SailBlogs Member Group - Building or Refitting

Well I have 3 boats to finish- 1st a cayac for renovation 2nd a 5m sailboat to build, in which I shall cross the Atlantic Ocean 3rd a 10m steel yacht in which I shall sail around the world

Our 47' Wellington ketch named Ddraig is a John G. Alden design built by Wellington Yachts in Florida in 1974. We have a 4-year refit planned then off to the Caribbean for retirement. This our second restoration with the last one being a 36' Cheoy Lee of the 1969 vintage, a great boat but she was a bit too small for what we need. We really enjoy meeting up and working on Ddraig on the rare weekend that we are both free from work because I work in the refinery construction (turnaround) business and stay on the road at least 11 months a year and my wife Janice lives and works over 2 hours away from Kemah, TX. where the boat is at a marina. Kemah is a great location to do a refit because the marina is close to the new very large West Marine and there is a second West Marine across the lake, it also has Boaters Resale which is chock full of second hand boat items. Hope to meet some of you out there when we get there!!

We have just finished a twenty project of restoring and upgrading our 1977 Jeanneau Melody to be a true blue water cruiser. We leave this fall for the Caribbean. We are currently in and around Beaufort, NC We have a lot of our projects photos in our gallery and could maybe offer some advice with regards to the school of hard knocks we have graduated from. Fair Winds.

I am refitting a '78 Bayliner 2350 Nisqually for full-time live-aboard. It is an ambitios project, since this boat was not designed for this type of use. It is a nice boat, dual helm, a bit top heavy, but most stinkers are, and it is trailerable with ease, so we can live here on the local lakes (for work) and still enjoy my childhood dream. anyone with advice, ideas, or just for fun, we would enjoy it all.

Hi People, I am a 62 yr old disabled vet with more energy then sense! I've had a life long interest in sailing. Would it be possible to acquire a donated boat of decent size and then go through it at a reasonable expense by doing the work myself? Or am I dreaming? I am on a VA disability income so money is tight but I have very good repair/fix-it skills. I've never met anything I couldn't fix yet but I'm sure there will come a day.......... would like to hear about your experiences and possibly visit with some of you that are still land bound. I can be reached here or e-mail me at avoisine@cox.net Thanks everyone for reading this. Al Phoenix, AZ