In December of 1976, Curlew was purchased by Steven King, not the author, from Ardell’s in Newport Beach. On December 15th, 1979 they departed Marina del Rey, heading for Hawaii where they hoped to do inter-island charters, and Curlew encountered her fourth hurricane, this one known as the Storm of 1980 (Curlew Sails to Hawaii). Late 1983, Curlew was was off to San Francisco for the purpose of refitting the stern sections, re-planking the topsides, and redesigning the interior for more privacy. She was hauled at Pelican Harbor, Sausalito CA, and put in a large storage shed on Schoonermaker Point. Tom George, Shipwright, was the projector manager, who first met King in Hawaii when asked to fashion a new boomkin in 1983. Financial problems led to the transfer of Curlew to George, who trucked her to a Quonset Hut on Bainbridge Island where she was substantially rebuilt.
In 1989 Pat and Marlene Russell came along and purchased Curlew and funded the completion of the work by Tom George. By late October, 1990, Curlew, after an extensive restoration, began her journey from the Pacific Northwest to Long Beach her new home. With a crew of four, including Pat, Bobby Wies, Marinus Middeldorp (Kiwi) and Sean Brennan, Curlew was soon sailing the southern California waters once again, stronger and more graceful than ever, and now meeting the stringent United States Coast Guard safety requirements for carrying passengers for hire.