Whoa! Windrose Flashback! . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

Bought Urchin new in November of 1976 and owned her ever since.
Time and hard use, was not overly kind to her and two years ago, with the help of the son-in-law and the patience of the wife allowing me to turn our carport into a temporary paint booth, I repainted her.

All, but the sheer stripe.
I was  GOING to, but by the time we got done painting the hull and cockpit and whatnot it was so hot outside that we exceeded Petit's recommendations for applying the EZPoxy for the rest of the year.  Time and Life (Too much Life; not enough Time) got in the way for a year or so, but I finally got enough "Honey-Do's" banked away, to rectify that omission.  Not a moment too soon either, with the Cedar Key Small Boat Meet next weekend and the Fl 120 and possibly a BEER Cruise, not far behind that.

Hard dockings, UV, and age wore out things even Poli-Glow couldn't fix.
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Had a heck of a time finding a replacement decal, so I carefully traced out the letters, got the dimensions, scanned the resulting image and laboriously made a .jpeg file and went to the Boat Show, to see if they could approximate the letters.
I lucked into the same lady that made the boat names for Short Ribs, Wet Willie and Mango Smoothie.
She gave all my painstaking efforts a cursory glance and said: "Cartoon font, 2" high", typed the characters in quickly and lo!
There was my decal! 
Only without all the scrapes and digs and missing pieces.

The rest of the sheer stripe was in no better shape than the letters.  Too many buffings and waxes and the gel coat was almost completely gone in places.
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Heated the letters with a hot air gun, scraped them off, did some sanding with 150 grit and a little judicious use of acetone, did some masking off and Urchin's sheer stripe was ready for the first coat of paint.
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And a second coat:
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Then came time to apply the decals, during which I was astounded to see that they matched the size and appearance perfectly.
There were still faint traces where the letters had been, even with all the sanding I had done and I was able to put the decal right into the faint remaining impressions.
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And when I stood back to admire my work I was unexpectedly flashed back 46 years, to the first time I saw the boat at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show.  I had actually gone looking for another sailboat that I had been researching  and was extremely disappointed in it, when I saw it In Real Life. All I could figure from the brochure, versus the reality, was that they must have taken a hole saw and cut into a cabin corner with a wide-angle camera lens, in order to get the cabin to look like it was adequate for a family of four. I was leaving the boat show (in disgust) when I tripped over the Windrose at an outside display, on my way back to the parking lot.   

I was struck with her lines, went aboard, and an hour later plunked down my entire week's paycheck as a down payment and never looked back.  And for a couple days preparation and work, I was rewarded with a trip back through time, and a second chance at that Really Good Feeling I got that night, when I first laid eyes on her.

Charles Brennan

[Travis Chapman]

Looks wonderful, and the nostalgia surely made it even better. The ease of making vinyl lettering these days is amazing.

[Doug SC]

Sounds like she is still able to seduce you after all these years. Just needed a new dress to go out in.

[Wayne Howard]

Once we figured out that Impetuous was going to get fresh paint all around, Connie and I went to the local sign maker in town and explained what we thought we wanted. He pointed us into the right direction for fonts and colors and explained about 25 year vinyl. Connie and I spent three weeks looking at fonts and colors. (does this color match the bimini?) We ended up with a Celtic font because she is a Tartan and matched the stripes on her hull exactly.

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[Captain Kidd]

Charles, she looks great! Just curious - what was the other boat you looked at?

[Charles Brennan]

Dale, I was looking at a MacGregor Venture 17 and honestly, the pic on the brochure looked like it would suit my needs. I got there with my 5 months pregnant wife and 3 year old son in tow, looked inside and went: NOPE!!
To give you an idea, they purported the cabin as able to handle 4 people for over nighting. Their hull is a foot shorter than Urchin and their cockpit is a foot longer.
Where do you think that two feet got sacrificed?
Cabin.
Not a Good Thing for an infant needing frequent changing in a cabin and being able to be kept below out of the sun.
The Windrose actually had storage lockers, the Venture had a small cuddy up forward; there was just no comparison, for a guy coming to terms with infant and toddler storage requirements!

A neighbor had a Venture 17 and I've sailed on it and it's perfectly acceptable as a day sailer, but on that night and for my needs  both then and now, it's still a big NOPE!!

Hope this clarifies,
Charles Brennan

[Captain Kidd]

I guess my Hunter is probably listed as sleeping 4. Two are comfortable on the settees. Now the V-berth is a different story. 2 Little kids maybe or one adult.

[Norm L.]

Many many years ago we had a next door neighbor that was a professional sign painter. From time to time he would have a trailer boat pulled up on his front lawn as he customized it for the owner.

He had a 20' center console that he and his son used for fishing. One trip they lost power and got washed up on one of the barrier islands and had to be towed back.

He brought the boat home and painted a mural that covered half the side of the boat, on both sides. It was of a tropical island with palm trees, surf, and huge fancy script SONS OF THE BEACHES.

[rfrance0718]

It's amazing to look back! I bought my wood Thistle in 1985. It's hard to imagine that 38 years have gone by. The boat was only 20 years old when I bought her, but nearly ready for the bon fire. She's way far from pristine now, but solid, fast, and beautiful in her own way. I have a newer, stiffer, glass Thistle that I sail at regattas. Tami can't understand why I don't sell the "old boat", but you know why. It has to do with sitting in it, in the garage in 1985 and dreaming those big dreams. She's fulfilled every one, and obviously Urchin has as well.You cannot view this attachment.

[rfrance0718]

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