The Beachcomber (then known as the Porpoise) was converted to a dive boat/materials transport in Florida and used by Bryan Sheedy on Salt Cay for about 10 years.
M/V Beachcomber
The Resurrection of a Boat
|
The M/V Beachcomber
is a 36-foot LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel transport) built in 1967 by Union
Shipyard in Bellingham, Washington for the US Navy.
The Beachcomber (then known as the Porpoise) was converted to a dive boat/materials transport in Florida and used by Bryan Sheedy on Salt Cay for about 10 years. |
| Mike and Ann bought the boat in 1998 to restore and use for hauling freight between Salt Cay and Grand Turk. Mike spent time last year hauling it out of the water (with help from most of the island) , re-fiber glassing the chine (with the help of Diver Dan, Frank and others), and surveying the work to be done. |
| You have to wonder what Mike had going on in
his mind when he took on this project! In a box somewhere are pictures from
1999 when work first started on the boat - I'm still looking for them.
When it was hauled out of the water (with help from Ken and his backhoe) it was sinking slowly to the bottom of the harbor with large gaps on both sides. |
| 1999
work in Salt Cay was an attempt to patch the boat so that it would float.
There were endless hours of grinding off and cutting away old fiberglass,
working on the engine and wondering what we had gotten into!
Returning to Seattle, Mike acquired a set of plans and began figuring out what was needed to restore the boat to be the pride of the Salt Cay fleet. |
