Trawler

Hello All,

Saw this boat online, 11.75m steel fishing trawler.. I have had along standing desire to convert a trawler into a liveaboard..

http://www.findafishingboat.com/photo-viewer/81248/2

Upon making enquiries with the owner, the hold is a mere 3.5 ft high, can a boat of this spec, have the hold and deck converted to accommodate 2 levels (the hold increased to 6ft high, the deck the same) or would it make the vessel unstable...?

 

Nothing definitive can be said without a study of the ship's stability after the upgrade. Probably, even if the draft increased, it would be necessary to add ballast in the keel to improve stability.

 

The general answer is it is possible .That particular design would have a widish beam .Its really a question of asthetics and we are not planning an atlantic crossing Generally these trawlers would have large diesel ballast tanks midships to compensate for ice and fish in hold and trawl gear .The idea is you exchange diesel for fish .These boats can become unstable when their diesel tanks are empty there is no ice in hold and the trawl gear snags or a large amount of fish in net combined with a swell.So as tansl explained ballast might need to be considered