A new project...

Today I broke down and bought a boat.  Not the materials for a boat.  An actual boat.  A Capitol Yachts Neptune 16 sailboat.

I had been eyeballing the boat on craigslist for about 6 weeks and the price just kept dropping.  I downloaded the 2004 issue of Small Craft Advisor with a review of the Neptune 16.  Progress on the Michalak toon2 that I had been building was painfully slow and I was already pouring over plans for my next boat, which would be bigger and more seaworthy.  Here was a boat that would be ready to go this summer.  The Neptune is 3 times heavier than the toon2 and, with a swing keel, would be much more stable and seaworthy for the adventures I want to take my boat on.  It also has the features that I was unsuccessfully trying to build into my toon2 and was planning on incorporating into my next boat, including:
-a cabin capable of sleeping 2 adults
-a cockpit capable of sleeping 2-3 children
-easily single-handed but
-capable of carrying 4 adults or the above mentioned family crew
-a private spot to use a bucket
-decent performance

The tradeoffs that I'm aware of for all of this:
-poor performance in light air (modifiable with the right sails, possible improvement of the swing keel shape)
-skimpy rigging (easily upgraded)

Sarah went with me while I looked at it last Sunday.  It was in a lot rougher shape than the guy advertised it as being.  The mast was broken but splinted.  The mains'l was soft, patched, and still had holes in it. The guy claimed that he had patched a leak, but the roughshod job suggested otherwise.  However, the fiberglass hull was solid, all the pieces seemed to be there (minus the hatch, but that's easily fabricated), and the trailer seemed functional.

I called Paul, a guy a met on the Michalak yahoo group who is sort of becoming my small boat mentor.  I filled him in and asked for his opinion. He thought that with the skills I have gained, I could fix what ails it and that it would be a steal at the price. Talking with Sarah, we agreed that I could get it if I tried to get the canoe back in the water this summer and  I called they guy up after a couple other people had looked at it and arranged to buy it.

Now I own a Neptune 16 sailboat!