First post

I started this blog so that I could catalog my experience in restoring a 1977 O'day 22 sailboat. I live in Central NJ and I bought this boat for a song with a 9.9HP engine and a trailer. In retrospect, maybe it wasn't the best idea.

Let me explain. I started sailing this past summer with a local club and I loved it; getting out on the water and being able to basically pick a direction and go is a beautiful thing. Sailing is kind of a thinking man's sport and you have to keep your wits about you and sometimes just improvise to do what you want to do, and that's kind of fun.

I say it was a bad idea because the boat I picked up is used, and though it appears structurally sound, it needs a bit of work before it gets in the water. And despite having gone to school for engineering, my skill at everyday DIY projects is practically non-existant. I've bought plenty of books but even the most basic ones seem to assume some skills that I just don't have yet.

So, I'm at a point where I've basically decided it's time to just jump right in, get my hands dirty, and figure things out as I go. So, that's that.

My goals for this summer (2010) are fairly modest:

1. Get the boat up to snuff and in the water

2. Sail it around the Navesink River

3. Sail it out to Sandy Hook Bay a few times

Things to do:

1. Post some pictures of the boat

2. Post my plans for work to be done getting the boat ready

3. Start a project and document it

Thanks for reading!