Bring Home A New Toy

Article By Gene Heard

I owned a Bristol 30 with wheel steering for 18-19 years and am looking forward to the feel of a tiller again, so I went looking to buy a board boat. It is just for me, so the boat doesn't have to have a head. I want the tiller in one hand and the mainsheet in the other and I don't want to spend an hour or more rigging to go out, then another hour dropping the rig when I get back. A paddle for power when the wind quits.

Here is what I found, the latest "toy" as we dragged her in from Huntsville, a 1976 "Force 5" sailboat. Looked a little like the "Beverly Hillbillies" were moving back to Tennessee!! :)

Well, fortunately the boat isn't much of a "refurb" project. Other than the usual hairline cracking common on a 35 year old fiberglass boat, these 2 shots show the worst damage on the whole boat .....2 spots of missing gelcoat. A little epoxy work, some buffing, and I'm done. Oh yeah, gotta' replace the outhaul wire with low strech line ! Trailer will take more work than the boat ! Not TOO bad for $500 !!!