Having bought my 1976 Continental from Stan new at the boat show, it was the perfect boat.  We had it for 20 years and went everywhere on the Chesapeake and spent several months in the Bahamas. There may have been some build issues but we just upgraded it. So I can say that the ‘76-‘78 vintage was more than a presumptuous and amusing wine.   Enjoy your classic Rhodes, guys.  Still have a 87-2014 Rhodes here in Kansas and the previous ‘83 was adopted by a classic guitar and bouzouki maker on a small island in Greece. So my lifelong live  affair with the Rhodes continues. Chris Geankoplis
S/V Xenos

On Fri, Mar 8, 2024 at 9:57 PM Graham Stewart <gstewart.gm at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Brian:
>
> I too have a 1976 Rhodes Continental. I have had it since about 1995. I
> have put her through an extensive rebuild that spanned about 7 years and
> was completed about 4 years ago. The rebuild involved stripping out the
> interior including the structural floor and bulkhead, re-coring the
> foredeck, replacing the windows with single pieces of plexiglass, replacing
> chainplates, painting the deck and cockpit, and dozens of other things. I
> took lots of pictures along the way that I would be happy to share if they
> benefit you.
> I am a complete amateur and made many mistakes along the way, most of which
> resulted in doing things the hard way rather than harming the boat. Just
> about everything can be fixed.
> There is no doubt that boats of this vintage were built to a lesser
> standard than those built by Stan in his factory. The contractors who built
> these boats took a lot of shortcuts. Still, it is a beautiful boat that I
> take great pride in.
>
> Graham Stewart
> Agile 76
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 8, 2024 at 6:32 PM Brian Ferguson <
> brian.a.ferguson76 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Peter,
> >
> > I’m going to try to bump up the post-count for 2024 by asking if there’s
> > any other early Rhodes Continental owners out there. I have a 1976 that
> > Stan already told me he did not build. Having taken it down to a bare
> hull
> > interior, (except for the forward and under-cockpit foam areas) I am
> > thoroughly convinced of that fact.  The early days definitely had some
> > quality control issues.
> >
> > So any other owners out there with early boats and interesting “quality”
> > discoveries? I have some questions for you.
> >
> > Brian
> >
>