Finn 8 Project Boat

[Comodave]

Looking great!

 

[SIBERNUT]

Man, what a cute boat! Love to see a shot looking down showing layout of cabins etc.
One comment - i see metal elbows etc between rubber hose in the exhaust & no bonding wire to tie them to the sacrificial electrolysis system.

 

[Rob at LTP]

Sibernut, I assume that's my elbow you are referring to. Interesting point. I'm guessing that would be a wire from the elbow back to the battery -ve. Is that what you mean? (My rudder post is bonded back to -ve in this way.) I removed that elbow recently, and it looked in good shape despite probably being undisturbed for decades. But it would be a simple matter to add a bonding wire.

"Cute" is the word most people around here use for Puffinn. And everybody knows Puffinn. If I strike up a conversation with a total stranger and mention the name of my boat, I usually hear: "Oh, we love that boat, it's so cute, it looks like a bath toy." I even know a family who refer to the place near my mooring as "Puffinn Point".

Here's some original Finn 8 brochures with layout diagrams (although there is a lot of variation because they were sold in different levels of completion). I found these on a boatsales listing for "Lady-J" in South Australia.

Apologies, Rod S, for hijacking your thread again!

 

[SIBERNUT]

TKS ! Would not have realized there are accomodations in the center section.

 

[RodS]

Got the engine back in after a few delays. Happy to see it where it belongs instead of on my workbench.

 

[RodS]

 

[RodS]

Next up, start the plumbing and controls

 

[Rob at LTP]

Nice work! Are you still having fun?

 

[RodS]

Next up, start the plumbing and controls

Nice work! Are you still having fun?

Yeah, it's going ok. Very happy to have the donk back in. Bit frustrating how long it's taken but I'll get there eventually.

 

[RodS]

Nice work! Are you still having fun?

Got a question for you, where are your batteries located? Mine are one each side, one under the step into the cabin and the other in a similar spot on the starboard side under the cupboard. I don't like them being in the cabin and was thinking I might put them under the floor where one of the water tanks is, put a deck hatch in.

 

[RodS]

Made a deck hatch to replace dodgy ply cover installed by previous owner

Gotta get some flush catches for it and it'll be sweet

 

[RodS]

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. RS. Nice build! Will you hinge those or install pull rings of some sort?

 

[RodS]

Greetings,
Mr. RS. Nice build! Will you hinge those or install pull rings of some sort?

I think flush twist type catches, I want be able to fully remove them to get at the batteries I'm intending to install under the hatches.

 

[Rob at LTP]

Noice!

 

[tric]

Yes, I've seen the magazine article, via a link somewhere on this forum. The blokes I met didn't really have much info about the production of these boats, just a bit of reminiscing. Since I've started researching Finns, I've seen adverts (mostly stale) for boats in nearly every State, so they certainly got around.
I've seen in photos that some don't have the hinged hatch at the rear of the aft cabin. i find that's a lot more useful than you might think. It's a bit of a squeeze, but I do fit through it! The hinged helmsman's bench with galley below might be the standard. At least that's what is shown on an old brochure posted here by Lady J. There's also lots of photos of boats with the pedestal and side galley, so that may have been a factory option. I've attached a couple of pics of my interior. 25 metres of marine vinyl arrived a couple of days ago, so now I'll be waiting for the upholsterer to fit in the job. Maybe I should start a Puffinn's Progress thread so that I don't clutter up your thread with pics of my boat! I could probably populate another thread just with stories about how to stuff up docking and mooring. Or ways to draw blood. (Beware the fixed part of the latch for the roof hatch! That left a permanent dent in my scalp.)

Hi Rob,
Is there enough room between your bench seat and the helm to stand up and steer the boat?

 

[Rob at LTP]

Yes there is about 360mm of foot room between the helm cabinet and the underseat cabinet. There's no headroom unless the overhead hatch is open, but I almost always have that open. Standing with head out the hatch gives me better all round view needed in tight or crowded waterways. (I also like to sit up on the roof with one foot on the helm, but only if I'm well away from obstacles or other vessels.)

 

[tric]

So you are not standing on the floor of the cabin? or are you very tall...

 

[Rob at LTP]

There's a false floor there, which covers the batteries and the waterlock/muffler.

I see from your profile that you were boatless in October, and are now a Fully Fledged Finn Fancier. So, tell us about "Mickey Finn" and post some pics! (Maybe start a new thread, so we aren't cluttering up RoD S's thread, which I am totally guilty of. Apologies to Rod.)

 

[tric]

"Mickey Finn" is ex "Nimiane" which I purchased about a month ago. A bit of a saga getting it from QLD to SA, but it turned out OK in the end. I may start a post when I re-do the rear cabin, but to date I have only changed the name, and no....I am not superstitious.

 

[Rob at LTP]

Ah, Nimiane is well known on this forum. Bogranjac's posts about the boat and their travels have been very entertaining. And very informative for me in the time leading up to my purchase of Puffinn.

I've collected a sort of informal database of every Finn I come across on the internet. I will update Nimiane to Mickey Finn!

Cheers