brian eiland
Guru
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2013
- Messages
- 930
- Location
- USA & Thailand
- Vessel Name
- RunningTide
- Vessel Make
- 37 Louisiane catamaran
....this came to me by way of another forum Trawlers & Trawlering. I did not know of a way to link it directly to this particular posting, so I copied it here.
Brian
_____________________________________________
Joe Pica
M/V Carolyn Ann GH N-37
http://carolynannn-37.blogspot.com/
MTOA#3813, AGLCA #5485
On Mar 27, 2014, at 3:12 PM, Bob McLeran <rmcleran@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
It is with sadness that I write about the death of a boating friend who was
extremely knowledgeable about boats, boat design, the boat-building business, and DeFever trawlers, specifically. Mike Thompson (MV Full Step) died on March 9th, 2014, of complications of a genetic heart problem that had gone undetected for years.
Mike and his wife, Melissa, fully restored a DeFever 40 over a number of
years. I met them personally when they were reworking MV Full Step at a boat yard at Port Canaveral, Florida, after "meeting" Mike on this list, and Mike invited me to stop by to talk and see their project. In a previous life, Mike had managed a boat yard on Long Island, worked in several other yards both inthe design office and on the "floor," worked for Charlie Morgan (of Morgan Yachts) as a designer, and was a partner in Hallcraft Machining Inc in West Melbourne, Florida. He had also invented a computer controlled
three-dimensional 4' by 8' flat bed router cutter and sold and installed them throughout the southeastern United States for several years.
When Mike and Melissa were ready to start their boating lives, Mike searched for and found a DeFever 40 requiring extensive work, but they bought it for the hull and the design which Mike knew was of superior quality. They then spent a number of years stripping the hull down to its bare bones and building it back up again to the highest standards using their own talents and labor for most of the work. Their web site details just a few of their projects during the rebuilding process at http://www.mvfullstep.com/index.html.
Even before Mike became too ill last year to continue boating himself, he
followed many of us through our blogs.
Mike was a good friend. He helped me and many other boaters without any
hesitation and willingly answered a myriad of questions about anything related to boats and boat-building.
Brian
_____________________________________________
Joe Pica
M/V Carolyn Ann GH N-37
http://carolynannn-37.blogspot.com/
MTOA#3813, AGLCA #5485
On Mar 27, 2014, at 3:12 PM, Bob McLeran <rmcleran@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
It is with sadness that I write about the death of a boating friend who was
extremely knowledgeable about boats, boat design, the boat-building business, and DeFever trawlers, specifically. Mike Thompson (MV Full Step) died on March 9th, 2014, of complications of a genetic heart problem that had gone undetected for years.
Mike and his wife, Melissa, fully restored a DeFever 40 over a number of
years. I met them personally when they were reworking MV Full Step at a boat yard at Port Canaveral, Florida, after "meeting" Mike on this list, and Mike invited me to stop by to talk and see their project. In a previous life, Mike had managed a boat yard on Long Island, worked in several other yards both inthe design office and on the "floor," worked for Charlie Morgan (of Morgan Yachts) as a designer, and was a partner in Hallcraft Machining Inc in West Melbourne, Florida. He had also invented a computer controlled
three-dimensional 4' by 8' flat bed router cutter and sold and installed them throughout the southeastern United States for several years.
When Mike and Melissa were ready to start their boating lives, Mike searched for and found a DeFever 40 requiring extensive work, but they bought it for the hull and the design which Mike knew was of superior quality. They then spent a number of years stripping the hull down to its bare bones and building it back up again to the highest standards using their own talents and labor for most of the work. Their web site details just a few of their projects during the rebuilding process at http://www.mvfullstep.com/index.html.
Even before Mike became too ill last year to continue boating himself, he
followed many of us through our blogs.
Mike was a good friend. He helped me and many other boaters without any
hesitation and willingly answered a myriad of questions about anything related to boats and boat-building.
