Aft of the galley, against the bulkhead that separates the galley from the saloon, is an office area. Steps down to the master stateroom are to port.

Bill and I settled down in the saloon to talk and watch some videos. He is an enthusiastic amateur videographer and had a camera in hand, or nearby, most of the time. When I left the home several days later, he handed me a DVD of the video he'd shot during my visit.

Saloon walls are covered with wallpaper that was installed early in the overhaul process and still looks good. Bill wanted grooved oak paneling for interior use. He got 11 sheets of it via a special order from the Weyerhaeuser Corp.

Most boat builders today skimp on or eliminate side decks to provide more interior space. Ocean Quest has side decks 38 inches wide, and, as a result, her saloon is small but comfortable, with a settee, bookshelves, space for a dining table (normally stowed in an adjoining locker), and an entertainment center. As built, the Romsdal had a Dutch door opening to the aft deck. The settee Bill chose blocks use of the lower half of the door, but the upper section opens, letting in light and air.

"My goal was to make this my home afloat," he said. 

The wide decks would be expected from a yard accustomed to building fishing vessels. The crew, obviously, would need plenty of space to work, and handle gear and its catch.

Foredecks on Romsdals usually are open, another indication of workboat heritage. Bill has added things never envisioned by the builder. He installed a built-in refrigerator that supplies the deck crew and visitors with soda and bottled fruit juice. A 13-foot Avon inflatable tender is lashed down athwart ships and against the forward wall of the deckhouse. A Wave-Runner is stowed nearby. An 8-foot Avon, the boat that worked the hardest during my stay aboard, is suspended above the port railing for quick launching. There's an on-deck gasoline tank that supplies the toys and working tenders.

A trunk rises tall to enclose a doorway leading down to the accommodations, the shop, and the engine room on the lower deck. Another weather-tight door on the port side of the house also leads below, and to the galley. A hydraulic windlass is at the bow; it carries 400 feet of five-eighths chain and a 500-lb. Navy-style anchor.

Later, I used the port door for a visit to the engine room. I couldn't miss the lineup of emergency-use flashlights at the top of the stairs, all securely held by Bill's plastic mounting brackets. Nearby were a storage

rack and charger for three handheld VHF radios, ready for dinghy cruising or exploration ashore.

A mainmast is rooted in the foredeck: Bill replaced the aging, failing 28-foot wood mast with an exact reproduction in steel. It is topped with a crow's nest, the one place on the boat I did not visit. Getting up there requires climbing ratlines, a ladder-like device made of rope and leading upward from the rail. John Love, an Alaskan skier and yacht captain in his early 20s who was on board for a few days, made the ascent easily while carrying by Nikon. He's also a photographer, and he came down with some excellent pictures. 

The boat is painted a rich, creamy color called Hatteras white. The old Norway pine deck boards were smoothed and coated with the same shade of "Truck Glove," a thick, sturdy coating normally used to sheath the cargo area of pickup trucks. That coating has worked well for several years. The only shortcoming is that it is slippery under wet bare feet. 

Because Ocean Quest has a canoe stern, her aft deck is triangular. With a small table and a few chairs, it is a satisfying place to watch the sunset - or to tally the fish attracted after dark by the boat's underwater lights.

Bill's goal was to create comfortable and functional spaces for living aboard, and that required opening up and improving the galley. The biggest obstacle to efficient galley use was the steep stairway rising from near its center to the pilothouse above. Bill demolished the stairway and created a home-style kitchen with space for a cook, helpers, and full-size appliances.

That left him with no way to reach the pilothouse. His solution was to remove the mizzenmast at the aft end of the deckhouse and to build a stairway against the back wall. It works well, carrying crew and guests to the bridge deck which is fitted with everything needed for outdoor dining - and to the pilothouse doors.

I tend to nitpick the design and engineering of stairways on new boats, often faulting builders for creating steps that vary in height and depth and that curve too sharply. Bill's design is excellent in comparison, except that it lacks a handrail along the outside edge. One misstep could send a guest tumbling to the deck below. There is a handrail along the deckhouse side, but the opposite side is wide open. It's not too late to add one, Bill.

BIG BOAT--CREW NEEDED

The pilothouse is original Romsdal, except for the installation of navigation gear that was unknown in 1960. A bench seat faces the helm, a settee/pilot berth is