"The Cigarette that OSO built."
 

This message is long overdue for a ton of people. If I didn’t mention you below, I really do apologize. There have just been so many tremendous people that I have made contact with throughout this process.

***For those of you refurbishing, rebuilding, repainting, re-rigging, re-anything your boat, you might find this interesting.***

Some of you may recall that 2 weeks before Christmas in 2003, I got the worst phone call you can possibly get regarding your boat. It was stolen. Less than 48 hours later it was found stripped, abandoned and shrink wrapped in another state. I can’t tell you the high I went from hearing it was recovered to the sickening feeling I had when I finally got to the boat. I hope nobody ever has to go through it. Quick note to you morons that did it, keep yucking it up. It’s a felony, and we still follow-up leads.

Since then, we lost a season and a half on the water, but have it back together now. I’ve attached a couple of pictures to give you an idea before/during/after, but the real point of this is to send some sincere thanks to those that have helped make this happen. In no special order:

All Sports – Gilford NH: Bill/Bobby/Matt/Dick. Fantastic rigging job. Period.
Aluminum Marine/B-Bracket: Mike/Bruce. It was worth the –very, very, very- long wait.
Audiofn: Thank you for your help in improving the sound system through all my calls and e-mails. It won’t have “dance floor bass” like your boat will, but it did turn out to be a huge improvement.
Andy Buzz: Now I know how to keep it safe and check on it’s whereabouts anytime of the day or night.
Biggus: You helped me get connected with Steve Lewis to redo most of the upholstery and I could not have been happier. Quality workmanship, great guy and excellent price.
Cigarette Racing Team: Bud & Hector get things done the only way Cigarette knows how. Perfect & expensive.
Livorsi Marine: Mike Livorsi helped with things that were both important and not so important in detail. Truly a class act.
National Marine Underwriters: Professional claim handling and quick payment. What more can you ask for from an insurance company?
Shoregasm: Hatch logos look familiar?
Sign4Boat: Super nice guy, quality vinyl products and easy to work with.
John A. from West Virginia: The motor package was everything you said it was –and then some.
Midwest Powerboats: Shawn & Kevin Heiliger. Excellent airbrushing job and your own creative touches only made it better.
The Art of Design: Thomas. Sure it took about 347 revisions, but the stickers look great.
Team Marine: Kevin/Carmen and the rest of the guys. Even though the manufacturers come first for you guys, you never ceased to amaze me with the level of detail and quality.
Throttle-Up Propellers: Julie & Gene have been great. The propeller test program is for real, and their expertise is invaluable.
Trick Marine: Fred what more can I say? I’m sure I’m not your largest customer by a long-shot, but your level of service is what has, and will continue to, bring me back to you again and again for all the other projects in the works.

Finally, OSO: Without this resource that I gladly pay for every year, there is no way I could have done this the way that I did.

You are about to look at a 1973 Cigarette 28 Open. So what do you think? :cool:

Re: "The Cigarette that OSO built."
 

A couple of before pics.

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2 more.

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A few after. I start to stutter and stammer from anger when I see these. You get the idea. Everything was gone.

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And now.

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Few more.

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Last one for now. :drink:

Re: "The Cigarette that OSO built."
 

DAMN that looks great! Glad you got it back together, did they ever catch the scum that stole it?

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thats tits..............great luck.........m.m.....

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I'm remember your post when the boat was stolen and thought how pi$$ed I'd have been. Glad to see it's back and better :D

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Great looking boat! Congrats on getting her fixed back up. Jim

Re: "The Cigarette that OSO built."
 

Let me tell ya,that thing is nice how many did they make?good luck really nice!I wouldnt mind 1 of those as a project with a nice big block!

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32 and looks like new - nice job! Looks like you had to start with a hull and a compass..

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whats in it fir power?

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Looks great. I've always liked those boats.

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Andrew the boat looks great!!! Only wish that I had the time to install the tunes for ya. Just bad timing on that :( I still can not beleive that they found it about 1/4 mile from my house. :eek: :eek:

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Con grats, on getting your ride back it looks great :D

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That's great to see the boat together. I can not believe how they stripped that boat down to a bare shell :mad: . I am very happy for you and I hope you enjoy your boat for many years to come!

BTW fist class move thanking all who helped

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Congrats. Looks great.

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Looks great. Saw the boat over at Bills when it was in completely different shape

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Isn't that the same as Bush 1's cig boat model?

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Congrats on getting the boat back togedther.
She looks super clean!

Evan

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WOW! That boat looks terrific. Nice job on the rebuild and compliments to all those who lent a helping hand/part/tool/input.

Looks great!

:cool:

Re: "The Cigarette that OSO built."
 

Thanks very much guys for the kind words.

Not yet...

I've heard around 80 was the total production. Geeez, where were you last Spring? :D

Actually, it's a new compass too. :D

A 500HP that had 32 hours on it.

Hold the phone ---I didn't think it was THAT close to where you lived. Maybe there are a couple of nice investigators that will be stopping by to say hi in the near future. :evilb:

I can only imagine what it looked like and what he said. I kept telling him that he should have tried harder to talk me out of doing it. :rolleyes:

Good eye. Really amazes me how many people recognize it from him. It was called "Fidelity" and is now in his museum in DC. They had to cut the roof open and lower it into place. Pics is from another board member that has one, "Open72".

Re: "The Cigarette that OSO built."
 

Was that always a single engine boat, or was it converted? I've never seen another 28 open with a single.

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I think I remember when that was stolen. was that the boat behind another boat, and they moved it out of the way to steal yours?

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Looks great, congrats on getting it back together.

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Nope. They all were originally twins. I am the second owner. The first owner (a former CEO of CRT) converted to a single back in 1999.

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That would be me. :mad:

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well , just got internet service today ,finally. while i evacuated to texas i went to the library , here's a few more.

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Hey welcome back! Dare I ask how your boat made it through the storms?

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Boat looks great damdonzi! I had no Idea when Airdog posted about it in the Banana forums that it had been through so much.

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my house and shop made out fine ,the trees all fell in the opposite direction , like 20 of them :eek: glad to see you got your boat back in running order , looks really nice , like the seats !!!

i'll take a old cigarette over a new one anyday of the year!

even my 10 week old (2.5 week old then) little girl loves em! :D

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Wow, Andrew, that came out beautiful! Makes me sorry I sold mine.

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You might just get another shot at buying one in the Spring... :cool: