The Purchase

August 2001 - January 2002

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There wasn't a single angle that was not breathtaking
I first saw Kialoa in the water on a mooring late August at Long Beach Island New Jersey. The owner of about 1.5 years had purchased the boat in Rhode Island and sailed her down after working on her over the winter. She was moored some distance from the nearest dock, and while I waited for the owner to pick me up it was obvious which boat she was, very powerful lines even at a distance. As we motored up to her in the dinghy and then around her, there wasn't a single angle that was not breathtaking.

Back of the boat Initial Inspection
Inspection of Kialoa at this point revealed the usual array of frame / floor problems plus she was cosmetically rough. I actually walked away from her thinking "No I don't want a project of this magnitude", but you know how it goes. I saw her price reduced in late October and I couldn't help myself, I called the broker and found that there had been two offers and one was supposed to go to contract. I was crushed , how could I have let her slip by. The broker informed me that she was out of the water and I could go see her.

New Owners on the Kialoa I found a surveyor, a wooden boat builder of some 30 years from a shop I knew who was now doing consulting/surveys. We spent about 2 hours on the boat and of course more problems presented themselves. She had some rot in her forekeel and also in her sternpost, her garboard planks forward were opened up a bit and had been payed with a vast assortment of seam compounds all of which contributed to further problems. There were 2 floors in way of the mast step showing transverse cracks and several rotten frame heels, thus the movement in the garboards. The sternpost would need to be replaced and it was unclear how much of her keel was involved. Otherwise the boat was reasonable, nothing you couldn't live with and repair as you sail. The surveyor was impressed with the stoutness of her construction and that most of her planking was sound and she still had her shape. In addition her teak deck was in excellent shape. So now what?

The Offer
Interior The second of the two offers backed out being located some distance from New Jersey and not able to deal with repairs at that distance, so it was up to me. The owner had blown the diesel earlier that summer and had purchased a new Westerbeke which I saw in the yards shop, he had intended to have work done on her during the winter but decided to sell her instead. I made an offer not much over the cost of the diesel and waited. And waited.. The owner was in Mexico out of touch and we waited…. Mid January he returned accepted the offer and the paperwork and doubts began. At the end of January I was the proud owner of a 1954 Alden Ketch and a westerbeke diesel.

Leading Up to the Decision
Back Of Kialoa Now I should point out that I have been threatening to build or restore a 40 something sailboat for about 2 decades. Having lived on a 46 foot Matthews (powerboat, circa 1930) I had the bug. Much work had gone into the previous boat and I was well aware of the issues. I decided that the only way to do this right was to move her to my house, and get her under cover. Take my time and really go through the boat completely. I have a small barn with a shop (pretty well equipped) and had a 48 X 20 metal roof open side building which had been constructed some 10 years ago for another project.

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