selling off the boat. After some negotiation, I worked out a price and bought the boat at the end of June of 2011.
I wanted to dive right into the process of restoring the boat and accompanying trailer to working condition but I was to leave soon thereafter for a trip to Las Vegas, to cover ICAST with WesternBass.com and then on to the WON BASS US Open and a short planned vacation afterwards. So the business of getting to work on this boat would have to wait a few weeks.
Upon my return the plan was to get things rolling quickly and maybe have the boat in operation by October or November. My meager budget for the project simply didn’t allow for me to ‘push the envelope’ and get the boat done any sooner. At least that was my plan going in to the restoration project but ultimately that would be tested.
To make this project viable I knew there was need for sponsorship. The first sponsor came on board with great enthusiasm. Frank Lozano, owner of Inland Marine in Antioch was extremely supportive of the project and helped in bringing down some of the cost of the restoration. He was also the benefactor of the boats new bimini top, frame and boot. Next I approached Chuck Russo about a deal that would allow me to store the boat at Russo’s Marina and work on it there as well.
The boat now had its first two sponsors.
First stage of the restoration was to strip
56
everything down off of the deck of the
boat and verify the condition of the wood
decking. The wood that encased the
holding tanks were completely rotted
out and I knew I’d need to replace all of
it. But if I had to replace the deck as well
that would add significantly to the cost
of the project. After stripping the deck
down and removing the deteriorated
carpet it was determined that the deck
was okay and we’d not have to replace it.
I took all the rails to my home for cleaning
and painting and started doing that in
my evenings while working on other
aspects of the boat during the day.
Long time friend and fishing buddy,
Steve Moduno, was instrumental in
helping at all points along the way in
just about every way that I needed a
second pair of hands. I simply couldn’t have gotten much done without his help. Some of my other fishing buddies participated with the restoration as well. Garry Wilson laid the new carpet for the deck and also re-carpeted the bunks on the trailer.
The addition of rail risers was done to eliminate the moss problem that the boat was experiencing. It’s hoped that lifting the rails off of the deck would allow for air to pass through and dry it out so that the dampness would be eliminated moving forward.
Next big issue was the holding tank. At 400 gallons capacity, I knew I had what was considered a small release boat. Adding to the capacity of the boat would have to be a priority. The existing tanks had gate valves manufactured into them and I wanted to use those gates to aid in the release of fish. My thought was simply open the gates and the fish would flow out of them, through two large, newly connected tubes, and into the water. Turns out that wasn’t such a simple notion. The gates had never been used thusly and the folks that originally built the boat had never intended for the gates to be in play at all.