Thanks for posting this. My thoughts have been sailing the same course for a number of years. My biggest hurdle is being landlocked in NM, but that hasn’t stopped me from dreaming and planning. I went down to the kid’s place in Florida, and bought a Thompson 260 in need complete repair, stripped it down to the hull, replacing the stringers, giving them multiple coats of epoxy, a silicon coating, and encasing them in fiberglass. The deck got the same treatment, multiple layers of epoxy, covered with silicon, and encased with fiberglass.
I believe this boat could sit for thirty years under water and not have any touch the stringers or deck. The outdrive has been completely torn down and rebuilt with new parts, and the upper replaced. All cables, hoses and wiring have been replaced, along with the gauges, motors, sump pumps, everything electrical. It has a new engine, built on a 350 four bolt main, finished in my shop with Vortec heads and stainless valves. Every cylinder has exactly the same compression.
We stripped it down to the gel coat, and gave it multiple coats of epoxy topped with multiple coats of polyurethane and clear coats. Everything from the anchor wench to the toilet has been stripped down and rebuilt, inside out. The fitting and materials are better than when it first rolled out of the Thompson factory.
I hope to sell it, or trade it for a good sailboat, something that can be moved to Boston where friends have offered me their dock, so long as I keep the boat down to a 40 footer.
When did you redo the Thompson 260? You would love my novel Castigo Cay. A 25’ Pantera with a Chevy big block is a key “character.”
I love all boats. This essay is focused on “escape pod” aspects (sailboats and houseboats) but damn it, I am just a boat nut.