time to bump 'container-able' boats 60% more volume with new 53' boxes!

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by Squidly-Diddly, Jan 20, 2015.

  1. Squidly-Diddly
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    Squidly-Diddly Senior Member

    http://www.pacer.com/Intermodal/IntermodalContainers.aspx

    Apparently these new bigger boxes have (temporarily) fallen out of favor for the big shipping companies, but are very common on American hwys.

    interior 52.5'L x 8'W x 9'H

    3857 cubic ft VS 2350 for standard 40' box

    I'd guess most boat designers would much rather have increase in width than length over the standard 40' box.

    But could these bigger containers be just enough bigger to allow a containerable boat without serious compromising especially on the last few inches of headroom?

    I'm thinking maybe a light displacement motor cruiser or canal boat instead of sail boat.

    Is it only a matter of time till they become common for international shipping? They were launched with the expectation they would become the new standard.
     
  2. Rurudyne
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    Rurudyne Senior Member

    So close to holding a Wyoming....
     
  3. FAST FRED
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    FAST FRED Senior Member

    For most folks the current box boat 39 long about 7 ft wide would run fast and cheap.

    Adding length would add another cabin but it still would be a small boat.

    At 39 ft 4 could cruise , although 2 would be ideal, 6 ot 8? no thanks in a 7 ft wide rocket.
     
  4. Eric Sponberg
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    Eric Sponberg Senior Member

    I did a study for a client once back in the early to mid 1980s for a "boat-in-the-box." I studied the available containers at the time, and the 9.5' high container was called a "Hi-Boy." They've been around for ages and so are not new. The limits to container size is not so much space on the ship as it is the heights of bridges and overpasses and encumbrances on the roads around the world--where these containers go after they leave the ship. Not all Hi-Boy containers can fit through all roads.

    So in the case of the sailboat study that I did, we selected the Hi-Boy container and planned for the boat to go in sideways, port or starboard side up so that the boat could have more beam for interior room, stability, and sailing ability. The keel, rudder, and mast would go into the same container and mounted on a rack that also held the boat. Once shipped, to specific resorts that would buy at least a few at a time, the boats would be off-loaded near to the shipping port and assembled using the rack as a jig to get the keel and rudder on just right. I think the mast was likely in two pieces and would be similarly assembled.

    It was all a nice idea, but good ideas have to be backed up by money, and my "clients" didn't even have enough money for a boat design, let alone build anything.

    The boat-in-the-box concept is not new--been around for decades. To succeed in building such boats is a matter of money to pursue the development and the ability to come up with an attractive design.

    Eric
     
  5. Rurudyne
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    Rurudyne Senior Member

    On the plus side, if this new standard is a floparoo and a fire sale of stock results they might be handy as foundations for catamaran houseboat barges.
     
  6. OldYachtie
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    OldYachtie Junior Member

    Sea Star Line’s fast and flexible ships, extensive equipment selection, and tireless commitment to excellence extend beyond Puerto Rico. Our award winning service includes shipping to the Virgin Islands, specifically to ports at St. Thomas and St. Croix.
    Shipping to the U.S. Virgin Islands: As a full-service shipping company, Sea Star Line can take your cargo from point of departure to market destination making the whole process of shipping to the Virgin Islands seamless. We offer a diverse and young fleet of equipment – including 20-, 40-, 45- and 48-foot dry containers, as well as 40-foot and 45-foot refrigerated containers.
     
  7. Richard Woods
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    Richard Woods Woods Designs

    yes I did a similar study years ago. With the same results. Could never decide whether it was easier to turn the hull on its side or the container...

    My understanding was that the hi containers were mainly used in the USA

    And remember the door is not as wide as the interior

    RW
     
  8. tspeer
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    tspeer Senior Member

    You can get a nice multihull coastal cruiser in a shipping container, like Ian Farrier's F33.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    The diagonal is the largest dimension, so it makes sense to put the hull in at an angle, especially when the waterline beam is narrow.

    Some assembly required.

    With a longer container, you could go to a racing multihull instead of a cruiser/racer. Same size cross section, but longer. The beams might have to be demounted and rotated along the axis of the container, too.
     
  9. FAST FRED
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    FAST FRED Senior Member

    IF the boat is not able to be installed easily , rollers and a crowbar , and removed as easily much of the utility is lost.

    IF a special cradle is required the boat will have to have the cradle shipped to the departure port , or back track to the start point.

    And of course PAY for the storage of the cradle , and its replacement if stolen.

    Not ideal for cruising !
     
  10. graywolf
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    graywolf Junior Member

    I have a better idea. A bigger boat. A boat big enough to carry your car. Simply use the on-board crane to load unload you car and leave it in the marina while you are in the area. Since such a boat would also have room for a tender to run back and forth between the boat and car there is no shipping or transport problems involved.

    Need I add that such a boat would have plenty room to live aboard?

    If folks would donate the money to set this up, I would be glad to test the proof of concept for them. I already have a car.
     
  11. Rurudyne
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    Rurudyne Senior Member

    ... or the boat you can afford and a moped....

    In my case maybe one of those teeny clown motorcycles. ;)
     
  12. rustybarge
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    rustybarge Cheetah 25' Powercat.

    You're not thinking outside the box.:p

    Use the container as the rigid structure,and bolt boat shaped structures to the outside to turn the 'square shaped container box' into a boat shape. The engine/ prop shaft and all the interior would be permanently fixed inside, with enough room left to store the outside 'bolt in place' fairings.

    This way you won't have to rent the container, and it will be relatively quick to assemble the exterior fairings for the bow and keel etc...
     
  13. Rurudyne
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    Rurudyne Senior Member

    Containermarine!

    (What's their depth test figures?)
     
  14. Squidly-Diddly
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    Squidly-Diddly Senior Member

    Click my handle for my Gallery. One of the features of my modular containerable, towable multihull would be that it should be able to carry its own tow vehicle (F-350 or similar). Tow to water, assemble boat, drive truck up ramps, finish boat, disembark and land on distant shore, reverse, drive to other side of land, repeat.
     

  15. Squidly-Diddly
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    Squidly-Diddly Senior Member

    Remember this one?
    http://www.containeryachts.com/pdf/Winter_07.pdf

    IIRC it said only "11 hours of standard boat yard operations" required to set up, which includes a big sling, etc. I don't know what these "11 hours" of boat yard time with the big sling would cost, but I imagine during peak season at fashionable locations you will be just plain out of luck for weeks or months and waiting behind Old Money old customers of boat yards.

    "Shop Time" for just one regular grease monkey at a mundane dealership around here is well over $100/hr, and I'm guessing it will be MUCH higher at a fancy boatyard and at least 2-3 required so I'm guessing at least $3-4000 X 2 for $8000 to launch and reload? (if everything goes 110% OK). Yipes.

    And you KNOW after they load it, and you try to relaunch months later and thousands of miles away you are gonna find out the last guys that loaded it screwed up something bad and decided to let you figure it out yourself months later when they've gotten jobs at other boatyards.:p

    And I'm guessing that is "11 hours" of the mother boatyard's "factory trained mechanics" after 2 or 3 practice sessions, not the monkeys you are going to be training at some distant port.

    Back up the box to the water (on truck or on ground) launch like a torpedo. The boat should have a few rub strakes anyways.

    To load: attach cable to bow and winch into the box on same rub strakes (or rollers if you're fancy).
     
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