OK, Badger was planked up in lauan, quite a lot heavier than either okoume or fir, and Zebedee in meranti, which according to my source  is the same thing.  However, the meranti ply I've seen here is much coarser and heavier than the luan ply we used on Badger.  Whatever.  Supposedly 35lbs a cube: keruing is 46 lbs a cube.  Both boats were built with solid, wooden masts and both had - horror of horrors - teak decks!!  Badger had the wing keel, Zeb 4ft 1in draught, with lead on the long, shallow keel.  Of the two, Badger is the stiffer.  This isn't subjective: we very, very rarely sailed with the rail in the water on Badger, Zebedee frequently sails rail down to windward and he flips it under when he does a fast gybe, so it's more than just heeling to the extra power of the cambered sail.  The 40 footer has no extra weight on deck and carbon fibre masts; logically she wouldn't heel more.  What's more, by the time you have the rail in the water, the boats really, really don't want to go over any further.

Camber first, rudder a long way second.  Alan and I have come to the conclusion that the rudder was shaped back to front.  If you see it off the boat, on the bench, without its fittings and are used to a conventional rudder, this isn't as insane as it first sounds.  Anyway, whatever the reason, the rudder was fine forward and thick aft.  I doubt the one you are looking at has the same issue.  It has made an enormous difference to the way Zebedee sails: but it would, wouldn't it?  However, the cambered sails were the first noticeable improvement and it was pretty dramatic.

I'm sorry to hear about the Pearson. But forget the sunk cost fallacy (I'm not sure exactly what that is, but can guess.)  It's only money - you can earn more - but we are talking about your life and you can't earn any more of that. If I were you, which I'm not, I'd buy the dory and sail it back to New England.  The Trade Wind route.  Rent your house out.  If you do the sums of how much it will cost to ship it back across the country and compare that with the voyage back, done simply and avoiding most of the flesh pots, I doubt there'd be a lot in it.  And you can sell some of the gizmos.  There's a reason the boat is where she is: she's just asking to sail across the Pacific.  Why waste such an opportunity?

I'm convinced that I need to at least go take a look at it.  If everything checks out, I have some soul searching to do.  There is a slight issue with my timing.  I won't be ready to untie the lines for a while yet.  But I could keep the boat there for a few years - the San Carlos area is supposedly affordable.  It may actually be cheaper to keep it there and fly out a couple times a year than to pay for a mooring here in Connecticut.

A few long vacations to Mexico during the New England winters can't be a bad thing. And I'm told the Sea of Cortez is beautiful, even if the actual sailing is fussy.

Then the trade winds to Whangarei? 

Scott,

Do you remember discussion of a certain beautifully built Badger on Lake Champlain? I don't think it's looking for a new home this year, but there has been talk about in the not too distant future. I'm not sure in what ways these two boats are different, but perhaps worth a thought? Being so close!

Shemaya

"There are other boats than this one."

That is very true, Scott. It has happened to me quite a few times that the perfect boat has popped up at a not-perfect moment  -  that is, when I was in the middle of  a rigging project. So far, I have managed to turn away from the temptation and finish my projects, and only looked around when I felt ready for it. It is sad to see when people jump from one half-finished project to the next, and the next. So much wasted work.

I hope you regain courage, and manage to get your project back on the rails again.

Arne