The Great Christmas Boat Rebuild...

 If you follow this blog you might recall a few months back how my neighbor's workshop and a car caught fire and how all this was across the property line just behind our boat stall and caused scorching and melting damage to my boat. A local boat dealer, Callahan's repaired the motor very well, my neighbor fixed the trailer lights and for the most part we were back on the lake catching fish. The boat is 20 years old (the motor is newer) and it's a catfish boat so in addition to some scorching melting there was some good honest wear and tear to areas of the boat. 

Here is a before photo. Keep in mind this boat has been stall kept it's whole life but thousands of fish have been jerked out on the carport and dozens of girls in swimsuits have sat on those seats.  

I deemed the main carpet as good but there was age related fraying and then scorching to the three back deck panels so those were the only recarpeting done. You can see Morgan and Peter showing off upholstering skills. 

This was a bit of a thorny problem. The gas cap had melted and no longer fastened. I was a bit worried about contamination of the fuel and taking this apart involved removing old, hardened fuel hoses to take the decking off. It was easy to find the spout part with gas cap as Miguel googled the patent number but I don't think that gutter part to protect the carpet from fuel overflows is available on the internet so it was reused.  

Tim, Warren and Katie crawl the boat like lizards. It was nice that this was a dry mild Christmas, good for outdoor work.  

Rose and Morgan assemble the new Bimini top. This one is all hard supports, new cover and a new boot to protect it from the elements when not in use. The old top was aged and a bit melted from the fire and the old boot was totally melted.   

Morgan, Warren and Tim put the new top frame in place. 

Morgan gifted me a pop rivet gun which he purchased to fix the hinges on the front entry gate and Katie purchased a pressure washer to finish off the work with a good cleaning. Here's Mary and Katie giving the boat a fierce washing. 

It was great the weather was good or this part would have been much more uncomfortable. 

The final product. We need some good sun to dry things out after washing but other than age related wear and staining it looks quite a bit better and all the improvements will make time on the lake easier and more comfortable. I think I'll add some rod holders to get the pile of poles that we always seem to have on the floor up in an out of the way position. As a young man I just tossed those rods in there to get to the lake faster but as an old man I spend way more time messing with my stuff  so laying the rods down to fit in the garage and lifting the top for travel should not slow me down anymore than I already have. 

Here's a Christmas Staff photo of the Wallace boat works crew. They do good work and Cathy and I thank them for the gift of their time, talents and treasure. It's very rewarding to see that the things I have valued in life, not just the hobby of fishing but everything that goes with it, fun, family and good memories matter to them as much as it does to us.