The Restoration of Thunderbird #800 "Mare" ©1998 Daniel Boren

In March of 1995, I purchased Thunderbird #800. A friend of mine, Arv Cunnington, had built her in the late 60's, and raced actively in the Seattle area for about 10 years. He took her out of the water in 1977, and for a variety of reasons never got around to re-launching. She had been kept in his back yard ever since, and was dirty but sound. When I mentioned that I was ready to start shopping for a sailboat, Arv asked if I'd like to buy his boat. Having more guts than common sense, I began the process of restoring her.

I am not an expert boat builder, nor even a very good boat builder. I'm an average guy with average skills and an average income. I'm doing this for the love of it, and because the little kid in me always wanted a sailboat. I've learned a lot along the way. Others have been extraordinarily generous with their time, encouragement and advice, so I'm sharing this information in the same spirit. I hope some of it will either be amusing or helpful.

• Beginning in Spring of 2000, I want to begin work on the interior.  I have a few pictures of another Thunderbird's interior that I find inspirational.
• A brief photo history of my restoration.
• Painting tips A short collection of tricks that I've picked up in the last three years.
• Links to other Thunderbird sites on the web

	1. In the beginning...		2. A buoyancy disorder.
	3. All the paint stripped off.		4. Fiberglass work.
	5. Sand and fill, sand and fill...		6. Progress is starting to show.
	7. Work starts above the sheer.		8. Moving forward.
	9. Ready to launch.		10. Detail of foredeck.
	11. On the trailer		12. In the slings.
	13. First taste of water in 20 years.		14. Her new berth.
	15. Stepping the mast.

Thunderbird Sites on the Web There is a sad lack of good information on Thunderbirds on the web. These are all the sites I know about, but I would love to hear about more.

International Thunderbird Class Association  Fleet 1 Homepage  Tacoma, WA USA Fleet 2 Homepage  Seattle, WA, U.S.A. Fleet 4 Homepage  Victoria, B.C., Canada Fleet 5 Homepage  Massachusetts Bay Thunderbird Association Fleet 24 Homepage  Nanaimo, British Columbia Fleet 27 Homepage  Perth, Australia Bruce Weber's restoration. Bruce lives just a mile or so from me, and we've enjoyed meeting and corresponding about Thunderbirds. Glen Miller's restoration of hull #3. As of 9/30/01, this is the newsest site I know of. A review of the Thunderbird from Canadian Yachting magazine. Spirit   Thunderbird number 109 is purchased from the Sea Scouts and restored. San Diego, CA.  Richard Moore's Home Page for T'bird #1168 Maiden the Shade #1252 T'bird Page by Mike Cain Amelia The story of sailing a Thunderbird from Vancouver, B.C to Mexico.

©1998 Daniel Boren