Ordinarily the Magruder crew bunks are below sea level. Right now the deck of the Magruder is 30 feet
off the ground and the crew is enjoying an on-land penthouse suite. That’s where the fun stops though.
If you see the Magruder these days you’ll first come across a large 4-foot hole in the front of the boat
waiting to be filled. Captain Andy jokes “it’s great for ventilation inside the hull.” After you get
past that you find a very hard working, dirty crew with their Captain working along side them. The guys
will greet you with a smile though because they know that to keep the hunt going, the work has to be
done and they’re not the type to complain about it.
When I visited the Magruder in the boatyard Captain Andy praised his crew for keeping their spirits up.
He said, “This stuff is no fun” as he motioned toward the clothes he was wearing that were dirty from
grinding and painting; “but it makes a big difference when you have guys like these working with you,
and a lot more enjoyable too.”
A few months prior to pulling the boat out of the water Captain Andy went to his crew and proposed
the idea of getting all the work they could get done above the water line so they could save time in
the boatyard. He was surprised they were so willing to do the extra work ahead of time and according
to Andy they kept up their enthusiasm throughout the entire process and saved more than 6 weeks in
the boatyard.
As we walked around the boat he showed me all of the holes they had found while tapping the steel
looking for weak points. He told me that, “we didn’t do work down inside the different compartments
of the boat while we were still in the water because we knew we’d find some below the waterline, and
we have.”
Needless to say with all of the weak points in the steel alone, the Magruder was in desperate need
of this trip to the boatyard. All of the hard work the crewmembers (remember, they’re not just divers)
are putting in will significantly extend the life of the vessel and allow it to be part of history when
we find the Sterncastle!
|
|
|
Captain Andy is perched up on the scaffolding working on the boat.
|
The Magruder looks impressive out of the water but we can't wait to get it back in!
|
|
|
The Magruder is stabilized on land with supports.
|
Captain Andy giving directions to 'the new guy' who hasn't even been able to go out to sea yet! Now that's dedication.
|
|
|
Standing on the bow looking through the ladder entrance to the bow, you can see the ground! We told you it need time out of the water for repairs!
|
The crew looks more like a bomb squad than treasure hunters right now.
|
|
|
More work up on the scaffolds.
|
The mailboxes look even bigger out of the water.
|
|
View the entire "Magruder Makeover" photo series at the MelFisher.com
Photo Gallery.
|
|