Farrell Trawler Rebuild Project

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. PNW. ER venting is down the road. I was referring to the spaces encapsulated by the insulation and the current floor. NOW is the time to put ventilation holes/ducts in the stingers AND add limber holes in the stingers so any and all water can drain and dry out. Don't mean to be critical but I would hate for you to have a mold or rot problem.

 

[PNW Drifter]

Hi RT, your concerns are appreciated, and I hope I can address most of them here.

For anyone else following along, please note that I am doing my best to follow the Canada small vessel construction regulations.

https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/tp-tp1332-menu-521.htm

Enclosed space has access.


The bow enclosed space has 2 holes going to the central bilge, plus on either side there are 2 ventilation holes going to under the floor of the forward cabin.Additionally, the space under the floor is open to the bilge.


There is venting and drain holes through the main beam (on both sides)


All the floor timbers have two holes (inboard/outboard) to promote good circulation.


What we won't see yet is vents that go from outside the boat to the bow space.
I need to do some research (type) and calculation (size) before I can do that.

I hope this helps, and once again thanks for taking the time.

 

[RT Firefly]

 

[PNW Drifter]

Things are going to start looking like a boat.....

Added more curve and height to the front. Bulkheads trimmed to height.


Test fitting the roof.



Roof is on the fore cabin.....

 

[PNW Drifter]

Couple more pictures.

 

[PNW Drifter]

Sound control- I really dislike diesel valve clatter. I don't expect to make the engine silent, but anything will be an improvement from how loud it was. I'll have to monitor engine box temperatures (and the exhaust area) on sea trials, but I plan on having a massive cold air intake to feed the hole.

Floor will be above the box and nothing attached to the box itself, with an air gap inbetween (aka double wall).

 

[Flybull]

sub'd.

 

[O C Diver]

Curious if you are sealing the bottoms of the plywood for the deck sections. Plywood can absorb moisture and rot. Plywood that doesn't rot, still gains weight from the moisture it absorbs.

Ted

 

[ben2go]

Sound control- I really dislike diesel valve clatter. I don't expect to make the engine silent, but anything will be an improvement from how loud it was. I'll have to monitor engine box temperatures (and the exhaust area) on sea trials, but I plan on having a massive cold air intake to feed the hole.

Floor will be above the box and nothing attached to the box itself, with an air gap inbetween (aka double wall).

View attachment 84130

View attachment 84131

Nice work.



The clatter usually heard from diesels is the injectors and injection pump popping open to spray fuel into the cylinders. The pressure builds up between 1500 to 3000 psi before the injector pops open to spray fuel. Newer common rail electronic diesels don't have the same sound. They can give off a little compression knock when under load.

 

[PNW Drifter]

Curious if you are sealing the bottoms of the plywood for the deck sections.
Ted

Hi Ted, yes I am. All wood is epoxy coated on all sides. Further to that, any joints are coated on both surfaces prior to joining, before being filleted and taped.

I also have a dehumidifier running in my workshop, to keep the typically high Pacific Northwest humidity levels at a respectable level in my workshop (40 -50% relative humidity).


Ben2Go, thanks for your compliment. Maybe at some point I'll be able to repower with a new, quieter diesel.

 

[PNW Drifter]

Pilot house floor and middle bulkheads.


Detail of oak strip in-between the bulkheads


Perspective shot.


Access to engine. I made a mistake and ended up having to cut a new piece of marine ply that didn't match tone wise as nicely, and the grain isn't going the way I wanted. Measure twice cut once.


I reluctantly put in this support, as it was needed.


Exhaust surround


Under the floor panel, 2 red straps for removing the noise control.


Detail on the front.


Access to side(s) of engine and front of engine. I haven't got covers for these yet.


Next will be the pilot house.... things will really get cooking!

 

[Doug]

Nice work. I’m enjoying watching your progress.

 

[PNW Drifter]

Pilot house

A little less imagination is needed to get a sense of what its going to look like.....

Unfortunately, I'm now in wood conservation mode - minimize waste - and so the main front window panels were scarfed from smaller pieces. I could have stick framed the front, but by using panels, it made sure that each pane (or panel) would be flat. I'm not sure if the effort of scarfing was worth it.

FYI, figuring out the multi-angle pieces of wood to make the pilot house front window section made my brain explode.


The belt sander and angle grinder, along with the rocks, and the duct taped frame are holding the panels into position.




Temporary post supporting the front cabin roof as the weight of the front panels is added. Once carbon fibre'd into place, the window frame becomes a supportive structure (like a suspension bridge), and the post isn't needed.

 

[O C Diver]

Playing devil's advocate, if the exhaust leaks outside the engine box and under the floor, where does it go? Also seems like a lot of trapped heat below the floor. Is it possible to get some of the combustion air coming down around the exhaust, under the floor, and into the engine box?

Ted

 

[MurrayM]

Got a good heater? Is your shop out of the wind? Supposed to be -18C (0F) with 45 knot northerly outflow winds here tomorrow

 

[PNW Drifter]

Playing devil's advocate, if the exhaust leaks outside the engine box and under the floor, where does it go? Also seems like a lot of trapped heat below the floor. Is it possible to get some of the combustion air coming down around the exhaust, under the floor, and into the engine box?

Ted

Hi Ted, thanks for posting. Yes, I’m concerned about heat, but I plan on having good ventilation. The engine box is open on all four sides along the bottom, and has a large opening for cold fresh air on the intake side. I will have a dedicated ram air duct from the outside (port side) feeding this. On the exhaust side (starboard) there is venting around the turbo outlet exhaust pipe, which then vents upwards through where the muffler is. The muffler will be in a heat shielding box, which is also vented. The Venturi Effect should pull hot air out when the vessel is under way.

Across the boat engine specific venting (port to starboard):

ram air inlet -duct-port compartment-airfeed hole in engine box-engine box-exhaust vent (it’s open around the exhaust pipe)-starboard compartment-vent thru muffler pipe hole (open around the pipe) through floor-muffler box-outside

Additionally, there will be the traditional (and substantial) fore-aft venting, which will draw warm air from beneath the engine box, and also keep the bilge area cool.

Of course, it hasn’t all been built yet.

I do absolutely think about the heat, and I will have temperature sensors in the box, which I will keep a close eye on during sea trials. Should temps get hot, I’ll have to add more venting.

Nice boat Ted. One day I hope to do the ICW loop.

Got a good heater? Is your shop out of the wind? Supposed to be -18C (0F) with 45 knot northerly outflow winds here tomorrow

Hi Murray, my workshop is heated, and insulated. I appreciate your concerns.. At least we aren’t as cold as other parts of North America.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Drifter,
Did you determine if your boat was a re-power or what? I've seen numerous Farrell boats that had a Volvo OD in the stern. Have you looked carefully to see if you're transom had an OD through it? Could be you'll be needing lots of weight aft for good trim/balance.
I really like the way you shaped the foredeck and lower cabin front. Looks very nice. I woulda slanted the wheelhouse windows the other way if for nothing else but to gain significant "dashboard" space.
My father built/had built this 36' boat and made everything "Skokoum" and when it was done the 6-71 could barely push her past 9 knots. Had a FB on then too.
Picture was taken by me in Craig.

 

[O C Diver]

Hi Ted, thanks for posting. Yes, I’m concerned about heat, but I plan on having good ventilation. The engine box is open on all four sides along the bottom, and has a large opening for cold fresh air on the intake side. I will have a dedicated ram air duct from the outside (port side) feeding this. On the exhaust side (starboard) there is venting around the turbo outlet exhaust pipe, which then vents upwards through where the muffler is. The muffler will be in a heat shielding box, which is also vented. The Venturi Effect should pull hot air out when the vessel is under way.

Across the boat engine specific venting (port to starboard):

ram air inlet -duct-port compartment-airfeed hole in engine box-engine box-exhaust vent (it’s open around the exhaust pipe)-starboard compartment-vent thru muffler pipe hole (open around the pipe) through floor-muffler box-outside

Additionally, there will be the traditional (and substantial) fore-aft venting, which will draw warm air from beneath the engine box, and also keep the bilge area cool.

Of course, it hasn’t all been built yet.

I do absolutely think about the heat, and I will have temperature sensors in the box, which I will keep a close eye on during sea trials. Should temps get hot, I’ll have to add more venting.

Nice boat Ted. One day I hope to do the ICW loop.



Hi Murray, my workshop is heated, and insulated. I appreciate your concerns.. At least we aren’t as cold as other parts of North America.

Hope your plan works. The engine is a high volume vacuum machine and may negate any ventilation (such as the exhaust duct) designed to go away from it.

Keep posting pictures!

Ted

 

[PNW Drifter]

Drifter,
Did you determine if your boat was a re-power or what? I've seen numerous Farrell boats that had a Volvo OD in the stern. Have you looked carefully to see if you're transom had an OD through it? Could be you'll be needing lots of weight aft for good trim/balance.
I really like the way you shaped the foredeck and lower cabin front. Looks very nice. I woulda slanted the wheelhouse windows the other way if for nothing else but to gain significant "dashboard" space.
My father built/had built this 36' boat and made everything "Skokoum" and when it was done the 6-71 could barely push her past 9 knots. Had a FB on then too.
Picture was taken by me in Craig.

Hi Eric, thanks for posting and thanks for your positive comments on the foredeck shaping. I'm going for a "salty" look, the design a bit of a tip of the hat to the raised pilothouse tugs (and shamelessly copied from the North Pacific 28/ Sundowner 30 ). I do not want to go through all this work to end up with some kind of landlubber homemade monstrosity made with home depot parts! Your opinion helps confirm I'm going in the right direction. BTW, I like your boat too, similar to the Devlin Surf Scoter I was going to build (still have the plans....).

My boat is an ex-gillnetter, would have looked kinda like this:

It definitely didn't have a stern drive or engine in the rear. It came out of the mould as a purpose built inboard with shaft drive and hydraulic rudder (and mini keel). The gillnet drum and fish holds took up the bulk of the rear space.

Those boats were made in the mid to late 70's, and yet the Volvo AD41B is from the mid 80's to early 90's. I'm thinking its re-powered (but I could be wrong), with the same inboard configuration.

The forward slant of the wheelhouse windows is that way for the simple reason that there will be less direct sunlight (think greenhouse - think hot car dashboard) entering the pilot house when the sun is directly overhead. Might be easier to see the screen of the chart plotter on one of those rare sunny PNW days.

I agree with you on weight bias/hull trim, and I'm biasing weight to the rear, but I have limited options for doing that. Fuel tanks are already as far back as practical, and I will have the batteries (heavy!) located at the very back too, and run 4/0 from the batteries forward. I can put water tanks at the back below the floor.

Before the refit, I can say that this boat wasn't fast (I doubt it made even 10kn at full rpm), but I am certain that my construction will be lighter than what was there before (if only because all the waterlogged foam is gone!). Your dad's Islander looks nice too, to my eye a bit of east coast lobster boat from that angle.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Haha good eye Drifter,
Dad had the boat built in Maine by a well known builder. He was on the phone w him often telling the builder to build it heavier. He loved the word skookum and never missed the chance to employ it.

Re your boat you’re doing a great job rebuilding and re-fitting her. Planing, methods, re-design and even enthusiasm is great. Love to see it.
She sits nice on her lines if the painted AF is “her line”.
Good that you’ve thought of the CG and have some plans to control it. Many manufacturers use aft (in the laz) fuel tanks but if one uses much fuel there goes the CG. Perhaps designers feel that more often tanks will be somewhat full and seldom will be near empty. Ask a NT 32 owner that is design savy.
A thought I have may work well (but not wonders) and that is to split the fuel tankage between two or three smaller tanks. Say 40% aft and two roughly 30% well fwd approximately amidships. You would need to transfer fuel fwd (w transfer pumps) fairly often unles you didn’t go very far. And eventually you’d wind up w a light stern. Would be hard to handle in significant following seas.
And if you’re like us and use little fresh water that tank could go aft. I have a 30’ boat w 100 gal of water in the laz. Works great for us but we use little fresh water. So we’re always in trim. We cook w water from jugs stowed here and there.
But at this point you’ve got lots of room to play w and lots of posibilities.

Re the fwd slant windows I’m not a fan of the practice or the odd (IMO) look. There are good things about the fwd slant windows and all of my thinking is not opinion. Do a search if you’re interested. TF has had that discussion fully in the past. And I approve of my windows that basically don’t slant. The boat would look silly either other way.

But you’re off to a very good start that probably feels like more than that to you now. I’ll keep check’in on ya.~_

 

[PNW Drifter]

Thanks again for the positive comments.

So it looks like I have the "wannabe" window style, learning this after skimming through the 7 pages of (gently) heated debate.

I had no idea it was such a controversy, after all, I was just going with the NP28 design.

I'll be using automotive safety glass, and if i were building a NW style jet boat, the windows would definitely tilt backwards. And yet.... there are small fast coastal boats with a forward cabin and have forward raked windows.....like this one:

Certainly has an aggressive look. An acquired taste perhaps.....

I don't plan on being on the water if there is possibility of green water hitting my pilot house windows.

Thanks again, I appreciate the discussion.

 

[PNW Drifter]

rear bulkheads

A couple of sheets of plywood, and two walls are up.


Cutouts for gunnel fuel tanks. Fuel fill, plumbing, fittings, etc. will be located outside of the living space.

 

[sean9c]

I asked a commercial fisherman friend who also builds Bristol Bay boats about the reverse rake windows. He said that he does it a little bit to keep the sun off the dash but mostly that they shed rain and spray without wipers. The rhythmic sound of wipers put tired fisherman to sleep, bad when you're on watch.

Haha good eye Drifter,
Dad had the boat built in Maine by a well known builder. He was on the phone w him often telling the builder to build it heavier. He loved the word skookum and never missed the chance to employ it.

Re your boat you’re doing a great job rebuilding and re-fitting her. Planing, methods, re-design and even enthusiasm is great. Love to see it.
She sits nice on her lines if the painted AF is “her line”.
Good that you’ve thought of the CG and have some plans to control it. Many manufacturers use aft (in the laz) fuel tanks but if one uses much fuel there goes the CG. Perhaps designers feel that more often tanks will be somewhat full and seldom will be near empty. Ask a NT 32 owner that is design savy.
A thought I have may work well (but not wonders) and that is to split the fuel tankage between two or three smaller tanks. Say 40% aft and two roughly 30% well fwd approximately amidships. You would need to transfer fuel fwd (w transfer pumps) fairly often unles you didn’t go very far. And eventually you’d wind up w a light stern. Would be hard to handle in significant following seas.
And if you’re like us and use little fresh water that tank could go aft. I have a 30’ boat w 100 gal of water in the laz. Works great for us but we use little fresh water. So we’re always in trim. We cook w water from jugs stowed here and there.
But at this point you’ve got lots of room to play w and lots of posibilities.

Re the fwd slant windows I’m not a fan of the practice or the odd (IMO) look. There are good things about the fwd slant windows and all of my thinking is not opinion. Do a search if you’re interested. TF has had that discussion fully in the past. And I approve of my windows that basically don’t slant. The boat would look silly either other way.

But you’re off to a very good start that probably feels like more than that to you now. I’ll keep check’in on ya.~_

 

[Nomad Willy]

Sean,
The window thing is mostly style and preference. As I’ve said several to many times there are positive reasons for wannabe windows. By the way it was Marion Fare that coinded the word “wannabe” windows. He thought they were only justified on north sea trawlers. However look at my avatar. The fwd roof overhang does the same as the fwd slant windows. Drier windows w some sun shade.
But it’s mostly style or fad. And these are pleasureboats so one can choose what one likes. I’ve got what I like ... near vertical windows w some roof overhang. Like the Nordic Tug and I don’t even have wipers.
Here’s a great example of the perfect wheelhouse windows .. IMO. Notice the very thin sections between the three window panes. Near or vertical glass is less weight too.

 

[sean9c]

Well, that Nordic Tug in the picture does have wipers. Style is subject I personally think that the new small mullion front windows of the Nordic Tug don't go well with the rest of the design.

Sean,
The window thing is mostly style and preference. As I’ve said several to many times there are positive reasons for wannabe windows. By the way it was Marion Fare that coinded the word “wannabe” windows. He thought they were only justified on north sea trawlers. However look at my avatar. The fwd roof overhang does the same as the fwd slant windows. Drier windows w some sun shade.
But it’s mostly style or fad. And these are pleasureboats so one can choose what one likes. I’ve got what I like ... near vertical windows w some roof overhang. Like the Nordic Tug and I don’t even have wipers.
Here’s a great example of the perfect wheelhouse windows .. IMO. Notice the very thin sections between the three window panes. Near or vertical glass is less weight too.

 

[PNW Drifter]

Port gunnel tank.

 

[O C Diver]

Port gunnel tank.

Fuel or water?

Ted

 

[PNW Drifter]

Going full tilt.

Fuel or water?

Ted

Fuel. 50gal on either side.

Side walls up. Some carbon fibre


For the record I use a laser level...


Tracing out the windows.


I thought this was a cool angle.

 

[O C Diver]

She is coming together quickly. I'm guessing that glassing the top will be done out of the building.

Ted

 

[PNW Drifter]

She is coming together quickly. I'm guessing that glassing the top will be done out of the building.

Ted

I'm going as fast as I can. Re: Glassing.....The roof is a little ways away yet, and thanks for getting that thought on my radar. It is tight to the ceiling and thinking maybe prefab it on the shop floor and then lift it up into place.