Callinectes, Or How I "Restored" a Cruising Sailboat in a Month

Last summer while I was finishing up one of my last required clerkships (the clinical portions of 3rd and 4th years) in medical school, my trolling of used boat websites paid dividends.  That is, if you can rationalize spending money on something as unnecessary as a sailboat as getting paid dividends.  I definitely do.

I found a 1978 Columbia 7.6 for $1500 dollars.  The bad news was that it was on the hard for about 6 years and had significant damage on the inside from water and who knows what else.  The hull and decks seemed solid though, so I was interested in checking it out further.  It came with a full allotment of sails and a 1991 Nissan outboard that "runs like a top."  I felt that as long as I had the essentials covered that I could deal with some cosmetic issues that has left this boat on the block for as long as it has.

The crux, was that I wanted to do everything myself to get this bad boy on the water before Labor Day (when I would have to start paying summer storage rates).  I had a month to gut the inside, repair, repaint, replace all of the lines, new companionway hatch boards, bottom paint, replace all of the windows, and in general clean and wax.  Being a sporting type, I gave myself a bare bones budget and the limited time span to complete this project (which amounted to a little under a month).  What I still haven't addressed to date is that the teak sole (floor in the cabin) was delaminated to the point of making a huge hole in the flooring if you forgot and stepped on the wrong parts.  I also have not gotten to refinishing the brightwork (teak trim on the outside of the boat).



I then had an idea to help other people in this same situation by writing about my work and my troubles, that is of being poor and loving sailing.  I will post pictures and articles of the renovation of this great old boat to get her seaworthy once again.  It has been a fun project and has already been a great place for family and friends to enjoy the beautiful waters of Michigan.  We spent many hours of adventure over the past summer and looking forward to the same in the future.  Hopefully with these last few projects wrapped up.  I hope that you enjoy this segment and if you have any questions or comments please let me know.

As for the name, I called her Callinectes after an exhaustive name search.  Nothing seemed to fit.  Her name was originally "Wind Seeker" which is a nice enough name but unfortunately generic.  While trying to figure out a name that seemed to work while gutting the cabin I found this old plastic crab.  You know the type of design that graces the walls of the finest Red Lobster or Long John Silver restaurants.  I didn't throw this thing out immediately and it definitely grew on me.  My son has named him crabby and he has stayed on as our boat mascot.  It also solved the naming problem.  I bought a white and blue boat that came with a crab.  This reminded me of the Chesapeake Blue Crab, whose scientific name is Callinectes sapidus.  Callinectes comes from the Greek meaning, beautiful swimmer.  Now that is a name for a boat...