Mothership Spec

17m (55') long [19m, (62') with the skiff carrying duckboard], 6.4m (21') wide, and with a draft of 1.4m (4 ½ foot), our new mothership will have six twin share cabins, both singles and doubles, and full size household ensuite toilet facilities.

All cabins are located on the main deck level with household size beds rather than boat bunks. All cabins have large windows for natural ventilation as well as air-conditioning and built in cupboards. Other bathrooms are located on deck, one on the rear main deck and another on the upper level opening to the rear deck.

Construction Progress

18th December 2001: The hulls of the new mother ship were turned over . Main deck area is 17 x 6.4m (108 square metres!).

19th January 2002: Work on the superstructure is now well under way.

Main accommodation deck, roof to come all the way to the transom and then a 2m (6.5 feet) wide “veranda” or “duck board” at deck level aft of this.

Massive upper deck 10m x 6.4m (32 x 12 feet). Skiff transport / under cover party / BBQ / relaxation deck. Wheelhouse and crew accommodation. General use bathroom opening to this deck at the left.

View through window at aft deck. Fore ground of couple is the open plan galley / dining / lounge and bar. Behind couple, 6 x 2 berth cabins at posts, port and starboard of centre hall way.

3rd March, 2002: The (still unnamed) boat is coming along well, machinery is being fitted, wiring is going in and the internal fit out is under way.

I am very very happy with the vessel, size, design features and layout etc. In fact we have built quite an exceptional boat. Everyone that has had a look, including some big players in the commercial boating industry is very impressed.

You will enjoy it as much as I am, the whole building process is very exciting. I am having sleepless nights worrying about why I am not having sleepless nights!

As far as being on time, the builders tell me that we are on track. Following are some captioned photos.

Rail starboard side, upper deck Boat construction

The lines of the vessel are very pleasing and functional. The sloping forward wheel house windows shade the dash and allow wheelhouse navigation equipment, radar and sounders etc to be mounted to the ceiling leaving an uncluttered dash.

Crane is just visible stowed, incorporated to the rail starboard side upper deck. (left pic) Wheelhouse accommodates up to 5 crew, passenger accommodation is in the forward half of the main deck with galley lounge and dining in the after section of the main deck.

No accommodation is in the hulls. Vessel is fully air-conditioned and all windows to all cabins and bathrooms open.

The crane The deck

Crane has a capacity of 1800kg, the largest and heaviest of our skiffs (Doya) would weigh under 1000kg.

Half the roof area, longitudinally on the port side will be under an awning, allowing the crane to lift from the centre line of the vessel.

When the skiffs are in the water this area (53 sq mtrs / 570 sq ft) becomes an outdoor living / barbecue area. One of the 4 toilet / showers can be seen in the back of the wheelhouse, left side. Big window in the back of the wheelhouse will open to a large TV for open air fishing video and movie viewing. This deck is outdoor carpeted.

The bow Steps to the bow

The bow is accessed down 3 steps either side of the wheelhouse. A very large area for relaxing under the stars with a bottle of wine, or casting to schools of tuna whilst travelling, or just sitting facing forward on the large built in seat watching the world go by.

Advantages

Aft of the accommodation on the main deck, a large open plan area 6 X 6 metres (19 X 19 foot) incorporating the galley, where we will continue to prepare our world renowned cuisine, a dining room, lounge and well stocked bar. This open plan design has a lounge seat as well as a dining place for the full complement of passengers. Aft of this area, the lower rear deck with stairs to the upper level and outboard of this, a timber decked "Fantail" or duck board for boarding the skiffs and fishing, swimming etc. This fantail will carry one of the skiffs when travelling to our destinations.

The massive upper deck aft of the wheelhouse will carry more of our fishing skiffs lifted on and off by a marine T33-3T Hiab crane. When the skiffs are in the water this area transforms into an enormous shaded outdoor living, dining, BBQ entertainment and relaxation area. This area is 10 X 6.4 metres (32 X 20 foot).

The ship will be equipped with the latest in computer navigation and satellite communication systems.

Either side of the wheelhouse down 4 steps to the bow area where there is a bench seat full width facing forward for relaxing whilst stationary or watching the scenery go by as we travel.

The twin Cummins 6BT180hp marine diesels will give a speed of 12 knots at 80%, a very fast cruising speed whilst still allowing us to troll for the highly prized Spanish Mackerals etc on the way to our destinations. Auxiliary power will come from a 9 and a 25 KVA, 240 / 415 volt Onan genset power plants will supply all domestic needs from refrigeration to coffee peculators, air-conditioning and computers.

4000 litres of diesel fuel will give us a range of over 1000 nautical miles and 4000 litres of water for more than 14 days duration with full complement.

20th April, 2002: Well it finally happened on Saturday 20th of April "Tropic Paradise" (Named for the region where we operate) was moved from Cairns Custom's factory the short distance to Norship for final fitting until the following Wednesday and was launched.

Sea trials were conducted and some more final preparations before departing for Cape York to embark our first group of anglers for the very first trip with this fabulous new mother ship. The trip north was in some very rough conditions and was a very good test of the stability and seaworthiness of this magnificent vessel.

This posting will end this section of our site. A new section will start with trip reports from each and every trip with photos no more than 6 days old. Compiled by me "From the Bridge" as we steam back to Seisia at the end of each trip.

A long and interesting project working with some very talented and lovely people at Cairns Custom Craft. I have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone looking to build an Aluminium vessel of any size.

Coming out of the ship Coming out of the shed with 50 mm (2 inches) clearance top bottom and each side.

Dry weight 24 ton.

A few days later on the way to the water after some final additions.

Underway with only 10% fuel and full water onboard making slight bow down attitude.

Don't delay in booking YOUR fishing holiday aboard Tropic Paradise "Your dreams, reality".