JIM CREEK is our PBR Staging Area
This page will consist of informal updates on the work being done on the operational PBR and hull at Jim Creek.
Jim Creek is a navy Radio Station
and a naval recreation Area 
under the
command of
Naval station Everett. 
Follow the link to Jim Creek http://www.navylifepnw.com/site/67/Jim-Creek.aspx
May 15th 2010
Getting the old girl ready for July events
March 6 2010
The Jim Creek working party attendees.
Army
Bob Brower
Bruce McGowan
Richard Starks
Navy
Alan Stephens
Rick Worthen
Tom Restemayer
Don Dennis
Ron Huntington
Gary Smith
Sufficient "Hands on Deck" to get the mission accomplished and have fun.
That is "Army on deck" and Navy in the water
A few past working parties
June 13 2009 NS Everett
The After Gun mount now hold our 50 Cal properly --- after some real work by Alan
We worked on the engine covers!!
L to R Standing Bruce, Rick, Heinz and Alan
We also worked on the Armor around the cockpit --- They really needed some work
Wayne and Tom working out of toms truck bed
We had a lunch break in the Commons
L to R Rick Worthen, Tom Restemayer, Heinz Hickethier. Wayne Palmer
L to R Bob Brower, Bruce McGowan, Alan Stephens
MISSING in every photo is the man taking all of the pictures
Rich Starks working hard and taking pictures
We Also Replaced both antenna mounts because they had become brittle with age and were cracking everywhere.
Tacoma Army Pier
May 2008
It all started as a working party to tune up our engine
Our Boat in the repair bay at the Navy Reserve Center. About 1000 yards up the pier from the Army. The navy had a covered repair bay.
The Repair team L to R Alan Stephens, Warrant Officer 3 Steve Lang and SFC Bob May
Steve, Alan and Bob re-racked and tuned up both engines to 2850 RPM's which we are thrilled about. This has brought new life back to the boats original running capabilities. With a little more work the boat will be fully operational again.
They also removed and replaced old control lines and adjusted the governors along with repairing other smaller items that needed work.
Warrant Officer Lang down in the Bowels of our PBR
and finished as an unplanned Trailer Upgrade
The Army Floating Crane --- Is it big enough
Our PBR on the dock Rigger Alan supervised the operation. While the Army Civilian Crane crew did the heavy lifting.
Side view of the boat on the pier
The trailer was moved up the pier along the work shops. L to R Gary Smith Me and Mavrick McClure. Various parts of trailer were reinforced with gussets the standing triangles seen in the picture.
The standing brackets seen in front had to all be reworked an Dan (on his knees back to us) spent all Friday the 23rd getting the job done. While I removed rust. this picture is of us at work on Saturday. another 9-5 day the others are Me speaking with Mavrick and Gary Smith with the black tee shirt. At this point we are working on the Black under coat.
Sad but True missing from all the photos is Rick Worthen who worked in the machine shop on the supports that fit in the brackets. When they were finished and he mounted them and joined us painting.
On the ground behind is the Forward post. It was removed from form the trailer. It was later moved one foot forward and remounted. It was one of the many big jobs done by Alan Stephens today. So why no pictures of him ----- He was camera man for all of these shots.
Bob Brower is also missing from the photos because he had to leave before Alan started taking pictures.
All the new tilt supports in place on the trailer
Tuesday's children at work L to R Alan, Heinz and Bob in stalling the new wood
All the new wood mounted on the supports
Spare tire on new mount
All tie down points are now "U" bolts welded to the frame clear of the tires
The "U" bolts lined up with the cleats and other tie points on the boat.
Everyone worked very hard and long.
More updates will be coming in the next few days.
I want every member to feel welcome at any of our working parties even if you are unable to do any work because of any condition. The companionship of those that served with us in Vietnam is the glue that holds us together.
Previous working parties --- at least the ones where we took a couple of pictures
April 7 special working party
Bob Brower giving a tour to our new found friends all members of the Land Speed group. They are working to bring the land speed record back to the U.S. with the American Eagle. www.landspeed.com They were part of our working party and helped out with some welding.
? and Dick Kirk working the light stand with Tom Restemayer in the bac ground on the base to the Radar mast for the boat going to Washington DC
Tom and Dick finishing up the work on the light stand
The rest of us were up on the boat preparing it for painting.
Many of our members took home projects to work on helping to get as much as possible done.
Dec 10/11 Update
We had 5 workers on Saturday and 5 on Sunday. Jerry Popovice pulled plugs, open valves and cleared water out of the raw and fresh water sides of both engines to make sure there is nothing to freeze. We opened the sea water strainers and all valves. Dick Kirk, Steve McManus and I cleaned like mad. We cleaned the entire forward gun tub, bulkheads, decks, and mount. I cleaned the port drive pump, bilge and all cables passing thru were cleaned. The “Chief quarters” was cleaned through out, Bob Brower removed warped floor boards during the cleaning of the Chief quarters. They will be replaced by new boards. Mark Koenig and GM1 Thomas Folan IBU members worked on the Aft Gun mount which would not turn unless two men put all their muscle into it. Heat, a big hammer and a block of wood finally got it apart. We cleaned off all corrosion, polished all surfaces and oiled the mount. It now moves in all directions with the push of a finger. We also moved the leaky parts trailer into the vehicle shed so that we will be able to work on it out of the weather in the future.
It is not all work some of us took advantage of the facilities at Jim Creek. Alice and I stayed in a cabin, as did Steve McManus, while Dick Kirk stayed in a room at the Lodge. The week end of 10/11 December was a special weekend at Jim creek Santa Claus visited all the children who were visiting the Jim Creek recreation area. The recreation area has many events all year around and we are lucky to be part of the Navy community.
Dick Kirk and Steve McManus watching the Christmas fun after a long day working on our PBRs
Santa’s helper Katie Matthews with Navy families waiting their turn to see Santa
The Jim Creek staff made sure that Santa called every child by name and gave them a special gift just for them. It was wonderful to be able to be part of this very special NAVY event. We meet many active duty families from bases around the Northwest.
Jan. 14/15
The January working party was a great event and with 50% off lodging a deluxe cabin in the woods was $20.00. In the lounge they had the Seahawks play off on 8 foot screen and a $2.00 lunch. Next morning we had a $3 all you can eat breakfast. All this and we also got to work on our PBRs. What kind of mundane week end did you have?
Dick Kirk cleaning the bilges in the chief’s Quarters OLD Navy New Navy GMG1 Tom Folan and Mark Koenig rewiring the mast
Last month Bob Brower took the floorboards home and made new ones. He also took our Red White and Blue bunting. It is now very clean and even pressed. NO he did not do the pressing he got a pro to do it for us. He did the final fitting of the floorboards then sanded and put lifting holes in them. Once he got them just right he put a new coat of paint on one side. Dick took them home Sunday to finish the painting. We want a couple of coats to seal them completely.
Dick did a wonderful job in the chief quarters bilge under the floor boards. There was about a quarter inch of thick sand and dirt filled with oil. It was more like tar. He did 4 straight hours in cramped conditions. I got in there for an hour to finish off what little was left.
Mark Koenig rewired the light mast after it had been disconnected for the move to Jim Creek.
We put the canopy on the ground and GMG1 Tom Folan IBU 11 and I used a propane torch, Allen wrenches, hammer and we finally got all the footing off. We cleaned the base of all the stanchions so that they will be ready for the new footings. They had a lot of paint and corrosion. We will then put them on a maintenance schedule so the will not get in this bad of shape again.
On Sunday I crawled into the area under the cockpit to clean the bilges. I found a surprise on the starboard by the fuel tank. I found a nest that looks like it was built by a relative of A Billy Ratt. It filled and area of about 2 square feet and consisted of all kinds’ of nicely shredded bits and pieces. A Billy Ratt was never this messy he had respect for PBRs. When he was on the beach and had a few it was a different matter. That was the first clean up job I did under the cockpit. I then started on cleaning the oily muck. It will be a much easer job than the chief’s quarters but I only got started.
The fuel tanks looked to be in great shape. They shine like they are brand new and the tie downs look good too.
I checked the holes where the zincs fit in the heat exchangers. They are at one end of the heat exchanger very near the edge. I found they are clear at least 5 inches straight in but when I put my finger in the whole I found there were old bits of the zincs and a small piece of rubber from an impeller. It tells me we will have to flush the whole system and inspect and replace the impellers in the pumps.
Thank You!! Everyone for all your hard work!!!
I hope to see a lot more people at the next working party ---- more people means more progress.
Feb 11/12
L to R Heinz Hickethier Bob Brower Diane Brower Tom Restemayer Bonnie Restemayer Alice Hickethier Larry Bissonnette
This is our Northwest members at the Valentines Dinner 11 Feb at Jim Creek. We spent more time hugging our wife’s than our PBR but the fellowship was wonderful. We hope to have many more events at which everyone can enjoy being part of Northwest Chapter of Gamewardens. The dinner was outstanding and all the planning was done by the Navy to make it a night to remember.
