Do It Yourself Repower in Oregon

Joe Rock is in the habit of doing things himself. After 47 years as a commercial fisherman it seems to just come naturally to him. When he bought a Cajun-style shrimper in Louisiana in 1992 he drove the boat 30 days home to Newport Oregon himself. When he wanted to add five feet to the stern of the boat to give it better floatation he and his son Corey did the job themselves.

So this year when he felt it was time to change out the 73x22-foot Kylie Lynn’s main engine for a 500 hpCummins KTA19 , he and Corey did the job themselves. This is a routine kind of chore for this fishing family who work crab, shrimp and scallops with the boat. Not only does Joe know how do fix just about anything on the boat, he knows how to live the good life. In recent years, he has had son Corey run the Klylie Lynn while he takes out his smaller "retirement boat" to fish salmon and generally take life a little easier.

The KTA19 was supplied by Scott Graff of Curry Marine Supply in Newport. Scott reports a busy season for repowers. Earlier in the year he provided a Cummins KTA38 at 850 hp for the dragger Pacific Star belonging to Kent Helligso of Kodiak, Alaska. He also supplied a KTA38 at 1000 hp for the dragger Topaz. Both of these vessels pulled engines from other manufacturers to install Cummins at Giddings Boatworks in Charleston. About the time the Rock’s finish up the Kylie Lynn repower in mid-March, The mid-water trawler Vanguard is scheduled to arrive in Newport to pull out a pair of competitors engines in order to install a pair of Cummins KTA19 M3 mains each producing 640 hp at 1,800 rpm.