Introducing me and my boat (Thom301) - Page 2

bluebyu · 10-21-2016, 05:21 PM

Great story,
Thanks for sharing.

Thom301 · 10-21-2016, 05:24 PM

One of the first things I noticed were the electronics in the boat. The wiper wouldn't work, the horn sometimes would but mostly wouldn't. So I removed the dashboard and found out how the wiring was done. One side of the battery was connected to the steel hull of the boat. Which meant that there was always a current running through the hull. There were no fuses and most of the wires did not have any protective sleeves anymore. So I removed the complete system, battery, wire's, all switches and gauges and started from 'scratch'.

Below the 'old' and 'new' system. Geuss which one is the before picture.

Regards,

Thom

Steve · 10-21-2016, 05:55 PM

Welcome, that is a very good looking boat, congratulations! Before I retired our company had a sales office in Lelystad, on the map it looks like not to far from you I visited there often.
I heard the video of your engine, it reminded me of the Fairbanks/Morse engines that were used here in Louisiana, years ago, also on pumps but mainly on oil wells.
Good luck and happy cruising!

RT Firefly · 10-21-2016, 06:00 PM

Greeting,
Mr. T. Wonderful tribute to your grandfather. He will surely be with you on the crossing of the channel.

cappy208 · 10-21-2016, 07:06 PM

Thom: You have told an amazing story. And you should be proud of carrying your vision (with your Grandfather) to fruition.

I am impressed!

Keep pictures coming.

Is the engine direct drive? Does it have a reverse? Or do you have to shut it down and reverse the rotation? Very interesting...

Aft Deck Capt · 10-21-2016, 07:36 PM

Very nice work Thom! What a wonderful way to honor your grandfather.

Thanks for posting.

healhustler · 10-21-2016, 11:29 PM

Thom: I was glad to get much of your story from over at Livingaboard Forum, but it looks as if you've improved the boat even more since you were posting over there. Can't wait to hear how she handles the trials of the Channel. She looks like a great candidate for paravane stabilizers though.

AusCan · 10-22-2016, 12:55 AM

Thom,

I love your story of not giving up on a dream of owning this boat.
You've done a great job of bringing the boat back to life. Your slow revving engine sounds so reassuring.
Best of luck on the rest of your preparations for the crossing.

LaBomba · 10-22-2016, 06:18 AM

Thom, what a wonderful refreshing story. Great boat, pictures and workmanship. May you have many enjoyable adventures at sea with your grandfather. Welcome to the forum.

Moonstruck · 10-22-2016, 10:11 AM

Thom, Your boat is more of a trawler than most any on this site. Plus it is a beauty. It's obviously a labor of love. Before Eric (Manyboats) gets a chance I will ask you to post pictures of her bottom. Eric likes bottoms; especially from the rear quarter. I will be looking forward to your posts.

FOG · 10-22-2016, 10:47 AM

Welcome aboard. Nice boat. It takes a lot of fortitude to finish a project boat ..... congratulations.

Cigatoo · 10-22-2016, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capt.Bill11

Nice boat! Nice engine!

No! Really nice boat and really nice engine

You can be proud of your boat, your accomplishments, and especially of your relationship with your grandfather. Well Done!

cappy208 · 10-22-2016, 11:53 AM

@Thom. Do you have YouTube videos showing you underway in canals?

I don't think I've seen a boat with so much rudder power. That's impressive.

healhustler · 10-22-2016, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cappy208

I don't think I've seen a boat with so much rudder power. That's impressive.

Agree, and wait till you see the range of axis on that rudder. Even more impressive!

Thom301 · 10-22-2016, 04:18 PM

Many thanks for all your kind words everyone!

@ Cappy208, The engine is coupled by a friction gearbox which has a 1:1 ratio. Switching gear is done by a big 'stick' coming out of the floor. The gearbox is connected to a 2 inch propshaft. Also that would indeed be my channel. I'm trying to get familiar with the camere so hopfully by next summer I can upload some better video's.

@healhustler, Hi there Tex! I thought I might run into some familiar faces trawlers here. I have indeed since then found a lot about the history of the boat. Still no picture's from 'way back' sadly but I hope to find them one day.

@Moonstruck, I'm a 'bottom kindof guy' myself.

So here are some pictures from the hull during the first winter.

One of the first things the boat desperatly needed was a new paintjob. Both above and under the waterline. So I sailed the boat back home and had it lifted out of the water. During the first winter I spend a lot of time working on the outside of the boat. Mostly painting, fixing some damages on the hull and so on. On a few parts of the boat the paintjob was so bad I had to remove all the paint, primers and filler and get it back to blank steel. This was a lot of work to do but I'm happy I did it as the results were much better.

One of the things I did not do was use filler on the entire hull. There were 3 places were using filler was inevitable to get a smooth hull. Most of the dents and 'bruises' in the steel of the hull I kept. Not because it was too much work but because I find that an old boat should show a bit of her history. She was made as a workboat and probably was 'thrown' around a lot. A few dents display this which is what gives the boat character in my opinion.

The hull itself I painted with Tenco bottompaint, below the waterline are six layers of professional grade antifouling. The 'nasty stuff' but stuff that actually works. After the hull was painted I painted 'draft' markings by hand.

I have a lot ( By this I mean A LOT. ) more pictures. Too many to post them all. So if you'd like to see some specific pictures please ask.

Regards,

Thom

Thom301 · 10-22-2016, 04:26 PM

Next steps were to paint the part between the black and red part of the hull, paint the railing and add some details.

After that I got started on the roofsection. The part which we in Holland call 'pet' the so called 'hat' of the boat.

I painted it red and again added some white edges around it.

Regards,

Thom

Thom301 · 10-23-2016, 11:59 AM

A few more pictures of the state the hull was in. There were a few places where bad quality filler was used. So after removing all the bad (loose) filler I applied a new 2 component filler, sanded it back to a nice smooth surface and painted it.

Regards,

Thom

Nomad Willy · 10-23-2016, 01:16 PM

Thom301,
First thanks for the "bottom" pictures. I like the easy lines aft and the deep and full forefoot. Like the cabin too. And I positively love that duckbill bottom extension (lip) aft!
Regaurding the engine do the pistons rise and fall together or do they alternate like one up one down. I'd guess probably together.
Our boats are quite similar as Trawler Forum boats go. My WLL is about the same as yours.
You bring a nice worldly flair to Trawler Forum. Thanks

Thom301 · 10-23-2016, 03:06 PM

Many thanks Eric!

The hull has a very nice shape indeed. It makes the boat 'listen' to it's rudder perfectly! Only downside is that these types of hulls do sway a lot. But that's something I've just gotta get used to. The deep forefoot is there because originally the engine was located in the forwards cabin. Later when they replaced the engine it was moved further back to the wheelhouse.

The pistons alternate, as in when cilinder 1 is at it's top dead center the second cilinder is at the bottom dead center.

So when the paint was drying I would continue on the inside of the boat. A few small things I started with were the 'table' or the cover for the enginebay. Previous owner put vinyl on it. I'm personally not a big fan of this particular type of vinyl, it gets hard because of the UV from the sun. So I replaced it with mahogany wood.

After I gave the pilot chair a quick fixup by covering it with black leather and adding some buttons to give it that 'old fashioned' look.

As some of you might know it's often cold in Holland. Well, cold and rainy. So one of the first purchases I did was an old Ebenspacher dieselheater which is currently still waiting to be placed.

Regards,

Thom

Thom301 · 10-24-2016, 11:09 AM

After replacing all the wiring and electronics I had to make a new dashboard. For navigation I use an old Navman chartplotter. The only problem with it is that it does not look good in an old styled boat. Obviously getting rid of the Navman was not an option. It's too useful for that. So I made a mahogany dashboard where I'm able to hide the plotter underneath a cover.

Regards,

Thom