David, I am thrilled with the boat. In the 6 months that I have owned her, I have learned so much while bringing her back to fighting form. I attended a 5-day ASA confidence course while closing the deal. The first thing I learned was that there are a lot of little things on a boat that need attention. I'm sure that never ends. Let me tell you some of what I have done so far. All new running
rigging, installed
lazy jacks (worth their weight in gold), new head,
Garmin chart plotter, re-organized the deck - removed both teak handrails and replaced with stainless, led all
lines to the cockpit, installed rope clutches, tightened the shaft packing, installed an additional flag halyard on the port side for the
radar reflector, installed mid-ship
cleats, a 12x12
hatch over the head, an new small bulkhead on the port side, a new bildge
pump switch, installed insulation in cooler, had a thru-hull installed for a macerator
pump (which I have yet to install), installed pipe foam insulation on all overhead obstacles
, made and installed a man-overboard flag, removed the old name and installed new lettering, installed USCG #s on a piece of teak epoxied inside, new
fenders and dock lines, and many random hardware replacements.
Whew! Okay, now for what I love about Sundance: I love her lines, how she lets me learn without killing me, how she is my refuge from the day to day grind. I love going down and tinkering for a while and then taking her out for a sail. I love the solitude of soloing and the joy of sharing her with friends and family. I look forward to some great trips to the Channel Islands, which are so close to my home port. I continue to learn from all of you daily as I peruse the forums and hopefully save myself from having to learn everything the hard way. I have the bug so bad that I dream of sailing almost every night and my days are spent thinking about sailing or what new project I am going to tackle.
I am coming to the end of recovery for shoulder surgery (rotator cuff) that I had in September. Some of the projects listed above were accomplished with one arm in a sling. But I will tell you that having the boat to retreat to totally saved me. I am such a poor patient and invalid that I would have driven everybody around me crazy without it. I think the best thing was over-nighting with my family at Santa Cruz Island. We successfully anchored twice, made shore excursions, and survived the middle of the night winds. So far, I think the worst thing for me is when more then a week passes without being able to sail or tinker on the boat. Guess I've been lucky so far
.
I think I have rambled long enough. I love the boat and appreciate other sailors like you all. Thanks for all the encouragement and advice.