Three Leighs

George Schneider stated (Email to Nauticapedia 22/09/2025) that "Also during my visit I saw a couple ex-military vessels. One I'd gotten before, but this was the first time underway.

She was SEA QUEST, which is documented as SEAQUEST (1106032), formerly the 40PE657.

She had been the admiral's barge for ComThirdFleet, was turned in on a newer one, had been meticulously rebuilt, and was in storage awaiting her next assignment to some junior admiral. About that time, the public began turning a jaundiced eye on the luxuries of admirals, and the demand for barges of that size quieted. When she got to be the "next one" to exceed needs, she went up for sale, still a klunky Navy boat with a clumsy layout for anything commercial, but with hull restored to perfect condition and her engine with no service hours on it after rebuild. I can't seem to find the sales results on her, but if I remember right, she sold for something like $4000. That engine rebuild probably lasted the later owners until the time when they were offering free tier-2 engines to fishing boats willing to give up their classic 671's."