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Self-tailers would be fun if one can find them, but they are in demand and are quite expensive.

I have original Gibb primaries and spinnaker winches on board which are aesthetically and mechanically perfect.  However, as I bronze my boat I am keen to replace them.  Last year I picked up a beautiful pair of Barient 16s in plain bronze for the primaries but I have been able to come up with the secondaries.  Lewmar B6B will fit the small bases, and there are others but they are very rare.  Primary winches for our little boats are the secondaries of others...

If you do have bronze winches, particularly with a nice patina, please DON'T try to shine them up!  Call me instead and perhaps we can trade!

If anyone comes across a pair of secondary winches for me don't hesitate to drop me a line.  I have been looking for a while now.

One other small suggestion -- when you replace the fuel lines be sure to ask that the lines be rated to handle both petro-diesel and bio-diesel.  Cost should be the same but it will give you the option of running biodiesel.  I now use 100% biodiesel on my boat and the fact that the diesel smell is GONE makes this higher-priced fuel well worth it.

Regarding a rigid boom vang, why not I suppose.  I would prefer that to a traveller.  If you are brave I might consider one which works in compression instead of tension, such as that on a 29er.  I think it would be a clean installation.  On my boat I would go with a loose-footed main, leaving the boom track free for such a vang.

On repowering, I would favour the 11" prop with a larger blade area.  However, without the calculations it is difficult to say which would be best.  In general, larger diameter is more efficient, but the region shadowed by the keel is so large that it may not make much difference.  I do know that some people have had success improving performance under power by switching to three bladed props, although they sacrifice sailing performance by doing so.  I assume that those of us with two-bladed props are sufficiently attentive that we know when it is in the up-and-down position.  With my little Petter diesel, the only thing I might try would be an 11" two bladed prop with a larger area to improve performance.  But the cost!  Maybe for this season try what you have and see how it goes.

For the panel, consider the solution used on the Jeremy Rogers boats which locates the panel just inside the companionway, in sight but better protected from the elements.  I will post a photo in the gallery of one such installation.

I agree wholeheartedly with Stephan's post -- don't cut below the waterline unless you must.  I also believe that he is on the right track with the smaller tank.  I replaced mine with a 5.5 gallon Vetus tank which fit like a glove in the locker.  It freed up tonnes of space in the locker and I can now carry two portable 5 gallon jugs if I need additional fuel.  That being said, I used less than 2.5 gallons in my last season on the water.  If I did not post a pic already then I will do so now.

Oh!  You are blessed!  What fun you are going to have reworking your Contessa.

I recently constructed cabinets in the V-Berth that are a great success and there are photos in the Gallery.  However, to pursue the solution below they would have to come out and I am reluctant to deconstruct my good work.  However it is VERY tempting.

I did some doodles recently and think that I could rework the Contessa interior to make a more functional boat.  While it is possible to seat four around the current saloon table, it is at best awkward.  I prefer to think of my boat as a two-person boat with the occasional larger group for parties.  Given this assumption, the goal is to install a dinette in the main cabin, offset to Starboard.  You will need to measure again of course but this was what I was considering: 

Relocate the hanging locker one bulkhead forward, cutting into one 'head' of the V-Berth.

On your 1974 and my 1976 the icebox is on the starboard side.  Remove the icebox and relocate same in the former hanging locker.

You could consider a cut-out in the bulkhead between the port-side galley and the new icebox.  You will need a pillar between these two areas of the boat because it is part of the mast support.  You may also require additional reinforcing to support the cut-out since this would be in the main bulkhead.  Alternatively, fit a low fridge or even a pull-out drawer as an alternative to the current top-opening solution.  Then one could have a small sink and/or additional stowage in the former hanging locker.

Remove the old icebox completely and replace with seat which faces both aft and to port.  The design of the seat will be important as where your head and shoulders contact the head-liner will be critical to comfort.

You will need to cut into the quarterberth on the starboard side so that you can place your legs.  Things will still be tight and when using the dinette one's legs will most likely rest partly on the centre aisle and partly in the area of the stowage beneath the former quarterberth.

You have a choice now -- you could fit a fixed seat facing forward and to Port opposite the new seat -- the table will fit between the two seats.  To do so, while respecting where your head will fit against the aft end of the cabin, will create a large dead space where your legs would have been in the quarterberth.  This would be a great place to stow sails, and other large bulky items.

Alternatively, you could construct a seat from stiff foam.  It would probably be 12" thick as a minimum to get stability.  This would be installed with velcro.  The attraction of this foam bulwark is that it can be removed making possible the use of the starboard quarterberth.

Finally, were one to arrange the new table top so that it could fit securely between the seats, one will have effectively shifted the starboard berth forward.  Using fold-outs or pull-outs one could then turn the starboard berth into a good-sized double berth.

I suppose you could undertake the same project on the port side but it would require visiting the location of through-hulls and sea-cocks.

I would love some discussion on this subject -- has anyone else tried something like this?  Can it be done?  Would it be useful?  Would it kill the resale value of the boat?  And how annoying will it be to whack my head on the dogs of my nice bronze portlights when seated in the new forward seat?

I totally agree with Stefan on this one -- although it is easier to work from above, the outer skin (or the top layer of the sandwich) is perhaps 80-90% of what makes the structure on our boats.  Cut through the deck, remove the core and I would think it very unlikely the boat would go back together again neatly.  I would be very concerned about deformation of that remaining thin skin before the repair can be completed. 

I discovered soggy plywood in the poop deck on my boat a few seasons past.  My strategy was to remove the offending fittings (in my case the vents for the engine) and stick an electric space heater in the lazarette for a few days.  It was probably not the safest way to dry the deck but the low setting provided sufficient heat to dry out the wood.  The wood itself was not rotten, but frost had done its work such that it had been weakened and was no longer bonded in the 'sandwich' of the deck.  I chose to leave the weakened wood in place and did my best to saturate the wood with epoxy before adding filler and restoring the sandwich of the deck.  Two things made me confident of the repair -- one was the 1/4"+ of glass above the wood, and the second was the short span.  Engineers look at deck structures like beams with the span in this case being the shorter dimension.  That is, the poop deck is about 8"x 48" so as a beam the deck structure needs only to support my weight over an area that is less than the length of my shoe.  Structurally, I just did not see the need to replace the weakened wood.

Last season I replaced the deck fills on my boat and again found a spot of damp wood in the deck.  The wood was exposed to the weather, BUT was largely dry because the Taylor people had not installed the wood properly.  The inside layer of glass was a singly ply of 'glass that passed over the wood and was then bonded to the upper deck surface at either end.  For some reason they left two of the four edges of the wooden piece exposed (picture laying a piece of paper over your keyboard and taping only two of the four edges to your desk).  This was beneficial for me because the exposed edges allowed the escape of any water that entered the wood.  For those contemplating side deck repairs, look closely -- the wood may not be as bad as you think.

For my crackly foredeck I intend to do the same repair that Stefan did with his cabin-top:  drill a few holes and pump the area full of epoxy to saturate the dry laminates and to re-bond the plywood in the foredeck.

However IF I KNEW that I had bad wood in the area, I would first dry it out and then try injecting a product like Git Rot into the wood to consolidate it, followed by epoxy to rebond the wood core to the surrounding fibreglass.  Dry, decayed wood LOVES soaking up epoxy.  The deck would be heavier because of the weight of the resin, but I expect that I would use even more resin in any other version of the repair.  And the time/effort savings is obvious.

If anyone does decide to tackle a deck repair from above, please let us all know how it goes.

Happy sailing Kevin!

And measure measure measure for the battery solution you come up with.  The placement under the cabin sole on my boat is very snug and has restricted my battery choices.  I was able to shoe-horn in a good-sized deep cycle starting battery, and a larger deep cycle battery for house loads.  Not an ideal solution but it serves my needs.

Bravo on your progress on this project!

It is a very familiar model.  Did you use a modelmaking machine to create it?  You could create a nice sideline just making models for those of us interested in looking at something on our book shelves!

How do you plan to test the model?  For resistance mostly or balance and seakeeping?

Is the mast so far forward because of the Junk Rig?  Or is this just a function of locating the Centre of Effort for the purpose of towing?

Hi Adrian!  My sympathies... 

Christopher

I received the following from John Bamford at Stainless Outfitters:

"We can replace the damaged pieces on your Contessa.  We have specs for the original 3 leg bow rail and the 4 leg upgraded rail.  Pricing on the bow rail is $475.00( 1" tube).  The stem can be recreated with a stainless fabrication for about $900.00.  We would need the original stem for patterning. "

I think that Shannon's old stemhead had a bolt-on roller -- this would be less expensive.