is pretty thin and when it comes to doing the deck repairs on the boat it’s top of mind. The idea of doing a showroom restoration is out of the question — I think it’s a waste of time, at least for me, and I don’t have the time. First, a Pearson 26 is a good boat, I love it, maybe it’s a great boat.

But it’s a boat. meaning it is meant to be sailed and lived in and perhaps on, and spending 200 hours to make it look like the vintage brochure does not accomplish this primary goal.

Also, let’s face it, even totally restored it’s worth a couple, three thousand at most, so I don’t want to get carried away, putting $10,000 worth of work into a $3,000 boat.

I plan to simply remove legacy deck fittings that I am not going to use at this stage of my sailing career — anything to do with the spinnaker, for instance, and I will close off old fastener holes that were used for instruments. This is a bay boat, not the Santa Maria. My goal is to have something that is pleasing to the eye, that is a matter of [moderate] pride and that is clean and watertight.

It’s possible that painting it is a goal too far, but the current shade of Avocado green is atrocious. My internal joke is that he bought the boat at Sears and they threw in a free refrigerator. Either that or he painted it to match the cushions. Anyway, pairing it white will restore the rather lovely lines to the vessel, give it a crisp appearance and make it look a little bigger. [Any boat you’re thinking of living on, as soon as you start thinking it, automatically shrinks]. Also, as fresh problems resurface, they will be easier to isolate and repair with a freshened canvas.

So I have been reading Don Casey on the appropriate topics, even skimming once I feel I’ve gotten the point as well as editing how much of the the purist I intend to be while keeping the expedient goal in mind.