Greetings from Maine

[engineerfogg]

Hello All, I am new here to this forum and wanted to share an interesting hull that I have found. It measures approx 21' x 8', aluminum alloy with a white powdercoat finish. I was offered the hull for basically free, the guy wanted the trailer and boat came with it. I am wondering if anybody has seen construction like this before as I see absolutley no evidence of welds. Supposively the previous owner told the buyer that it was cast, but I cannot imagine how you could cast a boat this size and make it come out properly for many different reasons. Well, you all can take a look and let me know what you think. I have no idea what grade alloy it is but I will try and make something out of it this winter.
Sorry for lack of better pictures, I was flipping through my photos and thought I would share them on AAB. I am a chief engineer fishing in the Bering Sea (although I live in Maine in my time off) and am out on the open ocean at the moment so I will not have access to any better pictures for a month or so. Glad to be a part of the forum and I look forward to any insight on this vessel.

Jesse

[welder]

Fogg, welcome to to AAB.
That hull looks like a Glass hull , waiting for more pictures.
There might be some here that know that hull. Looks like there has never been a motor mounted to her.

[engineerfogg]

Hello Welder, Thanks for the welcome. I assure you this is not a glass hull, aluminum alloy all the way. You can tell by looking at the image of the internal hull structure, still wish I took more pictures. The strange thing is you can see a lip all the way around the like it was popped from a mold, I have been on the water since I was 10 years old and have never seen construction like this. The guy let me take it to my shop to run a bead on the gunwale to see how it would weld, after some good cleanup it welded just fine. I will post one more pic of the inside that may give a better view of the inside.

[engineerfogg]

A few more...

[pjay9]

it looks like it was stamped out in a BIG press! I like those round transom corners...makes you wonder if it is alloy...not doubting..just fun! Welcome to AAB. Capt PJ

[pjay9]

Jesse, what vessel (any pics), size and engines etc and fishing for? Don't keep us in suspense.

[Chaps]

It looks like it was hydroformed, basically the sheet metal is pushed (sometimes via explosive) into a mold by high pressure fluid in a closed system.

Idroformatura_animata.gif (25.3 KiB) Viewed 7586 times

[mojomizer]

Welcome to AAB. I would be interested in seeing the hull tag. Manufacturer, Date of build and the production number???

Cool looking boat and wondering "How it's Made" ????

[engineerfogg]

Thanks for the reply PJ. My real job is chief engineer for the F/V Bristol Leader. 167' x 34' longliner using mustad autoline system. We set and haul about 72,000 hooks daily fishing for pacififc cod. The boat is powered by 2 x 3508B-series caterpillars, 1000hp each and has 4 x 3406B caterpillar gensets. Great job, I love the adventure but I spend 6 months a year away from home, that part gets old. I uploaded a few pics of my fishing adventures below...

Chaps and mojomizer, I also agree that it was possibly explosive or hydro formed. The transverse frames do not appear to be welded and look like they were formed too. I sanded down some of the coating on the inside of the hull and found no beads, just a fluid transition between plate and frames...strange. I emailed the guy I bought it from(not the original owner) he said it was custom made for a fellow looking to mass produce this hull. This was the first and only hull ever made as the original owner passed away soon after the first hull was made. I would like to find the die or whatever they used to form it, that would be the real goose that laid the golden egg!

[Chaps]

Warm and dry down there -

[aluminumdreamer]

Looks like a neat hull. Would like to see some more photos. Where in Maine are you?

[pjay9]

We have 3508's on the ferries...rated about 900...don't know the series! Those are great images...thx for posting! Be safe and I know you are staying warm! of course you also tend to deck equipment and such, right? PJ

[engineerfogg]

Aluminumdreamer, nice to see a fellow Mainer on the forum. I live just outside Bar Harbor, in a small village called Salsbury Cove. I just checked out some of the rocket launchers you have been working on- nice looking stuff. I have never tried my hands at welding anodized, I heard it can be a little frustrating. I just built myself a 40' x 40' shop and plan on doing a lot more aluminum fabrication when I get home. I have build a lot of davits, trap racks and lobster tanks. I will be building a cope boat or two this winter. I'll be sure to post some pictures when I get going on my projects, I have abou another 6 weeks left of fishing inthe Bering Sea before I head home for my 2 month break. I can post more pictures when I get home and get the boat uncovered and in the shop, still not sure of my plans with it but it was a good find. The guy was going to sell it for scrap so I was glad to save the hull from going to the foundry. Now I just have to figure out a way to finish it off nicely so the console and everything matches the unique curves of the hull, this could be a little tricky. Nice to meet you.

oh and Capt Pj, as you know engineers hate cold and wet so I definately try and stay dry down below in the engine room. Once in a while I will have to go on deck, mostly to repair floodlights. Our longliners are setup so almost all the work is done under the covered main deck, keeps the crew safe and relatively dry as well. Well we have 3 days of northerly 40 knots on the way so I definately won't be going outside much!

[dawgaholic]

Welcome aboard! That is the neatest thing I've seen yet. And include me in with those very curious. And it does appear to be a virgin hull. Quite a find!