Projects

Those who buy old boats with the expectation of casting off immediately for paradisal shores are quickly educated or they drown.

    ~Albert Grimstock

New Decks and Cabin Sides

I had no notion that a restoration was needed when I bought Murre in 2001, nor exactly what a restoration might be. I was a cheechako of the highest order, a man who knew not the difference between fiberglass construction and plywood sheethed lightly in glass. If a builder had gone to the trouble of using certain materials and methods, I thought, he had his reasons. Who would bother to make something that could fail?

Even a close, pre-purchase inspection shook loose no worry. Here and there Murre’s forty year old decks had a softness to them, and the new paint covering the wood under the cabin windows met the hammer with a thunk. When the surveyor mentioned her “needing a patch or two,” it was with a professional casualness whose subtlety I missed, as though he were suggesting that hole in my trousers could do with a stitch, after which all would be well. I nodded agreement where none existed, whereupon the man took his fee, in cash, and left.

Under wraps for the Cockpit Rebuild

So then, here are gathered a few articles, broken out by area of focus, discussing the restoration projects that followed. Note that these projects did not begin right away. As I recall it now, there was a year of depression as the reality of Murre’s contidion manifested with the creeping inevitability of a glacier; then there was a year of wondering how to proceed, if such was even possible. And in between there was a tremendous amount of sailing that needed doing.

The Projects

• Deck and Cabin Side Rebuild, 2003
• Cockpit Well Rebuild, 2006
• Fuel Tank Replacement, 2006
• Aft Cabin Bulkhead Rebuild, 2008
• Bow Sprit Refashioning, 2009

Back on the waters of San Francisco Bay