FIT-OUTS TO MAKE YOU GO OOOH AHHHH

This entry is in awe and wonder of the work of Simon Birtwistle. You have no idea how much I'd like to be one of his clients.

A favourite boat of mine is "Leviathan", a BCN butty that I have previously written about. Maybe these few pics may remind you.

Leviathan (Fore)

Leviathan (Aft)

Looking forward - Galley - Dining - Bed

Looking aft - Galley - Office - Engine Room & Bathroom (behind door)

Remember now ?? Tasty huh !

This fit-out is some of the fine work of Simon Birtwistle.

And here are a couple more ...

I like Leviathan from top to tail. His timber ergonomic / organic forms really do it for me. Though it's not the whole of the next boat, 'Pilgrim' that appeals to me, more so some of the parts. Check out the back door and hatch ...

I suppose it's not bad for a seat

Bathroom Pod - check out the door on the right

Cosey bed nook

These pics are like 'boat porn' ... here are a few shots of a widebeam with the Simon Birtwistle touch.

Step onboard

From the fore deck, step into the salon

Fix yourself something to eat

Ohhh yesss

What a way to wake up

The creature comforts

Being a commission by a client, Simon's flair is more restrained here. Still nice though, but not quite as appealing as his other work. Here is a link to his website once again.

Art, form and function of this calibre is rare ... and obviously Simon Birtwistle is a man who can deliver it.

A Birtwistle-ised Horse Transport

He sells a premium product ... so if one of my art union tickets comes good ... I'll be in touch.

We are not worthy !!!  We are not worthy !!!

<Exit in a bowing motion>

IT'S NOT HOW BIG IT IS .. IT'S HOW YOU USE IT THAT COUNTS

I've been writing about mid length narrowboats. I think this is the first time I am writing about Sea Otter boats. 

What makes Sea Otters different from all other narrowboats is that they are alloy and not steel. In aussie terms ... they are a tinnie.

And being alloy ... Sea Otters up to 31ft are light enough to be towed on a trailer by a 4WD because of a water ballast system. Clever huh !

The Sea Otter story began with an 18 footer, which evolved into a 21ft production boat. A great endorsement to the joys of Sea Otter ownership is the original 18ft 'Marionette'. It is a cute little thing. Still owned by the original owners who have absolutely no intention of ever selling it. 

And here is a link to Sea Otter's 21ft original boat test/review by Waterways World magazine (June 2006). 21ft ?? Now that's a design challenge.

21ft Layout

The 36ft is the newest on the range. I remember hearing some time back that Sea Otter had financially gone under. Though the website remained. And a little over a year ago I heard about the new design. Shortly after I received the June 2011 issue of Canal Boat magazine which reviewed it. And it was obvious that Sea Otter was back ... or hadn't gone anywhere at all. 

So whatever rocked the company ... it didn't put them down for the count. 

31ft Sea Otter (Layout 1)

31ft Sea Otter (Layout 2)

A trailerable boat provides the ability to cruise the navigable waterways of Scotland, Wales (Mon and Brec), England, France, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany,  Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia,  Sweden and Ukraine. That's a lifetime and a half of holidaying and venturing if you live in that part of the world.

In brief ... the advantage of a tinnie narrowboat is:

1. Low maintenance

2. Low cost of ownership

3. Trailerable (to 31ft)

4. Longevity

5. High resale value

The down-side is their intial cost. A standard 27ft - 31ft boat (before options) is £55-60K. A pump out loo is a £2,385 option for those that prefer a hands-off approach to waste management.

A trailer might be a consideration for the avid road venturer ... also allowing on-land 'mooring' ... errr parking ! Otherwise Sea Otter's towing service (or other boat towing company) provide that. 

Some clever marketing by Sea Otter at Crick Boat Show

The most benefit of Sea Otter ownership is derived by continuous ownership (and use) of a boat over a long period of time.

PICKMERE 40ft

In my previous post I mentioned the challenge of fitting out a 40-45ft narrowboat hull.

The Pickmere 40 by the Northwich Boat Company is a prime example of how well a couple can cruise the canals on a 40 footer. 

Technically it can accomodate 4, but I wouldn't want to try it. But two ?? It would be very comfortable indeed.

The website price of £45,995 includes a great list of inclusions making it ready to cruise, however, one may want for a few luxuries such as pump out loo, L-shape dinette, gas heater with towel rail and radiators or sine wave inverter for instance, which will add anothe £6-7K to the base price.

But for mid-length narrowboat comparison, the Pickmere is a great yard stick.

55ft Classic by ABC Boats

I can't say it more simply than "I love this hull". From every angle I love the way it looks. And there are many many photos available online. 

I've written about this hull before. The 45ft hull was well received at Crick last year. It is for sale at £27,500  (AUD $43,505) which means for 12 or more months this hull has not been sold .. or fit out for that matter.

Not being in England I can't check out  why this might be. Quality will not be an issue. The market is flat, but boats are being built and sold, just at a slowler rate.

A 45ft length creates a slight design challenge. The cabin length would be approx 31ft, allowing for the extra length the butty style stern requires. Length well spent in my opinion. I'll say more in a moment.

The narrowboat industry does very well at interior design for all lengths. I have been waiting for this hull to be fit out for some time to see what they do do .. if that makes sense.

Anywayyyyy ... I noticed on Apollo Duck that ABC Boats are selling this same hull with an extra 10ft ... making it a more conventional 55ft. The photo shows the 45ft hull , so a 55ft hull may be to order or in manufacture. At £20,594 (AUD $32,580) it looks good value. With a 40hp engine (extra 5hp on 45ft) and primed but not painted, blacked with 2 pack epoxy pitch ... and ... without the portholes and focsules, the cost of this boat will proportionately more expensive to complete. Being 22.22% longer ... expect it to cost 25% more to complete. 

Guessing it will take another £27.5K to fit-out the 45ft ... thennnn ... bringing it to the same level with windows and paint ... add the same again for fit-out ... and you will be just north of £65K (AUD $100K) for a great looking 55ft narrowboat with a professional fit out and a decent list of inclusions suiting liveaboard.

And the aft deck ... what makes this function so well ?? The set back tiller never gets in the way of crew and guests. Nobody needs to reposition themselves because of tiller usage.

There are two (unencumbered) seats either side of the cabin doors.

The two rear wooden seats (rails) integrate well to the functions of steering, aiding access on and off the boat and providing an ideal location for morse controls so that tiller and controls are not impeded at any time, thus making for very comfortable cruising for all concerned.

The cost of 2ft for the longer butty style pointy end ?? .... totally worth it !!

Stern Catacomb 1981 Pinball Machine

This is my fully restored Catacomb pinball (Reg #5702) which was made by Stern in 1981. I consider it one of the better playing machines of it's time. 

I bought it a few years ago in fair condition, requiring some attention to return it to a condition that appeals to serious collectors.

I have attended to all it's (rather minor) ills so that, it operates and plays extremely well (photos are a year or so old ... being prior to some repairs).

It's appearance is nice, with a clean and original cabinet and playfield, as well as a brand new (reproduction) backglass.

For appearance, I use a mix of incandescent and LED globes. The LED's are nice, bright and modern looking, however the warm glow of the old incandescent globes better illuminate some areas.

Overall though, it looks spectacular in a darkened room.

Photo taken before 4th Player display was replaced.

The beauty of this particular machine is it's great original condition.

To a collector of early Stern's, it is the hardest machine to find. And a Catacomb in this kind of condition is virtually impossible to find ANYWHERE in the world.

This is also the most visited page on this entire blog (about boats). So it draws a fair bit of internet attention.

Newly manufactured circuit boards (including a test board) are available. The new boards are technically superior to the boards manufactured 31 years ago.

If the time comes to replace anything, parts are available, though every effort has been made to retain it's originality.

The Pool Room

I get frequent offers ... but honestly, I'm not sure what value could entice me to part with it.

Ok .... that's it for now. Talk (blog) to you later.

MORGAN 3 WHEELER

Harley Davidson & the middle aged male

As you know, I love good design. I hope what is to come appeals to you in the same way. In fact, if your mid-life crisis is telling you to buy a Harley, consider this instead. I think it's way cooler and a much better buying decision.

This post is about my favourite petrol ... I was going to say car, but it is equally a motorbike, with 3 wheels. Let's just call it a vehicle.

What you are looking at is the new Morgan 3 Wheeler. Morgan first manufactured this 3 wheeler just over a century ago, back in the 1910's. Visually, the differences are few.

Unfortunately a price in Australia is not available because it still needs to meet aussie requirements for 3 wheeled vehicles. Expect it to be around $50k. If you live anywhere else in the world, you can line up to have yours made.

The Morgan Threewheeler is powered by a 1.8-litre S&S motorcycle engine (mounted at the front) with 75kW of power and teamed with a five-speed manual transmission from Mazda that sends power to the rear wheel. It accelerates from 0-60mph (0-96.6km/h) in 4.5 seconds and has a top speed of 185km/h.

In imperial terms it does 50mpg, which by my maths is 5.6lt/100km. So it's quite economical on fuel. The top speed is not record breaking, but more than ample to run up a (collective noun) of speeding fines. The real buzz about this car is accelaration more than top speed, which in a world of speed limits and speed cameras makes good sense.

If you watched the latest Top Gear on UK television last night, you would have seen that the guys liked it, performing all tests suprisingly well ... even the doughnut test.

James May pointed out it has a better power to weight ratio than a Bugatti Veyron, however Hammond said it's redeeming feature is that it's just so much fun to drive.

Coincidently, the redeeming feature of the 3 Wheeler in Fifth Gear's review is that it is so much fun to drive. Telling you something ??

Here is the current UK pricelist ... and it is quite good news ...

The Superdry version is a 200 run limited edition by the Japanese Superdry franchise. It is very nicely configured and presented. For those non-aussie buyers ... it's an extremely good choice for investment purposes. It will have Morgan collectability as well as Superdry collectability, which has a long and strong cult following.

LINKS:

The official global site for this vehicle is here. The UK Morgan site is here ... and the Australian Morgan site is here.

EYE CANDY: 

Pretty nice eh ! Here's hoping they come to Australia soon and I am cashed up at the time. The mid-life crisis goes without saying.