This section deals with restorations that are completed or in progress. Most of us just want to get it done. Some of us want to revisit the agony endlessly. So, depending on the particular owner these stories range from detailed how-to, how-not-to descriptions with supporting pictures, to one simple, all done photo. Let’s start with you know who. (Click on the name to go to the boat)

Ron Breault’s Marionette, Old Lyme, CT

When I bought Marionette (click to enlarge photo) in 1995 and started her restoration I had no concept of sharing my experience, no digital camera, just a strong desire to do it right and start sailing her ASAP. She was on poppets in a small field off our driveway under a blue tarp with a ridgepole made of two 2” x 3” 14 footers sistered together, one end nailed to a tree at her stern and the other to a 12’ 2” x 4” stepped on the ground and duck taped to the bow pulpit.

Twelve years later that field has a 28’ x 30’ post and beam barn in which Marionette spends her winters. In the bay next to her is a 51 year old, 17’ classic wood runabout I have had for 30 years - now under going, too slowly, her 2nd restoration. The second floor has a modestly equipped wood shop with a half loft above. Out of that shop came Teer, the most beautiful little dinghy. Outside the barn, nestled up to that same tree, going through an even more extensive restoration is son Mike’s Passage, O’Day built Hull #10. Same tarp and ridgepole set up. She is taking much longer to do, but she will have digital pictures and more technical contributions to make. For more on Passage, see below. And to go to Marionette click here

Jay Picotte’s Recovery, Newport, RI

Jay, who works at International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) in Newport, RI., knows a lot more about this restoration game than most of us. His Recovery is one of four built by Bill Tripp of Westport, MA in 1965. With her unusual round port lights that Jay installed she sits prettily on her mooring off the end of IYRS’s pier in Newport Harbor. She stands watch over the largest restoration ever – the 122 year old, 133’ Guilded Age schooner yacht Coronet taking place on the IYRS pier. Jay built a hybrid Herreshoff nesting dinghy that we need to hear more about. Click here for larger image. And click here to go to her restoration story.

Chris Vandersteen’s Lezah, Ontario, Canada

Lezah is nearing the end of her extensive work plan. She appears to have been one of the “kits” that O’Day reportedly shipped to J.J. Taylor & Sons in Toronto for completion. There were three major fiberglass laminates – two ½ hulls and a deck with cockpit and cabin house. These parts were bonded together and the boat completed by the remote boat builder, in this case J.J Taylor & Sons. Chris caught the same bug that Jay did and Lezah has those round portlights too.

Kerry Lange’s Mermaid 24, Kaloke, Stony Creek, Branford, CT

Kaloke was a wooden Dolphin built in Japan as a gift to an American who helped a Japanese company land a ship building contract in the US. Kerry's father who lived in Stony Creek, Branford, CT acquired her and Kerry sailed her in and out of the Thimble Islands as a kid. She was sold many years ago. Last fall Kerry heard of a black wood "Dolphin" for sale in Mystic, CT. On a whim he and his father drove up to take a look at her. Their old boat had a black hull, and looking carefully, they could see this boat was originally blue! The short story is that this wooden Dolphin, called a Mermaid 24 in the S&S files, is now back in Stony Creek with Kerry hard at work restoring her.This picture is Kerry and his father Walt standing in front of Kaloke who, after many years, is heading back home to Stony Creek and a new life. Click here to find out more about her.

Mike Gooch-Breault’s Passage, New York, New York

Passage was found in 2003 on her mooring just south of the RR bridge over the Mystic River in eastern CT. Seagulls had found her as well and her decks showed it. A For Sale sign hung on her starboard side. She looked like she was waiting for her restoration project, and she found it. She now sits under the blue tarp about half way through it.

Jim Kurt's Rachael K, Bucks Harbor, Maine

The Rachael K started her life racing in eastern Long Island Sound off Guilford's Sachem's Head YC. Now here she is tucked in her own cove in Bucks Harbor, Maine. We await her story. Click for a larger image

Matt Mahew's Shambles, Grosse Ile, Michigan

Matt bought Shambles in 2005. He plans a new layout to bring the running rigging back to the cockpit, and is undertaking a restoration project which he will digitally record. He races her on Lake Erie. She has a 35 yr old Vire BVR inboard that he managed to get running again. In a prior life she was known as Sunflower and sailed on Lake Clair. For a larger picture of Shambles and her reserved spot in the Restorations Section, click here