bedded. Replaced the teak base with fiberglass, one less
piece of old teak to take care of!
2. Brand new steering cable and chain. Both cables are very well attached and aligned.
3. Rudder post is very well attached on the top and the packing for the rudder shaft is new.
4.
The linear hydraulic ram is strongly attached to the rudder post and
the bulkhead mount is a custom stainless mounting plate of our own
design.
REFRIGERATION
1. Cool Blue 12V refrigeration system, which draws about 3.5amps on average while running and it runs about 12 hours a day.
3.
The drain on the bottom of the freezer side has been fiberglassed over;
any holes for mounting the old unit have been fiberglassed over, so it
doesn't leak any cold air through any unnecessary holes.
4. Added muffin fans on both the fridge and the freezer side for more cold air circulation.
5. Raised the opening for the lids so no water on the counter would leak into the box.
6.
Replaced the foam insulation in the two lids as well. The two lids are
hinged so you never have to look for a place to put the lids.
7. Added temperature gauge for both the fridge and the freezer side so you know the temperature inside at a glance.
8. Added an hour meter for the compressor and you can reset it when needed.
LIGHTING
1. The boat has very sufficient lighting inside and outside. The flood lights on the spreader and the arch are very bright.
2. All the lights are LED, including the lights on the masthead.
3. All the fixtures and bulbs are new! Just the lights from Marine Beam cost around $1400 in total.
AIR FLOW
1.
The boat gets lots of air through the hatches and the port lights which
are all Lewmar products and they replaced the original in 1995. They
are still in pretty good condition and leak free.
2. All of the old leaky cowl vents and the holes were removed and fiber glassed over.
3. One solar vent in the hatch over the aft cabin.
4. One muffin fan pulls air out through the side of the cabin top.
5. Six 12v air circulation fans located at different parts of the boat.
Safety
1. New dinghy: 9' inflatable, made by AB, has an aluminum v bottom,
fits on the foredeck really well, and has a custom made sunbrella
cover.
2. Life raft: Winslow 60ULO, Jun-2010, 6 persons.
3. EPIRB
BONDING & GROUNDING
1. Everything on the boat that needs to be bonded is very well bonded; the common point for bonding is the zinc on the rudder.
2.
The mast, most of the rigging, the metal tanks are tied together to the
grounding plates beside the keel for lightening protection.
3.
Installed a 30Amp isolation transformer, which isolates the ground from
the dock so the zincs on the bottom last longer than a year before we
need to replace them.
BILGE
1. The whole bilge is very clean. (This is very uncommon for an old boat.)
2. The bilge is pretty much dry since there aren't any leaks.
3.
Four bilge pumps with individual vented loops up high, two electrical
ones and two manual ones. One electrical pump is triggered by an
electrical float switch while the other one is triggered by a mechanical
float switch. One manual pump is operated from the engine room while
the other one is handled from the cockpit.
4.
One mechanical float switch triggers the first high water alarm. The
other mechanical float switch at a higher level triggers the second
alarm which is very loud.
5. All the vented
loops for bilge pumps are located close to the centerline of the boat
and they are close to the cabin top level so you can safely run bilge
pumps in really rough seas.
6. Custom made removable
board underneath the engine and the transmission to stop trash or parts
from falling in the bilge (this is very useful!).
TANKS
1. All the tanks are new! And they can all be taken out of the boat without cutting the floor or the deck!
2. All the deck fills and vents are new!
3. All the hoses and clamps are new!
4.
Two aluminum fuel tanks located in the keel, one 50 gallons and one 60
gallons. Each tank has its own deck fill. An electric sump pump can pump
fuel from the bottom of the tanks for checking the fuel. Each has a
level sensor and the level gauges are conveniently located by the chart
table.
5. Three water tanks: one 60 gallons
stainless steel tank located in the keel, two 35 gallons bladder tanks
located underneath the aft bunk. The stainless steel tank has its own
deck fill while the two bladder tanks share a deck fill. The stainless
steel tank also has a level sensor built in and the water level gauge is
by the chart table.
6. One 40 gallon fiberglass holding tank for the front head.
7. Two fiberglass propane tanks in a deck locker, brand new.
Ground Tackle
1. New Maxwell 1500 (new in 2015) windlass and it works great for
the boat. The remote control switch for the windlass is right beside the
pedestal in the cockpit. Also there is a wireless remote control for
the windlass, with which you can raise and lower the anchor from
anywhere on the deck.
2. Bow roller plate for the anchor has been polished and completely re-bedded and the old rusty hardware was all replaced.
3. 120ft of 5/16" HT chain, brand new. Also two brand new 651b Bruce anchors and brand new heavy duty swivel.
4. A 401b spare plow anchor, almost brand new.
Disclaimer
The Company offers the
details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the
accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A
buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to investigate such
details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject
to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.