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Lifeboat liveaboard

Jay2903

By Jay2903
in Boat Building & Maintenance

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magnetman Veteran II

magnetman

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Tonka said:

On the Thames there used to be some really nice converted lifeboats.

Paragon was the name of one. Think they were of metal construction though

 

Probably converted ships boats rather than oil rig lifeboats. 

 

Some of these (GRP) were built just above Molesey lock at WaterCraft eho also made some of the police boats. Banana skin construction two halves bolted together. 

 

There have also been galvanised steel and some aluminium ships boat conversions and of course some wooden ones. Most of the wooden ones have gone and the steel ones don't last long as they are very thin. 

 

 

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Bacchus Proficient

Bacchus

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Tonka said:

On the Thames there used to be some really nice converted lifeboats.

Paragon was the name of one. Think they were of metal construction though

 

I had a lovely old clinker (larch on oak) ships lifeboat conversion on the Thames at Henley years ago. Aspen Lady. Raymond Baxter approached once to get the serial numbers to investigate whether she had been involved in the Dunkirk evacuation, but sadly an empty wallet forced me to sell her (to a complete dick as it turned out) before we could go down that path ☹️

 

No photos, but a good friend did a very nice water-colour of her

 

image.png.fd0390d14b5ebea381590d0b9143e8be.png

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Alan de Enfield Veteran II

Alan de Enfield

Posted
Posted (edited)
10 minutes ago, Bacchus said:

 

I had a lovely old clinker (larch on oak) ships lifeboat conversion on the Thames at Henley years ago. Aspen Lady. Raymond Baxter approached once to get the serial numbers to investigate whether she had been involved in the Dunkirk evacuation, but sadly an empty wallet forced me to sell her (to a complete dick as it turned out) before we could go down that path ☹️

 

No photos, but a good friend did a very nice water-colour of her

 

image.png.fd0390d14b5ebea381590d0b9143e8be.png

 

 

A very similar one (but with more foredeck) that we moored behind on the River Witham, it was owned by a 'lad with problems' and was not very well maintained, it was taking on water and by the time he got to Woodhall Spa moorings it was sinking, it sunk as he moored. If I remember a 'crowd fund' was started and it was lifted, but sank again shortly afterwards.

 

 

 

IMG_20140504_103142.jpg

IMG_20140504_105258.jpg

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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Bacchus Proficient

Bacchus

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

A very similar one that we moored behind on the River Witham, it was owned by a 'lad with problems' and was not very well maintained, it was taking on water and by the time he got to Woodhall Spa moorings it was sinking, it sunk as he moored. If I remeber a 'crowd fund' was atrted and it was lifted, but sank again shortly afterwards.

 

 

 

IMG_20140504_103142.jpg

IMG_20140504_105258.jpg

 

 

Nice. Ship's lifeboats were a good source of hulls in the 30s - being timber they could only be kept for so long on the side of the big liners, but they had to be tough enough to be dropped into the sea.

 

There's a boat near me at Laleham that looks like this - I think she's called Broomstick - seems to spend nearly as much time sunk as floating. I don't think I have ever seen her move, but somebody must love her enough to keep refloating her...

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magnetman Veteran II

magnetman

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, Bacchus said:

 

 

Nice. Ship's lifeboats were a good source of hulls in the 30s - being timber they could only be kept for so long on the side of the big liners, but they had to be tough enough to be dropped into the sea.

 

There's a boat near me at Laleham that looks like this - I think she's called Broomstick - seems to spend nearly as much time sunk as floating. I don't think I have ever seen her move, but somebody must love her enough to keep refloating her...

Broomstick used to belong to one of my school friends parents it was at Coway Sale Walton for a while. Then it moved up to Laleham just above the public moorings and I recall it sinking not very long ago. 

 

Its not a lifeboat though as has a transom starn.

 

My favourite lifeboat was a double diagonal ships boat about 30ft long kept at the Hogsmill river Kingston before all the awful developments. It was all black and converted under decks with no cabin or wheelhouse. Really nice looking boat that was. Forget the name this was early 90s. 

 

 

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Alan de Enfield Veteran II

Alan de Enfield

Posted
Posted (edited)

This is a 'Land based' Lifeboat that was operational as a rowing life boat in Ireland around 1904. Converted some years ago to a sailing vessel and they made a beautiful job of it and kept in in immaculate condition.

 

If the Sun was at the correct angle you could occasionally see the diagonals of the planking thru the paintwork

 

She moors next but one behind us in the marina.

 

 

 

CAM00473.jpg

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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BilgePump Rising Star

BilgePump

Posted
Posted

That is one beautiful boat. Could never own one like it though; don't have the money or time to dedicate to the necessary maintenance on a historic wooden boat. There's a lot of hull, topsides, mast and spars to sand, paint or varnish. You would have to put in a ton of elbow grease on a continuous basis. Take one eye off a wooden boat and the rot sets in, small jobs that have been ignored become serious jobs to remedy. Like vintage traction engines, it's the kind of boat I love to see but someone with far deeper pockets, time and knowledge needs to be custodian of.

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Alan de Enfield Veteran II

Alan de Enfield

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, BilgePump said:

That is one beautiful boat. Could never own one like it though; don't have the money or time to dedicate to the necessary maintenance on a historic wooden boat. There's a lot of hull, topsides, mast and spars to sand, paint or varnish. You would have to put in a ton of elbow grease on a continuous basis. Take one eye off a wooden boat and the rot sets in, small jobs that have been ignored become serious jobs to remedy. Like vintage traction engines, it's the kind of boat I love to see but someone with far deeper pockets, time and knowledge needs to be custodian of.

 

The owner is very talented and meticulous, he made all of the fittings everything from cleats to the masts and even the sails. The deck planking was recovered from an old Cinema/Theatre in Liverpool that closed down,

Everything is polished to within an inch of its life but, it is used, he sails 1000s of miles per year.

 

The gearbox broke down this year and he stripped it and made all the new parts (gears, cogs and everything) himself as it is a long time obsolete make.

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JungleJames Contributor

JungleJames

Posted
Posted
On 23/11/2023 at 04:36, Mad Harold said:

I think these boats are only useful as static livaboards.

The are too wide for narrow canals and the foam and fibreglass construction is not really suitable for the rough and tumble of canal cruising and although this type of structure is used in the aircraft industry, on a canal if the outer skin is punctured or water gets in from somewhere else, then the hull could start to delaminate.

Apart from that they are hideously ugly things.There are two near me, one orange and the other white.the orange one is mega yuk and the white one looks like a beached whale or an inverted boat.The first time I saw the white one, I jokingly asked the owner if he would like a hand to turn it the right way up.

Unfortunately, he was suffering from sense of humour failure!

Mmmmmmm.

Only one problem with that argument.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

So for example. If we were to ask everyone to choose boats that should be scrapped as they are ugly, we would have very empty canals.

Sorry, if you are allowed to have a boat that some would call ugly, then the OP is allowed to have a boat that you call ugly.

 

Lifeboats are so designed to take a lot of battering.

Yes, they may cost a bit more to fix up than say, painting a bit of steel, but everything is possible.

 

Everybody is going on about it being too wide for narrow canals. So?

Right sorry, this thread has decreed that all widebeams have to be scrapped this instant, as they cannot fit on narrow canals.

If your boat is more than 7' wide, it must be sent to the scrappers. 

 

I take it nobody ever considered that just like wide beams, or the wide launches on The Thames, there is a simple solution. You just don't take them on the narrow canals.

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Tonka Veteran

Tonka

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, JungleJames said:

Mmmmmmm.

Only one problem with that argument.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

So for example. If we were to ask everyone to choose boats that should be scrapped as they are ugly, we would have very empty canals.

Sorry, if you are allowed to have a boat that some would call ugly, then the OP is allowed to have a boat that you call ugly.

 

Lifeboats are so designed to take a lot of battering.

Yes, they may cost a bit more to fix up than say, painting a bit of steel, but everything is possible.

 

Everybody is going on about it being too wide for narrow canals. So?

Right sorry, this thread has decreed that all widebeams have to be scrapped this instant, as they cannot fit on narrow canals.

If your boat is more than 7' wide, it must be sent to the scrappers. 

 

I take it nobody ever considered that just like wide beams, or the wide launches on The Thames, there is a simple solution. You just don't take them on the narrow canals.

Can you tell that to the people who insist on taking widebeams on the North Oxford Canal please

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JungleJames Contributor

JungleJames

Posted
Posted
On 24/11/2023 at 05:29, truckcab79 said:


 

Captain Philips. Superb film. 👍

Because it featured Tom Hanks!

 

Don't ask the ships crew about it!!!

Rather annoyed that the person largely at fault is the one lauded as a hero.

18 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Can you tell that to the people who insist on taking widebeams on the North Oxford Canal please

So are we now scrapping everything over 7' wide because of a few widebeams on the North Oxford?

 

It's annoying, granted.

But we can't just say no to everything over 7' wide.

 

There are some stunning launches on The Thames. Some absolute stunners. 

Over 7' wide. Are we to send them to the shredders just in case someone attempts the North Oxford in one?

 

Now if you want to take a shotgun to the owners when they head down an unsuitable canal, then perhaps there is a discussion to be had!!

 

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enigmatic Rising Star

enigmatic

Posted
Posted
On 24/11/2023 at 09:16, truckcab79 said:

You need to speak to someone who has done this not a load of people who haven’t and think you shouldn’t either. 

 

There are loads of these lifeboats around so go and find a couple, knock on the door and ask someone who has actually done it what the perils, pitfalls and costs are.  

 

He could probably start by asking to speak to the guy that apparently got part way through a project at a boatyard that charges £600 per month to keep it there and is now happy to get £1000 max back...

 

Did speak to a chap casually looking at my narrowboat the other day who mentioned he was a year into a lifeboat conversion. He did say was the people at the boatyard he was trying to avoid rather than the boat itself though

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Dav and Pen Rising Star

Dav and PenDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Lots of people’s first boat were converted lifeboats but not this kind but wooden open boats. A Mr Jackson from Whittlesea had a yard full of them in the late 50s early 60s and they finished up on the Nene and the Ouse in fair numbers and some went further afield. The conversion were of various quality but they gave a lot of pleasure to a lot of people. As said the steel lifeboats that followed didn’t survive well as they were pretty thin and very light and on the ships I served on only 1 in 4 had an engine the theory being the engined one would start and pull the others clear of the ship. Luckily never had to find out. 
These orange free fall lifeboats are another matter and I think it’s either a brave or desperate person who would try and live and cruise on one but if you are set on one do as others have said buy one with an engine.

 

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JungleJames Contributor

JungleJames

Posted
Posted
On 24/11/2023 at 05:16, magnetman said:

Its actually quite difficult and hazardous to get on and orf these things. They aren't designed for that type of usage. 

 

 

 

 

Free falls are possibly better in this respect.

Door at the back, leading into a bit of a platform.

 

Come alongside at the landing stage before the lock. Step off.

Drag the boat into the lock.

 

Annoying, oh yes.

But better than a lot of conventional lifeboats which have the annoying inward or outward swinging side hatches.

But conventional lifeboats have the benefit of an opening hatch above the coxwains position.

 

Even better get a conventional lifeboat with rear entry.

There are some built like that.

But then you have the moulded in seats as previously mentioned, but I suspect most people remove the interior lining anyway. 

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Tonka Veteran

Tonka

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, JungleJames said:

Because it featured Tom Hanks!

 

Don't ask the ships crew about it!!!

Rather annoyed that the person largely at fault is the one lauded as a hero.

So are we now scrapping everything over 7' wide because of a few widebeams on the North Oxford?

 

It's annoying, granted.

But we can't just say no to everything over 7' wide.

 

There are some stunning launches on The Thames. Some absolute stunners. 

Over 7' wide. Are we to send them to the shredders just in case someone attempts the North Oxford in one?

 

Now if you want to take a shotgun to the owners when they head down an unsuitable canal, then perhaps there is a discussion to be had!!

 

You suggested it but now you are getting snotty.

Freemans were nice even at 7ft 6in beam

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