Boat Building Metalwork

29ft Steel Sailing HOUSE Yacht


Joshua Callum is 29ft  
Beam 8 1/2 ft
Steel 4mm hull 3mm coachhouse
Plywood Bulwarks
Yanmar 3GM30 Engine 

She didnt always look this good... and required considerable hours of cutting, welding grinding, sanding and painting...phew.

Yet another boat...same pose

Nice lines. Adding the bulwarks dramatically changed the shape of the yacht, improving her proportions considerably.

Looking aft. Felt lined companionway, ply lined bulkhead with stove in foreground

 I bought this yacht with the aim of creating a sailing houseboat that could take me anywhere in the world. I intended this to be my home for a long time however my plans changed and I sold her. 

She was best part of wreck when I found her and began sinking when I started inspecting the hull while afloat!

I cut off the old toe rail which was rotten, welded new stanchions in place along with fixing points to attach the planned plywood bulwarks. The welder was an amazing gift from another boatie called Mick.

I built a neat stove from a gas bottle which has an oven built into the flue.

I used driftwood for character in the design of this boat.

Headling painted white made for improved lighting inside and the vinyl covered removable panel gave easy access to wiring.

It was a careful choice to buy a steel yacht. Having previously owned both wooden and fibreglass boats steel felt like the best compromise and offered the advantage of considerable strength and the ability to hit submerged objects or reefs and survive! 

This yacht has a long keel and a single chine. The hull is made from 4 mm plate, while the coach house is 3mm. She weighs just under 6 tons. 

I worked solidly for 6 months on this boat, the first 3 months of which were 10 -12 hr days 6 days a week! 

I had her out the water, bare metalled to the waterline.

Ended up that I needed to cut out some sections of steel either side of the keel where fresh water ingress from leaking hatches had become trapped by an upstand and rotted the hull...
then there was the chain locker which was seriously thin...

I was intending to live on board and sail long distances single handed. The open plan layout reflects this. Furthermore I anticipated the need to be prepared for serious conditions and rebuilt the companionway with what can be a fully watertight hatch. All the hatches have the potential to be watertight, so in the worst case scenario the boat should be able to roll over with very minimal water ingress.

Lock down hatch

This was a big task, but well worth the effort for the result.

Keel, prop and rudder

 

Galley storage, there is also a keel coolbox and much more space in the keel too

I undertook to make considerable improvements by removing the existing toe rail and replacing all the stanchions with new steel then adding plywood bulwarks to make the boat drier in rough seas and more aesthetically pleasing. She now has a nice sheer line.

The entire plan was based around the concept of simplicity or KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid!
I wanted to minimise the amount of problems that could arise on the boat at sea and reduce maintenance to a bare minimum, to maximise the amount of time sailing.

Not being a fan of sea toilets I opted to build a cubicle to house a chemical portaloo, which can be emptied ashore. 

Living on board boats I have found the primary necessity to be a very good wood burning stove. So I built one and installed it in a central position to heat the entire space. It burns the gasses as well as the wood and will burn for 16 hrs if shut down on smokeless fuel. It also incorporates a slow cook oven and hotplate for cooking with a fid rail.

 

I did not intend on having a gas oven but rather to cook on the stove or if it was too hot to light it in the summer then I made it to fit a meths burner in the hot plate and also keep a small gas hob for a quick cup of tea.

Stove and worktop with heads area beyond

Flue exits through coachroof

Chain locker

 

Cockpit

Starboard deck and winch base, sea leg stowed

Sea legs locate under chine and lock in place with pins

Externally the hull and coach house is complete with 6 new bronze portholes, new stanchions, bulwarks and paint and she is very simple to maintain requiring touching up if the paint gets chipped. 


I welded new 12" stainless steel chainplates into the hull for the shrouds.  I intended this boat to be bombproof.

Cockpit looking aft

Galley looking f'ward

The engine is a well proven and sort after Yanmar 3GM30. It has a starting handle which was to my taste since this adds to the simplicity and may also prove to be a get out of jail free card!

Engine Yanmar 3GM30

  

It has 2 fuel tanks, a stainless tank located on the port side aft of the bulkhead. It was my intention to move this to just behind the engine, and I got as far as welding in 4 brackets on which to sit a frame for the tank. This would then allow the quarter berth to be opened up in its place.

The second tank is in the keel. I have drained it and checked it and intended to re-instate this too. 

There is a very large fibreglass water tank under the f'ward berth. I am not sure of its capacity as this was to be a task for the spring. However it looks considerable.

The entire boat is well insulated with polystyrene and silver bubble foil. I have stripped it back in various places to find it well found behind the ply lining. I felt lined new ply lining under the forward and side decks.  It is a very dry and noticeably warm boat.

It goes without saying that there are no leaks! No weeping planks and no leaking decks! That is quite a joy! There is a tiny amount of condensation that occurs around the engine but this will cease once the insulation is all fitted aft.

Cockpit and Davits/framework for self steering

Forward berth and seating on starboard side

Oil lamp

Seating on Port Side

Bronze fixed portholes

Starboard side deck looking forward from cockpit, stanchions and bulwarks

Starboard side deck, looking aft, clean lines easy runoff for water, new stanchions,

 uprights and bulwarks

Forward hatch closed

Forward hatch open

Forward berth, Cushions in black cordura

Companionway hatch with potential to add seal and lock down.

This boat was built on a tight budget. I recycled everything I could, using scrap materials and only buying new where absolutely necessary. This is the ethos I live by, not only to keep costs low but to use materials which will otherwise be cast aside and wasted.