Offshoreonly.com - New Mistress Owner

OK I am a first-timer so here goes:
I bought my wife what I always wanted for her upcoming 40th Birthday - a 1985 Cigarette Mistress!!! The plan is to for her to unwrap some Cig clothes and towels (Feb 23) as a buddy tows the boat up to the house...we will see how it goes but my 2 boys (8 and 9) are hip to the suprise and very excited.

Anyhow, we do our boating in the 1000 Islands and I have been watching the Poker runs for years and decided to step up with our 6th boat, but first performance boat. Our 22' 1977 Donzi Classic "Miss Behave" was becoming crowded what with 4 kids, wife, (hot) nanny, caretaker etc.

A good buddy who recently had twin 900hp Apaches dropped in his 35' 1978 Sonic by his mechanic told me that his mechanic needed to part ways with his Mistress for financial reasons and that the boat was beautiful etc. After going for a ride in his sonic (and losing my hearing and sight temporarily) I decided his mechanic knew his biz and would take a peek at this mystery Mistress. Inside my head, I was hoping the colors would be horrible and it would need a ton of work so I could have an excuse to pass.

Long story longer, I went to see the boat a few days before Xmas and was floored by the colors and condition: 35' Cig on Myco Dual trailer, Mayfair steering, fresh T.R.S drives with nose cones, new cockpit interior, new throttles, engines- 522CID 575 hp (9 hours), 4.00 stroke 4.600 bore, new exhaust manifolds, new intake manifolds, new starters, new water crossovers, H.D engine oil coolers...all for $35K!!!

We (the mechanic and I) plan on testing props for correct fresh water performance in early spring. For the time being, I am dropping a new '08 Alpine ida-X100M marine audio system in with appropriate speakers and a sub and a '20 inch plasma with a playstation 3 w dvd in cabin and a Garmin 3210 on dash.

I have contacted Cigarette in an attempt to get the original built sheet and order fresh cig logo stickers but have not heard back after phone and email messages. Apparently, their apparel department is a bit more responsive. Anybody have any contacts at cig racing that could help me? (The wish list has the '49 grand sport cruiser at the very top unless somebody can tell me I am crazy.)

I tend to lean heavily toward classics and feel good about this Mistress. The cabin is fine but will need an update at some point (like when the kids grow up) and the hatch cushions are fine but could use some freshening. Anybody have a qualified resource for cabin or cushion upholstery in 1000 Islands region or Jersey shore?

Also, any thoughts on muffler systems?

Finally, I am considering the June Alex Bay poker run with my sonic buddy (mid-90mph) and a fountain buddy (mid-80mph) and was wondering if it made sense for all of us to go in separate boats or to divide and conquer so to speak. This Mistress is set up for torque so high end is 70-71mph (I am told). Any and all thoughts are appeciated.

Did I do OK?

Do any fellow Cig owners have any interest in hooking up at my pad on Grindstone Island between the poker runs in June or August?

Thanks and apoloigies for this lengthy message

I will mess with pics and see if I can post any.