September 2014 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 15. TWIST Restored by South Shore Boatworks
TWIST making a run during sea trials before heading to Europe.
South Shore Boatworks recently launched the 45-foot TWIST, a 41-year-old wooden lobsterboat rebuilt and converted to a lobsteryacht. TWIST will sail the waters of Europe with owner Dr. Eric Megevand of Switzerland. TWIST, originally HAZEL W III, was designed and built in 1973 by Rhode Island boatbuilder Donald Wilcox and his sons. Her strip-planked Philippine mahogany over white oak hull was still in excellent condition after 38 years of mussel dragging, research, and lobstering with the Wilcox family in Narragansett Bay. “The condition of the hull was like new, it was a testament to the Wilcoxes and their attention to detail and construction techniques,” said Bob Fuller of South Shore Boatworks. Albert Wilcox commented on the Down East Boat Forum, “When we sold her in 2011, Bob was amazed that none of the ribs, crossties, keel or planking had any rot. My younger brother was not amazed as he was the one who applied all the cuprinol and red lead to her frame every day when he came home from school.” The Wilcoxes put the boat up for sale
in 2011 due to increased fi shing regulations. Dr. Megevand, a sixth-generation Swiss surgeon, saw the boat online and fell in love with the lines. He asked Fuller to look it over and bought it sight unseen when Fuller reported the boat was in excellent condition. Dr. Megevand named the boat TWIST as a nod to the twist of destiny turning a hard-working New England fi sh- eries dragger into a day-yacht cruising the Mediterranean and the canals of Europe.
Passion Craft
no greater for the
rockportmarine.com Photo by Alison Langley.
“It was kind of strange to go take the
family’s boat away,” Fuller said. “But to be able to bring their dad’s boat back to a dif- ferent destiny with a whole new life ahead of it was pretty amazing. You know, a wooden lobster boat with no fi shing permits attached anymore can end up rotting away on the land. I just felt really lucky to be involved in this.”
TWIST was gutted and beautifully rebuilt, highlighted by gorgeous custom teak deck, foredeck, and interior. The hull was sheathed in West system fi berglass and Awlgripped for a svelte and shiny fi nish. Modifi cations were made to meet CE stan- dards under the direction of naval architect Bob Turcotte of Bob Turcotte Yacht Design. The European regulations required quite a bit of complex paperwork and it took 6 months to acquire the boat’s Swiss regis- tration. Lines drawings and stability testing were documented, and other requirements included a fi xed fi re extinguisher system, lifeboat with hydrostatic release, EPIRB, and a second dinghy (infl atable). Marine electrician John Crobar of Kingman Yacht Center wired the boat with a European 230 V 50 hz system and installed the Raytheon electronics. Nate Tynan of Windward Power Systems repowered the boat with a 500-hp Caterpillar C-9 engine modifi ed to CE stan- dards. Talented builders on the project team include John Karbott, Michael Bryant, and Richard Wilmore.
Other special features include a full- width hydraulic tailgate transom/swim plat-
Continued on Page 22.
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