A Visit to Tim Jones' Skagit 31 Saratogan

We are in Friday Harbor tonight, the advance guard of what we hope will be an army of classic boat aficionados descending on Tim's shop here tomorrow. We'd all been invited to the re-christening and launching of the boat - the end if a two-decade long project. However, plans had to change; there was just too much work left to do. So Tim has made it a "non-launch" party. We got to the shop around 4:30 pm and found Tim masking the boat getting ready to paint. Busy as he was, he took us all over the shop and showed off the various components he's been working on: bright work, hardware, fiberglass components, and the boat itself. It's huge. We offered to help but there wasn't really much we could do, and Tim needed a break for a few hours before he and a friend paint later tonight. We're looking forward to a fun day tomorrow.


























Saturday
And what a great day it was! We arrived at 9:30, visited with Tim for a bit, and helped with painting prep a little. Fran picked up Tim's daughter, Zohana, at the ferry. She was coming up from Seattle to be a painter's helper. Fran and I cleared out and walked around town for the couple hours when Tim and Zohana were closed off spray painting, and by the time we got back, the blue-green paint was done. An hour or so later folks started arriving and we had fun meeting them, touring the shop again, and talking boats.














Finally, after lots of music and food and drink, Tim orchestrated the "rollout" of the Saratogan. I must say it was even more impressive outdoors than in the shop. Long, sleek, beautifully "50s" styling. One of the attendees has commented on the club web site that the boat is destined to be a Northwest icon, and I think he's right. This is really a classy classic boat.













One of the best parts of the day for Fran and me was talking to other classic boat owners and getting their advice about everything from engines to paints. I was happy that I had a little advice to offer myself, mostly about the fuel tanks I've been working with. As I told people about our restoration plans for this summer, though, we did hear the same piece of advice over and over (especially from Mike and Judy Kronick). "Forget restoring the boat this summer. Put it in the water and enjoy it just as it is! Restoration projects are for winter time!" Well, that's not want I wanted to hear, and it's going to take a few days to get used to the idea. I'm making a short list of must-do's, and we'll see how that feels.