An update on E29 named Joy
Here are my updates after getting the boat survey, the engine survey, a shipyard doing the job and tuning the engine, and, finally, buying and bringing her home to Dana Point:
1. A survey did not reveal much rather then rating the her "above average". I do not mention details like the guy referred to Barlow 24 winches as "Bennet winches". He tried his best...
2. An Engine (Atomic A4) survey revealed a good compression (90-100), oily spark plugs and lots of corrosion. David Grosse was very kind to come on Sunday and tuning the engine up so I sailed the boat from Long Beach to DP the next day. It was a great sail, 30 nm in 5.5 h, when I reached the dock gusts were above 20 (very unusual for DP). I was lucky because 2 days later the carb developed a strong leak while the boat was in the slip and the mechanic was not available, so I had to learn how to reach for the carb in E29, with the help of Don from Moyer Marine. Other than that leak (temporary treated by draining the fuel from the bowl and forcing the fuel again through the valve) and the white smoke of burning oil the engine works well.
3. Sails resonated to my racing past: the previous owner put nice new North Sails 7 years ago, and they still shine and work up to the NS reputation. The standing rig was replaced recently, no red flags were found on chain plates (as someone mentioned above, we are happy when we cannot see problems!). The sailing balance of the boat, with and without autopilot, was amazing in 6-15 kn range
4. Previous owner had organized all paperwork and manuals he collected for 20 years, into a very impressive archive, he did a good job caring after her.
Problems: poor deck paint, carb leak, stanchion base leaks, cracked compass, the hull paint is too old, the engine burns oil, messy wiring
Plans: self-tailing winches, lazy jacks, new running rigging, fixing the engine (still need to find a local mechanic who would respond to my problems after his job generates some unexpected issues), re-arranging wiring and adding some electronics (would appreciate an advice on a reliable contact in DP or OC), replace a cooktop, install a bilge/fume/fire alarm
The bottom line: my 7-year old son sailed her with me for a day and he was happy. Like I said, this is a new dimension for me! Thank you all for your helpful input.
Dmitri