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I am deeply grateful for the support of many people, during both the reconstruction of my little sailboat and the writing and production of this book. I received many suggestions, tips, and notes of support from the members of the MacGregor e-mail list, sponsored by SailNet. John Acton, Bert Ward, and Jeff Lackey, whom I'd never really met other than through e-mail, all drove several hours to help me celebrate my inaugural sail, which was a really nice gesture.
Bill Van Allen, another individual whom I've only known through e-mails, has been a phenomenal help by proofreading and correcting the early text, suggesting improvements, and so on. He has spent many hours reviewing material, and this book is vastly improved because of his input. Tom Stockwell has also reviewed later versions of this book and made good suggestions, and I'm grateful for his effort.
Bob White graciously posted restoration images and comments on his website, www.macgregor-boats.com, and has donated much programming time and Web space. His website gave me the idea to expand that information into this form.
I am also greatly indebted to the folks at International Marine, whose time and efforts transformed this manuscript into a real book. While I appreciate all who worked on it, I need to especially recognize Bob Holtzman, my editor, whose suggestions have made this book much more readable, and Jonathan Eaton, who had the faith to take this job on in the first place.
I'd also like to thank a few close friends, Mark Kennedy and Suzanne Boisvert, for sailing with me and putting up with my constant chatter about all things sailing so many years ago. And my slipmate, Larry Lee, who was always ready to lend a tool, or a hand, or a sense of humor whenever anyone was working on a boat.
And naturally, I owe a tremendous debt of thanks to my wife Karen, who never once laughed at me or questioned my judgment when I brought a floating trash pile home to decorate her side yard for two years, nor as I continued to throw money into this project. Her continual support has been extremely gratifying. It reminds me of a toast that I read about in Mathew Wilson's Cruising Guide to the Bahamas—a toast to:
The wind that blows,
The ship that goes,
And the lass that loved a sailor.