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M.B. Naegle

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Last Activity: 15-03-2024 18:49

About Me

About M.B. Naegle

Vessel Make/ model

Gulf Coast 18 sailboat

Vessel Name

TBD

Location

Conroe, Texas U.S.A.

Occupation

Mechanic/Machinist

Interests

Vintage Machinery, Classic Cars

Biography

I'm Miles hailing from Conroe Texas (north side of Houston). Born in Central California but lived in Texas most of my life. I'm an Eagle Scout and enjoy the outdoors, but spend most of my free time working with vintage machinery and classic cars. I'm a mechanic and machinist with a company that specializes in leatherworking machinery (service and manufacturing).

I'm married with three little kids (2, 4, and 8) and we try to get out for a "big" vacation once a year. I really love road-tripping the American West and camping, but really any kind of traveling adventure where we get to soak up some scenery.

So a few years back I started watching Acorn to Arabella and the Tally Hoe Restoration on YouTube and while I doubt I'll ever have the time or means to undertake such a project, I love the practical functional skill that goes into ship building and the adventure that follows. I'm very much the kind of guy that if I want to get into something, I'll start with restoring or rebuilding something old (aka: experienced) so that I understand how it works and I trust it's track record. This often leads me into biting off more than I can chew at times, but I enjoy the results more than just "buying" things.

Other projects I've got going include a frame-off restoration of a 54' Chevy sedan, continuing work on my daily driver a 53' Chevy sedan, similar "rolling restoration" of a 49' Ford 8N we use around our machine shop, and several old mills and lathes getting repaired, refitted, and a few turn of the century pieces becoming part of an overhead-shaft driven shop in my garage at home. All this while I 8-5 my day job and live the family life dream at home.

So a little while back I started looking at sailboats in my area. I wanted something multiple people can go out on, nothing big enough to require dockside storage, BUT something that could handle overnight camps. With my naive desire for a project and limited budget, I ruled out most of the more sensible leads and found myself the owner of a Gulf Coast 18. It was once part of a university's sailing program or club, that for some reason was abandoned on a property with 30-40 other boats. The property's new owner starting selling them off until when I got there there was 4-5 left. Super nice guy though like me, not a sailor, but we tried to piece together what was left. The Gulf is going to need quite a bit of fiberglass work, but if nothing else, the $200 I gave for it bought me a decent small boat trailer and some hardware that can go towards another better project. The gulf fits the above criteria, but is perhaps a little small for all five family members, so it might just be a starter boat before stepping up to something bigger like a Catalina 22. Someday when the kids are grown up, I do like the idea of sailing to offshore destinations, but for now I'm content with lakes and the gulf shoreline.

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Last Activity: 15-03-2024 18:49
Join Date: 27-03-2022
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Join Date: 27-03-2022
Total Posts: 82

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M.B. Naegle

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