Am I alone in feeling tempted?

[dancrane]

47ft LOA, 35 tonnes of mahogany over oak, two Gardner diesels...£49,000. Boats for sale UK, boats for sale, used boat sales, Motor Boats For Sale Watson Class Lifeboat 47ft - Apollo Duck

Nicely converted inside, too, though I daresay she's tiny on accommodation, for what she'll cost to berth.

But would make an historic and distinctive seaside home, unlimited by any weather.

 

[Romeo]

Not my cup of tea, but I am always delighted when others step forward to care for and enjoy classic boats.

Do you have to go through the engine room to get to the forward accommodation? It strikes me that this may be a purchase for single man. Either one who is single, or one who has ambitions to become single.

 

[Gary Fox]

Very nice! (Especially the Gardners, I have a 4LW).
I can't work out if she's double diagonal or carvel? It just says, mahogany over oak which to me suggests DD unfortunately.

 

[dancrane]

...this may be a purchase for single man. Either one who is single, or one who has ambitions to become single.

That risk can't be denied...looking at the box of sealants and lubricants in the engineroom...it's more man-cave than gin-palace.

But notwithstanding the limits of the layout, I think it looks very appealing, assuming madam likes cosiness as much as big windows.

Pretty sure the saloon is directly astern of the wheelhouse...

But the comfy double berth and bathroom must be forward...

...and I think you have a point about forward access, though it may be even worse: you squeeze forward from the wheel through the bulkhead to the engine-room, but there's no access beyond...you only get there by going outside, to the forward companionway.

I stress that I'm guessing that from the photos.

Why is double diagonal a bad thing? I thought it was the last word in robustness. Is it also a pig to work on?

 

[KINGFISHER 8]

I've wanted one since as a teenager I was allowed to stand in the stern of the Guy & Clare Hunter as she was launched down the slip on a practice evening in The Scillies. Totally impractical of course but certainly 'go anywhere' and oh so pretty! I would have to commit that woodburner (?) stove to the deep and replace it with a diesel one!

 

[CLB]

I've been watching a guy maintain his wooden boat at our boatyard and it is definitely not for me. If I ever buy a wooden boat, I have told my kids to put me in an institution

 

[dancrane]

180 gallons of fuel doesn't sound like as much as I might have supposed, given that she's unlikely to be frugal.

What sort of range/hours on duty might that have given her in really foul weather?

 

[scruff]

Presumably with that round bilge she would roll like a dog in any seaway?

 

[Romeo]

That risk can't be denied...looking at the box of sealants and lubricants in the engineroom...it's more man-cave than gin-palace.

...and I think you have a point about forward access, though it may be even worse: you squeeze forward from the wheel through the bulkhead to the engine-room, but there's no access beyond...you only get there by going outside, to the forward companionway.

I stress that I'm guessing that from the photos.

Ah yes, see what you mean. The internals do indeed look lovely, and actually when not not in a sea way, it may well be more acceptable to your new partner to stroll forward on the starlit deck, than to crawl through an engine room to get to the lovely double bunk.

 

[dancrane]

It hadn't occurred to me that the design's redoubtable capacity to survive almost any conditions, carries with it a motion that mightn't be acceptable if one were not escaping deadly peril, or helping others to do so.

Maybe a low-aspect downwind gaff schooner rig would help her maintain a few degrees of heel, one way or another. Sorry! I'll go.

 

[Wansworth]

Ideal for a junk rig schooner rig

 

[KINGFISHER 8]

It hadn't occurred to me that the design's redoubtable capacity to survive almost any conditions, carries with it a motion that mightn't be acceptable if one were not escaping deadly peril, or helping others to do so.

Maybe a low-aspect downwind gaff schooner rig would help her maintain a few degrees of heel, one way or another. Sorry! I'll go.

Wash your mouth out with Bilgex!

 

[dancrane]

Yeah, yeah.

I like nostalgia-evoking boats but I also admire sensitive conversions which don't erase what the vessel had been.

The sheerline of the lifeboat would extend nicely with a bowsprit...heavily raked gaff schooner rig, in the style of America.

I'd like to see the drawings before concluding that it's not a nice idea.

 

[38mess]

Why is double diagonal a bad thing? I thought it was the last word in robustness. Is it also a pig to work on?
[/QUOTE]

It's not the wood so much as the fabric between the layers, probably original, once that starts to deteriorate it will let water in.
A member of our club had a 1938 version, he had to replace the copper nails, 30 thousand at £2 each

 

[Wansworth]

Many lifeboats were built in Littlehampton in Osborne’s ,next to David Hillyards.......other double ended craft?

 

[dancrane]

The nailing and rotting cloth issues do sound frightful.

Maybe it's possible to put her in a heated dehumidified shed for a few years (not a cheap option, I grant you) then when the moisture is undetectable, inject several hundred litres of epoxy resin into the hull? My boss sails an XOD and I think he said he reckons the wetness of the swollen wood has kept her afloat for 90 years. So does a wooden boat built without epoxy, have to remain without epoxy?

I admit, there was never much sincerity in the idea of taking on an old lifeboat...I wonder whether buying, owning and maintaining an old 'inexpensive' one is significantly cheaper than building a new equivalent, assuming the availability of adequate timber?

 

[wombat88]

As one who helped restore and sail an old RNLI boat (Joseph Soames Exmouth 1903 from memory) I am indeed very tempted.

Double diagonal is nothing to be afraid of, it has only gained a reputation from those who don't know it, a bit like garages and proper Citroens.

Ours was a pulling and sailing boat turned into a gaff ketch and it originally had a centreboard. Its conversion left it with a lot of top hamper and a heavy Petter. It was roomy and a lot of fun.

Back to reality, soon be time to address the leaks on my clinker dinghy...I wonder what I will use this year? Maybe copper tingles and plenty of white lead.

 

[38mess]

Double diagonal is nothing to be afraid of, it has only gained a reputation from those who don't know it, a bit like garages and proper Citroe

That's a bold statement ?

 

[Tradewinds]

Another lifeboat conversion with a sailing rig (seen in Ipswich town basin).

 

[LittleSister]

There's nothing wrong with temptation! (It's one my few pleasures in life. )

Giving in to temptation is a whole other ball game!