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the story

June 13 2006 at 7:46 AM
bill thomas  (no login)


Response to 45' Commander Tournament Fisherman (major refurbishing work under way now!)

Didn't really want to get into this, but here is a long-winded explanation of what was involved in moving the boat.

Thursday we took the boat from the boathouse in Marine City to Algonac Harbor where we used the Travel Lift hoist to lift off the hardtop and set it on the foredeck. Algonac Harbor is the site of the original Chris-Craft plant. See http://algonacharbourclub.com The hardtop was made by Merritts in Florida, and it is heavy. Then back to the boathouse in Marine City to remove the new pipework which is mostly a duplication of the original Pipewelders (Florida) but actually a much nicer job than the original. The pipework was done by James Dearborn of Towers Unlimited of West Michigan. This guy is an artist, and he will travel to you. See http://www.towersunlimited.com/

Friday morning to Mac Rays to haul the boat and set it on the trailer. Then we used the big forklift (for launching go-fast boats) to lift the hardtop off the foredeck and set it on jackstands, to be trailered to the shop later. That trailer is the largest hydraulic trailer Con-O-Lift makes, and it was brought from the west side of Michigan to do this haul and one other large boat into the same shop. If you look closely at the photo of the boat on the trailer, you can see the bottom of the boat below the trailer and almost touching the ground. These 45TF's are deep boats. Setting the boat without a hoist at the shop requires a hydraulic trailer. See http://www.macray.com/harbor/default.asp

The boat was trailered to a secret location where it will be for at least a few months, probably longer.

All this was stressful but went well. Everyone involved including Greg at Algonac Harbor, the guys at Mac Rays, Chad the trucker, and the guys at the shop were good, professional, and absolutely competent. Unusual today. I also had a lot of help from my Marine City friend, Mike, who retired a couple of years ago from 35 years on the lake freighters. His last position was Relief Captain on the Paul R. Tregurtha, the largest freighter on the Great Lakes. For a look at Mike's boat see
http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/prtrgrth.htm

Setting the hardtop on the foredeck:





Edit comment, photos archived.


    
This message has been edited by FEfinaticP on Sep 13, 2006 10:16 AM


 
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