Boat in build - little Viking 20.

[JRR]

Thanks for the ongoing photos, I have enjoyed following the build and look forward to your latest observations and whether your expectations have been met.

I agree with your previous contributor, I too think your rear platforms look great and the boat actually is enhanced by them. [As well as their practicality] Seeing the two side by side, I personally prefer the 20 to the 215. It is aesthetically more pleasing.

Have now returned from my week on the Broads where we were blessed with mixed weather. The Viking will be well suited to Broads cruising where its size will be a bonus in allowing exploration of areas larger craft cannot get to.

The jeep looked well matched to the boat, did you find it advantageous for towing?

Good luck in sorting the teething problems The reality being one always expects some, but hopes they will be generally minor ones. Poor after sales can take the edge off what should be an enjoyable experience. Trust swimbo will smile upon your future birthday requests. Cheers JRR

 

[landlockedpirate]

Yes, we've looked at tonneau covers but although I'm convinced they're very worthwhile when towing, I'm still pondering over what to do when we arrive and depart the slipway.

Say it's raining on arrival, wet tonneau has to come off (store in car?) and proper canopy has to be erected in the rain, all the time trying to stop the cockpit woodwork getting wet.

Likewise on departure, remove wet proper canopy (store in cockpit til we get home?), refit the damp tonneau from a few days before, again trying to keep the cockpit dry.

I've toyed with the idea of simply lashing a tarp over the canopy and screen or even getting an "over hood" made. There will come a time in the future when the boat will be kept in the water but this is years rather than months away.

Our SBS traier isn't a swing beam roller type but basically a keel roller type with side rollers instead of fixed carpet bunks. Went for this design as the V20 has quite a pronounced keel and there wouldn't have been enough depth on a swing beam to accommodate the V20's skeg/keel. I've since discovered that the hull layup from the skeg outwards isn't the thickest and I'd be very wary about letting a V20 sit soley on swing beam rollers.

Penton slipway - quite a steep approach down to the waters edge but then levels out. Waiting/mooring pontoon on both sides of slipway. Some big lumps of concrete submerged at the edge of the slip but can be avoided with the trailer wheels. Secure parking for car and trailer. £15 a day IIRC to launc, recover and parking for car and trailer - a bargain really.

Next time I'm down that way, I'll get some pics of the lie of the land.

Thanks for the info, really useful, will give it a go in August.

Don't know what to suggest about the cover problem but if you leave it up while towing it will eventually shred itself.

I have exactly the same trailer as you, just a little larger (SBS Bunk trailer with side roller conversion). As long as you hit it square on you can drive
straight up it.

Heres a really poor quality vid of me recovering last week, daughter only filmed it cos it was blowing F7-8 with about 3kts tide and she was convinced it was going to be a YBW moment

Just hit the middle and drive staight on.

 

[Deefor]

Just hit the middle and drive staight on.

What happens if you miss the keel rollers on the trailer?

On Saturday, I'll be taking some more pics both inside and out and I'll also show how the skeg/keel arrangment is on the V20.

I haven't yet had the balls to drive onto the trailer as, if it does work for me, I'd be wondering how to get off as it's quite a drop from the bow to the trailer .

 

[landlockedpirate]

What happens if you miss the keel rollers on the trailer?

On Saturday, I'll be taking some more pics both inside and out and I'll also show how the skeg/keel arrangment is on the V20.

I haven't yet had the balls to drive onto the trailer as, if it does work for me, I'd be wondering how to get off as it's quite a drop from the bow to the trailer .

Don't miss the rollers In reality if you put the trailer in to the right depth the boat is 'bounced' into the correct position because its still floating.

If i'm on my own I climb off the bow onto the winch post, a little undignified

If Wifey is driving and son is attaching the winch, I just get pulled out of the water and step down off the boarding ladder, much better

Its a new boat and everything takes practice.

 

[Deefor]

The finished boat.........

I guess the best way to conclude this thread would be to post a few pics of the outside, cockpit and cabin (good job it ain't a big boat) and then summarise the overall build experience. So, four more posts should do it .

 

[Deefor]

V20 - exterior pics.

Car plus boat on trailer comes in at just under 13m (43 feet) .

On the stern, we've got a bog standard TV aerial set up, shown here in it's stowed position for cruising. Sections can be added to the vertical bit (up to 10 feet) and then the whole assembly rotates towards the relevant transmitter.

The twin bathing platforms, as seen before, now have a stainless rail between them to allow stern-to mooring without damaging the outboard. Just need to remember to dangle a couple of fenders over the back.

Cleats on the bow in lieu of fairleads plus bow roller (extra). Vetus opening hatch with tinted glazing as standard.

Midships cleats in lieu of fender rings.

Additional fender rings just level with the helmsman's amd mate's seats. Something simple as these really helps to fender the boat in Thames' locks.

The horizontal grab rails on the cockpit sides come as standard but we wanted the extra ones each side to give us something to hold onto when entering or leaving the cockpit.

One of my favourite extras - big boat horns on a small boat .

Extra cost Vetus wiper assembly for mate's (wife's ) side.

Extra cost opening/sliding window assembly from Seaglaze. The port side assembly has five drainage holes but the port side only has four. Water builds up in the channel in the heads compartment with nowhere to drain externally. Ongoing discussions with Seaglaze over this one .

Lastly, in this post at least, a quick shot showing the acrylic canvas canopy. Overall very plesaed with this hood and how sections can be removed as per our spec. One or two leaks on the stitching and a few additional fixings required but now dealt with. A lot of good comments from other river users on the quality and looks of the hood. Can also just make out the bronze tinted glass in the cabin and screen windows, again from Seaglaze.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Looks very smart. you'll be pleased that you ordered the extra wiper.

What are the two white largish vent covers on the hull under the midships cleat?

 

[RobWales]

looks very nice indeed and hope you enjoy her!

Two observations....

The engine (from pic's at least) looks like it's mounted quite low? I was under the impression that the cav plate (ok your's is not that big) should be set at a max of about 1inch below the keel, looks a bit lower to me?

Second,
The OCS mushroom vent on top of the cockpit cabin, these can and do get very brittle indeed over time with the UV degredation, The original one on my F/L Sprint broke up at the lightest touch! Have replaced with a new one mind you....
Wonder if they still use the same PVC formula as my new one is defi out of the same mould as the original.

Great pics

 

[Deefor]

V20 - cockpit pics.

The standard cocpit set up from Viking allows for a choice of upholstery (vinyl) colour and piping to match, swivelling helm seat & footrest with storage and U-shaped seating. In the cockpit, we added another seat and pedestal with footrest/storage, low level LED "touch" & dimable lights (as used in the cabin), two extra speakers, tacho, larger fuel locker to take 1 x25lt and 1 x 12lt outboard tanks, larger gas locker to take 2 x 3.9 propane bottles and lastly, I think, a pedestal socket for a small table for al-fresco eating. The cockpit never was that large in standard form and is now even more cosy but it suits the two of us just fine..

Truma system for pumped hot water to galley & heads in starboard corner. Up behind the backrest is the two outlet Propex warm air heating system.

Gas locker built for two bottles. Had to move one into port side storage to balance boat out better .

Storage behind helm seat. The unused/spare gas bottle now resides here as well.

Fuel locker in port corner. Cockpit pedestal slung in here as well .

Battery compartment athwartships with Vetus "make to break" isolator (extra). Initially specced this for 2 x 110ah batteries but due to increasing gas and fuel locker size, have had to settle for 2 x 75ah batteries. On a five day cruise, so far so good, even with heating and fridge running.

Domestic hot water thermostat plus warm outlet to cockpit.

Dash showing non standard wheel and Faria tacho. I sourced the tacho (£80 cheaper than Honda OEM one) and Viking fitted it. Hand held Garmin GPS suffices to measure speed. Just out of view (bottom left) is a 12v socket for connecting portable solar panel direct to batteries.

Seats are just the right height to give a good view out forward.

Helm seat with folding back (extra).

Wife's seat again with extra cost folding back.

Storage in front of wife's seat.

Storage in front of hubby's seat.

Nice quality feel and look to the seats.

Cockpit floor (carpet colour to our choice) with pedestal socket.

Call it what you like but big section of floor lifts out to give full width storage (lazarette ). Ideal for fenders, ropes, beer kegs (ballast ) etc..

 

[Deefor]

V20 cockpit pics (more I'm afraid).

Extra cost LED's in cockpit, port side speaker, and one of the five double 240v sockets we specced on the shore power system.

Standard cockpit to cabin door opens outwards into cockpit but we specced a stable door (to keep an eye on the dog in the cabin whilst in locks) and an inward opening door to maximise the cockpit space around the wife's seat.

The cushions to the cockpit seats in their factory positions.

But we've done away with the middle section, put the port cushion on the starboard side and vice versa to give us somewhere to stand when getting in and out of the cockpit without damaging the upholstery or having to continuously remove the side sections. Should have thought more about this at the early stages and had the side/corner cushions spilt.

Rear of canopy, specced so that this section can be rolled up or removed.

.

As we often moor in front of much larger boats, we decided on a privacy cover for the rear section of the canopy. Still made of Sunbrella and simply held in place with velcro.

 

[Deefor]

What are the two white largish vent covers on the hull under the midships cleat?

To allow air circulation for rear of fridge and gas oven, or so i was told .

 

[Deefor]

looks very nice indeed and hope you enjoy her!

The engine (from pic's at least) looks like it's mounted quite low? I was under the impression that the cav plate (ok your's is not that big) should be set at a max of about 1inch below the keel, looks a bit lower to me?

You got me thinking so I've just been out to take some measurements .

The cavitation plate of the 20" long shaft BF20 is approx. 2.5" below the transom. I believe a 15" short shaft wouldn't have been the right choice?

I've got some other pics showing the skeg/keel arrangment of the V20 which I'll post later but basically the keel isn't full length, stopping some 3' 6" short of the transom.

 

[Deefor]

V20 - interior (cabin) pics, part 1.

Stepping down from the cockpit to cabin was a bit daunting so had to make a step a few weeks ago. Also shows the second warm air outlet.

Looking forward, standard v-berth arrangement and then the infills for the double. Very glad we specced firmer foam throughout the cabin . Only downside is that I have to sleep across the double as there's not enough length in the berths down the sides. Seemed fine when I lay on them before we signed the deal . Fabric colour chosen by wife .

NIce big forward hatch by Vetus.

No shelves in the sleeping "area" so we had two fiddled shelves moulded in at an early stage.

The foward berths have the usual under berth storage accessed under the cushions but as we intend to leave everything made up as a double, we still wanted access to the storage, hence the doors underneath.

Dinette - not the biggest but it'll do. Also converts to a double (right, yeah ) or a good single, not that we'll ever need it. Again, no shelving in here as standard so we had another full length fiddles shelf added. Plenty of storage under seats accessed by doors.

Nice to be able to watch TV, 19" dual voltage Hitachi bought by us from Argos and fitted by Viking. Door beneath TV offers more storage and houses the 240v and 12v breakers.

One of the six LED cabin lights, one touch dimmers.

More in next post, nearly there chaps .

 

[Deefor]

V20 - interior (cabin) pics, part 2.

Wife really likes the galley. It may not look much but having come from a boat with nothing, this is luxury.

Nice to have a shelf at the back of the galley. Also houses the 240v double socket for the electric kettle.

Glass lid lifts to reveal two burner hob and sink with H&C water - corrr .

Nice Waeco fridge with inverter for automatic changeover between 12 and 240v.

And the oven with grill, does nice toast .

Heads - compact but adequate. Somewhere to have a no.2, shower and shave. Thetford cassette loo, drop down basin and shower. What more do we need? Space .

 

[Deefor]

The end?

So there we have it A boat that we can trail and specced with what we wanted to meets our current needs.

From the start of this thread, the aim was to show that new build, customised, small boating can be and is affordable. Ignoring the fact that we had to buy a new trailer for around £2k (but we got £1200 for our old Snipe one), the whole build cost us less than the price of a brand new, top of the range, Ford Focus diesel. Google is your friend if you want to know roughly what the boat cost

So is this the final post? Well not quite .

Having now spent enough days and nights aboard and put several hours on the engine, there's some issues that need addressing. I'll post them up later and some might seem pretty trivial to others but nevertheless, they need to be dealt with by Viking. For example, the issue of prop sizing .

None of the issues will prevent us from using the boat whenever we can and we thank Vinny & Wayne at Viking Mouldings of Great Dunmow, Essex for making the whole experince of purchasing a new boat enjoyable, pleasant and most important of all, exciting. If any one else out there is considering a small, brand new, low cost, river boat for a couple, then the V20 could be the boat for you. Don't expect to be led by Viking or their dealers as to what extras or mods you want, a lot of it is down to you if you want a boat that meets 99% of your needs. Having had over 10 years experience of owning boats from 18 to 40 feet certainly helped in deciding what we actually wanted from the finished item.

Yes, at this end of the market, the V20 is built to a budget but we still drink and eat as much on board as those on a 40 foot boat. Did someone mention before that boat enjoyment is inversely proportional to the size?

Based on where we are now, I'd give Viking 8 out of 10. To get another point guys, or even two, you need to address my concerns that by now, you should be well aware of .

To those of you that have followed this in-build thread, I thank you all for sharing what has been a wonderful experience .

 

[landlockedpirate]

She does look fantastic, Viking have managed to cram a huge amount in there and i'm sure you will get the snagging list sorted.I think I would be tempted to simply buy the correct prop and then send the invoice to Viking (Or Honda if you bought the engine direct.

Yours must be the highest spec 20 around, just a shame you didnt add some Lumishores

 

[Deefor]

Yours must be the highest spec 20 around, just a shame you didnt add some Lumishores

Did consider it in post #4 of this thread http://www.ybw.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3483335&postcount=4

 

[JRR]

Thanks for sharing the build on the forum, I have enjoyed your warts and all approach which has been refreshingly honest.

The boat looks great and I get the impression that despite the problems you have encountered,overall it has met your expectations. You are quite right to be miffedre the engine. It would have been nice for someone to accept responsibility for what one would expect to be a quality product Hopefully it will be sorted to your satisfaction eventually and will become a distant memory. Albeit one you could have done without

I trust that if I spot you whilst out cruising yours will be the boat whose pilot has big on his face. Cheers.

 

[SlimRick]

So nice, so clean, so well laid out!!! Looks absolutely lovely, I'm sure you'll have many, many days of fun with her.

 

[Phill]

Thanks for posting this thread. I've thoroughly enjoyed having an insight into a company and their products that I previously knew very little about.
Hope you get years of enjoyment from your new boat.