1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Retiring Tent Model XXX part II

I just hung up with Hagerty Marine Insurance. My survey and request for approval to launch is in the underwriters’ workflow. I should have their response in a day, so I may still be able to splash this week. Unfortunately, after six weeks of unusually dry, pleasant weather, this area now has thunderstorms forecast every day for the next week.

That said, taking down Tent Model XXX was more time consuming than I expected, even with a very competent assistant. We were able to pull all of the plastic and get half of the frames and scaffolding out of the way on Day One of the tent removal. Day Two of tent removal got cut short by the heat, humidity, and the fact that we’re two geezers who are a bit out of shape and not used to long days of hard physical labor. lol

First light of Day 2

I started disassembly at the stern

The catwalk comes off first…

Then the lumber tying the frames together gets removed…

And finally, I haul the individual frame uprights away from the boat

With each piece removed, the remaining structure got increasingly wobbly.

Only two frame sections remain!

Last frame standing…but barely

Beautiful boat surrounded by a sea of dirty, rotten lumber

The lower parts of the majority of the tent frames were badly rotted. I knew Tent Model XXX was past its prime, but now that I’ve seen how bad each piece was I’m surprised it stayed together.

It’s great to be able to see the boat without anything blocking the view

It’s hot, we’re beat and calling it a day

Day 3 started off cool and cloudy

That’s one good lookin’ boat

First priority for cleaning up was the shrink wrap

I spread out each sheet of plastic, cut it into 6′ wide strips, folded it once so it was 3′ wide, and rolled it as tightly as I could before tying it securely with twine.

Next I put my Makita cordless drill through its paces by pulling hundreds of screws that were holding all of the lumber frames together. It would have been faster to just take a saw to it, but there’s ~$1,000 worth of lumber and screws here, and I can reuse them at my house.

The sea of dirty, rotten lumber has been taken apart and loaded on the trailer

The boat looks even better when it’s not surrounded by dirty, rotten lumber

I rigged my new Hubbell shore power cable along the stainless safety line in preparation for splashing

Thank you for your service, Tent Model XXX

Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Final Engine Test & Impeller Install