rak rua

I imported it from Florida a couple of years ago.

Bought it through a broker I know, didn't go to the states to inspect, trusted my broker and it went very well.
The hard part, U.S. east coast is about the furthest point on the globe from Thailand and we looked at shipping east through the Med, and Suez but decided to go west through the Gulf and Panama canal. Stopped at 11 ports and 3 different ships before it finally arrived. Nearly 4 months from time of payment until the boat arrived in Thailand and shipping cost were pretty horrible.

There's not a lot of quality boats here to choose from, I bought a Sea Ray the same way and it's actually fun. It's like trying to sleep on the night before Christmas to unwrap your presents, but the wait is longer.......!

Back to the thread, some re-fit photos coming.

RR

rak rua

Part 2, remove the T-top and cutting the console/cabin
Rip out the radar, plotter, VHF, outriggers, aerials etc then can’t remove the screen or the overhead electronics box until the T-top is off. Go figure? Most of the bolts and nuts holding her in place are totally inaccessible and the top is not a salable item here so I go to it with a hacksaw! A lot of sweat and she’s cut down.[ATTACH=CONFIG]545925[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]545926[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]545927[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]545928[/ATTACH]

rak rua

Hacksaw time, this was hot work for me but what man doesn't enjoy destroying things!

rak rua

I stand back and look at my handy work and it hits me. Oh my Buddha! What have I done?

rak rua

Get the locals tradesmen involved now as we cut the cabin top off and the inner cabin liner as well. Angle grinder and a vacuum held close to pick up a bit of dust, damn hot outside, don’t know how they can stand it.

rak rua

Shorten the stainless grab handles on the front of the cabin beside the fwd seat and re-fit, take as much height out of the cabin as possible without altering the instrument panel. Inner roof/liner is glassed back in place, cabin headroom down from over 6’ to about 5’2”. O.K. for me, guys don’t use it and most Thai girls are 5’ tall!

Re-work the top and re-fit keeping the same shape on top but a step around the front and sides because the cabin tapers in slightly. Very relieved to see the top go back on, I think it’s going to be ok.

Re-model the door frame, cut the door and re-fit.

rak rua

Dash is pretty much done, the cut down cabin door is spot on and is that the smallest windscreen you've ever seen on a CC? (The front seat cushion is sticking up in view, don't worry, he's going to get chopped down too)

rak rua

There's nothing like good hard work, I could sit and watch it for hours!
Everybody here (except me) contributes, it's the Thai way.

This lady was a terrific worker, spent hours and hours rubbing down and preparing molds and fiberglass work in the next stage.

tommymonza

8 dollars a day for this work ? how many days labor ?

rak rua

Minimum wages here are 9,000 baht per month. (about 250 usd)
Small company here is doing the work and I'm sure the boss gets more than that but his workers probably don't. I always make a point to hand the workers something small when I see them, just like saying thank you or tipping.

I haven't pushed the guys to work quickly and I'm not keeping track of their working hours, I only concern myself with the quoted price and then like to see the work is good. Probably wouldn't be doing the work if I had to pay western prices!

RR