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Stealth boat/bomber?? - Very unusual boat ID please


pete23

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whilst coming into napton between bridges 110 and 109, we came across the most strange vessel weve ever seen.

 

looked like a double ended wide beam, thin at each end and a great bulbus bit in the middle.

 

very hard to discribe.. wish i had got a pic or two.

 

has anyone else come across this vessel?? and got any pics??

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It has been on the GU for a while.

 

It is a South Sea Islands out rigger, without the riggers and mast.

 

It was originally built at Warwickshire Fly for a gent who sold it to the current owners.

 

It has been mentioned on this forum before - somewhere.

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=32966&hl=%2Bsouth+%2Bsea+%2Bislands#entry582467

Edited by Ray T
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It's been in the area for 4 years or so.

 

Don't know anything about it, but was regularly in the Napton, Calcutt, Stockton area.

 

Always wondered about its design. Never seen anyone aboard to ask. David C's photo shows someone, did he talk to them?

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It's been in the area for 4 years or so.

 

Don't know anything about it, but was regularly in the Napton, Calcutt, Stockton area.

 

Always wondered about its design. Never seen anyone aboard to ask. David C's photo shows someone, did he talk to them?

See post #3?

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See post #3?

Just looked at your link re South Island outrigger.

 

Do you think they might be pulling you leg?

Doesn't look like the sort of thing a Polynesian would fish from.

Edited by MHS
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Just looked at your link re South Island outrigger.

 

Do you think they might be pulling you leg?

Doesn't look like the sort of thing a Polynesian would fish from.

 

I did ask the current owners and I am just relaying what they told me. I have no reason to believe they weren't telling me the truth.

 

No more "odd" than this:

Mirage_-_65_Power_Outrigger_Yacht.jpg

or this:

 

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2341061/Theyve-really-splashed-Billionaire-couple-buy-incredible-15million-superyacht-controlled-iPad.html

 

article-0-1A448387000005DC-228_964x589.j

Edited by Ray T
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  • 2 months later...

Hi folks, this might seem pretty vague, even more so since I was at the tiller and didn't have the foresight to have my camera handy but here goes....

 

On our recent wee trip out and back to Stoke Bruerne from Napton Junction we passed a really unusual boat being worked on near bridge 102 on the GU.

It's difficult to describe but it had the shape of the small matal paddle steamer with no paddles. I'm not doing very well here but has anyone else noticed it and know anything about it?

 

Cheers

 

Joe

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Yes, I saw it recently too and it has been the subject of a rcent thread on this forum. The story goes something like: a chap had it built some time in the 1990s, based on the design of a South Sea Islands outrigger. He intended to take it to the coast (where presumably the outrigger floats would have been added) but never got there. Lacking these floats, the boat proved unstable, so a boatyard added the fat bits to prevent it from toppling.

 

I too thought that it was a converted paddle steamer, until my learned colleagues on here enlightened me.

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One? Jeez, how many boats like that are there?

 

Edit: I hav ejust looked in the "Boats & Watercraft" section of eBay and unless it was first advertised before September 23rd it's not there.

Edited by Athy
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Hi folks, this might seem pretty vague, even more so since I was at the tiller and didn't have the foresight to have my camera handy but here goes....

 

On our recent wee trip out and back to Stoke Bruerne from Napton Junction we passed a really unusual boat being worked on near bridge 102 on the GU.

It's difficult to describe but it had the shape of the small matal paddle steamer with no paddles. I'm not doing very well here but has anyone else noticed it and know anything about it?

 

Cheers

 

Joe

 

 

Yes, I saw it recently too and it has been the subject of a rcent thread on this forum. The story goes something like: a chap had it built some time in the 1990s, based on the design of a South Sea Islands outrigger. He intended to take it to the coast (where presumably the outrigger floats would have been added) but never got there. Lacking these floats, the boat proved unstable, so a boatyard added the fat bits to prevent it from toppling.

 

I too thought that it was a converted paddle steamer, until my learned colleagues on here enlightened me.

 

Is this the thread?

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It's a blurry nuisance - as it's moored (or was in August) on the really narrow bit past Napton marina. Its sticky out bulbous bits make it a widbeam, but the canal is to narrow dimensions at that point.

I seem to remember that it used to be a long way down on the GU - Tring mebe. That was at least 10 years ago.

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We think it is one hull of a James Wharram catamaran. Wharram designs were based on Polynesian outrigger canoes but were more usually home built in plywood, although the design characteristics would obviously make them suitable for simple steel construction as well.

 

Perhaps a rather clearly defined "unfinished" project!

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It's a blurry nuisance - as it's moored (or was in August) on the really narrow bit past Napton marina. Its sticky out bulbous bits make it a widbeam, but the canal is to narrow dimensions at that point.

I seem to remember that it used to be a long way down on the GU - Tring mebe. That was at least 10 years ago.

Didn't know it went that far, I thought he was a continuous cruiser between Warwick and Braunston.

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We think it is one hull of a James Wharram catamaran. Wharram designs were based on Polynesian outrigger canoes but were more usually home built in plywood, although the design characteristics would obviously make them suitable for simple steel construction as well.

 

Perhaps a rather clearly defined "unfinished" project!

 

 

Very clever!:

 

gallery-boatsmith-ariki47-01.jpg

 

Richard

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