About the Quetzal

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=105 BGCOLOR="#66CCCC" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04400690ezvthe.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>1959 Chris Craft Constellation Renovation.... Raising the Quetzal</B></FONT><B>   |  </B><B> </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="1959 Chris Craft Constellation Renovatio"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>About the Quetzal</B>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photo Album"><U>Photo Album</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mailbag"><U>Mailbag</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Related Links"><U>Related Links</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Me"><U>Contact Me</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Joes Page"><U>Joe's Page</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#66CCCC" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="045c8212ezvthe.gif"> <div> <B>Scroll down here for 'Renovation Links' !</B></div> <bR> <div> This section details the 'start up' shape of the Quetzal.  As the renovations go on, we'll add pages with photos and text dealing with the specific projects, such as the teak decks, the head, repairing and refinishing the cabinetry, bridge reconstruction, canvas design, instrument replacement (with rebuilt originals), sink, stove.... etc.</div> <bR> <div> Below, you'll find links to the various "project pages"</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Top Removal"><U><B>Top Removal</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cabinetry Refinishing"><U><B>Cabinetry </B></U></A><A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cabinetry Refinishing"><U><B>Refinishing</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Main Cabin Rebuild"><U><B>Main Cabin Rebuild</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pulling the Engines"><U><B>Pulling the Engines</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="New Frames"><U><B>New Frames</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>Bulkhead Removal</B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=375 BGCOLOR="#66CCCC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> About the Quetzal</div> <div> As stated, the Quetzal is a 35' Chris Craft Constellation, vintage 1959.  She has an 11' beam (actually the specs say 10'8") and carries twin Chris Craft 283's (which we don't think work).  The Quetzal was originally designed to sleep 6 comfortably.  She came with a galley, complete with dinette, couches that fold down, and a v-berth for sleeping.  The head was too gross and rotted for words... we tore it out.  Her hull has planks that are to be pulled on both sides.  There's less rot than I had expected.... but still plenty.  </div> <bR> <div> Here's our story.  The family spends a great deal of time on Lake Erie, in Huron, Ohio.  We travel to the islands and along the North Coast.  Basically, we've been looking for a reason to spend even more time up there, especially during the summer months.  Like so many other times in our lives, fate seems to have taken a hand and delivered this big old boat to us for relatively little more than the cost of transporting it from the Minneapolis area to Huron.  So as not to be total dupes, we had a cursory survey done to determine if it was even worth salvaging.  They said it was..... opinions vary.  </div> <bR> <div> We've brought her to the Great North Coast to work on.  The project started as a renovation of a useable craft...... It's turned into a rebuild.  Luckily, we've got a real old wooden boat artist to help with the heavy duty projects.  His name's Dwight.  The Quetzal is now in one of his barns, out of the elements.  Like I said in the "update" section of the home page, there are just so many things going on at once, it's hard to fathom.</div> <bR> <div> As we've posted to the left on this page, we'll try to design specific pages for each of the projects as they occur.  The links will be available as you scroll down the left hand column of this section.  As kind of a test page, I'm going to start the section on removal of the hard top on the bridge.  I've got a picture that show's it pretty well, so we'll begin with it.</div> <bR> <div> Remember, we welcome your comments and suggestions (and of course cash).  Let us know what you'd like to see regarding both the renovation process and this web site.  Just click on <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#993300" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Me"><U><I>Contact Me</I></U></A></FONT>.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>