December 2013 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 15. Boat And Ship Yard News Wilbur Yachts Restores HI-LIFE
MANSET – There were hundreds and hundreds of boats damaged in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York during Hurricane Sandy. Many of these were completely destroyed and others were left to languish in lots as owners and insurance companies abandoned them to the breakers. However there are those that did not give up on their seriously damaged boat, one being a Wilbur 34 Downeaster, which following the storm was brought back to Wilbur Yachts in Man- set to be completely repaired.
When found, HI-LIFE sat bow up at a 45 degree angle with the bow sitting up on the bulkhead. The transom was sitting on top of another boat in the mud. The boat was totaled by the insurance company and the owner purchased her back from them and brought it to Wilbur. John Kachmar said, “We put it in the shop and stripped it from the main bulkhead aft. Everything came out, fuel tanks, water tanks, all wiring that terminated aft of the main bulkhead was removed and replaced. The engine came out. She had a 3116 350 hp Caterpillar, which had been down for 18 days, which meant that she went through approximately 36 plus or minus tides with water going in and out. Basically it had destroyed the engine so we replaced that with a Cat C7, 460 hp. In the process of doing that the stuffi ng box, which is actually a PSF, were all replaced. The propeller was replaced and went from a fi ve blade down to a four blade. The rudder stuffi ng box had to be replaced too. With the bigger engine we stepped up to an eight inch exhaust the whole way through. We worked with Marine Exhaust down in Florida to do that. As I said the fuel tanks are brand-new. The old fuel tanks were okay, we actually pressure tested them and they pressure tested fi ne, but there was some corrosion
on them and since the boat was 20 years old we fi gured it was time to replace them. The water tanks, again were fi ne, but in talking to the owner there was some black stuff in them so we decided to replace them. The hot water heater was replaced. The bow thruster came out of the boat and was rebuilt. There was some water in the thruster itself and I think that happened is the boat was picked out of the water and the water rushed to the forward cabin and got into the bow thruster compartment and a little moisture got inside the bow thruster. We had that rebuilt for us. That was interesting, a new thruster is about $4000 and he had this one rebuilt for $560. The battery switches were all replaced as well as the cables. When the engine came in we put a ZF gear on it, which has an electronic shifting gear and a troll valve. A new inverter/charger went in. We pulled the 30 amp shore service and replaced that. There were two inlets, one on port and one to starboard. We pulled the port out and since it hadn’t been used in years, we didn’t replace it. The transom was chewed up. We re-glassed that and refi nished it. Inside the refrigerator in the galley got a little water in it, so we put a new fridge in the boat.” The bowrail and bimini came off and went to Nautilus Marine in Trenton to be repaired as needed and buffed. Acadia Sails of Southwest Harbor replaced the soft top. John added, “The insurance company totaled the boat and the boat will leave here, including them buying it back for a nominal fee from the insurance company, at less than what the insurance company totaled it for. She is now a completely new boat. HI-LIFE will be spending the winter at
Wilbur as there are still a couple of small projects to do before spring.
Wherever great paints are sailed.
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AALSMEER HOLLAND
THOMASTON MAINE
ABERDEEN HONG KONG
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