Pontoon, canal boat/would love to find a home for unfinished/shell of aluminium boat

[Deedee1]

Hi there,

I have inherited an aluminium boat from my father who passed away last year - he was building it by himself and managed to only get so far. it's about 24ft long, and as advised by someone on the forum, it's really well constructed. My father used to be an engineer, so he knew his stuff.

My dad had planned to moor it in the canals of Northern France and live on it, alas that did not happen, but I am looking for someone who wants to take over the project, or if you have another suggestion, etc etc, it would be great to hear from you.

I have attached a few pictures.

Many thanks,

Deedee1

 

[rustybarge]

Hi there,

I have inherited an aluminium boat from my father who passed away last year - he was building it by himself and managed to only get so far. it's about 24ft long, and as advised by someone on the forum, it's really well constructed. My father used to be an engineer, so he knew his stuff.

My dad had planned to moor it in the canals of Northern France and live on it, alas that did not happen, but I am looking for someone who wants to take over the project, or if you have another suggestion, etc etc, it would be great to hear from you.

I have attached a few pictures.

Many thanks,

Deedee1

Hi Dee,
My condolences on your recent loss.

im just wondering why the frames are on the outside of hull instead of the inside?

 

[Jurgen]

Hi Dee,
My condolences on your recent loss.

im just wondering why the frames are on the outside of hull instead of the inside?

Possibly a twin hull construction. Would guess that insulation would be installed between the ribs?

 

[rustybarge]

Possibly a twin hull construction. Would guess that insulation would be installed between the ribs?

Very unusual construction technique; normally one would expect to sheet the exterior in alloy, then line the interior with plywood/timber of some sort. I wonder what the interior alloy was going to be covered with?

 

[Bertramdriver]

Interesting. I suspect that the builder (commiserations) was going to clad the outside and roof with insulated corrugated aluminium building cladding. The resulting monocoque would be relatively cheap, strong, light and energy efficient: a really smart evolution of the Florida Pontoon Boats. It would look a bit industrial but no worse than the early mobile homes. Shame it was not finished and it's got me thinking about how to cruise the French canals on a budget.

 

[MILLIE BOO TOO]

The only aluminium canal boat manufacturers that I am aware of in the UK is http://www.seaotterboats.co.uk

The logic behind aluminium was weight, i.e the sales pitch was trailer transportable.

 

[Deedee1]

Thanks – it's nice to have all this feedback. I think my father had sketches, I'm going to go through his paperwork to see if I can find them.

 

[Deedee1]

Interesting. I suspect that the builder (commiserations) was going to clad the outside and roof with insulated corrugated aluminium building cladding. The resulting monocoque would be relatively cheap, strong, light and energy efficient: a really smart evolution of the Florida Pontoon Boats. It would look a bit industrial but no worse than the early mobile homes. Shame it was not finished and it's got me thinking about how to cruise the French canals on a budget.

Thanks for this - this sounds about right, I think my dad had sketches, which I'm going to try to locate. He was really enthusiastic about finishing and using the boat in France, but alas it wasn't meant to be. I'm pleased, however, that he's got you thinking