Thanks for all the info guys. It seems like bronze/bronze is just the way to go. Though I finally got to go LOOK AT the boat today, and would you believe that all the through-hulls except the cockpit drains have been glassed over? So now I don't have to even worry about it!
The bad news is that the deck has far more rot than the owner thought, and instead of digging out a sqaure foot around a single stanchion, it's looking more like most of both side decks and the entire right forward cabin top. The latter is so spongy that the flexing has cracked the portlight. (See foto following.) This is, of course, the largest curve anywhere. I somehow feel picked on by a higher power for this one.
She also has that dreaded disease: mass sag-itosis anawfullotus. (See foto.) I'm currently digging up all the threads on THAT gem. Is it really true that, in most cases, simply releasing the mast will allow the cabin top to return to its proper shape for filling and strengthening? I was thinkin that this was going to be A Major Project, but it doesn't sound TOO bad. (I will no doubt have nightmares of rotten balsa chasing me down dark alleys tonight though.)
Also, I can't help but think that the mast step is somehow "not quite right" in technical parlance. (Foto.)
Lastly, does anyone else have this nifty arch support under the cockpit sole? (Foto.) I have heard so much about sole weakness, that one of the first parts of my survey was to do jumping jacks on the cockpit sole. SOLID AS A ROCK.
I had already tossed the standing rigging out in my mind, so that cost was accounted for. Everything else is cosmetic. Three or four gallons of paint would double the apparent value of this boat, but don't tell the owner that.It's the bloody deck that just more than doubled my upgrade costs. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Stay cool,
Jeremy
PS I'll post the fotos tomorrow after I Photoshop them down to a humane size for our server.