I've seen several well done conversions of steel lifeboat hulls to cruising
vessels. They are quite popular in the UK it seems. I'd like to look into
the possibility of doing a conversion myself, but I can't seem to find any
resources for the lifeboats themselves. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

James Sloan

Hi

"James W. Sloan" skrev i en meddelelse
...
I've seen several well done conversions of steel lifeboat hulls to cruising
vessels. They are quite popular in the UK it seems. I'd like to look into
the possibility of doing a conversion myself, but I can't seem to find any
resources for the lifeboats themselves. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

James Sloan


Before you do so, please check how the lifeboat type you plan to convert, react
when the the gear is in reverse ; quite a few I seen of old types double ender
lifeboats work very bad in a crowded harbour as it seem the propellor work in
air when reverse.
P.C.

Pretty certain that there was a two page article in SBJ in hte early-to-mid
80s. It was one of those regular "conversion" columns. Can't remember the name
of the column.

Cheers/The Fader
"LABOR SVGIT"

Good point. I know the performance characteristics are none too crisp. My
plan is to build a cruiser for the Intracoastal Waterway on the eastern
coast of the US. The sizes that I've seen, and prefer, are in the 28-32 foot
range, although I know there are some much bigger in the UK. Some even in
the upper 50's!. The small diesel engine should be pretty efficient at
cruise speeds. Perhaps some rudder modification and a bow thruster might
help handling. If I can only find a good hull.....

James

Before you do so, please check how the lifeboat type you plan to convert,
react
when the the gear is in reverse ; quite a few I seen of old types double
ender
lifeboats work very bad in a crowded harbour as it seem the propellor work
in
air when reverse.

"James W. Sloan" wrote in message
...
I've seen several well done conversions of steel lifeboat hulls to
cruising
vessels. They are quite popular in the UK it seems. I'd like to look into
the possibility of doing a conversion myself, but I can't seem to find any
resources for the lifeboats themselves. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

James Sloan



James:

Small Boat Journal #66, April/May 1989 had an article on the conversion.
This was written by Guy Smith with illustrations by Marya Butler. Also a
reference to an article in US Power Squardon "The Ensign" January 1988
"How to buy a Navy Surplus Boat" by Arthur Baitz.

If you want a scan of the SBJ article, just let me know.

Kevin