<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>We have #276. When we received the boat here
on the Chesapeake, the yard discovered some rot on the tops near the
mounts. The previous owners had had them checked about 2 years ago, and at
the time they were ok. We went ahead and ordered aluminum replacements
from Bill Mattox in Annapolis, based on a recommendation from Tom
Maroldy--should be done this week. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If you're in doubt and have the money handy, I'd go
ahead and replace them. Whether you go with wood or not is really just a
personal decision, I think the prices would be comparable--at least that's what
the marina told us. 30+ years is pretty respectable...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Good luck, Bill & Mary Ann.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>PS--where are you a student?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>