It’s been a labour of love for two years but in a matter of weeks Andrew Davis will place his pet project in the water. The Boyne Tannum HookUp vice-president and GPC employee has spent the past two years reviving a 30ft (9.1m) Powercat which was salvaged from the Boyne River after it flipped following flooding in 2013. “I found it about two years ago and bought it off the salvage mob who salvaged it from the Boyne River in the 2013 floods,” Mr Davis said. “It belonged to someone else and was tied to a pontoon and from what I believe it got ripped under the water and was flipped (pictured). “I was contacted by the guy who salvaged it and was asked if I was interested in buying it because he was going to do it up himself. I was actually after a bigger one but I went around and had a look at it and decided to buy it and take it on as a bigger project.
“I stripped it completely because the whole thing had been underwater and we managed to salvage the engines on it but I’ve replaced absolutely everything and it was a bare shell. “The (petrol) tanks were removed, flushed and refitted. Every piece of plumbing and wiring was stripped out it and it’s been totally rewired with electronics and gauges —everything has been replaced and brand new—kitchen and barbecue. It’s set up as a weekender but I could spend up to a week away on it because it’s got enough freezer and coldroom storage.” Mr Davis thought his $30,000 restoration project would only take about 12 months, but it dragged out longer than expected.
However the finishing line (and launch date) is quickly approaching. “I’m hoping to launch it in October. I’m just doing the final stages now and have just finished the layout for the name,” he said. “It’s going to be called Katskan — there’s a million names for catamarans in the ocean and I was trying to find something that wasn’t already named on a boat. “I have a picture of a panther with a big blue eye on it and he’s scanning forward onto a fish.” Putting the finishing touches on his boat was just as important as his work at the beginning of the project. “It’s a shame to do two years of work and just slap a name on it,” Mr Davis said. “I’ve spent 2–3 months browsing and looking for names…I can’t find a boat done like that and the sign writing lady said the same thing and that it was unusual. “I want to make sure when I put it in the water it’s ready to go…My first trip will be locally and I’ll disappear up to Yellow Patch for a week or so.”