Restoration

Engine room :: Wheelhouse :: On deck :: Hull :: Other :: Volunteering

"The Constant Fix"

John J. Harvey was acquired in 1999, far from her original condition. Our survey demonstrates her condition on 23 March 1997. With a lot of hard work and volunteer support many projects have been done or are in the process of being completed. Harvey Chief Engineer Tim Ivory doesn't like to call it restoration. Instead he calls it "the constant fix." The boat, he says, is "all about Band Aids."

Drydock

When the Harvey owners put the boat into Caddell Drydock and Repair Co. in June 2000, it was the first time she'd been out of the water since 1983. Rather quickly, a visual hull survey revealed that routine maintenance (paint, zincs, etc.) wouldn't be enough to keep the boat afloat. The hull had holes in it filled with nothing but rust and marine growth ranging from the diameter of a pencil to the size of a fist. Owner David Beatty recalled seeing daylight while standing in the engine room before workers covered the holes and surrounding metal with one hundred square feet of patchwork.

Next in line for repair were the twin propellers. Owner John Krevey took one look and said, "All this time we've been gumming the water." Turns out a collision with a sunken garbage truck had chewed up the propeller blades while the Harvey was still owned by the City. Workers rebuilt the propellers, replacing the missing metal.

» We always need new volunteers!