Mike Sullivan's in Haverhill, Mass.
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Description

Yesterday I drove up to Mike Sullivan's house in Haverhill to take another look as his 1991 fin keel "project boat."  I'd taken a quick look through it when I delivered "Carpe Diem" to his yard last spring and remember thinking "What a lot of work he has ahead of him."  That was before I began recently considering starting over from scratch again myself.  (Oct. 9, 2007)

My plan was to just see how his fin keel was set up, compare it to Jay's Zöe down in Mystic and see if I could learn more of what to expect.

I was surprised to find -- despite my memory -- how much better shape Mike's boat was in than Zöe -- and with no hull damage.

One thing I noted immediately while inspecting the bottom was there are no thru-hull holes other than want came from the factory -- a slight plus in my estimation, compared with Zöe's speed indicator and depth gauge holes for its transducers, not that they bothered me greatly.

A major plus was that all the teak inside and out had been treated, varnished, preserved.  Mike had already taken care of that.

The cabin too is in good shape, though it needs some fiberglass finish work in places.  Mike said he has all the cushions, sliding galley (not that I'd install it), and whatnot.

Even the cribboards have been refinished.  Mike had to replace them as the lower one had sat in water and rotted as the boat's scuppers clogged over the years that it sat abandoned and the cockpit filled up with rain water.

The deck and gunnels set up is the same as Zöe's, with the jib track on the outside edge.

Mike refinished the tiller as well, preserving it.  The cockpit looks clean though the oval teak pocket trim needs to be replaced.

I was surprised to find an OMC motor mount, the same as is mounted on Chip Ahoy -- the only other I've ever seen on a C22 -- including the nitrogen booster no less.  If I bought this boat, it'd need backing outside and inside the transom to carry my big Honda 8 hp four-stroke.  Mike's boat comes with a motor, not that I need another.

It has the same solid rudder as is on Zöe, but no swim ladder.  It too would need scuppers added to the transom.