We found our old South Coast 26' and she was in bad shape!

Her journey back home.

     Our old South Coast 26' followed us home just before Christmas 2019. It has been a sad tale for her since she was flooded by Hurricane Ike. When we had her she was in perfect condition, but now she is a major project boat. The interior has been gutted but is a dirty mess. All the wood on the toe rail is rotten. Wires have been pulled out and are hanging out dangling everywhere. All woodwork inside is gone, no walls, bulkheads, or table. Any padding, cushions, or curtains gone. It is sad to see her in such a bad condition.

     My wife Tammy and I will slowly restore her back you the beauty she once was. This was our second South Coast 26. Our first boat was a South Coast 26 center cockpit, so when we bought this boat we named it "26 Again." With that in mind and the fact that we now have her back again, we both agree that we will again name her "26 Again." I joked with Tammy that we need to name her "26 Again, Again." LOL, She thought I was serious. She is still "26 Again."

     On a note of interest. three, or four people have owned this boat since us. We live in Texas and I found her in Louisiana. I did a quick search on facebook marketplace for sailboats almost a year ago and this boat showed up. I was not a complete picture. It was just a picture of the front half and no other pictures. Instantly I know it was 26 Again. They said it was gutted and was a project boat and they were asking a lot for it. I sent the seller a message with a question and they responded. I just wanted to be able to contact them in the future. I did not want to pay $1800 for a project boat. (But I would for an SC 26!) Anyway, the add was taken down not long after my contact and it did not show up anywhere for at least a half a year.

   So how did we end up with it? It was just before Christmas 2019 and we had some extra money, so I found where I had contacted the seller and asked if they still had the boat and he responded with "indeed!" We went and looked at it the following weekend and he said he had not transferred the title into his name. I asked him to get the title..... It was still in my name! When he found out our story he wanted us to get it and he cut the price almost in half and we did not even make an offer. I almost talked myself out of buying her back, even at the lower price, because I knew how much work she needed.

     What changed my mind?  I posted a picture of her in the "South Coast Sailor Talk" group on facebook. I was encouraged by the response to get her and restore her, so the next day we brought her back home. She is back home now in our loving hands. If we would not have gotten her back, we would have regretted it for the rest of our lives. Tammy said, "but what if we get her and never get her restored?" I said "It does not matter, we brought her back home, but we will get her ship shape again! Our retirement adventures will be on her."

     Please join the blog, or do whatever it takes to post questions, comments, or encouragement. I am sure we are going to need a lot of encouragement as we are getting older and we are not in the best of shape with back problems and on and on. You have heard it before, "Never ask an old person how they are doing" If you do you will found out about every ache and pain, the cause and how expensive the meds are. I am not there yet and I pray it is a very long way off. The next step is to clean her up and do a survey of her condition then do something about it.

     I hope you understand that you are welcomed to travel with us on our adventure as we love our boat "26 Again" back to life.

Happy Sails!

John & Tammy McKissack