Aluminum Cat Liveaboard Plans?

[captsomer]

Hello All,

I'm a liveaboard right now and have been for about 15 years. I don't have any plans of going ashore any time soon. I've been dreaming about building my own liveaboard cat for years and I have been saving up a pretty impressive pile of aluminum sheet to build it with. I have all of the equipment and an nice shop to work in.

I've been keeping my eyes open for a set of plans, but as of yet I haven't seen any that fit what I think I'm looking for. Here's what I envision:

EASY TO BUILD FROM ALUMINUM!!!/
Around 40 feet, give or take, in length/
An emphasis on a roomy (spacious) interior and a useful exterior. (I like the Endeavor Trawlercats. Ugly but useful)/
Protected or near coastal use. No ocean crossings. Maybe a "Great Loop" boat/
Slow (10 MPH cruise is plenty) displacement style hull for economy/
Small DIESEL engines/
A real head with a separate shower/
Plenty of storage space, especially for clothes (wife )/
Two staterooms./

I used to work with a guy that owned a small boatbuilding yard. He would never use plans to build a boat. He just started cutting metal and went to work. His designs were all very simple, like I am suggesting, and they all performed very well. Better than some production boats even. Using his ideas, I could probably make my own hulls. I would be willing to try this. My fear however is constructing the house and deck. Like I said, I like the "ugly" Endeavor Trawlercats and I wouldn't mind having this boat turn out like that. But I do have my limits! I don't mind ugly but I can't stand when it starts to look like crap!

Does anyone know of any plans that fit my ideas? It sure would help.

[masalai]

From what I have been told, aluminium comes into its own above 45 ft loa, look for designs in Australia and NZ (famous for numerous one off design builds), as, for live-aboard, big production runs seem not appropriate. I opted for shorter than 12m/40ft for convenience and government fees (seems to double in many countries above that mark)... therefore I opted for balsa cored composite structure, as being LIGHT and very strong... A boat occupying the shed where I am now building was LITERALLY dragged from the shed and out onto the grass where final fitting is being completed before launch in about 3 months... Ask any other builder if his design will tolerate such treatment with NO DAMAGE to the boat.... I have unedited video of most of the process... 12 takes totalling 4.9579Gig of quicktime HDTV 1920x1080 mov files...

[captsomer]

Thanks for the reply guys.

Whoosh, I like that boat. It gives me a few ideas for the house.

Masalai, I was just considering Aluminum because I have a source that allows me to get it pretty cheap from time to time and I have been saving up a pretty nice pile of sheet. Not enough to complete a boat, but it would be a very nice start. I enjoy working with Aluminum and I really do not like FRP although I have used it for many smaller projects. This project would just be a "one off" for myself so I'm not interested in mass production. I would just like to find a good set of plans to work from since I'm not a professional. It would be a shame to put all of that work and money into this project and then be left with an ugly piece of crap that doesn't even perform well when I'm done.

[jamez]

Alloy seems to become acceptable weight wise on a bridgedeck cat once you get over 12 metres or so. A big advantage of alloy is not having to paint the exterior saving money and time. If you understand and feel comfortable with the material then you' should have little trouble keeping it maintained.

I've attached a page from Roger Simpsons catalogue of his 12 metre alloy design. Boatcraft Pacific in Australia are simpsons plan agents now. The plans for this particular design are not shown on their list but they may be able to source them for you. http://boatcraft.com.au/Shop/

Roger Simpson retired from designing a few years ago and now builds hand-crafted banjo's. His designs have a good reputation down here (and I imagine his banjo's are probably pretty good too:-).

Another that springs to mind is Peter Kerr of Lizard yachts. He has plans available for a 13 metre (and others).
http://www.lizardyachts.com.au/designs/lizard_13.html

[captsomer]

I guess I should state that I'm thinking about a powercat or Trawlercat style.

[masalai]

captsomer, Alloy scantlings and engineering - not in my knowledge base, but for a very fuel-efficient powered cat look at the undrewater lines of the Chamberlin C10 in my gallery, the stern treatment is to stop "squat" and the long skinny hulls a happy-medium compromise between too skinny and no lift forward and trying to plane - both this and the larger "Foreign Affair" http://www.icecat.com.au/objectives.htm achieved cruise around 12+knots and about 1nautical-mile per 1litre of fuel burned and top velocity of 16 for the C10 with twin 50hp kubota and near 20knots max for the 14m? "Foreign Affair" which has cruised New Caledonia, Fiji waters as well as making a direct crossing from Australia and back...

[jamez]

Originally Posted by captsomer

I guess I should state that I'm thinking about a powercat or Trawlercat style.

Ahaaa...
You may like to check the powercats on the Lizard site.

I see bruce Roberts has a bunch of power/motor-sailer cats too. Most of these are glass, but as Roberts designs for all materials he could probably do an Alloy version.

http://www.bruceroberts.com/public/H...escription.htm

[orcaboatsaust]

hey check out a mate of mine in Qld www.lizardyachts.com.au ,designs and builds cats power and sail ,also has great designs and plans......may be of some assistance

[captsomer]

WOW! I like the designs from the guys at Lizard Yachts. Very nice looks and I like the interior layout as well.