We had been working on the boat overhaul for several years, starting with the re-power of the old Volvo MD21B with a Yanmar 4JH3E in 2002. The following year the 10' long carbon steel fuel tank was removed and new aluminum tanks installed. The galley overhaul started in fall of 2004 and completed just before we left. In between we added an arch, Monitor windvane, and other miscellaneous stuff.
On Feb 1, 2005 we pulled the mast in Port Townsend and put the boat inside the Navy Building at Fleet Marine at Point Hudson. A rebuilt navy hangar, it fits two 50' boats with power drops on deck and plenty of workspace. Original plan was for a three month overhaul and then head north in the summer, south in August. The three month overhaul turned into 14 months as we spent 6 weeks working on the decks, a couple of months on the interior teak, and 3-4 times longer than planned on projects like the refrigerator, diesel stove, and nav station. Just about everything ended up taking longer and, like all boat projects, everything we took apart revealed additional work to do. We ended up leaving April 2, 2006 and I still had many things to install along the way!
We found many good businesses and a few bad ones during our refit, both in Port Townsend and Seattle. Some manufacturers stood out, others were a bit difficult to work with. Read our reviews here.