Pics from the Boatyard

[zeehag]

cooool work--is that swim step a removable one or stationary??

[minaret]

Thanx again, Zee. It's stationary.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by perchance

Where did you learn the trade? You must of had some awesome teachers.

Many years ago I attended SCCC Center for Wood Construction, commonly known as Gompers to alumni and those in the trade. It is the oldest boat building school on the west coast. That helped me get my foot in the door and I worked my way up from factory floors to boatyards to custom high end one-off builds like Cascadia, a Carl Schumacher 77' ultralight. So I guess I've had lots of awesome teachers over the years is what I'm trying to say. Custom fab and vacuum bagged carbon/epoxy is kinda my specialty. After working R&D and tooling on a factory floor, most custom fab jobs come easy. I also tend to get lots of major hull repairs dropped in my lap. Like big holes in boats stuff. Thanks for looking and hope you enjoyed!

[minaret]

Here's some pics of a pretty standard foredeck/boat deck core repair wherein we replaced the soupy balsa with some nice 5lb. rigid urethane. Gauranteed to never rot! The pics where you see numbers written on the surface before cutting are moisture meter readings. Usually I can map out the rot very accurately with just the meter. I believe you can also see a hotvac pad on this one as we did some drying that way here.

[minaret]

And these...

[minaret]

And here...

[minaret]

More soupy, oatmeal like balsa core for you. I must have replaced literally acres of this stuff by now. Yummy!

[zeehag]

yummm-yummm... looks nasty!

[sctpc]

What do you do to fix it? cut out the rotten stuff then????????????????

[minaret]

Yes, we cut out the rotten stuff. Then we replace it with stuff that won't rot.

[Cheechako]

Great pics and super work! These pics are invauable to many people. I'm sure they let newcomers understand the hazards of wet cores etc etc.... Again, some really fine work! Been trying to figure out what yard that is...?

[CAELESTIS]

I guess Delta Marine.

I would like to see the photos of the Gallant Lady (now known as Ice Bear).

[minaret]

Definitely not Delta, I would never work for them. I'm not disclosing where I work because I'm not trying to advertise here and I don't want any confusion in that regard. Unfortunately that really limits the pics I can post because in most of them we are wearing shop shirts with the business name on them, or there are signs, etc. Please don't speculate too much, I don't want the mods to shut this thread down as advertisement. Just trying to spread some knowledge here. Maybe people with similar problems will come up with some of these pics when doing a search on the forum and ask the relevant questions, at least thats my hope.
I have to go way back to find Ice Bear pics but I have lots, some of them are quite interesting. Like building the helicopter landing pad, some of the systems that were installed, etc. But that was just a major refit of a superyacht, I have much better pics of Cascadia under construction, as I was the only laminator on that build from start to finish. It was also much more technically challenging and interesting from a structural viewpoint, incorporating all the latest techniques in carbon/epoxy construction. A very cool boat and Carl Schumacher's last design. I have also worked on Extra Beat and Tatoosh, as well as all the rest of the McCaw's boats. Many superyachts which spend time in the Pacific come to us for work. I've worked for Paul Allen, Tom Alberg, and yes, Bill Gates too. Although all of Bills boats are little Mirage powerboats he keeps on the dock at the Gates manor for guests, he's not into boating really. Many local marine artisans worked building Gates manor as well, MAG in particular. It's all timber framed. I worry about posting pics of these guys boats though, they are all very private, very wealthy, and very litigious. I'll ask some questions and come up with some pics for you guys, though.
Here's Ice Bear under way, and a pic of Cascadia coming back into Shilshole-

[minaret]

Fresh deck paint and some lettering.

[MarinerJo]

That's a nice loaking boat, what is it??