*SPECIAL* Lifeboat Conversion Ep20: Multi-day sea trials in the Thames Estuary, England [4K]
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 เม.ย. 2024
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Hotly awaited, finally Alan the expedition lifeboat gets some miles under his belt. Along with local expert yachtsman and boater Dick Smith, we spend a few days out on the water. Key assessments are of engine performance and hull stability, as well as learning about Alan's unique behaviour at sea.
Model: NME A/S (Husnes, Norway) 7.5m TELB
Engine: Bukh DV48 turbo diesel
Feel free to ask any questions in the comments!
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![Lifeboat Conversion Ep21: First improvements following sea trials [4K]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LGHuvXGjV6M/mqdefault.jpg)
![Lifeboat Conversion Ep21: First improvements following sea trials [4K]](/img/tr.png)
For those of you who've missed earlier episodes, bilge keels or deeper keels are discounted for use due to vulnerability to sea ice. I won't be replying to each comment suggesting them from this point on!
I’d think about placing a second back up line on your “support dinghy”. Last thing you need is the main line to disintegrate or loosen when you least expect it and when you need that dinghy. If you can, might be worth making triangular clip on seats that you can slot on top of the support bars on top. Just means you can have a reasonably stable seating position in the corner or your choice but somewhere you can enjoy on calm days - just a thought. Well done on your progress!
Yfyfyt
I agree no keel weights. An.old friend built his second catamaran called Quee Queeg 2. It overturned in rough seas in Madagascar it lost one keel.
A
Your based on Canvey Island????
"..the engine was still there" dude you crack me up every time.
Yes, that was pleasing :) Although, having recently re-read “Good Omens”, I also wondered whether Alex was seriously considering the reactor having vanished 😎
Quirky boating, DIY, and dry British humor? This channel is everything I could want. Just binged this whole series this afternoon and I'm looking forward to more!
Cheers Derek
Alan may be short, squat and slow, but he's definitely the Danny DeVito of the seas. Congratulations on the sea trials.
Danny DeOrange...
@@Mr_Right DeVito is a surname of a famous actor
@@mesofius I knew that >8(= )
@@Mr_Right I'm not so sure...
Alan finally got wet, and not just from above
well done mate !
I'm relieved I wasn't the only one to think Apollo interior.
Dunno how I ended up down this rabbit hole but these lifeboats are apparently surprisingly cute. Definitely would make a more interesting house than a canal barge
Wow that opening drone clip at the opening. Little boat big waters. You have done so many awesome things to thing ship.
Kind words
Total TH-cam domination? I'm in.
Correct answer.
Alan, our Orange, squat, overlord.
You mentioned sleeping platforms
Given adaquite warmth, reinforcement, and willpower, hammocks could be more comfortable (they accommodate somewhat for roll) and space efficient.
My dad (RN 1942-1947) swore by hammocks for comfort warmth and security. He hated bunks. Plus they can be rolled up and stowed out of the way when not in use and take seconds to deploy. So I concur with your suggestion.
@@wideyxyz2271 I concur with your concurrence. I exclusively used a hammock during the hiking and camping period of my life and also found them to be secure and warm. Plus, much easier to roll up and stow in a backpack than a bunk would be. Cheers
Nah we know your boat belches out bright red smoke from its exhaust 😂 “I paid the full tax”
"I paid the full tax". An honourable yet joyless epitaph for a headstone.
Sound proofing the engine is great and you should do your best, but, in my Diesel Motorsailer, which is actually pretty quiet, the engine drone still gets to me after a couple of hours and I have resorted to wearing earplugs which for me makes things quite pleasant. It also cuts out most of that nagging sound from the wif......I mean other crew members too! :) Great vids!
I hear you. Headphones for whoever is on the radio is likely to be necessary, for a start.
@@AlexHibbertOriginals The current state of technology for headphone with noise cancellation is worth looking into, giving you the best of both worlds. I'm currently watching this video with a pair.
@@PlasmaOscillations Fully agree. I have a pair of over-ear Sony headphones and in-ear earphones I use all the time. They were originally purchased for long international flights. They work incredibly well. It is a little strange, however, as I can't hear other people or the stewardess but it feels like I can still hear a little of the plane itself. I think that's more to do with "feeling" the plane and imagining the sound than actually hearing it....
A depth finder would be a good add on especially for shallow conditions and gps as well as with some lowrance ones you get a map gps, depth finder and can even set waypoints. You Might also be able to have a speedometer on it too. You should cross drill the top rail so you can rely on it and maybe even use a stronger pipe so it’s a proper railing that you can lean on.
Depth sounder yep - as well as a forward facing ice finder would be good. A speedo - not sure accurate enough for a 0-6 knot range!
@@AlexHibbertOriginals Your depth sounder can also function as a knot meter. I would look at the in hull options. They can shoot right through the fiberglass bottom. Easy to install and no holes in the boat.
Especially when dealing with tides you'll want to know your speed in the water vs true speed (GPS)
@@AlexHibbertOriginals Bucket and knotted rope for speed lol oh and a decent chronograph..
@@otm646 SOG
Speed
Over
Ground
And a rear view mirror. You could see what's behind you, as well as the sky without having to get up and turn around. : )
You got the most reliable engine on the planet high quality
Cool! And I loved the footage of Red Sands. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the coolest-looking WWII relics still in existence.
I love stupid, insane, And Safe Ideas on the internet. Perfect...10/10.
Name a more iconic duo, I'll wait. Thanks Alex for this fantastic episode. Dick was a pleasure to watch and listen to. Onwards with the next chapter of Alan's journey!
Dick is a champ indeed.
The brewing of copious mugs of tea brings to my mind the need for a pee tube for the helmsman.
Man... Alex, I am so drunk at the moment but, I am really proud at this appraisal of ALAN within your own prerequisites and the old man despite his doubts which I can see you both respect and are determined to transcend for the sake of your quizzical venture called. ALAN
A modern day "Noah's ark". Good little boat, you just forget to give us the "toot toot" to hear from Allen. Nice video and a welcome sight to "sea".😜
Loving the detail you've put in this video
I really like this life boat. It seems safe and comfy.
Just found this series. Glad to see Alan getting touchups.
That's a really nice boat you've got there!
I can't imagine a more robust vessel than the one you chose, it makes for a very good starting point.
How strange that some viewers are hostile to a man working to get his boat just how he wants it, it would be difficult to imagine a more positive thing than what you're doing!
I shall have to spend some time watching your earlier videos in order to discover what you've done and the reason that you're doing it.
Lifeboats have come a long way since the days of open boats and yours looks to be quite sophisticated.
Love the way you describe Allen as it is apart of a family but for sure I agree that Allen is my big brother that I look upon to. Thank you Mate
Congrats Alan, you’re almost on your way!! You look great on the water, ya dinky little boat. 🥰
Very nice flying on that drone, I’m quite impressed.
Cheers
Totally awesome to see the updates :)
I'm so happy to see you in the water! Hope you're having an amazing experience! I'm looking forward to see you traveling soon.
Cheers!
Congrats good to see you out on the water
So I've been completely addicted to watching these videos ever since episode 1. Great job amazing
Cheers Daniel
At last a decent length Alan show!! 👌
Nice to see Alan afloat. Re the rolling: Bilge keels you've already rejected due to ice. Good call. Stabilising booms and anti roll "fish” on cables are relatively cheap. Just use hinged aluminium pipe and painted steel fish. Super common on small fishing boats. Watching the roll period Alan is VERY stable. One other item that you could consider is an anti roll U tube tank. They are partly filled with sea water. You have to adjust the amount of water and cross flow tube restriction so that the natural frequency of the tank is the same as the roll period but 180 deg out of phase with Alan's natural roll period. Harder to sort out compared to booms and fishes.
Thanks. I'll investigate. The nuances of boat roll etc are more complex than first realised.
Great vids buddy, Im not even an ocean man and I absolutely enjoy these vids of yours. Kind regards from South Africa.
Yeah a new video of Alan
Awesome video thanks for sharing it ,,looks like all the hard work paid off
Cool project. Like a big floating carrot! Love it :-)
Hooray…….Alan does what he was designed for, love it…….👍🇮🇲👌💪
Absolutely amazing!
Cheers
Very informative great work you are doing
Radio system is a necessary feature.
Excellent job mate 🤘
A compilation. Yay! :D
I've been seeing these lifeboats on TH-cam for a while now. They look like they'd be great as a houseboat, much like people convert a bus to a RV.
Only some of them have standing room the whole way along inside.
11-2-2022 Congratulation, that's ( they ) are the best made boat in the world .
Lovely to see your progress Alex and so full of interesting lessons to be learned from all your developments. This is all a great asset to all the other lifeboat projects under way and is very much appreciated. One little comment I must make is for you to get into the habit of ALWAYS tying a secondary safety line to your little tender on a secondary point whilst being towed along at the back of you. We learned the hard way many years ago when some unnoticed chaffing on the line led to our tenders disappearance under passage! We had friends quite recently also lost and never recovered over £8k's worth of dingy, electric outboard and lithium batteries during a coastal passage. They are still fighting their insurance company over a year later that have deemed the issue as their negligence. Keep up the good work my friend, you are a great ambassador for this fraternity. Regards Gavin (Scottish Borders) Electrical engineer currently planning full solar & kite powered craft.
Noted!
Two years before the mast by R H D Jr was a story that every one needs to know about before going to Sea for some reason , this remindes of the Alan
Congrats on the sea trial!! Can’t wait to see where Alan takes you!!
Cheers
Having only recently discovered, and subsequently caught up through a solid binge watching session on all activities thus far, I can only say how disappointed I am to now have to wait in line for the next update. Liked and subbed.
Cheers Chris
Thanks alot for this video. I have often wondered about those cute little boats, even to the point of looking to buy one. After living most of my life on my sailboats, perhaps one of those little fellows will be in my future. I find life at six knots to be more than adequate for happiness.
You are amazing. Still learning every day....... Happy trails dear. Peace Love and Hope. Stay safe have a great day. Cheers....❤💙💛
Cheers
Your friend Alan is absolutely right about learning to manover your boat, backing up and figure of eights and they are semi standard tests both for driver and boat and are best practiced in flat clam conditions, a single screw boat will always prop steer at low speed, so to have any control going astern you need to get way on (speed) once going astern keep the rudder straight and only give it tiny corrections to get where you want to go 2 or 3 degrees from centerline. You haven't run then engine flat out of an hour or so, you need to know if it is going to do it.
Thank you for acknowledging my provocative attempt at humor on the last one. Cheers. I'll bring you some pastries next time I'm in London. ;) You should ship him off to do sea trials in the Caribbean during hurricane season. Haha
Much fun thank you!
Awesome project, I’ve enjoyed watching it come along. You asked for suggestions, so I’ve got one. You might get a hair better fuel consumption by routing the engine intake through the cover to let it suck colder air
Indeed - ports for air cooling hoses you might be able to see in the driving console insulation.
I'm obsessed.
Always informative and hilarious😂
Easy on there
Enjoyed this, thanks!
As far as blogs. vlogs n sea dogs go, very enjoyable humorous vid. nice one!
So exciting !
excellent job you are doing. love to see thing get a new life. a thought on the anchor mounting if you have not done so already. as there are two metal brackets on the bow just above waterline, you might fabricate a mount there. and perhaps a small grate to stand on when handling the anchor. safe journeys.
Looks good!
My (admittedly limited) understanding of boat stability is that concentrating all the ballast in a limited area may not actually be the best option, as this gives a focus for the boat to oscillate around, which could militate against the form stability of a fairly boxy hull-form (sorry Alan!) You have the luxury of a relatively large internal volume compared with a lot of recreational craft of similar length, I wonder if there's any benefit i spreading the ballast bars more widely? Naval architects who understand metacentric heights are welcome to destroy my suggestion. Good to see him afloat!
Not a naval architect, but from what i know of calculating stability when loadinc cargo on ships, the most effective way to slow down rolling movements is to out weight higher up.
Pretty sure allan is so small though (im sorry Allan) that in order to get the rolling period of allan below any waves, he will be upside down allready. Might iron out some small violent shakes though. (Think an oldschool metronome with the weight low vs with the weight high)
Sick ride
Drole.
Right on Allan
Brilliant!
I think it's nice, that you called tools on board same name as the boat
That's "Tasmanian Liquid Sunshine" coming in drops, all the way from "Straya".
I did a fair bit of research on sound insulation when rebuilding an old land rover 101 a few years back, as in the cab you sit right beside the engine. Foam will help a bit with reflected sound but if you want to reduce noise transmission you really need a layer of the most dense material possible. I went for thin lead 'foil' in the engine cover but there are other options like rubber sheets with high density mineral 'fillers'.
Thanks Andrew - interesting. There's certainly a lot to read about the minutiae of sound reduction in its many forms.
happy boat day to Alan🎉🎉🎉
great Project
Cheers
I want one! Thats awesome 👌
Alan looks great. Less is more. Also interesting as an alternative to a narrow boat.
Love the project
Cheers Pat
Awesome boat and idea. I think roll with that boat will be a problem in its life, even if you ballast it and try to adjust. That being said, what an awesome idea for a low cost boat for adventure. Not surprised people convert these to houseboats.
Great idea with the tank to figure out fuel consumption. I might swipe that idea as it really is time I got accurate figures.
Patent pending.
I clicked on this by accident and am very pleasantly surprised and want to go to the start.
Cheers!
AMAZINGNES!!!
I know what you mean about the first time you fly a drone off the boat and out over the water, it made for some nice shots though. There are generally four or five Thames barges where I am moored so you have to watch out for the tall masts rather than the usual trees.
Hi. Yes, Alan needs plenty of ballast to help against lateral rolling. It is designed to self-right after a capsize, so needs lots of ballast low down in the keel. This will also help against rolling and make Alan sit better in the water. The downside is that it will make Alan even slower and possibly harder to control, or not as responsive. Alan was designed to keep people alive, in open seas, until help arrived, not as a pleasure cruiser. Alan is a great craft though, and I can't wait to see your adventures in him.
Great video. Couple ideas: some type of bow thruster - thinking on a hinge to drop into water as needed. Second steering wheel and throttle mounted high (no need for foot). GPS guided autopilot (when in open seas it is really point A to point B). In general, it needs more brackets.
Autopilot, sure. Just a funding issue.
Bow-trusters are likely overkill for the amount of tight manoeuvres Alan's is called upon to perform.
@@AlexHibbertOriginals Mine has one of the old style drive motors connected to the wheel by a belt with a control module that just holds a compass bearing. I'm not sure if they still sell them new but maybe a second hand one would be cheap and be good enough?
I’ve been interested in these rescue boats for the last couple of months and I came across your channel and I have to say for the links of your presentation I actually stayed the entire time which is not typical of me on TH-cam unless I’m extremely interested in the Content, great job, great presentation very interesting topic
I'll pass the compliment along to Alan
That looks like a great adventure boat. I'd love to find one of those to explore the straights of lake Michigan/Huron.
That was a nice video good sir
I am so freakin hyped for this!!! Way to go allen!
Cheers Brandon
@@AlexHibbertOriginals are you planning on taking off from the UK when you go on your journey?
Indirectly yes. But most likely sea and road freight for the first leg for Alan. Quicker and saves engine hours.
@@AlexHibbertOriginals im hoping to do my land trek up the dempster highway to the arctic circle one day!
U did well going astern, I've 4 times the rudder as u and even mine doesn't like answering the helm astern. Happy float day Alan 👍✌
Thanks!
cool drone footages
Subbed due to your amazing humour
At first glance I thought, "Huh! BOB seems a more apropos name. Wonder why I didn't think this earlier?"
Edmund Blackadder got there first.
@@AlexHibbertOriginals story of my life LOL.
Alan is a tank, with the top hatch.
Very cool, I like it! I would fabricate two retractable outriggers that could be lowered and locked into place to help sooth the roll in choppy waters.
Great video 👍
Cheers
I can clearly hear the wind. Nice. Oh, and you were saying... something.
Fabulous video, first time seeing this channel, l love your humour, it's an interesting project i am going to fast forward a year and see how's it going...🙂
Cheers
Came here from curiously looking for interiors of life boats for no particular reason, as one does. And I stumbled on you video. And for the life of me I can't believe no one in the comment section has point out how you look like Robert Downey Jr's doppelganger. And here I thought Iron Man was into converting a life boat. Well wishes to you and Alan!
You're certainly not the first!
I don't care what people say negatively about Alan, I like Alan lol perfect size for just about anything
Хорошее Видео!!! Спасибо!!!
We’re aiming for no less than total TH-cam domination hahaha literally the only sentence that forced me to click the subscribe button 😂😂😂😂😂
I like your video, your boat, and your humor. Subscribed:)
Cheers!
i'm not sure why this was in my feed, nor why I watched it, but in order to take part, I am unadulteratedly outraged. Well done.
Cheers
One thing you might wish to consider is adding a small deck to be taken inside or stowed topside .. something you could stand flatfooted on .. just outside the side doors. Maybe even a permanent deck off the stern to give you some extra footing, etc. Enjoying the build process .. really cute boat.
Thanks - standby for a stern deck!
@@AlexHibbertOriginals Awesome! lol 🙂
Hammocks have a great advantage in cold climates as they can be slung high up in the cabin where the warm air collects.
If you choose to use them, be sure to stretch them very taut (RN style), not in a slack, dangling sling configuration (as seen in the movies), which will result in sleep-apnea, backache and stiffness as well as muscle fatigue.
Good tip. I've never got on well with hammocks. Maybe this is why.