new project

pod top is now made and ready for fitting.

 

Twin motors ?

 

yes mate.

twin motors on this one.

not sure what to go for yet but have been looking at motors from 60hp up to 115hp.

would love a pair of 115s if the price is right.

 

I did a 20' x 8.5' aluminum cat and 2 x 90's gave a cruise speed of 25 knots with a loaded weight (depart port) of 5100 lbs. Not really fast but enough for a start.
Your 2 x 115 sound about right.

 

That is pretty good going considering the weight. Is that a tunnel hull, basically ? How is the handling at sea ?

 

It is what is often called an 'asymmetric hull' catamaran. Tunnel hull term is okay but infers a really fast boat. Terminology can be a grey area.
Some 20' frp units were built years ago and to prove it out the builder & friend did a run from Bella Bella to Vancouver in 10 hours. That would average about 28 knots and even though they did it in 2 legs it was really exhausting. Another of these was used for SAR but was found to be a bit too small.
The hulls handle rough water quite well. One owner (22') was in the film/TV business and used his to move equipment and gear to various 'shoots'. About the only 'complaint' is the tendency to 'sneeze' when at lower speeds... not uncommon in cats.
The smallest I have done is 20', Largest is a 68' harbor tour boat but it only cruised at 8-10 knots with 225 passengers.

 

not been on here for a while due to being busy.

not done a great deal on the boat lately but have started on flowcoating out the forward compartments , storage cupboards and inside helm seat pod.

wheelhouse is almost ready inside for flowcoating out.

just got to decide what im going to do with 2 folding seats as i need to glass in brackets for them.

the rear deck area is all finished.

flowcoated out and the non slip is done.

the deck drains are fitted and i have fitted 2 skin fittings for bilge pumps , 2 bollards , 2 cleats and 1 handrail.

can't fit the other 2 handrails as im waiting on some stainless spreader plates to go on the underside of the gunnels.

also had to make a hatch for the anchor locker.

 

engine cable fittings

 

oh forgot to mention that the engines were ordered about 4 weeks ago and the majority of the electronics have been ordered.

the engines have arrived at the suppliers so should be at my workshop soon.

electronics should be delivered in next few days.

in the end me and my mate decided to go for the mercury 115 fourstrokes.

was going to go for the 80s but seeing as there the same engine but different tune we opted for the 115s.

electronics is all lowrance gear.

 

Beautiful! What coating did you use on the deck? I think good choice on the motors!!

 

Looking at the deck hatches etc shows you do some very impressive tooling.
On a somewhat different topic, I would be curious to know if you have been monitoring the boat weight as work progresses to make sure it floats where you want it to. On most of the boats I have done, they were weighed at certain stages with the readings compared with the design estimates.

 

thanks mate.

for the non slip i use kiln dried sand mixed in with the flowcoat.

before mixing it in i put the sand through a sieve to get any bigger bits of sand out so its all the same.

looks good and is very grippy.

thats how ive been doing decks on boat for years.

 

thanks mate.

i have been keeping an eye on the weight.

as the boat stands at the moment it is around 850kg.

im hoping that once finished with engines on but without fuel the weight will be around 1400kg max when finished.

ive got about another 3-4kg of grp to add weight wise plus the door which is 14kg.

after that any extra weight added is from fitting the boat out.

once its finished i'll be taking to a friends workshop so he can lift it on his workshop crane set up and give me an accurate weight.

it will sit fine in the water.

a little bit arse end down with the weight of the engines which is how it needs to be.

i have every faith in my build and just know it will be fine.

 

toys



few gadgets arrived today.

all lowrance gear.

hds9 gen3 with broadband radar , structure scan , down scan , side scan , sonic hub , point 1 receiver with built in compass , link 8 vhf etc etc.

 

inside the wheelhouse is now flowcoated out apart from the non slip deck.

will be doing the deck at a later date as i need to foam fill below the decks now.

looks a lot tidier in there now.

the windows can now be cut out and the templates for the new windows made and ordered.