At the end of week #8 and the cabin exterior, fly bridge and cabin bulkheads have been installed. Interior stairs down to the forward cabin and cabin floor plates are fitted. Almost all interior welding has been completed.
Now into week #3 and the hull plating is being fitted. We can now clearly see the asymmetric hull shape as the 6 mm bottom plate and 5 mm side plating is tacked into place. Engine girders have been fitted and fully welded. With the twin 286 Steyr engines and Q-SPD surface drives this boat should achieve 35 knots top speed. [click the links for more information on engines and drives].
6mm bottom plate fitted to the compound curve forward
Fitting stiffeners to control any distortion due to weld heat
Fitting stiffeners to control any distortion due to weld heat
View from aft
We are in to week 1 of this build and yesterday had the Buddhist blessing ceremony for the boat. According to local Thai tradition this will ensure a smooth build process with safety for the workers. I guess that they feel happy in their hearts after each ceremony and to date all of our alloy builds have gone relatively smoothly with no work related accidents.
This vessel will be powered by 286 HP Steyr inboard diesels coupled to Q-SPD surface drives for a top speed of over 30 knots and very economical cruising speeds. The boat will also require controlled trolling speeds as low as 3 knots and this has been taken into consideration within the mechanical installation.
Setting up the building jig
Setting the keels on to the jig.
Installing bulkheads and frames
Buddist monk marking the boat with gold paint and gold leaf
Monk blessing with ritual water and Buddist prayers
Fireworks going off with a bang.
Tradition has it that the fireworks ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune. The bangers are certainly powerful and loud enough!
This 30′ monohull came as a hull only design from Specmar Design USA and we built the superstructure from scratch, no plan or cut parts. The brief was for a vessel to handle passengers or loads of copra so the aft cover is removable and breaks down into single parts which can be easily stored in the shelves built into the hull sides.
A full walk-around cabin was required so to maximize cabin space and keep passengers and odors outside it was decided to move the toilet/shower outside the cabin. With the back cover frames installed and the cover on them the toilet will be less noticeable.
This boat is powered by a 6 cylinder 315 HP Yanmar diesel and Bravo II X stern drive.
Finally have one of these boats in the water and under power. The vessel performs and handles very positively. The customer required addition of helm station handrails,seats and cover to the upper deck so this affects performance slightly with the twin 250 HP outboards. We will add full sea trial data in the next post.
10.85M, twin 250HP outboards
Due to its’ somewhat awkward dimensions for shipping and the fact that we had to wait a considerable time for the shipping agent to come up with an 80cm high MAFI trailer the ferry loading was somewhat delayed. However, the vessel has now been commissioned in Brisbane, Australia with twin Yamaha 300 HP engines installed.
This project has suffered some delays, however, completion date is getting nearer and we will shortly start to build the shipping cradle. The hull and superstructure has been rotary buffed as the boat is not being painted. Many small practicable additions have been made to the base design for ease of servicing in the future and we think the boat looks great!
