Newbie in N. California

[Papaquebec]

Hi,

I joined rib.net a little over a month ago. I have owned several sailboats over the years, but we just bought our first rib; a 1997 Zodiac Hurricane 427 with a Mercury Sportjet. It is a lot of boat for our first rib, but when I saw it I just had to have it. It was originally built by Milpro for a local fire department and then purchased from them a few years later by their mechanic, who I bought it from. So mechanically it is very sound, but aesthetically it needs some TLC.
Right now we have it partially disassembled in our garage, but hope to have it looking nice enough to take part in the annual New Years Day circumnavigation of Alameda (essentially a yacht club crawl to each of the 5-7 yacht clubs on the island). We did the circumnavigation a couple of years ago on our former sailboat and had a lot of fun.
I know how this boat can look with a little work, so I am hesitant to post any 'before' pictures, maybe when the work starts in earnest.

Pat

[ncp]

Plenty of support here. Ask away if you have any questions.
There are three pretty active Bay Area members that I know of.

Welcome

[Bigtalljv]

The before pictures are what make the story so good. You should see my boat's before pictures.

Jason

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Papaquebec

I know how this boat can look with a little work, so I am hesitant to post any 'before' pictures, maybe when the work starts in earnest.

Hi, Pat;

I wouldn't worry too much about that. I personally think that how a boat works is a lot more important than how it looks. A running eyesore (for lack of a better word) beats a shiny bling-laden trailer squatter any day.

Welcome to the forum.

jky