Category Archives: Power Catamarans

the New Lake Chelan Ferry Hulls

Cliff got master builder Joe Kitchel to come up and do a Berlitz class on boatbuilding for Cliff and the boys. It worked. Beautiful hulls with no delamination. It took place in an abandoned fruit warehouse nearby. It was well insulated so they could run the temperature up as needed.

the mold. by Turning Point Design of Port Townsend.
a half hull, with the completed one behind. solid foam crush bow.
the completed first hull. beautiful work
as an example of how serious Cliff was, this is a heated lamination table.

10m power cat update

At the end of 2018 I posted a power cat hull build. Upon completion of the two hulls, they were picked up by the owners and taken home to Maine to build the crossbeams and cockpit, as well as fit engines, electrical, etc. I’m happy to report that the resulting boat looks spectacular, and the owner/builders say that the shakedown cruise went well, with a smooth dry 20 knots. stock props.

here is the link to the original post: https://multihullblog.com/building-power-cat-hulls/ and here is the link to the design: http://multihulldesigns.com/designs_stock/28cat.html

More Lake Chelan Ferry.

I found a picture of the new Lake Chelan ferry taken during sea trials.
It was loaded down with about 8000 lbs. of sandbags, which was to simulate 32 passengers and a ton of cargo. It did the required 20 knots, but I thought it should have been able to do better. It still could.
The pair of 200 hp. outboards were still new and weren’t pushed  exceed 4000 rpm. The props had not been experimented with.
There was substantial water sloshing around in the bilges. The roll and tip bottom paint application was never tipped. The surface was like sandpaper. The owner can wet-sand the hulls. And finally, there were a few divots below the waterline that could be filled next haul-out.
#lakechelan
#multihulldesigns
#catamaran
#catamaranferry

Building power cat hulls

I took on the job of building a set of hulls for Kurts 28’ power cat design which we stretched to 31’ by adding about 2.5 inches to every station. We upped the stringer size by 30% and glassed with 8oz rather than 6oz but otherwise stuck with the plan and laminate schedule. We used multiple layers of 8 and 10oz to make up biax tapes, i find it makes for easier fairing and allows for tapering the buildup. We did a half-way-to-yacht quality fairing job, primed with 545 and installed cleats, hatches, fuel tanks, and fuel fills. There will be lightweight 25 hp engines mounted on rear transoms. We finished both hulls and shipped to the owner in maine, who is going to build the cross arms and center cockpit over the winter. I really can’t recommend committing to building a boat over the summer in sarasota, florida in a non-airconditioned space, but, in the spirit of running a marathon, and other ridiculously painful ways to enjoy yourself, we did it.  Total build time, including purchasing, hardware, and mounting on a trailer for shipment, was in the neighborhood of a thousand hours. LOTS of pictures after the break-

Stringers

Continue reading Building power cat hulls

Newest Uganda Ferry Sea Trials

The MV Bluebird is undergoing seat trials on Lake Victoria now.  It is built from developed plywood/epoxy, with lots of core on flat surfaces.  The whole thing went over in several containers after it was built near Seattle.  I will be offering an option that is not quite as wide and a little lighter also.

https://www.facebook.com/EWFerries#  I see this link only works in Face now.  If it gets onto Youtube, I will grab it.

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