On May 1, 2015, Flying Eagle arrived in Anacortes after being trucked on a flat bed from the East Coast. Rick and Diane Strollo purchased F.E. in Rockport, Maine, in 2014 where she’d been owned and partially restored by Artisan Boatworks in Rockport, Maine.
After a season in service, it was evident that F.E.’s hull needed more attention. Artisan Boatworks had replaced the forefoot and some planking forward but along the keel and at the turn of the bilge aft, water was leaking in at an unsafe rate. Emerald Marine Carpentry would continue the restoration. The boat’s original oak ribs where past their usefulness; many where broken at the turn and split at the heels. The boat had been re-framed with sisters once before but the stainless deck screws that had been used as fastenings had corroded away, leaving the planks adrift. The oak floor timbers that tie the hull to the keel were rotten and cut away in places. Fortunately, the keel itself was in good condition.
