[quote=turbohobo]Definitely hold off on the paint, if the cat is in as good shape as you say, other than maybe the colour, you can refurbish the hulls using an orbital sander and 800 - 1000 grit waterpaper to remove any mold, mildew or oxidization. Once the hulls are clean, clearcoat them using Poliglow [url]http://www.poliglow-int.com/[/url]. If funds are tight hold off on replacing the standing rigging for right now but it would be a priority, especially if the cat has been in salt water, just eyeball the shrouds and make sure all ends are rust-free.
Familiarize yourself with the rudders, get them dialled to the point you are comfortable with how they operate, you can only tune your rudders with sail time. Also get familiar with rigging the cat, if you are going to trailer it to water, you want to rig in as short a time as possible. Then when it comes time to go sailing just remember to sail within your limits, that means sailing with safety in mind, as mentioned above, good PFD(s), good righting technique, etc. Also keep in mind that the safety factor increases exponentially when it comes to sailing large bodies of water such as the ocean.
I bought an '83 Prindle 18, that had not seen water for over 10 years, cleaned it up, rigged it a few times in my yard, dialled in the rudders, and went sailing, have been out in winds up to 20 MPH and have had no issues with the standing rigging, cleaned up all the running rigging by immersion in 20% bleach water, the cat cleaned up really good, have been meaning to add new pics to my album, [url]http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=77413&g2_GALLERYSID=eacae2d1d0bec0d73d3e72cb9f84dbd3[/url], but have just been too busy sailing the heck out of it. Will try post pics of how good she cleaned up this coming season.
Did I ever mention how much I hate winter? :ficktmich2:[/quote]
