Cassiopeia is a 1971 Islander 36 owned by Kit Wiegman of Alameda, CA. He, with the help of his crew Dan, Bruce, Joy and Shelley, and many other friends, re-built Cassie the year prior to the start of the July 2006 race to Kaneohe Hawaii. Kit's tireless efforts at her rebuild brings to life the joy of actually being in and finishing the race. The bottom cracked in May 2005 thus necessitating almost a complete refit of the boat. The boat was completely stripped of all hardware up top, and almost gutted down below. The bottom was re-done and new shear stripes and accent striped painted and mast re-painted prior to getting back into the water. Kit fit a new mast step, all new tabbing on all bulkheads, redesigned the head area with new bulkheads, and  re-did the water tanks. New opening ports were added. Friends helped in rewiring, adding new lighting, paint and varnish all topsides and down below, re-attach all hardware, cabinetry, and rigging, much of which was new. Finally in April 2006 we started to race her and shake her down. All the kinks were worked out! We had no major mishaps on the trip thanks to Kit's expert preparations!