Case Studies

NARADA

Our good friend Bill Seemann brought us his beautiful 1957 wooden Rhodes designed 62' NARADA after she sustained significant damage from Hurricane Katrina. When the boat arrived we were asked to make the varnish perfect and to reattach the rooftop and craft two new sweeping life rails. We also redid the interior forward guest room and added new bureaus for increased storage. These bureaus were very specific in sticking with the style of the interior and are now indistinguishable from the original interior fixtures. We also painted the topsides and the deck. The boat ended up with new shafts and reconditioned propellers replacing the old ones because they weren't aquamet 22. NARADA is in superb condition and the only item left on the list is for Bill and Wynn to get enough time to extensively cruise her!

FINESSE

FINESSE has been involved in an ongoing customization project to optimize her for offshoring racing. Working with the owners Newt Merrill and Joe Barr has been nothing short of fantastic. A couple years ago this boat had the misfortune of running into some good solid Maine granite. With the boat out of the water for a good part of the summer and the rest of the winter, it provided us an opportunity to really redo the interior while also improving the structural integrity of the hull. We removed and reattached the keel after extensive fiberglass work to reinforce around the keel bolts and longitudinal stringers. After the bulk of the fiberglass work was done, FINESSE was to undergo extensive upgrades to her soles and storage lockers and we provided additional crew accommodations while keeping her lightweight. At the end of the project Finesse had a "Lyman Morse" engraved electrical panel and we now consider this J42 one of our own!

AMELIA

One of the scariest things to deal with on a boat is a fire. AMELIA went through this a couple years ago and was fortunate to be on a dock so that the firefighters were able to access the boat in an timely manner. Even though they were able to put out the fire well before it spread outside the engine room, the real damage was done by all the smoke spreading throughout the cabins. The engine room was completely gutted and the majority of the cabins received extensive varnish and paint to try and remove the smoke odor. But the major work was done in the salon where we redid the forward bulkhead to make the boat a little stiffer while sailing. As is Jeff and Nancy Hughes style the boat was fitted with an extensive and state-of-the-art electronics package that had much more integrated systems than just chart plotters and radars. Finishing off with a new paint job, the boat is looking better then ever and as is the case with Lyman Morse boats, when she arrives in port there are always heads that turn.

ANNA LELAND

ANNA LELAND arrived in the yard midway through the winter and it turned into a very extensive project. She was a half-completed vessel with the systems only 40% finished. We finished installation of sole boards, insulation, engine room hatches and helm station electronics and equipment and relocated the swim platform and waterline. All the cabinetry doors and lockers needed to be installed and fitted. It was great to see Anna Leland finished and in the water to enjoy the summer cruising.

WAIANIWA

WAIANIWA was one of our most challenging refits to date. We received an urgent phone call from Chris Bouzaid and Lydia Langston about their custom Dixon designed 60' sailboat that had run aground in Casco Bay, sustaining massive damage to the structure of the yacht. Temporary patches were put on in Portland in order to allow us to tow it up to Thomaston. We pulled the boat immediately to start decommissioning and drying the boat out. WAIANIWA received significant damage to her 2¼" red cedar core that was more extensive the more we removed the outside laminates of Kevlar and E-glass. She had been punctured in the integral fuel and water tanks which required us to remove extensive cabinetry to access the inside of the tanks.

After the tanks were sealed we then removed 60% of the core on the starboard side and then removed 40% of the core on the port side. We then followed with a gravity-assisted infusion. What was different and the most challenging on this project was the fact that we essentially had to infuse the hull upside down. Usually, we infuse over a mold that is upside down on the ground and allows for the laminates to lie against the mold because of gravity. The infusion on WAIANIWA was the opposite. We developed a stitching process that allowed us to hang all the dry laminates while putting a bag over the whole hull to create the vacuum necessary to infuse the boat. With a very detailed crew doing the infusion and having the input of Chris and Lydia throughout the project the infusion went extremely well and then it was on to the next step of fairing the hull and keel.

Once the extensive amount of fairing was finished we then painted the topsides of the boat. In the end the boat looked spectacular. The maintenance free silicone-based bottom system is a cutting edge product never before used in the U.S. Chris is still testing the product and we'll know more as to it's effectiveness as he uses the boat more in different environments. We installed the newly fabricated rudder and bearings that were completely shattered in the accident.

The project was done in a very detailed and professional manner and was on all accounts a success. This project also allowed us to develop a great relationship with Chris and Lydia and we hope to see them in the yard in the future.