Your wife’s plans may be much more sinister than you think.
My boat is five years older than yours, and has certainly had her share of structural projects over the years, but with no sentimental value attached to this boat from your side even I see no point of this restoration project, with or without your impressive shop facilities.
Not suggesting it cannot be done. Not suggesting that you can’t do it. But regardless of cost I think it will dawn on you that the end result (a 45-year-old 27’ boat) will not be a good use of 500+ hours of anybody’s time when there are thousands of boats available that need work but that are starting in sailable condition. Whether you prefer the sailing part of sailboat ownership, or the maintenance part of it, those are better starting points.
And I think my 500 hour guess is optimistic. Core repair, bulkhead replacement, chain plate fabrication, standing and running rigging replacement, engine rehab, quadrant diagnosis, rudder analysis, rewiring, sole replacement, deck painting, keel rebedding...whew. Almost every one of those by itself is an ambitious winter/spring project for us who haul out at the end of the season.
If you go with Plan B, salvaging, I suggest you hire a food taster too because your wife may also have a Plan B in mind.
My boat is five years older than yours, and has certainly had her share of structural projects over the years, but with no sentimental value attached to this boat from your side even I see no point of this restoration project, with or without your impressive shop facilities.
Not suggesting it cannot be done. Not suggesting that you can’t do it. But regardless of cost I think it will dawn on you that the end result (a 45-year-old 27’ boat) will not be a good use of 500+ hours of anybody’s time when there are thousands of boats available that need work but that are starting in sailable condition. Whether you prefer the sailing part of sailboat ownership, or the maintenance part of it, those are better starting points.
And I think my 500 hour guess is optimistic. Core repair, bulkhead replacement, chain plate fabrication, standing and running rigging replacement, engine rehab, quadrant diagnosis, rudder analysis, rewiring, sole replacement, deck painting, keel rebedding...whew. Almost every one of those by itself is an ambitious winter/spring project for us who haul out at the end of the season.
If you go with Plan B, salvaging, I suggest you hire a food taster too because your wife may also have a Plan B in mind.
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