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Article: Marine subcontractors finishes research boat.(Construction Activity at Workboat Yards)(Marine Subcontractors Inc)
- Article from:
- Workboat
- Article date:
- April 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Diversified Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It was minus 4 on Jan. 10 when the John H. Chafee, a 50-foot fisheries research boat for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) was launched at Southwest Harbor, Maine. It was so cold that when the bottle of champagne broke across the stem of the hard-chine Kevlar hull, the champagne froze to the hull.
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Prior to the launch, 500 lbs. of rock salt was spread across the launching ramp. Even then, things were dicey enough on the ramp that the truck towing the boat trailer was chained to a flatbed truck, which was chained to a telephone pole across the road.
Once in the water, the John H. Chaffee lifted ...