Thai Trawler Conversion

2010-06-03T21:52:00.001+07:00

In January this year we bought a second hand traditional Thai fishing trawler. The idea is to convert it into a boat we can use as a family for weekends and short holidays to stay aboard.

For a long time I had been thinking of a way to get a boat we could stay overnight on or even to have a cabin for the kids to shelter in when tired or in bad weather. Of course finances did not stretch to regular options so my first though was to build a boat. But I never could find the right boat for that fit our criteria and was simple to build.

So after enlisting a few knowledgeable local freinds to help we found N. Nateetong for sale up a mangrove creek on Koh Yao Yai Island off the coats of Phuket.

Now we are well into the project and have managed to use the boat regularly in between bouts of work. Though up till now we have only made day trips as there is still no accomodation. For now the aim of this blog is document the conversion process and also show a few pics of us using the boat as it progresses.

Directly below this you will see the latest update, scrolling down will go backwards chronologically through the project. If you prefer to see it from the beginning forwards then please go to the first post and begin there.

Cheers, Leon.

2009-08-24T20:36:00.003+07:00

A few more pics.

Other Thai trawlers

2009-08-24T20:29:00.001+07:00

Morning,

Had a rainy Sunday so instead going out to a beach took the kids for a cruise in our small boat up into the fishing port to look at the fishing boats and ferries. I took a bunch of pictures while I was there (sorry I did not photo shop out the grey sky) some to show how the bow goes down on the Thai trawlers when they are loaded and others just cause I see you guys are interested in working boats.

All these photos are taken in a creek about a mile long lined on both sides by commercial boats of all kinds, in some places they are stacked up so far into the creek that the bigger boats have trouble turning around. There are local boats that go out overnight, a couple of days or up to a week then there are boats that go from here to Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and further, sometimes staying out for a year or more. Yesterday we spoke to some Philippino crew on a Taiwanese longliner that were about to go out past Sri Lanka and stay out for 6-8 months. They obviously get serviced by bigger boats while at sea. A few years ago I was down in Irian Jaya, 2400 nautical miles from Phuket, (Indonesian side of Papua New Guinea) and met a fleet of Thai prawn trawlers that stayed down there for 2 years at a time. They were being serviced by a fisheries "research" boat that is generally tied up in Phuket.

2009-08-13T21:20:00.001+07:00

Out of the marina

2009-08-13T21:11:00.002+07:00

After lots of work it is time for a little break and use the boat and give the finances a rest too. Took her back down to Ao Yon yesterday and made an afternoon of it. Here are some pics.

Detailing Two

2009-07-29T20:46:00.002+07:00

Detailing 1

2009-07-29T20:23:00.004+07:00

Last week we undid the ropes and got the Nateetong mobile again to move her from in front of Mike's place to the Boat Lagoon Marina. All went smoothly apart fromt he steering being hooked up back to front so that turning the wheel to the right moved the boat to the left. Made the winding Boat Lagoon channel a little more challenging than normal.

Kao and Geng have been getting on with the painting as well as installing deck drains on the side decks. Yung and Lek have been busy welding up the top deck raili

ng, fitting the swim platform and today constructing the mast.

Today there were couple of carpenters on board tidying up the last loose ends from the wheelhouse job. Hopefully next week I will be able to get them to do the beds in the front cabin.

Here are some pictures.

Wheelhouse furniture

2009-07-21T06:55:00.003+07:00

Wheelhouse carpentry work is now finished. We are now focussing on external painting, must admit I am doing a very basic work boat finish with no fairing, but am using two pack local International paint.

Also want to get started on a railing on top of the wheelhouse this week and adjust the height of the forward awning, plus fit the swim platform.

Cheers, Leon.

Painting and internal work.

2009-07-15T21:52:00.003+07:00

Getting close now.

2009-07-13T20:09:00.004+07:00

After a weekend of rain it thankfully let up today so work could continue. The outside is almost done now, door rollers and forward seat then onto floor and inside furniture.

Wheelhouse Day 9

2009-07-09T20:11:00.003+07:00

Progress slowed a little this week, public holidays, lots of rain and Mike had a drama elsewhere so had to pull his guys on to a priority catch up. That is fine with me and now it looks like they are back on the job. My end has got slack too as we got a little busy and I had to put my two guys back to paying jobs for a little while.....This weekend I hope to do some myself and then put Kao and Geng back on the job full time next week.

I was not sure what material to use for the windows but decided to use perspex for now. I know it scratches easily but it is cheap and readily available and easy to work with so will do for this year.

2009-07-02T19:49:00.001+07:00

A few more update photos as the new wheelhouse structure starts to come together. In case you are wondering the sloped section at the aft end of the cabin is a cutout for a steep stairway leading up to the roof. Side doors and aft door will be sliding, windows I am still trying to decide. I guess for now, that for cost reasons I will go with simple fixed perspex and try it for a while. The three doors and two opening hatches in the roof will hopefully provide enough ventilation.

Cheers, Leon.

Wheelhouse day 7

2009-07-01T20:11:00.002+07:00

After framing for the forward sliding doors Net started to fit the side panels today, now it is starting to look like a boat again!

Wheelhouse day 6

2009-06-30T22:14:00.003+07:00

A few shots showing the detail that is going into the woodwork. Today they have framed up for the ladder up to the roof, setup for the trim of the front window and prepped for the side panelling.

Wheelhouse week one.

2009-06-27T15:51:00.005+07:00

I missed a few days of photgraphs this week as we had a family drama going on. My older stepson had a motorbike accident so I was tied up between hospital, work and looking after the other kids. I got back to the boat today after lunch and the progress is great.

I am stoked with the height and length of the new wheelhouse roof. It is going to turn out great now I am sure. Photos say it better than words so have a look, if you click on the picture you get a bigger view.

Wheelhouse

2009-06-22T20:46:00.004+07:00

Since the foredeck went so smoothly and the carpenter offered me a good price to carry on and do the wheelhouse I decided to go for it. So today they started ripping into it. We will raise the roof to the tops of the exisiting posts and extend it to the rear most posts. New sides, new sliding doors, windows and furniture inside. They estimate three weeks.

Foredeck

2009-06-22T20:12:00.003+07:00

The glass covering is done, the hatches are mounted and it is painted with high build primer. Time

to move onto the wheelhouse. Will topcoat it all at the same time when everything else is finished.

Painting and glassing

2009-06-18T21:09:00.004+07:00

With the carpentry finished on the foredeck things have slowed down a little. heavy rain for the first few days of this week did not help either. But Kao and Geng have been plugging away at the boat and I have spent as much time on board as I can.

Saturday afternoon I got into the fibreglass covering of the new deck. First I had to seal the very bow part of the deck which is still traditional planks with big gaps between them. Gaps were filled with epoxy glue and then fibreglass cloth laid over the planks with epoxy resin. All the new work is getting a single layer of 200 gram biaxial cloth (suplied by Kevin of Solidair) and the bow section has that plus a heavy layer to give it good abrasion resistance when anchoring etc. I had a really sore back by the end of the day from all the bedning over sanding, cutting the cloth and applying the resin.

Yesterday the weather got better so I did the second half in the afternoon. With a few lessons learnt from Saturday it was easier this time and Kao helped out which made it go that much quicker.

Now the deck is epoxy sheathed and has one coat of high build primer. Inside the boys have been painting the engine room bulkhead and the underside of the new deck - beams will be varnished and the rest painted white with Jotun enamel.

Kao has also been busy mounting gear and lube oil coolers, oil change pump, steering ram and alternator bracket. I took the exhaust elbow back to the shop and have extended it into a riser to reduce the chance of water finding it's way into the engine. Tomorrow we will insulate it and then it can go back on with some new salt water piping.

Next week the carpenters start on the wheelhouse which is going to get similar treatment to the foredeck. Looks like another month yet.........

2009-06-11T21:58:00.002+07:00

Day nine

2009-06-11T21:55:00.002+07:00

Here we have a finished look to the foredeck. The hatches are just sitting in place to see what they will look like. First I need to cover the deck in fibreglass, then paint it, then install the hatches properly.

2009-06-10T20:29:00.003+07:00

Looking down from the wheelhouse into the cabin. This way if driving the boat at night and the kids are sleeping downstairs I'll be able to stick my head down and check on them easily.

Internal work will come after the external work is finished so there is still a lot to be done......step by step.

2009-06-10T20:26:00.002+07:00

The additions don't seem to have messed with the appearance of the boat too much. From a distance it should still look like a traditional trawler but then when seen up close it will be apparent that it has a new purpose in life.

2009-06-10T20:20:00.001+07:00

Here you can see the curved cover over the companionway down into the cabin. The curved part is made up of two sheets of 6mm ply laminated together - any thicker and it would break rather than bend.

2009-06-10T20:17:00.002+07:00

At last it starts to feel like a belowdecks cabin rather than a cargo hold. Companionway stairs and access from the wheelhouse!

Day Seven

2009-06-09T20:45:00.003+07:00

The deck is moving along well now, most of it is glued and screwed down the companionway access and cover will be next. Then comes sealing, fibreglassing and painting!

Engine room bulkhead

2009-06-04T20:57:00.002+07:00

Here is the start of a big change to the boat - the addition of a bulkhead. This is to create an engine room separated from the rest of the boat. Up till now the boat has been completely open inside from bow to stern with no attempt to enclose the engine space or contain noise and heat.

As there will be sleeping accomodation in front of this bulkhead there will be insulation added later on the engine side.

Day 3

2009-06-04T20:54:00.002+07:00

Looking aft from the bow. The height of the new deck is clear and the cutout in the front of the wheelhouse is visible for the companionway down to the cabin.

Day three of foredeck project

2009-06-04T20:50:00.002+07:00

Today the carpenters got all the new deck beams located in place and cut to length. They still have more bracing to do on the sides and have longitudinals to add.

2009-06-03T22:21:00.000+07:00

Currently Nateetong is berthed in the water (she is only floating at high tide) in front of Pro Carpentering's Kuku workshop near Phuket Town. Mike Hjorts team have undertaken the task to build the new raised foredeck and the access way to the cabin space below.

This is day two and they are making fast progress. Here they are fitting the crossbeams that will support the plywood deck.

First inspection.

2009-01-29T21:59:00.001+07:00

After looking at a couple of boats in Phuket town I started asking around with people who had contacts in other areas to help find a suitable boat. A boat maintenance guy in the marina called Wat told me he knew of a boat for sale at Koh Yao Yai. He showed me some pictures on a mobile phone and described a fishing boat that was in running order. Sounded worth a look so we set up a time on a Saturday afternoon to go accross with my Panga to have a look.

I am certainly no expert in wooden boats and had never owned a real wood boat before - I have had a couple of ply epoxy cats but they are very different - so was winging it a little and going on gut instinct as I had not intentions of getting a surveyor out to look at the boat or hauling it out to inspect the bottom.

The foredeck was completely rotten but it would need to be removed anyway in order to create a cabin in the front. A lot of knees were cracked and the seams were seeping water all over the place. The engine looked pretty rough - a marinised truck engine with dry exhaust and a truck gearbox complete with foot operated clutch and a big gearbox of the front of the engine driving a set of winches out the side of the wheelhouse for pulling ropes. Again I planned to pull it out and throw away so did not spend much time on it apart from checking it ran and the gearbox functioned. I swam under the boat stabbing it with a screw driver and did not find any soft areas.

The electrics functioned and there was a depth sounder and a GPS that also functioned. I did not ask for a test drive as the boat was two miles up a narrow winding tidal creek. Time to go home and think about it for a while. The seller also had to arrange to register the boat properly if there was any chance of a deal - he agreed to do this.

Here are some pictures from the first inspection.

As bought - original condition.

2009-01-03T22:11:00.000+07:00

This is the boat as first seen back in January.