Conversion of CCG 107

Conversion of CCG 107
Conversion by Bob and Yvonne Hutton

All images on this page by Bob and Yvonne Hutton Drawing of how the CCG 107 will look when the conversion is complete, deck plans arriving soon. Now For Sale

Preparation for Transportation - April/May 2001
The CCG 107 was purchased from the Canadian Coast Guard in April 2001. Prior to this, her original diesels (Detroit 6v 53's with Borg Warner 2.5-1 transmissions), shafts, propellers and many other items were removed by the Coast Guard for spares.
In order to prepare the 107 for the road trip to her new home, the upper portion of the pilot house was removed as she was too tall due to highway height restrictions. This was accomplished mainly with the use of a skil-saw and a carbide non-ferrous metal blade (the Coast Guard were kind enough to allow me the use of an electrical outlet). This task took about 6 hours prior to the crane's arrival to lift it off and fasten it to the foredeck for transport. With the major work complete, all loose items were stored and the decks cleaned. An environmental company was called in to pump the bilges free of oil and sludge-contaminated water. Once the pre trip details were completed, the crane and transport companies' schedules were finalized. A few weeks later a 45 ton crane arrived to load the 107 on the low bed trailer for the trip home. A second crane company was required to do the lift at her destination.

Arrival - 09 May 2001

A week prior to the 107's arrival 15 tons of 3/4 minus gravel was imported to prepare a building pad for the specially designed cradle. Once the gravel was levelled and compacted the cradle was assembled and the site prepared. In order to facilitate the lift from the trailer to the cradle, a 70 ton crane was required due to the distance and the reach the crane would have to make. Due to circumstances, the 107's lifting eyes were unable to be inspected prior to delivery, resulting in the use of slings and spreader bars for lifting. After her 700 km long journey 107 arrived at her home ready for conversion on the 09 May 2001. With the crane and low loader in place the spreader bars and slings were attached ready for the lift. It took several attempts to lift the boat with the slings, about 1 1/2 hours to adjust them, (fortunately we had a lump sump quote for the service). Due to the rubber D-bumpers the lifting slings would not slide freely on the hull for a level lift. I would highly recommend using the lifting eyes if at all feasible, as it is impossible to lift and place an MLB on its cradle level, when the bumpers are in place and slings are being used. As in this case, conversion of a boat which is not level adds a substantial amount work to the process as all fitting must be done through triangulation. For interest sake, at the time of lift the crane's computer registered the 107's weight as 31,000 lbs.

Removing Anti Foul - May 2001

Our biggest task at hand was to stop the boat from rusting any further, as we do not have covered or heated space to work.
We started with below the water-line (for no particular reason) removing all appendages, in this case intake screens and zinc's. If you are going to do a proper job, you must remove all traces of rust. I elected to blast it off, as it does a thorough job even in the pours or pits of the corten steel hull. The zinc's were cut off with a torch where their welding tabs met the hull (and there was lots of them). You can see traces of them through their outline, on the photo opposite below the waterline close to the bow. I also removed the main engine intake screen and attempted to blast the inside but as there are many ridges and baffles a decent job could not be done, I ended up replacing the entire intake distribution box later in the project due to corrosion problems.

Removing the Bumpers - May 2001

In the photo opposite I am removing the bumpers. You can see the rust which is concealed by them which is probably the biggest cause of rust bleeding on theses boats. They were very difficult to remove and I would bet darn near impossible to put back on. Probably why this area does not get much attention, even in the 44's that are still in service locally, you can see the stains. I have elected not to reinstall them as they are in my opinion a seawater and corrosion trap.