The salvage and rebuild of Providence was a 5 year project that started with a wreck on the beaches of the Outer Banks in North Carolina back in 2007.
The boat went aground while rounding the cape of North Carolina and was lying on the beach for a few months before a house moving company was able to lift her and move her off the beach. She never actually sank nor did she take on any water, but she was too severely damaged to refloat her. She had damage to her keel and rudder and on both sides of the bilge from being pushed around by the waves as she sat on the beach.
We bought her from the salvage company as a wreck in salvage-condition.
The boat had to be lifted on a metal framework that helped her damaged hull maintain its integrity. Constructing the framework and digging around the hull to free it, took several days of hard work from a team of house-movers.
She was transported off the beach and eventually, after the masts were taken out, she was moved to a nearby property until we could get her transported to Savannah.
We first had to straighten the boat so she sits upright on her scaffolding. She was transported from the beach in the same angle at which she came to rest on the beach. Because ther were no cranes available in the area at the time, and the boat was too heavy to lift with even the heavy equipment that was used to dig her out, everything was done with hydraulic hand jacks, cribbing, leverage, and block and tackle systems.
Once the hull was positioned and stabilized upright, the whole boat was moved into a position where she could be loaded for transport and lifted to a height where the transport truck could back in under it.
The boat was hauled about 500 miles south to Savannah by a professional boat moving company and the driver very skillfully backed the trailer down a dirt road to my friend's property that he generously allowed me to use during her rebuild.
Fortunately getting a crane was not a problem in Savannah and the offloading went a lot easier than the loading. Hiring a crane like this one is not cheap, but it sure is worth it!
The hull was damaged on both sides - there were two large cracks where she laid on the sand and was pounded by stormy waves. Boats are designed to take this kind of treatment in the water, but when they are on a beach this can cause the hull to give way. Her keel was also damaged and she lost her rudder.
The rebuilt hull included a full keel with an aperture for the propeller, a new rudder, and substantially reinforced bilge areas (just in case she needs to sit on the beach again)
The boat was originally built for the charter trade with three double cabins with on suite heads (toilets) and showers and a smaller crew quarters with their own head and shower.
The majority of the interior was either very damaged or had to be removed so that I could repair the hull damage properly. The water and fuel tanks, which are under the sole (inside floor) were also removed and repaired before being reinstalled.
Because we planned to use the boat primarily as a family cruiser and for mission work, the new interior was redesigned and rebuilt with that purpose in mind. The layout of the main cabin was changed, the galley was enlarged and now included a washer and dryer, the crew quarters and the 4th bathroom gave way to a nice engine room and workshop, and the previously open cockpit was turned into a wheelhouse with a fold out table that doubles as 2nd salon.
The boat in her new configuration has sleeping room for 9 inside and for two more in the wheelhouse, but having 11 people onboard for longer trips does get a bit tight.
I added a wheelhouse and a swim platform with an aft ladder and got everything faired (some more, some less). The hull was sprayed and the wheelhouse and decks were rolled. I also added a bow pulpit that serves a dual role; it allowed me to move the forestay a few feet further ahead so I could add an inner stay to split the forward sail area, and it also made room for anchor rollers that are far enough away from the hull - as it turned out the bow pulpit became a coveted and often fought over spot for the kids to hang out while under way.
The boat was transported to Hinckley Yachts where I put her rig together, fabricated the aft awning, and dinghy davits, and finished up a long list of work on the engine, electrical and pressure water systems, toilets and holding tanks.
She was launched and U.S. Coastguard Documented as "Providence"
Sailing Providence
Coffee Bluff Savannah, GA 31419 United States
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