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Boat Improvement continues.....

Thought I would share a few pictures of more mile stones reached so far in my refit. I have finished the head liner finally. I had to first install deck hardware that this boat did not have (two blocks for lines from the mast, turning blocks, rope clutch and winch) and install new hand rails that I thru bolted.

The last picture is test fitting a corian top to the galley. This has a lid for access to a thru hull seacock. I do not know if I will try to utilize the existing sink or put in a stainless 8 to 9" sink. I also have to put back the teak trim. I have also added more night lights for the sole, accent lights under down both sides under the trim in galley, salon and aft berth, nav station and pilot berth. I have also added wall lamps in the vee berth and pilot bunk. All are operated from different switch on the distribution panel I installed from Blue Sea.
 

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John,
Your boat looks great. It looks as though you are restoring it to original condition.
Nice job.
 
I love your ports NFM for sure ! And that Corian OMG you have hit the nail on the head. Great job.
 
I will send the final picture on the head redo after this weekend. I thought about hinges on the little hatch but then I am afraid the screw holes so near the edge of the opening may break the corian. So I will have a hole in the middle to put up the hatch to get to the thru hull seacocks.

On the wiring, I added a new blue sea panel and used the existing wiring but took a lot of wiring out that was running into the old panel for instruments I have taken out that was no longer working. ( ie...old electronics long ago broken). However if you look at your wiring, it is spliced a gillion times. That blew me away. So I did away with much of the splicing it had from the factory. For one set of lights, I added a junction in a closet where I have all the lamp lighting run to. the wire going to that junction is protected by the breaker switch on the panel. In all, I have 4 separate switches on the panel for lighting. One for overhead lighting, one for the night lights (added one light to the vee area), one for the indirect lighting under the side decks inside boat, and one for the wall lamps (added two wall lamps in vee). For the vee, to hide the wire on the bulkhead, I made a groove with a router and then covered that with a teak stip so it is barely noticeable.

Here's another improvement I carried out last weekend. It took a day to do it. My companionway hatch had been so hard to push open and over time has been cutting into the gelcoat good bit. This is where the hatch was gliding back and forth on the boat trunk. I took off the hood and glued a runner strip along side the hatch opening where the hatch glides on the boat. The plastic strip is from a plastic board called polywall I got from Homedepo. It is thin but strong as the devil. I glued that strip down and then glued strips on the narrow underside of the hatch itself. So I have the polywall material sliding on itself. You can open the hatch now with one finger it's so smooth. Plus it is not cutting a rut any longer in the gelcoat. Looks great too. So the strip is between the teak trim holding the hatch in place and the companion opening. I'll shoot a picture of that and will post that too.
 
Am I missing something? I see 5 pictures above, the last one appears to be the head. I don't see any of the galley, or is it me?
 
Bert - you're right, that's the head. Maybe he mixed up the photos ...

John - that all looks great, and thanks for the photos!

Question: how did you cut that hatch into the Corian? I'll be doing that this fall in the head and in the galley for my fridge opening.
 
I meant to say Head in my initial post. sorry. I do have galley pictures that I posted on another thread, don't remember where. I will repost.

ON the head hatch, I had two separate pieces of corian. To make the round corner cut openings, use a 2 inch or so drill bit, like one for installing a lock in a door. So you drill the 4 corner holes and then use a jig saw for the straight cuts. For the hatch, I used just the jig saw. I cut out the hatch first and then marked out the hatch on top on the counter top, then cut out the opening.
 
John,
I tried calling you today. I left a message on your voicemail. You are welcome to join me on a sail on Lake Pontchartrain if the weather permits on Saturday.
 
Just got in from the Harbor. I was actually thinking of calling you Thomas to see your boat. Been meaning to do that for sometime. This Saturday however I will be at the Gulfport Harbor playing guitar, a welcome home party for a sailing couple from St. Pete returning to Gulfport. If you are incline to join us in Gulfport, would like to have you hang with sailors and skalawag power boaters. The Harbor is first rate. Built with FEMA money after Katrina. I would like to visit you soon however and ck out your boat in Mandeville and sail lake Pontchartrain. I've not sailed there before. Your message must be on my cell. I will give you a call tomorrow.
 
John,
I'm farmiliar with the Gulfport Harbor. Very nice. I did the Gulfport to Pensacola race a couple of months ago on a friend's boat.
You are welcome to join us anytime for a day sail on the lake.
 
Corian comes in half inch thick sheets 4 ft wide 10 ft long aprox 940.00 a sheet cutting tools should be carbide saws and router bits. I have been looking into the same project There are sites who sell left over scraps. Just be sure the pattern is the one you want . If you do butt joints you have to purchase there matching silicone glue. Its attached with Silicone glue , not epoxy. It needs to slightly flex with boat movement !
 
Here are pictures of the finish head counter top, light fixture that I converted to LED and new seacocks install with my homemade backing plates. The seacock picture is from the hatch opening. Now I have to hook up the plumbing. ( I made a mistake with cutting the finger hole for the hatch and pick up a larger bit than intended, but it works.)
 

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Thanks for the photos. The head Corian counter top looks great ... I'm gonna do that this winter. Like Lee brought up above, I bought a 'remnant' piece of Corian for the galley counter & will have some left over. Perfect for our head counter, which currently looks a little ratty. Our existing is part of a molded fiberglass unit that includes the walls, sink, hatch, etc. Our sink has some damage that would be very difficult to fix. Cutting it out & replacing the whole counter would be the way to go, I think.

Was your head counter part of a fiberglass piece that included the walls, etc.? If so, did you cut out the counter, or just lay over it & cut out the sink?

Thanks
Mark
 
My head compartment is one molded piece of fiberglass with the sink molded into the countertop. It was stained, chipped and ugly. In doing this, I only cut out what was necessary to drop in the stainless sink in. You need the fiberglass that is not cut out to act as a rim to hold the sink. I bought an $80 sink from Lowes, cut an edge for a lip, and then glued it on top of the fiberglass opening. Then the corian went on top of that. The Corian was a left over piece from a countertop company but they still charged me about $130 for it. I made a template out of thick paper so I would get the size right. You will have to round the bottom edge of the corian where fits against the wall because the molded fiberglass top is rounded at the corners. That way it fits flush. By the way, you want to cut the Hatch larger than your original opening so that the opening can provide a lip for the corian hatch to sit on. It will not fall in the opening.
 
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Here are pictures of the finish head counter top, light fixture that I converted to LED and new seacocks install with my homemade backing plates. The seacock picture is from the hatch opening. Now I have to hook up the plumbing. ( I made a mistake with cutting the finger hole for the hatch and pick up a larger bit than intended, but it works.)
Would you happen to have the measurements of that piece? In including the sink and garbage cover etc.? Also what faucet you used? Is it available in brass?
 
I had a 14" by 40" but you will need a separate piece for the hatch. The hatch is another 12" rough, so I would have them cut you a 14 by 52 inch piece. I don't remember if the faucet came in brass. This one is brass inside but with stainless cover., cost is about $100 if I recall correctly.
 
I had a 14" by 40" but you will need a separate piece for the hatch. The hatch is another 12" rough, so I would have them cut you a 14 by 52 inch piece. I don't remember if the faucet came in brass. This one is brass inside but with stainless cover., cost is about $100 if I recall correctly.
Looks great! Thanks
 
In the head , the opening next to the sink is a Clothing Hamper ! You are free to use it for garbage if you wish
 
Here are some other improvements. I planed down the aft hatch cover and the anchor locker covers and epoxied teak 1/4 inch thick strips and will be caulking them soon and re-setting them back on Quest. Also changed out the deck fill fittings for the fuel, water and waste. By the way, don't use gorilla tape to cover something on gelcoat. As you will see, it plays havoc on a finish of any kind. It pulled up the gelcoat down to the glass. Learned my lesson. I changed out the fittings not only because they looked old and bad on the deck, they required 2 inch hoses which I wanted to get away from. Went with 1 1/2 inch. Because the hole from the old fitting was larger than necessary for the new fittings, I cut marine ply to fit the hole, epoxied them in, then used a hole saw for the correct size hole for the new fitting so i would have solid material to screw into. Now I will apply gelcoat to fix what gorilla tape left me when i covered the hole no more than a week while I purchased the fitting.
 

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Thought I would share a few pictures of more mile stones reached so far in my refit. I have finished the head liner finally. I had to first install deck hardware that this boat did not have (two blocks for lines from the mast, turning blocks, rope clutch and winch) and install new hand rails that I thru bolted.

The last picture is test fitting a corian top to the galley. This has a lid for access to a thru hull seacock. I do not know if I will try to utilize the existing sink or put in a stainless 8 to 9" sink. I also have to put back the teak trim. I have also added more night lights for the sole, accent lights under down both sides under the trim in galley, salon and aft berth, nav station and pilot berth. I have also added wall lamps in the vee berth and pilot bunk. All are operated from different switch on the distribution panel I installed from Blue Sea.
beautiful work. Really like the countertop in head. Have you set up a new holding tank, or are you still using the original in the keel?
 
Sorry for the delay in responding, I 've been MIA on this site due to work but thank you for your comments.

I have decided to stay with the holding tank design. Although it is odd to me to have so many fitting points on top of the holding tank to allow a leak, I like the fact that weight is being diverted below into the keel. So for now, I am staying the holding tank in the keel.
 
Along the same line of boat improvements, I will mention that last week took off the pedestal to clean it up, get it to turn more easily and to repaint. The wheel was hard to turn even without the cable connection. I took off the cables which allowed me to remove the entire helm, disassembled as much as I could and I have cleaned it. The bearings are plastic and after a good cleaning with steel wool and lubrication, the wheel shaft turns easily. This why I had to take it off to get it to my garage to really inspect it and get it working properly. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can reconnect every thing as there are several moving parts to this disassembly. Before doing so, I plan to dropped the rudder in order to put in the PSS dripless seal. Once that is done, I will get the quadrant back on, reconnect cables to helm and put it back in place.

While I have the pedestal out, I am taking it to a auto body shop and get them to repaint it in gloss white. Hope to get a report on all of this in a few weeks.
 
Wow your work in the head is amazing. Looks great .I know that was alot of work for that to look like it was born there. Wish you lived closer I could use your knowledge !
 
John, I would like to change out the fluorescent light in my head with LED. Can you give a quick explanation of that work? I can do some basic electrical work, so if it is not too complicated I might be able to accomplish it. Thanks
 
Hi Terry - John, sorry to butt in here, but I did our head light w/LEDs too. Basically gutted the inside of the fixture "downstream" from the switch. This involved drilling out some rivets, etc. Then got some LED strips from West Marine with adhesive backs (about $60 as I recall), mounted them & used heat shrink butt splices to connect wires. It was one of the easier boat jobs I've done. Probably took about 30 minutes & they look great, use way less juice. You're welcome to come on over to PYC & have a look if you'd like. I'd ply you with some beer to hear about your big voyage to Mexico, French Polynesia, Hawaii, etc.

It looks to me like John might have used individual LED bulbs, which looks great too.
 
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Pretty much the same as how Mark did his. I used WM's LED kit of 10 lights. Used only 5. Cut the wires and spliced them with heat shrink. The wire is very thin. Then I used a lighted switch. The same fixture was used that was in the boat but did not use the teak frame. I had to cut the frame as it was too wide to fit in the cavity of the opening. It's all trial and error, mostly the later, with me on my redo, plus as I indicated in a post, this site has helped me get things done. Getting closer to the finish mark, but still a ways away.
 
Omg, head sink and counter is awesome... woodwork, headliner, fabulous. pO of my boat revarnished and had over brush on the white vinyl of headliner... Aarrgghh!
 
Well it looks as if my splash date will be postponed. I had a friend who is a wizard diesel mechanic take a look at the 3QM30F and although he thought it is a beast of an engine, he wanted to make it run and look better. Yes $$$ for parts and I can confirm there are no water pumps available. I am told by a Yanmar distributor, only one manifold left in USA. I bought the other one. I ordered the manifold and it came in a couple of weeks ago. the original, I can't understand how it got water to the elbow riser. The back end of the manifold was almost solid rust. I ruined a good long screw driver getting the rust out of the water jacket portion of the old manifold and still not clear. Moving from there, he started taking off parts to clean inside and recondition them. Alternator was taken to an alternator shop as the charge light would come on and a well known shop in my area brought it back to life and it looks new. He will make adjustments to the valve and other things I really did not know about but there will be more work to be done on the Yanmar even though it was running like a singer sowing machine before all this. Here are a few pictures of before and after.
 

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The first picture is some of the wet rust and carbon I got out with a screw driver from the manifold. That was not all of it I can assure you. There was more. I think it is still usable but i have already made the plunge to buy the new manifold so that's that. The other pictures are parts after bead blasting, priming, painting and clear coating. I ordered all new gaskets, some were no longer available, but most were still available. All hoses will be replaced. The small curved hoses you can by with curves that match, only too long which you can cut to fit. My water muffler had plenty of rust bits rattling inside when i took it off and shook it and so I replaced it and now have all new exhaust hoses and new exhaust fitting. I moved the fitting up where it can be seen if one looks over the stern rail. My heat exchanger was steamed washed clean. I had previously barnacle bustered it and so the tubes were bright brass or bronze which ever the case may be. My mechanic friend has a long history of taking antique tractors and making them show room condition, so I am luck to have him on this. By the way, he fasteners are all metric and will be replaced with SS. I am painting only the parts that are not aluminum or SS or cast.

I stripped and sanded the steering pedastle and took it to an body shop and got it painted and clear coated. I will be lucky to reassemble that back on the boat. By the way, the base was glued with 5200, a total overkill. One good thing will come out of this, I think I should have a happy running engine.
 

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John
That is an amazing amount of work! I am afraid to ask how much time and money you have invested. But if the result is a happy engine, then it's all worth it.

Jim
 
This whole thing is quite irrational. But dang it is sweet when the clouds of dust settle & you have a fine piece of work like John’s head counter, sink, etc. That is satisfying. Nice job John!

I started keeping track of the hours I spent tearing out & redoing our icebox. I’ve stopped tracking now. It’s simply a crime/job of passion.
 
Well said, Mark. Being somewhat organized and a bit obsessive/compulsive, I began keeping faithful records of the money I spent on the boat from the time she became ours. That lasted a few years before I became so frightened by the numbers that I quit writing it all down. Now when Bonnie asks how much is spent, I give her a vague answer in boat units. Of course I never reveal the current value of a boat unit. But as Eileen Quinn says in one of her songs: "Just look at Her".

Jim
 
Thanks Mark and Jim, there is a lot of satisfaction in what we do with this nice boat. My wife has said what am I going to do when I'm done.

Didn't start keeping up with time working projects, but I was keeping up with sales receipts but as they added up, decided i rather not know.
 
John, what type of material did you use on the headliner? Any insulation placed between liner and cabin top ?
 
I am very curious about the headliner as well... and the lights... and what is the finish on the interior wood? It almost looks hand rubbed with teak oil... surely not!
 
Bill, the old headliner did have a foamback vinyl but only one section in the boat was good and did not have screw holes and stains and things attached to it. So i took them all off and used them as templates for new boards. I replaced the boards with Lowes' 4x8 1/4 inch Masonite type board, 8 dollars each i think, and then covered them with marine grade vinyl from allvinylfabrics.com. I cut the holes out for the lights I ordered from West Marine. Can't remember the item number but they are near flush to the board. The vinyl i put not have foam backing. I glued with spray adhesive 77. That is amazing stuff but you will go through many cans of it. The old board with the foam backed vinyl were very heavy and was thicker than 1/4 " but the new board are thiner and stiffer and made a smooth look for the lights. I have 7 LED lights and I think they draw less than 2.7 amps according to my distribution panel. I'll look at that again and will tell you the exact amount next time I am on the boat.

John, I cheated on the actual wood finish but put a lot of time in the wood prep. I stripped all the wood in the boat because the old finish was dark and looked thick with varnish. If you care to do that it is messy and there is no way you won't get it on your skin so there's some fun times ahead there. ( BTW, I found an old empty can of dark walnut in one of the storage lockers when cleaning out the boat and it was a stain and polymer in one application so I new stripper would get it clean). So after I got the wood panels as clean and as light as I could, I went on a quest to find out how I can finish them without darkening the wood because everything I tried darkened the wood. through trial and error, I used a waterbased sealer sander from minwax and applied that. It is a blue can, great stuff and it will adher to anything. It did not darken the wood so I brushed that on and lightly sanded it. Then I used oil based spray minwax satin finish on the wood. It goes on wet but dries like a satin like finish. ( reading the can of spray and sealer, they are compatible and intended to be used together without peal or bubble.) I was happy enough with that so I did the entire boat. I went back with a fine steel wood pad to knock off any rough spots. There were several areas of the boat of wood that I just replaced due to rot or screw holes and things like that. I delaminated/pulled the teak paneling off from the 3/4 " board in several places and glued put new on teak paneling. It is glued on well from the factory so it takes some patience there. You will see that in the interior companionway bulkhead. all that is new. It's not perfect but it's the best i can do, I think it is an improvement at least.
 
The interior bulkhead pictures and some of the other interior pictures are not posted on this thread, but i have posted them on another thread on this site.
 
Here are a few more pictures of improvements.
 

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a few more.. I will add that the picture with the measuring tape is show the placement of the bolt heads hidden under the floor. Also the rusty spindle nut is what holds the output shaft coupler which takes a special wrench to remove. Because there was little room and the wrench could not fit within the shaft coupler and transmission coupler, the transmission had to be removed. The marine mechanic then took it to the shop $$$, and removed it and replaced the o ring, output shaft seal, and while it was out replaced the input shaft seal and then it was reinstalled after they cleaned it and painted the housing.
 

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John

It certainly looks like you have disassembled the boat, took it all home, cleaned it all and reassembled it back again. Great job. Did you relocate the engine salt water intake to be in the engine compartment? That is a project I may tackle in the spring.

Jim
 
Thanks Jim. The intake for the raw water can be seen from the engine panel door as the picture shows, but it was there when I purchased the boat. Replaced the backing plate and seacock. It's access is in the cockpit lazzerette just aft of the raw water strainer. You can see the bottom of the strainer in the picture.
 
John
Two summers ago while on a trip to Maine, we sucked a bunch of weeds up into the raw water inlet valve. It heated up the engine rather quickly. We picked up a local mooring long enough to empty the port cockpit locker, dive down in the locker, take the hose off the valve and pluck the weeds from the valve. It wasn't a hard job but it was made more difficult by having to drag all the gear out of the locker. At that point I promised myself to relocate the thru hull to where yours is inside the engine compartment. Your PO must have had the same experience and made the same promise.

Jim
 
Jim, that is a good point. By the way, I removed and glassed over the knot paddle transponder thru hull and also a thru hull for the sink drain. Below water line is solid hull so I was careful to do that correctly, so I have two less thru hull fittings than when I got it. I left the sounder which was located near the knot paddle transponder but replaced it with a new one to assure that it will communicate with my GPS.
 
By the way Jim, if my boat improvements could rise to your level of expertise, I would be happy. I think most of the time, I take two steps forward and then one step backwards in redoing what I thought I had done well.
 
John
I have no special level of expertise. When I started with this adventure in sailboats, in the mid 1970s, it was two steps forward and three steps back. More of my projects were done and redone over and over again. My knowledge of tools and their use was honed by trial and error and error. As time went by my steps to the rear have become less obvious to those going forward. Now that I am well into my retirement, I find that the major projects and installation of new toys has reached their apogee, and I can now just settle in with a can of Bilgecoat and be a happy sailor.

Jim
 
I decided to get organized today in the nav compartment. Once I figured the angles, I dry fitted the dividers shown in the first picture, then I glued them in with epoxy and nailed them with stainless brads from side of the compartment. I then sanded, finished them and then put back the same stuff that I couldn't locate. I still found myself rifling through the compartments to find things. Anyway, I think it looks better.
 

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It's been awhile since I updated.

I'm at the yard now in Pass Christian in Ms. I tried to splash in the middle of Nov but had a tiny weeping bit of water underneath a thru hull that I installed and so I had to have that re-set by the Yard. While that was pending, the new rigger suggest not to replace my shrouds after the mast was stepped (so that can get exact measurements) but to do so before stepping by sending in the old wire to WM who will know the proper length when they inspect and measure them with the turnbuckles. That way no one has to go aloft installing new wire. There is a risk in doing it this way however in measuring the correct length of the wire. However that is what I did. The rigging is now in from WM and it was beautifully done from their South Carolina shop. It was $$$$ and bit more than expected but it is what it is. I will have to splash after the new year as the Yard will be closed from Christmas until 1/2/20. After that date, the rigger and I will install the two uppers, and four lowers. (the back stay and forestay I had done earlier in the year.) Also, we will be assembling the furler on the ground before stepping the mast. So, in short I am finally after 4 years on the hard, ready to complete this refit that has taken, heart, soul, blood sweat, tears and yes, money no doubt to do. I look back and I think, "I've never sailed on a 382" so now that I am so close to being done, I will get to do just that. I can't really describe my anticipation fully but it's part elation, part curiosity and fear. Not sure that I have done every thing right. On top of that there is a bit sadness believe it or not that I won't be having a weekend "project". I've thrived on that for so many weekends getting away from it all, listening to novels on Audible or a football game while getting things done. Well, my friends have quit asking me "how's the boat going" so I tell myself, it is time.

I will post some pictures of it being loading on a trailer and going to the yard.
 
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here are a few pictures
 

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John
Just a thought on your fresh water cooled Yanmar. I have the same engine and I like to clean out the tubes of the heat exchanger every other year. At first doing that involved removing the unit from the mounting. A 3/16" wooden dowel fit perfectly through the tubes to clear out the crud. I soon found that by drilling a 1 3/4" hole in the quarter berth bulkhead, centered on the heat exchanger, I can simply remove the end plates, rod out the tubes and be done with the job in no time without removing the whole unit. A wood plug goes in the bulkhead hole when not working the job. It makes the maintenance a bit easier.

Another thought: Although your on land weekend projects have ended, your in the water projects are just getting underway. As you sail and use "Quest", you'll be constantly be coming up with changes and modifications that are designed to make the boat better and easier to sail. So while your boat project has been completed, your new boat project is just beginning. Enjoy the sailing. Merry Christmas!

Jim
 
Thank you Jim for your recommendation on cleaning out the heat exchanger tubes, that's genius! I would not have thought of that. That would make a dreaded job easier for sure so thanks for that insight and leg up on a project soon to come!

You're right about the projects ahead. that likely will never end. I think we all have the need to keep improving what we have. After all, I think this boat is worthy of our time and efforts! Happy New Year Jim and to all.
 
John

I like to subscribe to the wisdom of an old salt who published years ago in a glossy sailing magazine his version of the "To Do List". Because he found that every time he finished and crossed off an item on his list, two more things needed to be added to the list. Thus the list only grew and never dwindled. His plan was to only add items to the list of jobs that he had already completed and was able to cross off. Thereby the list never became a burden.

Jim
 
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John
I love the work you did and photos, well done. Can you provide the manufacturer and model number of light fixture installed in the head above the sink. I saw in the photo the cabin lights are Mirage flush mount fixtures, are they LED?
Thanks
Tom
 
The Cabin lights are led. I have 7 and they draw I believe 1.2 amps. The light in the head is a fixture that was original to the boat as there was a place cut out which looked as it was done from the mold. I just installed within it LED lights instead of the two florescent lights and put in a lighted switch.

By the way, I will be posting more pictures. I finally splashed in Feb. got some to share of the experience.
 
That may come this weekend. The rigger has to put the top piece of the furler which was left off when it was built, so he has to go aloft and put it on and then she'll ready for her first sail.!

Here are a few pictures of the splash, second try. The head sail was completed last week and so I have both sails ready to try out. Canvas will be last thing plus sailpack. As Jim requested, I will send pictures of my first sail!
 

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John

She looks like a brand new boat being launched. Best of luck with her. And write about that first sail.

Jim
 
I had her cleaned up and my phone takes a good picture that self corrects so... but thank you! Pictures of her first sailing excursion to come!
 
Tom, I have had you on my mind actually. Need your advice on setting up the boom. Not sure how to set up with reefing lines so your expertise will be much appreciated. By the way, I have the mainsail, they found in the loft, and not accidently given out to another sailor and lost. Also I have had the genny made as well. A 135. I wanted a manageable sail since I will be solo sailing a lot. This Friday, the rigger will put on the top insert that we left off on the furler and tune the rigging. I'll give you a call in the next few days for a sail on the Mississippi sound!
 
Had the opportunity to meet John and tour Quest yesterday afternoon in Gulfport Marina. I originally visited to see his cap rail replacement which I am currently in the middle of doing on my boat. Was really impressed with all the restoration work John has done, particularly on the interior. It looked like a brand new boat despite it being nearly 40 years old. Again, thanks John for taking time out of your practice to show Quest off!
 
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