In the beginning….

I bought Circadian from Jesse and Cindy on December 17th, 2009.
She is a mid-seventies vintage Laurent Giles design called a Salar 40, built in England by Essex Yachts. Circadian, formerly known as Maris Stella was originally named after a Catholic mariners hymn dating back to the fifteenth century. She was sailed from England through the Mediterranean, to Africa, South America, and the Virgins before arriving in the United States in late 1978
In the following paragraphs, Jesse tells the story of how they came to own her and what they had done to her:
In the fall of 2005, I spotted the Salar 40 we now own. After stopping by to check on any progress, week after week, I began to inquire of the marina staff of her history. The owner was ill and lived in another state and was not available to care for her. She was not actively on the market as her owner had not given up his dream of sailing her again. The hull being solid glass laminate with no core material had been sandblasted from the waterline down and the topside paint had long since given up. But this boat had many ocean crossings and had been well equipped and was certainly capable of many more. Maris Stella, now renamed Circadian had been outfitted with every possible amenity available at the time. So as my wife was saying, No, No, No, the owner and I made a deal. My wife wrote the check and the seller walked away with the sad feeling of having to give up his dream. This was the start of many long days and nights of hard work just to remove the old damaged cushions, electronics, plumbing and wiring so that we could begin a complete restoration. We had the boat moved to our house which was only a short walk from the marina where we continued to remove the interior woodwork so my wife, Cindy could begin to strip and re-varnish it all. Since the bottom had been sand-blasted there was no anti-foul paint to contend with so we went straight to work applying three coats of “West System” epoxy followed by three coats of “Interlux 2000E epoxy barrier coat and then finally three coats of “West Marine” anti-fouling paint.
During this process, I replaced all of the sea-cocks with bronze ball valves, thru-bolted and screwed in the thru-hull fittings with 3M 5200 sealant. (She doesn’t leak) The engine, a 4236 Perkins expelled the exhaust out the starboard side of the hull. This I changed so that the exhaust now exits the stern. Since the idea of low maintenance was foremost in our minds (we actually wanted to go cruising one day) we decided to replace all of the old machinery with new units, so out with the old engine, transmission, fuel tanks, shaft, prop etc. The replacement engine is a new Beta Marine 50hp diesel with TCM 260 gear 2.5-1 which is extremely efficient, quiet and a side benefit is that is provides us with extra room in the engine room which allows us to provide maintenance with ease.
We replaced the 2 piece [prop shaft] with a single unit 1 1/2” X 7’ along with a new cutlass bearing, flexible shaft coupler and 3 blade Michigan Wheel 18” x 13” propeller. We replaced the steel fuel tanks with new polymer USCG approved units. Since we now had more available space in the engine room due to the smaller physical size of the Beta Marine 50hp diesel we also installed a 4KW genset, a hot water heater, battery charger, batteries and a 40 gallon holding tank, all in the engine bay. With the easy access, port and starboard cockpit hatches and the lift out cockpit hatch, the fuel system selector switches, filter and hoses are all easily accessible as are the sea strainer baskets and sea cocks.
While I was busy doing this, Cindy removed all of the topside paint and cracked gel-coat. We finished the topsides with 3 coats of epoxy and 3 coats of 545 epoxy primer which was followed by 3 coats of “Awlcraft” (made by Awlgrip) 3-part finish coat. The topsides came out so shiny that it was difficult to get a photograph because of the reflections from its surroundings.
Meanwhile, Cindy began the overwhelming job of removing all of the deck hardware and teak decking with the help of my best friend and his wife. You really know who your friends are when they are willing to spend their vacation helping you with your boat! We had decided not to replace the teak decking because of maintenance issues and instead replaced the deck with solid glass laminate, without coring. I made stainless steel bulwark stanchion braces that bolt directly to the side of the bulwarks and are up off the deck leaving clear waterways to the newly enlarged scuppers. The all glass deck is very firm and has a gel-coat non-skid finish.
I also made new stainless steel chain plates for the upper and lower shrouds. These also are bolted through the bulwarks and side of the house allowing clear passage down the side decks and no through the deck fittings. We installed a 3 burner with oven propane stove, a new and much larger stainless steel galley sink and a 12 volt refrigerator/freezer that fit neatly into the old ice box.
We installed a new Wilcox Crinton (sic) head and repainted the head and shower area. The cabin was so dark, with all the teak, so we opted to cover the bulkheads with textured white formica laminate and trimmed it in varnished teak. All new salon cushions and a new teak and holly sole really made a big difference.
The mast, boom and two reaching poles were all repainted. The rigging is no place to scrimp so we replaced all the standing rigging with oversized 1 x 19 wire with “stayloc” end fittings. We used open style turn-screws and also went up one size. All the running rigging has been replaced as well.
Our home port is Oriental, NC but we are currently cruising in Florida and have spent the past few months in the Florida Keys.

Critical health issues had driven Jessie to cut short the restoration effort and go cruising as soon as Circadian’s essential core systems were solid enough to allow it. When I flew to Charleston to see her, I found a boat with “good bones” that would require a lot of work before she was a finished boat. The decks and trunk cabin were still unpainted and full of imperfections. Wiring wasn’t finished; there were no ceilings and lots of missing wall panels, doors and trim; the portholes had been removed and sealed off with plywood from the inside and the propane tank installation was incomplete and dangerous. The engine compartment cover consisted of a sheet of plywood covered with carpet and the aft cabin was completely gutted and used for storage. The windlass didn’t work and the generator installation was never completed because Jessie had broken the manifold by stepping on it while getting into the engine compartment. Tragically, the beautiful new topsides paint had been scarred around the bow by the anchor chain when the boat was pushed against the chain by a contrary tide.
Despite the daunting amount of work that would await me, we made a deal and I began frenetically following up on the myriad interdependent arrangements for a survey, haulout, dismasting, loading, trucking and off-loading that I had begun weeks before. Ross Marine, the yard on Johns Island outside Charleston where the boat was hauled out, would be closed for the holidays until January 4th. The mast would be pulled and prepped within a few days after that.