X-treme Boat Makeover

Well, spring is here, and in our part of Alaska, that means time to get the ol' fishing boat fixed up and ready for another season of chasing fish around which we trade for money to fix our boat...some people refer to this as 'The Circle Of Life'. We left early on a beautiful, brisk morning, the dock looking fresh and clean under a new coat of snow. The sun came out in force and by the time we'd been underway a few hours everything had melted off and it was T-shirt weather on the back deck. Ahh yessss...the back deck. This was the main reason we were making the 8 hour run to the big city, to tear out and rebuild the back deck, haul the whole works out of water and bottom paint 'er. It's much easier to get a job done quickly when you have access to a hardware store and plenty of ice cream. Besides, we hadn't had fresh groceries since the first week of February...over two months...as I said ICE CREAM!!! We arrived in civilization with our two dogs, boatful of tools and a rubbermaid full of freezer stuff from the house. When we leave we have to clean out everything because there will be no power until we get back and crank over 'Genny' again. The Southeast Alaska Folkfest was in full swing when we rolled into town...muskeg-grown bands from all over the state were there to jam until the wee hours of the morning. We got cleaned up and went out on the town, while visions of steak dinners danced in our heads. Just outside the restaurant we ran into a friend who was looking for a gillnetter about like ours...one thing led to another and pretty soon we realized we were selling our boat and may not be fishing this season after all! This would be the first time in many years, for both of us, not to be on the water for the summer...but we prayed about it and went ahead with the process. This however didn't let us out of the intended boat-work nosirrreee! The good ship Brunette was hauled out of the water on what is called a travel-lift, it lifts the boat in big straps and then drives you through the boatyard to your rented spot. You're then blocked up and unstrapped and there you sit. She was looking pretty unloved and quite the 'bearded lady' when we started the project...after the seaweed and barnacles which had collected on her over the winter were pressure washed off the work began. We cut the old deck out with a sawzall, the fiberglass and plywood filling the back of our little toyota truck. Then came the rebuild. Here Adam cuts the crown on the deck beams he's fashioning from treated 2x8's while my standard poodle Shadowynn, (yes, she fetches ducks) oversees. These were placed on top of a rim he left of the old structure so we could raise the deck a few inches...more freeboard is always good.
First off Adam fiberglassed over the old scuppers and any little patches that needed some TLC. Next up came a new blue dress for the old girl and a touch-up on the here-to-for unreadable name... this coat of copper bottom paint will inhibit growth of the barnacles, mussels and seaweed that would like to build apartment complexes and impede the speed...can't have that.

Here we are kneeling on the new back deck structure and getting ready apply the highly toxic dooky-shmutz. This the only picture we really have of our back deck project, taken by my Mom...no time for fooling around, when fiberglass resin kicks off it really goes and you'd better not have your mat in a wrinkle or you'll be grinding it off and starting over again. Gotta love grinding fiberglass.

And here she is all prettied up and ready to fish again...tis the season!

Speaking of pretty boats here's the one I grew up on...the Lindy, named after Charles Lindbergh because she was launched the year after he made his transatlantic flight 1927. My Dad has owned her for the last 30 years or so, nothing like an old wood halibut schooner for beautiful lines.