Will definitely follow ALL of your suggestions. Unfortunately, this is a bad time of year for me to work on after-work projects. Daylight-savings time just kicked in this past weekend and it is dark before I even leave the office. I have to steal away the odd nice afternoon here and there when I can (as I did today). With the arrival of colder weather also, no mo paintin'/varnishin' unless we get an "indian summer" later on this month. Too bad, because I have finished all the interior repairs and really only have one last touch-up round of painting left.

Good news is the interior teak has really turned out much better than I expected. For some reason, Commander #5 did NOT get the nicest pieces of select grain teak for its interior trim. I had to sand the bejezus out of it and then do a really proper varnish/sand/varnish/sand job on it to coax out any redeeming grain. Royal pain in the a**, but my twisted, hard-headed will of what teak "should" look like was savagely imposed on the junk wood, and now the wood is the talk of the cabin. The bulkheads are insanely jealous, and my sole is in dispair. [sorry, lame pun].

In summation, the last six months have been rough, but worthwhile. I have definitely made up my mind, however, that this is my last "project boat". I'm getting tired of always working on the boat and have never even sailed her. I'm taking a break until after the holidays, and I will hit it hard and finish up the exterior next spring. "Finished" be damned. I'm going to take the advice of the wise cpete and "put her in the water and go sailing." I hope that one day next year I will write you all and tell you that the Cinderella story is complete, but we'll have to wait and see. I'll be posting the "After" pics of the interior this week. Best regards to all - cpete, Robert LeMasters, bill, ebb and all the rest who have seen me through my first 6 months with Commander #5. Her new name will be "Heidi Ann", named after a friend of mine who also happens to be a fine looking scandanavian lass -I think Mr. Alberg would approve - he had an eye for beauty obviously. C5 over and out.