Reverse Engineering (conversions And Modifications)

Daiquiri,i should have time to complete the presentation tonight, and it should answer some of your questions. At the end of the presentation i will do a write up of the problems encountered,the do's and dont's and resultant static(living at anchor) and dynamic (handling at sea)characteristics of the boat. And for sure reply to all. Thankyou for your interest,from a man of your qualifications i consider it a compliment, Geo.

 

Nice build Geo got my 5/8 SS keel bolts threaded (for free) today Looking to scrounge the nuts did you go regular doubled up or nilock? cheers John...

 

Ships Lifeboat to motorsailer Cnversion

Just located another old photo on how the deck beams were fastened to the aluminium hull. Each beam was notched out 1/4 in. to receive the aluminium gunnel of the hull. The wood was epoxy coated where it mated with the alum. to prevent poultice corrosion or chemical action between the two. The two were fastened with 1/4 stainless bolts,nuts and locktite. The extra bolt length was then cut level with the head of the nut

 

Ships Lifeboat to Motorsailer Conversion

This photo shows the engine, (fed thru,aqua drive, deep sea seal, cutless bearing, 1 1/4 in. stainless shaft. 16in.dia. x 13in. pitch(i think) three blade prop.) The insulated sound proof engine box which also served as the saloon table is not yet installed. The engine is a 3cyl. 29hp. Perkins diesel, identical to the 3cyl, Volvo but painted blue, both made in Japan. I got a really good deal on this engine with only 10hrs on it. A customer wasn't happy with the dealer recommended install after getting caught in a storm on full power the boat was losing ground, so fought for and got a bigger engine and guess who just happened to be at the dealers when the hot and heavy was going on. I solved both of their problems by buying it for dealer cost, $4500 with #50 hurth transmission attached.Remember this was back in the 90's. Right time right place.

 

Ships Lifeboat to Motorsailer Conversion

This photo shows several construction details,including the ugly builder 100yrs. ago.
#1 Knees on all roof to cabin framing.
#2 The step down from the cockpit is actually the battery box.
#3 Where i'm standing in the wheelhouse there is 6ft 2in. headroom but as
you can see the main trunk cabin has less than full headroom.
#4 The laminated roof beams both in the wheelhouse and main trunk cabin have lots of
camber(crown) an old trick to keep superstructure sides low but gain headroom.

 

Ships Lifeboat to Motorsailer Conversion

The big day, I played no role in this move, I was a wreck that they would drop it, went to the front of my house sat on a lawn chair and drank beer until it was loaded on the flatbed. From here it was transported 1 mile to the government wharf and lowered into the water, with all sea cocks closed. My big concerns were answered in a matter of minutes, She floated and she floated on her lines with absolutely no leaks from those 300 rivets and in the 8 yrs, i owned her she never leaked either rain water from above nor sea water from below.Neptune got a drink of rum every time i went aboard. Speaking of getting aboard, notice that funky old school rudder, It's not just for looks, in those french curves are two steps in case one falls overboard it allows a quick and easy way to get back on board. When sailing alone I drag a long line astern as an added safety feature to get me to those steps.

 

Ships Lifeboat to Motorsailer Conversion

On her mooring, home port, Village of Bayside, Shag Bay,(on the chart) (locals call it Shad Bay) approx. 26k west of Halifax.

 

Lets see her sailing mate....

 

John, lock tite on the keel bolt nuts, and i'm gettin to it, Geo.

 

These photos have really helped me conceptualize the end state of my project and to think you are only down the road. So 316 5/8 nuts K2 ? Cheers John

 

Ships Lifeboat to Motorsailer Conversion

We're goin to sea Billy, I origionally set her up as a cutter rig but wasn't happy with it, changed to a traditional sloop set up shortened the jib boom and found it much better. On this trip heading for Rogues Roost in the next bay north, Prospect Bay, to meet my uncle with crusing friends from New Hampshire

 

Ships Lifeboat to Motorsailer Conversion

Found my friends but was at sea so long the salt water shrunk my boat. Now this vessel was a piece of equiptment, a big Rolls Royce was her propulsion, gleaming white, you could eat off it. Engine room had full headroom and one could pratically drive a car around it. AAAH but my pole was longer than his.

 

Ships Lifeboat to Motorsailer Conversion

Had a good time with our friends now returning to port, Notice how fast i converted her from cutter to sloop

 

Ships Lifeboat to Motorsailer Conversion

(NOTE, ON GOING EDITING)Approx 8 reliable, safe, fun years later ready and deserving of refit. Refit was completed in my new shop over that winter,(1999) In early spring(2000) you guessed it, I was made me an offer i couldn't refuse. Sold her $12,000 and a further $3000 to make interior modifications and change the colour of her hull.They had big future plans. My initial investment was $15,000 to get her functioning afloat and a further $5000 finishing and improvement over three years. At the inital launching in the 90's she passed a marine survey with flying colours and i never ever had problems obtaining insurance.
(Living aboard at anchor), she had a comfortable motion resulting from her full keel and final displacement of 12000lbs. One big disadvantage was not having full headroom in the heads. On hindsite i should have made the wheelhouse longer and placed the heads there. Not having full headroom thruout was a negative but this is not possible on a flat bottom shallow dept hull as raising the cabin higher would have created too much top hamper,windage,and totally destroyed her freeboard to cabin height ratio, Looks are important.
(At sea) She rode like a 53 Buick, but was a dog going to windward however she did and had the manitory ability as they say to claw off a lee shore, very important in case of engine failure. Under sail alone tacking was a problem, an underpowered rig(motorsailer) and those dutch lumber barge bluff bows pounding into a sea killed speed. I refined the art of wearing ship(jibe tacking) as should all motorsailer crews whose vessel shows similar characteristics. I never fought it, she was a motorsailer and whenever I had to go into it i motored or motorsailed. Once I balanced her out with the sails up and the engine slowely ticking over I could match anything to windward and on 1/4 to 1/3 gal. an hr. plus heat and all electrical amenities without worrying about battery charge. A big plus in a north Atlantic enviorment.On a beam wind she was a deam, sailed for miles unattended with a bungie cord on the tiller.She was wide and flat bottomed, two good features on a beam wind and breaking beam seas. Good form stability to stand up against gusting winds and the flat bottom tends to slide a little absorbing a beam sea. Running with it she surpassed any boat i have ever sailed,thanks to that long keel and big aft hung rudder, both a big manitory for motorsailers and heavy displacement cruisers. Forget weted surface give me a long keel and a big rudder, weted surface is a factor for the Ivey League, by the way which i out storm sailed (no engine) on several ocassions with them hoping about to maintain control and me with my wet *** hanging out over the quarter rail drinking my hot cocoa. A **** eatin grinned captain drinking cocoa, in a backyard built ugly duck outsailing a $100,000 plus Ivey League hyper crewed racing machine, Don't tell me theres no heaven I've been there, very alive,and i mean very alive,(riding the edge) on several ocassions.
(Rough Weather Handling)Factor in, i'm a former Newfoundland open sea small boat fisherman,I've built boats so i know their relationship with the sea, I've put alot of salt water under my keel, And I don't panic under stress if anything i become more stubborn, tis the Irish in me. Having pointed out the above to be honest she was a good handling rough water boat. I've "run with" 10 to15 foot close breaking seas,also "into" to 25 ft spaced out breaking seas on the tail end of a hurricane in shallow water and "into" big Atlantic blue water breaking combers. In all cases she complemented herself by handling well.She had the uncanny ability to climb a big breaking sea an an angle, green water washing up along her hull over the rail in many cases, filling the cockpit and keep on trucking without falling off. Always amazed me, must have something to do with wave technology, those reverse currents within the wave having easy access(flat bottom)to that slab sided full keel. My cockpit drains, two 2in. in the bottom,At seat level,one 4 in. feeding into a Y to two, 2 1/2in. out on the very aft quaters with flappers. All equipped with sea cock thru hulls. The idea was to get rid of top hamper at seat level and above fast.
( Conclusion,)was the build successful and worth it, Definately yes, The best school i could have ever attended, I had no choice i didn't have the funds to lay out in one lump sum but had enought to purchase the hull($2000) and over time thru a little cash once and awile,horse trading, looking for new and used deals, ended up with a good heavy motorsailer that while wasn't as pretty as say a Fisher 25 was a hell of alot cheaper and certainly i think more seaworthy.(don't like bulworks, they hold green water too long) The build satisfed my yearning soul for a blue water boat, funny how a build does that, working with a dream,toward the dream i guess. She gave me (us)* 8 yrs. of boating pleasure and returned almost all of her cost which allowed my boat endevers to progress. *The wife, fantastic crewmember,fast on her feet, faster on the brain, follows captains orders without questioning and to a tee, overconfident in my seamanship, doesn't panic, enjoys boating,Good cook, good bartender, Can run the boat(designated driver). Now youngins, let me give you good advise from an old sea dog, where the otherhalf is concerned weather on the dock or at sea always embillish her assets. Hope you enjoyed the show,excuse the misspelling. Geo.

 

Epic.