October 7-24, 2013 Lepika Out of Drydock!

We are finally out of drydock!  It was a hot and nasty 2 1/2 weeks but the crew that helped me did some great work!  I want to thank my dad Owen, my son Fisher, Martin Romero, Sherwin, Justin, Mike Akazawa, Wayne, Lito, and Kaula for helping me get her back in the water in record time!  The big part of this drydock was repowering the Lepika with new twin Cummins 6bta 330hp engines.  Originally, she was powered by twin Cummins 6bta 270s so she has a lot more power and should get us to and from the fishing grounds even faster.  On day one Justin made quick work of taking the old 270s out of the boat.  Sherwin and Kaula did an awesome job on the new engine install and alignment.  She is super smooth at trolling speed and full throttle!  If you have fished before with me you will feel the difference the next time you’re on her.  Mike Akazawa also did some fiberglass work and repainting and the boat looks great.  Martin, Fisher and my dad Owen prepped the bridge area for new gauges and repainting.  Martin did an incredible job hooking up my gauges and re-installing all electronic equipment on the bridge.  Kaula did a lot of “miracle” work on the boat.  He got into some tight spots to tighten her up and make sure the new engines were aligned just right.  Wayne was responsible for fabricating and refurbishing a lot of the engine brackets we used to mount the engine.  I can’t say enough about all of these guys!  I really appreciate how dedicated they all were and also how quickly they got the job done!  Thanks to all of you so much!