Princess 45 Refit

Well spotted, she has TAMD71As, 2 cabins and the dinette, which suits our needs better than the 3 cabin version.
Dinette definitely the better layout unless you really need three cabins, it really opens out the lower deck and galley area, plus you can sleep on a converted dinette at a push anyway. 71A engines (358hp if I remember correctly) are a good match for the boat, it's an easily driven hull compared to modern boats. Used to push on toward 30 knots when new I recall.

That will be a great boat when it's finished, best of luck with it!
 
Easter weekend 2022, sitting in the cockpit looking at a friends boat advert, being nosey. Peering over my shoulder Mrs Rs eye is drawn to an ad’ for a Princess 45, looking through the brokers pictures it looks quite nice and we have to pass by the marina she’s in on the way home, may as well stop for a look. She’s been sitting idle for two years, looking a bit grubby, but should clean up.

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After a closer look and a few hours crawling though every corner of the boat, she's basically solid and the engines, generator etc are in very good condition. But finding lots of minor things that don't work or need updating and very dated electronics, most of which also don't work. Fast forward to the end of May, after some negotiations on the price and a sea trial, we're taking delivery and being lifted out.

Not too bad after two years.

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Looking better now though.

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Still looking grubby up here.

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A weekend with the polisher, sanded the go faster stripes off and repainted them with more modern colours.

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Time to get back in the water and make a start inside.
BTW go faster stripes, according to an episode of Top Year, actually do make things go faster.
 
Dinette definitely the better layout unless you really need three cabins, it really opens out the lower deck and galley area, plus you can sleep on a converted dinette at a push anyway. 71A engines (358hp if I remember correctly) are a good match for the boat, it's an easily driven hull compared to modern boats. Used to push on toward 30 knots when new I recall.

That will be a great boat when it's finished, best of luck with it!
My partner works from home some days, so the dinette is her office.

Did 28kts on the sea trial but we tend to run at displacement speed a lot, about 10 knots if the tide is right, or 20 knots if on the plane.
 
Back in the water, for the first time in our ownership, we (my partner Susan and I) need to get the boat habitable, as we will be living aboard. We also need to get it equipped and usable for safe use at sea, as we will be using it whilst carrying out the refit. Rather than concentrating on completely finishing an area/cabin I’ve gone over the boat, doing the important bits, then over again doing the next important bits. All the time keeping the boat usable and seaworthy. First job is to get rid of several bin bags of rubbish and the give whole boat a thorough clean.

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Not sure that we have enough bin bags!

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Oops, we made a clean spot! The whole boat was this dirty, at least.

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With all of the rubbish in the bin and a good clean we actually have somewhere to sit now.

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What's in a name ?

The previous owner renamed the boat from “Golf Mike Tango” to “Bessie M” after his late mother.

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That’s rather personal to him, so we decided to change it. Susans star sign is Capricorn, which didn’t sound quite right. I am partial to some sci-fi and the planets in the sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica are all named after our star signs, Virgon, Scorpia, Caprica… There was even a spin-off series called Caprica, which has its own font as well! So “Caprica” it is.

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love it!

having spent so much time helping my mate fix various el./nav. bits in his P45 (3cabin version though) it all looks way too familiar. Mind his has a small drinks fridge in the salon where yours has the wine rack. That fridge was another cause of problems though as there's no space for proper ventilation :-(

cheers

V
 
love it!

having spent so much time helping my mate fix various el./nav. bits in his P45 (3cabin version though) it all looks way too familiar. Mind his has a small drinks fridge in the salon where yours has the wine rack. That fridge was another cause of problems though as there's no space for proper ventilation :-(

cheers

V
There should be a cupboard where the wine rack is, someone cut the front of the cupboard out and put the wine rack in, it's cheap and nasty, i'll be reinstating the cupboard. There's some el/nav stuff to follow, so you won't feel left out ;)
 
What's in a name ?

The previous owner renamed the boat from “Golf Mike Tango” to “Bessie M” after his late mother.

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That’s rather personal to him, so we decided to change it. Susans star sign is Capricorn, which didn’t sound quite right. I am partial to some sci-fi and the planets in the sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica are all named after our star signs, Virgon, Scorpia, Caprica… There was even a spin-off series called Caprica, which has its own font as well! So “Caprica” it is.

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Ill dig out my anorak for you no problem and you can pop some sci-fi badges on it 😘
 
I'm sure it'll make a great live aboard, we have the Fairline version, a 45 Sedan (1991) and are liveaboards.
This has the dinette as well which makes great sense as it gives more space, engines are 71b's which have been very reliable but maybe a little under powered.
Excuse the mess, took the photo this morning before leaving for work.
Good luck with everything.






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The original steel tanks had been replaced five years previously, with a nice set of Tek Tanks. Unfortunately, the fill hose was a few inches short, so the cowboy that fitted them chopped it in half and fitted a smaller size hose on the inside, but when you filled the tanks, water leaked badly from the shoddy join, ruining some of the ply floor, seen here delaminated. The previous owner blamed his wife for the water in the locker, said she always spilled a load when she filled the tanks! So, out with the tanks. The plumbing was also a mess, so that went in the skip and new pushfit pipes were fitted, including a filter (additional filters at the galley sink) and a stop tap.

Top left corner, the sound deadening is hanging down and turns to dust when you handle it. The diesel heater exhaust is redundant, so in the skip. Just out of shot, bottom left, is the generator diesel filter, which is dripping. Some replacement fuel lines here, along with a primer bulb and it’s all good.

Good silencer, the boat is nice and quiet. The exhaust hoses leading to both silencers were on their last legs and both leaked, so were changed, along with the securing clamps.

The port trim tab only worked one way, now was a good time to investigate. Found a wire underneath the floorboards had come unclipped, dropped into the bilge, which had water in it from the leaking fill hose and water had got into the wire, corroding it and wicking quite a distance in either direction. A nice cheap fix, but a pain running a new wire from the transom to the lower helm!

A lot of work caused by a bodged fill hose, which cost about £15 to replace with a new one.

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Some new plywood and a couple of coats of paint. That’s the generator in the corner.

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Powered by a Volvo MD2002, may as well give it a service while the locker is empty.

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A couple of coats of paint everywhere, new sound deadening and some vinyl flooring from the local flooring centre offcut department.

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The locker lid needs some attention.

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A wire brush on an angle grinder sorted it.

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Followed by a coat of paint and some sound deadening.

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Need to make better use of the wasted space around the water tanks. Also fitted a small battery charger for the generator battery.

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Some Really Useful boxes for storage and some gutter brackets for fishing rods etc.

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