Bought a Never splashed Colvic Countess 33 on eBay, Looking for infos

[GregOddity]

Good to see you back Greg and sorry to hear about your mum.

I believe your plans are more realistic and likely to get Oddity in the water in less time than your earlier plans. You still have lots of work to do, even to just get it in a sailable condition, not fully finished. Best of luck and keep posting.

Thank you.

Our plans before were possible but as with everything, things evolve and our views change. Now we just want her in the water as fast as possible. Although Talisker whiskey ages well we intend to have it while it’s relatively young when we splash Oddity.

 

[steveeasy]

All that thought apparently gone to waste. The forum should take no criticism at all, it was, in the main open minded and supportive of what was a pipe dream.

Steveeasy

Hi Greg,
Glad to hear from you. sorry t hear of your mum. apologies for my miserable post.
Best Wishes.
Steveeasy

 

[William_H]

If it was me I would be very much focused on getting it in the water sailing even without an engine or interior. Of course some things must be fixed like the water damaged wooden stringers. But every person is different and you will go with what priorities you deem necessary and of course enjoy the dreaming and the doing. good luck ol'will

 

[GregOddity]

Hi Greg,
Glad to hear from you. sorry t hear of your mum. apologies for my miserable post.
Best Wishes.
Steveeasy

Hi Steve, Thanks and no apology needed.

 

[GregOddity]

If it was me I would be very much focused on getting it in the water sailing even without an engine or interior. Of course some things must be fixed like the water damaged wooden stringers. But every person is different and you will go with what priorities you deem necessary and of course enjoy the dreaming and the doing. good luck ol'will

We're pretty much thinking along those terms. This delay was not in the plans and I rather open that bottle of whiskey while it's still relatively young.

 

[Spyro]

I’d open the whiskey now

 

[Wansworth]

invhpo just leave the boat ashore,get the engine installed with all it entails,fitting out is easier ashore getting boat level etc and use of electrical saws etc,having done it it’s the fastes way........now with the cv you won’t do much I am afraid,good luck

 

[burgundyben]

I said many pages back, I would get a fuel tank and simple engine install in it, sort out the stringers and get some bulkheads and basic interior in it, get the windows in, sort the skin fittings, get it in the drink so at least you can have some fun days out trundling around.

That would break up the project into chunks and give some nice time back.

Chap I know built a kit Countess, result it good, took him 8 years.

 

[GregOddity]

invhpo just leave the boat ashore,get the engine installed with all it entails,fitting out is easier ashore getting boat level etc and use of electrical saws etc,having done it it’s the fastes way........now with the cv you won’t do much I am afraid,good luck

The CV is a major spanner in the works... It's just one of those things that you can't really plan for. We will try to get some stuff done but hey, one day at a time.

 

[GregOddity]

I said many pages back, I would get a fuel tank and simple engine install in it, sort out the stringers and get some bulkheads and basic interior in it, get the windows in, sort the skin fittings, get it in the drink so at least you can have some fun days out trundling around.

That would break up the project into chunks and give some nice time back.

Chap I know built a kit Countess, result it good, took him 8 years.

We've effectively divided the whole project into chunks, I think that as we started it was hard to have that clarity because there were so many possibilities, but as we moved on and our ideas gained shape and we decided on what and how we wanted it everything became much easier to plan. We're definitely leaving her in the hard for most of the internals. Not necessarily finish everything but all the preliminary like markings and the framework for the interior. It's indeed a much easier job done in the hard. The rest will see. But this CV 19 is infecting all plans at the moment.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

It saddens me to say Gregg but after all this time it is still open to the elements catching water even storm simple storm boards would have sufficed .

 

[Spyro]

I fear by the time this project is complete most of us may well have sailed off into the sunset for one last time and the only ones left will be saying "Greg Who?" Tomorrow we will be 2 years down the line from the first post and not a lot has changed apart from the ideas now are a bit less ambitious.

 

[Wansworth]

By the time this project is complete most of us may well have sailed off into the sunset for one last time and the only ones left will be saying "Greg Who?" Tomorrow we will be 2 years down the line from the first post and not a lot has changed apart from the ideas now are a bit less ambitious.

As in Pride andPredudice Elizabeth’s father said ,to paraphrase what are neighbour for but to amuse and distract us!

 

[GregOddity]

I fear by the time this project is complete most of us may well have sailed off into the sunset for one last time and the only ones left will be saying "Greg Who?" Tomorrow we will be 2 years down the line from the first post and not a lot has changed apart from the ideas now are a bit less ambitious.

Well, it's actually a quantum leap more ambitious now than when we started. When we started, we were simply going to use solar and diesel, now we're going to hydrogen plus solar. Quite a lot has also changed. Projects are made in phases. But it's on paper they get made. It's the conception planning and calculating that leads to the execution of any project. Or we would not need architects or engineers, everyone would simply go out and build whatever they wanted.

The actual man hours to finish Oddity will be nothing compared to the hours we burned before we even lift a tool.
The Tunnel for the HSL under the river Maas in the Netherlands took 6 years to plan and 2 to build. Going to the moon took 10 years of planning to build a rocket. We're having fun playing with technology and what we can do or think we can achieve with the boat. That is the real work for us, the rest is simply execution.

I have trained quite a few new tig welders. They come with the same approach "let me weld" and it all goes horribly wrong and parts get bent and welds get burned. From all the apprentices I've had to train only one single one asked what was the right way to start and he was a natural at TIG. It's all in the planning and understanding of what you are doing that creates the final result.

Now if I wanted a raft, four drums and two boards plus some rope and a sheet and we're off to see the world.

 

[GregOddity]

And so, it begins!

After many interventions by Life, that at times chose to weave a contorted path, we will finally start working on Oddity.
First on the list, the development of the power train and pricing the whole thing.

The project is a VW Golf engine to be marinized, coupled to an alternator and battery bank to drive an electric motor.

Nothing has been defined at this exact moment in terms of components for the project. We have spoken to many a person with deep knowledge of specific parts but only now are we going to sift through the input and start defining components.
As it stands it is possible to buy a VW Golf for around £1000 and a marinizing kit for € 1500

Marinizing Kit.

On this matter the advantages are the availability and cost of parts for a VW Golf engine and the easy replacement of the engine for a cost of €500 should a repair be needed.
It is off course possible to fabricate our own marinizing kit for a lower cost but it still needs to be considered in detail as we may not be tooled to fabricate some of the parts. Marinizing an engine is off course also not something that you just wake up and do before breakfast.

No gearbox will be used as it will be direct thrust from the Electric motor to the shaft and that leaves us with the interesting question of the propeller.

Some research shows that variable pitch propellers gain as much as 30% in efficiency when used with the instant torque from an electric motor and enormous amounts going astern. But again, our budget is the ultimate definer of all of this beauty.

I keep getting told that amateur boat building is dead but nothing could be farther from the truth. Today with the advent of the Internet long past us, finding information and parts or knowledge makes it the ultimate experience in amateur project building.

We’ve been privileged enough to have been invited to see some very beautiful projects being done and we’re ever so grateful for the time given to us.

First on the order of business the Electric Motor.
Oddity weighs in at 6.760 KG as a hull with no windows and most of its interior including bulkheads out. We’re considering that after finished and fully tanked (water and Diesel) she will weigh in around 9 to 10 metric Tons.
My own preference is for the higher end of HP needed and therefore aiming for 50 to 60 HP. After many a conversation with an inordinate amount of people these are the numbers, we’re most comfortable with.
Yes… I could use a 15HP outboard and be able to move her but do I want that? (Hint!)
She will move comfortably with something on the range of 40 to 50 HP and I am not bothered by adding a few more HP since we’re not paying for a marine engine.
The calculations on electric motors are also pretty different from a Diesel engine as the torque is instant as opposed to diesel.

I’m also only writing these lines for the benefit of the people that are following the build as opposed to starting a discussion of merit/benefit.

We chose to go Electric so we can in the future convert the boat to Hydrogen/Electric and eliminate the carbon element that is slowly destroying the world my kids are going to inherit.
Having said that, and coming back to the Electric motor, we’re now deciding on the voltage that will best suit us in terms of the configuration of the rest of the system. There are many options available and the trick is to find the one with the least cost to combine with the rest of the elements and give us the trust we seek.

Time for a cuppa and back to voltages and prices.

To be continued… hold on to your Pirate hats!

P.S. It goes without saying that this is OUR project and these are OUR opinions and conclusions and we’re having fun doing it. It does not mean that there aren’t other valid or even better views besides ours, it simply means that THIS is what we’re going to do.

 

[fredrussell]

My donkey’s hind legs have fallen off.

 

[Spyro]

care to put a timescale on it?

 

[GregOddity]

care to put a timescale on it?

We're just waiting for the end of the lock down to buy the Golf and the rest of the parts. It mostly depends on that but as soon as possible. We're aiming for the end of May to have the power train installed. But... perhaps June because of the Covid restrictions etc.

 

[chrishscorp]

We chose to go Electric so we can in the future convert the boat to Hydrogen/Electric and eliminate the carbon element that is slowly destroying the world my kids are going to inherit.

That carbon element you refer too , a barrel of it is now cheaper than a toilet roll Strange times we live in.

Can you not marinise the engine yourselves ?

 

[doug748]

".....................We chose to go Electric so we can in the future convert the boat to Hydrogen/Electric and eliminate the carbon element that is slowly destroying the world my kids are going to inherit.
Having said that, and coming back to the Electric motor, we’re now deciding on the voltage that will best suit us in terms of the configuration of the rest of the system. There are many options available and the trick is to find the one with the least cost to combine with the rest of the elements and give us the trust we seek. "



My first move would be to put windows in.

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