Mike bought this boat in September, 1999 and she was moved to this location - the initial Dolphin worksite... Marionette was restored in 1995/1996 in exactly this location - before we built her a barn. Webmaster note: In early September, 2008, in an effort to get the project rolling again, Passage was moved into the Barn using the No-Travel-Lift-Do-it-yourself-system. See below.

The following are two pictures of Passage as we found her on her mooring on the Mystic River. Mike bought her from Gene Connolly of Redding, CT in September, 1999. Gene bought her from Don Gardner of Bellport, NY in November, 1977 and changed her name from Menehune to Passage. Don Gardner bought this boat from Ralph Seidenspinner in 1968 and he believes Ralph is her first owner. There is a Jack? Atherton from West Islip, NY in Passage's old files suggesting he might be the first owner, buying her in June, 1960. Stay tuned on this.

Your webmaster and Gene Connolly sailed her from the Mystic River to the Niantic Marina. There, in a slip, Gene showed me how to lower a Dolphin mast using the spinnaker pole as a gin pole and a couple of side struts. We (he) did it. Ever since, I have had a healthy respect for this manuever, and anyone who can do it successfully.

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There have been a lot of fits and starts on this project. As of March, 2008 this is an overview of the status.

1) All hardware has been removed and the decks, house and cockpit sanded. Needs paint and non skid plus hardware replaced/renewed. All wood parts, except the toe rails, were removed - hand rails, dorade boxes, combing, main hatch rails, companionway step and side trim, and forward and transom hatch trim parts.  Click here for a larger image.

2) The toerail track has been removed, toe rail has been sanded, filled, and varnished  - a few finish coats of varnish remain.  Lots of holes to fill and sand before painting. 

3) The top sides have been 'done'. Very fine sanding and buffing. A few small patches have to be done again, but, surprisingly, the gel coat was not in bad shape and we are not going to paint her. There are some deep scratches but some artistic filling and touch up, plus some serious polishing and buffing should do it.

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4) The bottom was a mess. We sandblasted which revealed lots of very bad, deep gouges/scratches from a circular grinder?, plus a lot of blisters - some bad ones. Old fitting holes like a pair of pressure differential type speedo holes had to be filled. The keel/hull joint had been filled, glassed over and needed fairing. There were lots of 'dents' in the lead keel that had to be filled and buttered. Click for larger image

The following pictures give some idea of what we were dealing with. All these have been repaired, reglassed in some areas, epoxy filled, the bottom faired, and the first series of barriers coats applied. A few areas remain to be dealt with, ie., the centerboard holes and through hull fittings. The bottom will be resanded and barrier coated again.

That large blister at the left was pretty scary. All these blisters, gouges and scratches have been filled and resanded. Look closely at the bootstripe. It sits on top of the old scribed boot lines. We never weighed the boat but it certainly was heavy. The hull sat drying out for almost 3 years before we tackled this job. It will be interesting to see where she floats when we are done with her.

5) The bronze centerboard has been removed and the 'stop' cut off. This will allow the board to go further forward and a bit deeper. The CB had a lot of pitting and scaling most of which has been removed - this yields a lighter and thinner board - the opposite of what we want. We are 'thinking' on this. We also want to be able to remove the CB annually and are looking for a sane way to do this. Click here to see and read more on this subject in the Technical Section

6) The rudder and rudder stock (click here to see rudder and stock) have been removed and the prop shaft removed. The rudder stock heel fitting was badly corroded. This rather critical part was not available in the local marine supplies store so a new fitting was designed and built - this the subject of another article coming soon to the Technical Section. This picture shows the finished fitting in place. It still has to be filled and faired. Click Here to go to new rudder post heel fitting article.

Passage had her name plate in the center of the inside edge of the aft facing wood trim piece at the leading edge of the main hatch. It says she was made by Marscot Plastics, Inc, Fall River, MA for G. D. O'Day Associates, Inc, Boston, MA, Hull No. 3230, Class No. 10. Click here to see a large copy of the nameplate

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A Keeper Photo

The following photo, discovered in a 'purge files" effort, was determined to be a keeper. It was taken at the S&S 75th Anniversay celebration dinner at Mystic Seaport, July 10, 2004. Mike is certainly discussing the finer points of Dolphin design with Olin Stephens. For more about this very special event click here.

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OK, back to work - Passage gets moved from under the tree into the barn in mid September, 08. We'll skip the steps of taking her off her poppits, getting her on the trailer, moving her into the barn, getting her off the trailer, and back on her poppits. As you can see, it was done, by one person, using the afor mentioned No-Travel-Lift-Do-it-yourself-system. It took a while, much of it looking and checking and rechecking to be sure nothing went wrong. Click here for larger views.

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December 17, 2009. Cleaning up the back corner of the desk I came across a couple of old pictures and decided it was time for an update. The temperature in the barn is about 20, so writing about Passage is a lot easier than working on her.

First, this picture of Passage's prop when we pulled her out of the water in 1999 needs no further comment.

I thought about reducing the size of this photo but important detail would be lost...

Stuck to the back of the above photo was a shot of us pulling the original Palmer engine. Surprisingly, this was not a big problem. We reinforced the winter cover's (blue tarp) ridgepole and put a block and tackle on it. Using a friend's pickup we brought it to our local expert on these old motors and he 'reconditioned it, running it on a bench. It cost $1000. Its been sitting on a bench in the barn for 10 years, liberally coated with WD40 and getting an occasional turn of the flywheel to keep some lubrication on the internal moving parts. For spare parts, we also bought an identical motor that had seized up. A strategic question is whether this motor will ever get back in this boat. Options - convert to a small outboatd in a well like Marionette, or electric power, or...

For more on this motor click here

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February 20, 2010. Jim Homet is restoring Tiki, O'Day #28, and posted some stuff/questions on the Forum. Click here to see that exchange. This prompted a response based on our current restoration plans for Passage, a very patient lady awaiting some additional energy directed toward her situation.

The basic concept is to have a simple daysailer setup, with reasonable comfort for cruising, and especially a private head with door. The plan is to have the v-berth disappear and become instead a forward cabin with a (hidden) head, sail storage, a sink with work space, and a small pull out/down galley with storage - some details still to be worked out.

The now open bulkhead will be closed in and there will be a proper (possibly a sliding type) oval shaped door on the port side.

The main cabin will be two settees with a 'open bench type' slat backrest, storage behind and 2 shelves above. These settees will convert to a single/double bunk on the starboard side and a single on the port side - storage under both. No hanging locker - a table system is still under study. The 'fridge' will be a portable cooler under the steps. There will be no change in the quarter berths set up.

The companionway steps will be replaced with a Marionette type steps system and a set of lockers built into/below the bridgedeck.

This is the interior of Passage's forward cabin. Everything has been removed. That wood 'tank" is a mock up of the 11 gallon poly holding tank I have in Marionette. We will go with the same system in Passage. Click here to see Marionette's setup

Work with me here. This is a mock up of an oval door cut out of a thin plywood panel to see how it looked.. The door could be a slider (probably), or a folder. The panel would cover the full width of the boat and hide a strut under the mast step. The 'book' says this door should be 22" wide. We might squeak 20". The height is ok and limited anyway by the floor and by the fiberglass flange tabbing the bulkhead. We are thinking of a face trim piece of molding hiding the flange and looking like the edge of a beam. If we go with the oval door shape, when slid to the right, it duplicates the appearance of port side opening itself.

Sliding doors can be problematic.This is a sketch of a folding door concept that could more easily yield a 22" opening. Most of the time the door would be open, folded back on itself, and a simple clasp could keep it that way. Worth thinking about - and can be easily changed if it does not work out.

The above picture is a mock up using Marionette's v-berth panels. More design work needs to be done on the forward cabiin layout. There will be a removable panel in the peak for a chain locker ala Marionette's. Assuming the head is centered, and it probably will be, a full width seat back is envisioned in back of the head behind which sails and other stuff can be stored. We think we can also work in a convertible bunk up here for a crew, or a kid. The sink and counter space will face forward on the starboard side backed by the bulkhead, and tucked under the deck. Shelves and built in lockers above and below are envisioned. A small fresh water tank, probably flexible, will go somewhere, hopefully low.

Looking at Marionette's v-berth at left gives a better idea of how much space there is between the forward side of the bulkhead, and the aft edge of the head compartment. Enough, I think, for a good sit down work area.

Above is a mock up of the starboard settee, storage under. To make a spacious double the vertical face on this side will 'flip' up and the seat back will 'disappear" into the quarterberths.. Actually, we saw Don Barnett's (Casandra Rose #56) settee backs and really liked them. We plan to do something similar on both sides. We'll have shelves with fiddles full length. No hanging locker. We are thinking about the table issue. Maybe a fold out from the main bulkhead? Sliding door issue..

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At the right are Passage's companionway steps. At left is Marionette's steps system with lockers under the bridgedeck and the electrical panel. The center locker houses the centerboard winch. A side panel behind the electrical panel provides access to wiring plus storage for fuses and flashlights. The cooler slides under the bottom step and the steps are removable. We are planning to do the same on Passage. You can see more on this system by clicking here.

The big unknown is the auxiliary power - reinstall the Palmer 27, put in an outboard in a well? how about an electric power system? Battery banks on either side just aft of the main bulkhead? This boat's primary purpose will be as a daysailor and will have a slip with power access. Still thinking about this....

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