changing draft

[joeysranger]

I have a chance to buy a 1940's tug at a good price. Problem is 12ft. draft. Is it possible to rebuild the under water portion of the hull to a different shape, and eliminate some draft? Understand it would be expensive & time consuming. But the boat could be exactly what we've been looking for. Hate to know what it'll cost, but it might be worth it. You never know.

[Pierre R]

Not worth it at all. Much cheaper and faster to build a tug designed to be a yacht right from scratch.

[PAR]

I wouldn't be so quick to discount the idea, but for most boats, it's usually not a good idea. In the end, it depends on the design and what the draft is used for.

But the boat could be exactly what we've been looking for.

I love it, "she'd be the perfect wife, if I could stand to look at her" . . .

Post an image of the boat, obviously out of the water and it may be possible to cut some draft out of her, but in most cases the tug uses the belly of the boat for it's machinery and propulsion. Moving this and reshaping the hull seems nothing like being "exactly" what you're looking for.

[joeysranger]

Hello, PAR Thanks for being optimistic. We just have a thing for old tugboats. This one has very nice lines. Taking things out of the hull isn't a problem as the 2 fairbanks-morse 2000hp engines and associated gear would have to be changed. Don't need 4000hp or the fuel burn that comes with it . I would like to get it down to around 7 to 8 ft. Thank you for trying to help with our ODD problem.

[alan white]

Best to find a tug with an 8 ft draft, which means most likely under forty feet if there is such a thing. Still, tugs have huge internal volume and even a small tug would be a palace compared to a normal cruiser of the same length.

[PAR]

Without pictures of her on the hard, it would be imposable to suggest further, except to say it's a fairly rare thing to be able to do successfully.

Originally Posted by joeysranger

Hello, PAR Thanks for being optimistic. .

That was not optimistic!

Don´t read what you want to read! Never, really never ever, you get that hull down to the figure you dream about, no matter how much you want it. That would be a newbuilt.

Find another vessel or live with the draught. Though some minor fixes might be possible as PAR mentioned. But without much more info and pictures thats speculation.

Pulling the engines is another issue. Probably that is not the best way too.

One can possibly rebuild them and get them set to a much lower power output. Then you would have to install CPP´s to operate them at low rpm without doing any harm. Quite expensive too, but there is nothing cheap on such conversion anyway.

And where is the reason to eliminate draught on every design you are playing with? On a former thread you wanted to go below 8ft, now you are fine with it?

Regards
Richard

[Robbo]

Id have to agree with PAR here-it would seem a little comical to say "it could be exactly" what your looking for except for the hull and machinery. Remove that and all you've got is a shed with no walls!

Really unless its just a solid plate keel that is adding to the draft, then forget it.

[alan white]

Bear in mind too that stability issues will arise because the newly configured hull will enclose less volume than the old one, meaning the displacement will be much less. Yet the superstructure will stand as high as ever. That's the first analysis you'd need to do.

[dskira]

Originally Posted by PAR

"she'd be the perfect wife, if I could stand to look at her" . . .

So funny

[dskira]

Originally Posted by joeysranger

I have a chance to buy a 1940's tug at a good price. Problem is 12ft. draft. Is it possible to rebuild the under water portion of the hull to a different shape, and eliminate some draft? Understand it would be expensive & time consuming. But the boat could be exactly what we've been looking for. Hate to know what it'll cost, but it might be worth it. You never know.

Buy an other boat. really.

Daniel