RDP September 2014 | Page 15

Tom pulled the boat apart and then took it to Scott's. After Scott looked at it for awhile he came up with some amazing ideas for personalizing the boat. Some of the ideas included removing the wind screen, bubble compass, cutting the dash out and re-angling it to look better, patching over 150 holes, capping the boat, redoing the bottom of the boat, installing additional bulkheads and, of course, a new floor. The fuel tanks were rotted on the bottom so Brian Murphy at Tank It in Lake Havasu built new ones for Scott to install. In his spare time Scott also completely customized the trailer for the boat. As the updates took shape the conversation switched to controls. Bill, had seen center controls on several east coast boats and liked the concept. Scott went to work building a custom, one off, center console that followed the lines of the boat and integrated the new billet controls with custom linkage and trim gauge. The result is nothing short of spectacular.

Once the glass and gel were complete the boat went back to Tom Peterson's shop for final rigging. Bill also reinforced the transom with a custom turnbuckle setup tied into the newly installed bulkheads. All of the rigging is typical of Tom's high standards which has gained him the respect of enthusiasts and peers alike throughout the custom boat world.