Talk Morgan Forums Community General Photo Gallery Boat build

Another experiment in photo posting, this photo was taken yesterday, if this works I will add earlier pictures of the build and bore you all.

Fantastic, it worked, now I can add earlier pictures if there's any appetite for them out in TM land. I might even do it there's not.😂

You will need a couple of anodes on that bugger.....Em

Ooh yes, I wouldn't want it to dissolve with the price I paid for it 😂😂😂

The end of 2018 proved an eventful one, the company I had worked for the past 20 years went kapoot and I was out of work. I decided to buy the workshop machines in the liquidation sale and set up on my own. This gave me some extra time to spend on the build whilst also setting up a new workshop. Unfortunately I overdid things a bit and my back gave up, nerve damage caused loss of function in my right leg for a few weeks.
Total build hours at the end of this year went up to 1924.

First two of the shower cubicle.



The transom step with teak decking fitted and lighting installed. When I sent images of the drive installation to Rudi he commented on the fact the drive required a lot of air to function properly. This is why a hole had to be cut and the Iroko vent fitted, it will be hinged and locked to allow easy access to the prop for weed and rope removal 🤬
The deviation from plan on the step was so the drive Would be tucked fully under and reduce the risk of damage when stern mooring.


Sheeting being applied to the fore deck. Rope locker at the bow.


Test installation of the engine to determine the angle mounting position.


And the angle mounts bolted in place ready for the engine. Cut out on the right to clear the alternator.


Basin and tap in the toilet.


Engine going in for the second time. Note the ingenious use of a wrecking bar and two mole grips to balance the engine. DONT try this at home kids without adult supervision 😂


Stand by your beds, 2019 pictures coming to a computer near you soon!!

Love what youv'e done on the hatch there's a lot sticking out at the blunt end i think you may need a bathing ladder as well.....Em

Seeing the engine hoist picture reminds me of the day, whilst still living at parents house in Walsall, we helped our next door neighbour.
Our houses backed on to the Rushall Canal - which was the attraction. Ian (Neighbour) had a 36' narrow boat that he was fitting out. He bought a Lister twin that came complete with a very rotten wooden cabin cruiser. The cabin cruiser was in Stoke on Trent and had to be moved to Walsall. It was so rotten, it was bow-hauled as starting the engine would have finished it off. They made it as far as the edge of Burton on Trent I believe when the cabin cruiser started to leak - a lot. I was recruited to help recover the engine from the boat. Fortunately there was a crane in the dock they had stopped in. I helped Ian remove the engine with the crane. We even slung the boat in the air and recovered the prop. Then Ian removed the boat name plates and paid a couple of lads to "look after my boat will you". And off we drove.

On getting the engine back to Walsall, there was no handy crane. There was a lock and some planks though. The engine was trollied up the planks on to the bow of the narrow boat which was then bow-hauled the short distance to the lock. Planks set across the lock, boat lowered and engine slung from planks. Boat lowered further so the cabin would pass under the engine, boat shifted along (72' lock, 36' boat so space available), boat raised under the engine and then position adjusted until the boat could be lifted to place the engine on the bearers. The only snag was that the slings slipped and my father was under the engine at the time. He just got out the way in time and no damage done. Once complete, the boat was stern hauled back to its mooring.

As the saying goes - don't try this at home.

If anyone wonders about Ian's honesty - you should. He is also an anglican priest and made Rural Dean before retirement.

2019 saw the engine and drive fully installed so work started on the internal fit out. Shortage of photos this year I'm afraid, a lot of time spent on plumbing both the engine and hot/cold water, electrical wiring and I must have considered this work too boring for a photo.
Here's some of what I have anyway.

Bulkheads fitted and main cabin floor being framed. P&S nearest camera is where the domestic water pump and calorifier are fitted. 88 litre fuel tank either side of the engine with balance pipe. One grey and one fresh water tank either side in the third space, again with balance pipework, the mid space is storage. And the fourth space, just visible is a single bunk/storage space that is accessed by lifting the hatch in the next photo.


Here. On the left you see the raised platform for the helm, the side is hinged to allow easy access to the single bunk/storage space. Bottom step also hinged with storage under.


Wardrobe partition being made.


And in position with cladding. The door was removed and turned into double doors at a later date for easier access. All interior walls will be covered in either a padded vinyl or hardwood veneer. You can also see the insulation which is fitted throughout the boat.


Cabin base being test fitted prior to gluing into position, cascamite for the joints, sikaflex between base and cabin clamp.


And the cabin windows being mocked up prior to manufacture. A completely new design of cabin was drawn and grafted onto the original drawings from Glen L as the Catalina is an open top design. You can also see the modified wardrobe doors.


The only picture I have of below deck showing the calorifier, hot and cold pipework and the engine exhaust and water trap. You can also see the drainage channel for the rear deck, water drains out through the transom.


At the end of 2019 a total of 2325½ hours had been put into the build.

Just goes to show what I could achieve if I had any skills and dedication what I can do though, when you’re ready, I have a large boat trailer you can borrow if it would be a help.

Cheers Ewan, I'll bear that in mind. I would like to take the boat out without taking the top off the shed if possible.

Gordon
I know nothing about boats, even less about building one and I don’t understand half of what you have done but I love craftsmanship (more of a botch it person myself, but I am Olympic level at that) and damn it sir you are good. I enjoy your photos and updates. Keep it up.

Thanks Neptune, I'm surprised you're not into boats considering your forum name choice
Everyone is good at something I've found, I was always building things as a child and working out ways to conquer problems I encountered, I guess it just came naturally to me and was a big part of why I didn't do great at school (4 of the old o levels, one in woodwork obviously) it just didn't stimulate me.
My dad was the same, he was called " a dashed confounded imbecile" at school but some of the gadgets he invented to solve problems on the farm were ingenious I thought.
I've a good friend who struggles with changing a battery, in the words of another friend from near Glasgow " he's haunless" but he has an unbelievable head for figures and musical ability, but has never had to put any effort into achieving this.

I think, from seeing my own two boys come through school that things have improved radically and the system see's more ways to be "clever" nowadays and can adapt it's method of teaching to some degree.