Boatbuilder with a sense of humour

[David Mack]

35 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

A bit like this blog http://captainahabswaterytales.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/the-jam-butty.html

But that's only half a redundant working boat (plus the redundant butty stern from a modern boat).

[alan_fincher]

3 hours ago, David Mack said:

But that's only half a redundant working boat (plus the redundant butty stern from a modern boat).

I don't think it contains much more than (say) a fifth to a sixth of the donor Joey boat.  I assume Keith Ball's yard had a front end lying around, just like they had the back of a modern butty lying around!

Quite possibly the front came from here (Pictures from March 2011)

 

 

 

EDIT: Added photos of the bit that became the back end (also March 2011).

Although the boat is sign written "The Jam Butty", I believe it may actually be registed with CRT as "Montgomery".

 

Edited June 12, 2017 by alan_fincher

[X Alan W]

2 hours ago, Loddon said:

that's an excellent idea could be a good thing to do with a redundant ex working butty, at least it would preseve the important bits.

I think from the point of practicality it would be a non starter all you would have is a fore end & a working buttys cabin welded togther & it seems a shame to discard the best part (length wise ) of a historic boat  but then the guy with the cash is usually right/ I like Mr Fincher think it would be very water un worthy(Roll like a good un) to achieve any success you require for that length a pontoon/work flat type hull not a boat shaped boat See if C&rt are disposing of any work flats & if you could get one cut,shut & twist/turn 'til you get what suits.

Edited June 12, 2017 by X Alan W

[David Mack]

Persephone was for sale not so long ago. Don't know if she sold.  But a more like 30 ft long I think.

[sans allumette]

There's a 41' traditional narrowboat hull on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/41-traditional-narrowboat-hull-/252977565735?hash=item3ae6a35027:g:UmcAAOSwY3BZNvGr

The starting price is £3000 and there's 21 hours to go!

[ditchcrawler]

58 minutes ago, sans allumette said:

There's a 41' traditional narrowboat hull on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/41-traditional-narrowboat-hull-/252977565735?hash=item3ae6a35027:g:UmcAAOSwY3BZNvGr

The starting price is £3000 and there's 21 hours to go!

Engine gearbox and prop as well

[Athy]

1 hour ago, sans allumette said:

There's a 41' traditional narrowboat hull on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/41-traditional-narrowboat-hull-/252977565735?hash=item3ae6a35027:g:UmcAAOSwY3BZNvGr

The starting price is £3000 and there's 21 hours to go!

Welcome to CWDF - although I see that you actually joined some weeks ago.

From your chosen name, should we infer that you have an interest in old motorcycles?

[peterboat]

Spoke to Jonny this afternoon give him a ring and he will talk to you about the project his mobile is 07815904721

Cheers Peter

[tonyreptiles]

Hi All,

Thanks for the useful and informative replies. 

The butty is indeed to be used as an office and we're hoping to keep it as 'narrowboat' looking as possible. This is not just for aesthetics, but also because we'll be towing the butty. Having a flat fronted boat will likely significantly affect the propulsion ability of the prop as the water is pushed against the flat front of the butty.

The reason we're gong 20ft is because we already have a 50ft narrowboat which we wish to live on. I've lived aboard for 13 years, but I'll need to sacrifice my office in order to have more storage. My reasoning is that a 50ft and a 20ft butty will be able to navigate the whole network, either using locks side by side or one in front of the other.

Other considerations are that it will need a small integral water tank in the bow, and room for a small diesel tank and small-bottle gas locker in the stern. Indeed, we've created a rough spec for the shell build which we're about to send off to the contacts listed above. It would  be great to get your feedback and recommendations. I'm particularly interested in Alan's point about the stability. Surely the short day-boats we see out and about are a fair estimation, and they seem to do OK?

Thank you all for your help.

Regards
TR

[tonyreptiles]

On 2017-6-12 at 10:56, Athy said:

There's a variety of good suggestions in the above posts. May I suggest a different (and perhaps cheaper) approach? Buy an older boat and have it cut down to the size which you require. 

We did think about this, but given the specific office layout we need inside we soon realised that we'd be left with a shell, once we'd stripped out the stuff we didn't need. From there we thought we may as well just get a new shell, for the costs involved. We were tempted to go this route for a while though. 
Tony

[Athy]

1 minute ago, tonyreptiles said:

We did think about this, but given the specific office layout we need inside we soon realised that we'd be left with a shell, once we'd stripped out the stuff we didn't need. From there we thought we may as well just get a new shell, for the costs involved. We were tempted to go this route for a while though. 
Tony

Fair enough. So it is for use as an office?

[tonyreptiles]

23 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

I have access to a new unused but been standing for years wilderness beaver shell. If you are interested pm me.

Tempting but, on reflection, 23 foot is too long, and we don't fancy fibeglass. 
Cheers though.
TR

[tonyreptiles]

4 minutes ago, Athy said:

Fair enough. So it is for use as an office?

Yes. I'm a writer and my other half id a graphic designer. We both work remotely with our clients and so would like to explore and work via the boat and butty office. 

That's the plan, anyway.

 

TR

[adam1uk]

Have you seen the boat which has a butty which straps onto the bow?  I think they use that as a workshop of some sort, and is also quite short.  I can't currently find a photo of it, or even remember what it's called, but someone else might know the one I'm thinking of.

 

 

ETA:  

 

Edited June 13, 2017 by adam1uk

[tonyreptiles]

28 minutes ago, adam1uk said:

Have you seen the boat which has a butty which straps onto the bow?  I think they use that as a workshop of some sort, and is also quite short.  I can't currently find a photo of it, or even remember what it's called, but someone else might know the one I'm thinking of.

Yes, and we were very tempted indeed by this, specifically for the benefits of steering and cruising.

In the end we decided that the cost of constructing something like this to fit our boat exactly wouldn't be money well spent, as we can just as easily tow the butty. Add to that the fat that a boat built to fit so snugly onto ours might not be saleable at a later date, should that become necessary. A freestanding workshop or office butty would be attractive to more folk, I would expect.

 

TR

[sans allumette]

12 hours ago, Athy said:

Welcome to CWDF - although I see that you actually joined some weeks ago.

From your chosen name, should we infer that you have an interest in old motorcycles?

Thanks for the welcome, Athy :-)

The name is from the boat we used to own in the late '80's. It was named after an experience when we decided to hire a boat before buying one. We set off on a bright crisp morning and after a short while decided a brew was called for, but to our disappointment we discovered we had no means of lighting the gas!! So, peversely, our first (and only) boat was called Matchless.

I can't say I don't have an interest in bikes, but it's not ongoing. I have an 1967 Honda CB77 that I restored ~15 years ago.

Edited June 13, 2017 by sans allumette
smelling mistook.

[Athy]

Ah, literally matchless rather than the old brand of bike, thanks for explaining!

[GUMPY]

When towing a flat fronted  shallow drafted boat on a short tow  the prop wash will go underneath the flat not into it.

[tonyreptiles]

That's interesting, although I'm not sure how shallow it will be. I assume it will be well loaded with ballast in order to reduce rock and roll?

But if we did go with a flat front, such as the one in the picture here, would that be better than a sharp-nosed narrowboat bow?

 

Thanks again,

TR

[BruceinSanity]

Isn't it going to be easier to either stretch your 50 footer or flog it and buy a 70'?

[Ray T]

2 hours ago, adam1uk said:

Have you seen the boat which has a butty which straps onto the bow?  I think they use that as a workshop of some sort, and is also quite short.  I can't currently find a photo of it, or even remember what it's called, but someone else might know the one I'm thinking of.

 

 

ETA:  

 

 

[tonyreptiles]

33 minutes ago, BruceinSanity said:

Isn't it going to be easier to either stretch your 50 footer or flog it and buy a 70'?

Again, we considered both, but went against anything over 57ft as it restricts our cruising options. 

We did look at a couple of 62ft boats, but couldn't make the numbers add up in terms of the cost and hassle. Besides, I'm pretty attached to my boat and I'm loathe  to sell it.

TR

[Angry Sheep]

It might be worth having a conversation with Aintree. Their Beetle range starts at 25' and offers a fixed layout but, as they make their own shells, it's not unreasonable to think they might be able to provide a 20' shell. Like most builders, the challenge might be convincing them it's worth their while - there obviously wouldn't be as much money in it as producing bigger, fully-fitted boats. They're an approachable bunch, though.

[ditchcrawler]

This is the owner of one of the push ones if you want to talk to him http://www.daveonanon.com/

[Martin Kedian]

I spoke with Josh at Colecraft today and he would be interested to hear from you  Hope this helps Martin    Kedian Engineering Ltd