Cabin Rake...

Hi Don,

  I went to see the BMPT before they moved out of their shed at Husbands.  I had a good look around ST1502, but didn't think to note whether they had built the superstructure parallel to the waterline or not...

  Have you got any pictures of your build?  Have you build your superstructure parallel to the waterline or the deck?  Out of interest, how had you attached your cabin-sides to the deck?  What construction method have you used for your cabin-sides?  ST1502 was built entirely out of ply, so far as I could see - I really fancy using more traditional techniques with mine...

  Mooring?  Well, many years off though it may be, I have contacted my local harbour master (Truro and Falmouth) and attempted to get onto the waiting list for a mooring.  The lists are currently between five and eight years long...which suits my restoration progress rather well :)  I'm now on the preliminary waiting list for notification of the opening of the official waiting lists for the application of a mooring in Falmouth/Penryn :)

  How are you going to moor yours?  ST's weren't intended to be left in the water all the time, but with props and rudders hanging off the bottom on P-brackets, beaching seems impractical.  I'd wondered about building some sort of berthing-cradle on the Penryn River somewhere, but the harbour master was at little at odds with my enthusiasm...  Is yours still just wood, or have you gone down the fibreglass sheathing route?  Fibreglass sheathing seems a sensible option, but the cost and loss of authenticity is too much for me...

All the best,

Paul

Thanks very much for that :)

I've come across that picture of 1622 on the web before - it was when I first saw it that I thought "I've really got to restore my boat!"

Pictures of your cabin sides and how they're fixed to the deck beams would be great - thanks for that.

I may have mentioned it before, but my boat can be seen at http://www.seaplane-tender.co.uk - I've not updated the site for a few weeks now, but I'll hopefully add some more to it next week...

Thanks again,

Paul

Thanks for your thoughts, Andy...

I think some of what you're seeing there (particularly the reverse sheer) may be a trick of the photo...

I've actually built three models of my boat (well...two and a model of a Miami class ASR boat) using the same construction methods as the real thing and one thing I've discovered is that they're actually fairly quick and easy to build.  Once you've got the frames in place, the rest of the boat pretty much builds itself - I would imagine this is a virtue in a boat being mass-produced during war-time...  Reverse sheer and that sort of thing, I would have thought, would probably be avoided in favour of simplicity...

I would imagine that the line of the cabin sole is dictated by that of  the cabin roof rather than the other way round - you'd keep bashing your head on the ceiling at the wheelhouse end, otherwise :)

I think I'm pretty much decided to follow the line of the deck - for anybody who's interested, I've added the plans I've drawn up to work from to my website at http://www.seaplane-tender.co.uk ...they're not definitive or hugely detailed, but they give the general idea and let me take useful measurements.  I've had to estimate the external line of the keel, as all measurements were taken internally...

I tried modifying my plans to show a cabin following the water-line and, whilst it may look better in the water, it looks awkward on the plans...

All the best,

Paul