Fintry's Conversion

The ongoing story of her conversion into an expedition yacht.

We are in the process of converting Fintry into an expedition yacht which will be based in Boston. When finished, she will be able to go anywhere in the world, although not at any time of year.

The story begins with her construction by John Lewis & Sons, Ltd. in Aberdeen, Scotland in the early 70's. She was commissioned in 1972. We don't know a lot about her service in the RMAS, but we have been told (thank you to Kathleen MacDonald) that Jonny Wiseman was her skipper from 1972 until 1986 and then his son Donald until 1997.

All of this was at Kyle of Lochalsh, across Kyle Akin from the Isle of Skye, Scotland, carrying passengers and assisting at the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre.

In the late 90's, she spent some time in Greenock. While there, she was presented a Gideon Bible. The Navy decided to privatize her work. This meant that Serco Denholm, who were operating her for the Navy, had to adopt the MCA (British Coastguard) safety regulations. Carrying 110 passengers below decks with only one exit was no longer possible. She got an extended deckhouse forward to carry 60 passengers, a new bulkhead splitting the engine room in two, and other modifications. Her hatches were plated over and her holds were unused in this service. She had no berths when we bought her. She was sent to Plymouth and renamed "Eilidh M." She looks very smart in this photo, probably taken there around 2000.

She's shown here, doing what she was built to do, go alongside a frigate while both are doing six knots. The frigate is HMS Sutherland, F81, in Plymouth. For the C.S. Forester fans among you, note that the fictional HMS Sutherland is Hornblower's command in Ship of the Line. Tony Collins bought Fintry in Plymouth in 2001, but his plans changed and he sold her to us in late 2002.

In January 2003, with the help of Dave Jones, who at the time owned Lamlash, and Neil Lockie, we moved her to Manor Marine, a yard with a great deal of small ship experience, at Portland Harbour, Dorset. Despite interruptions from war work for the MOD, by November 2003, the engine was out, many interior details had been done, and, as can be seen here, the new light boxes were in place and the extension of the aft upper deck was well under way.

By June, the wheelhouse had been extended forward by four feet -- two windows. The funnel has been taken off to replace the main engine muffler. The old rubrail (fendering) has been removed.

The yellow of the new Cat 3406 is barely visible here, hanging from the crane block overhead. For those thinking about replacing the engine, note that to get the Lister out in one piece we removed the access plates on the upper deck and the starboard side, as well as cutting out the metal between them. Alternately, and maybe less work, since we had removed the funnel anyway, we could have unbolted the larger upper deck access plate which includes the funnel area.

During July and August 2004, she was on and off the slip again. Here, in September, the paint is done up to the bulwark tops, the funnel's back on with the new muffler soft mounted inside, and a lot of the details are coming together. The new fendering is all in place after a monumental effort. The best thing is that she finally has her real name back again. There's nine tons of lead sitting nearby which will go in the forward ballast tank soon to bring the thruster under water. You can't see the new fuel tanks in the #2 hold (total fuel now 19,000 liters) and freshwater tanks in the #1 hold (total freshwater now 4,000 liters).

In October, the most obvious changes are progress in the continuing effort to get the bow down, the removal of the fresh and saltwater header tanks from the upper deck and the new mast aft. Inside, there was a lot of progress, with new floor plates and stairs in the engine room, enlargement of the battery box, and a new shelf for the shorepower transformers.

By late February, we had finished almost everything outside, so it was time to start painting the white (white paint and grinding steel don't get along well.) We added another two tons of lead in the bow, so the thruster is finally under water. Inside, we're on the punch list -- the hydraulics are going in, essentially all the engine installation and plumbing is done, and we're down to the nitty gritty -- for example, the steering pump has a 1" shaft with a 3/8" keyway. The coupling for its new 240VAC motor is available only with a 1/4" keyway, so a little mill and file work is in order.

April 7, 2005: Finishing touches this week. Here's Chris painting the stern. The new aft gate, which Tony and Andy built last summer, shows well in this view.

The usual port side view shows the mast, lights, horn, SSB, three VHF, GPS, and Navtex antennas and lots of white paint. The decks and other paintwork are also done. All major systems are working -- we've hoisted the anchor, run the bow thruster and the get home motor, checked out the lights, put seven hours on the aft genset and so forth. We didn't actually get away from the float because there was half a gale blowing (note the Stars and Stripes in the photo.)

Those with sharp eyes will see that we still have the after mast and radar post to paint, and the towing light to install aft. The little Koden radar (which came, not working, with the boat) is installed and working on its new mast bracket, but the big radar, probably a Furuno 2217, will have to go on the post in Boston -- I couldn't figure a way to convince American Airlines that the eight foot antenna was checked baggage, and electronics in the UK are roughly twice the USA price.

Dee spent three days packing and loading the Birdseye Maple interior from Shamrock V which we purchased last year at the Beaulieu Boat Jumble and two days scraping and painting the deck under the wheelhouse (the Fleet Tender wheelhouse floor is raised a foot above the steel deck for better visibility from the wheel and a good wiring chase.)

Something's changed! The usual port side view is the starboard. Yes, she's been out twice under her own power, and while not everything was perfect, the smoothness of the new Cat on soft mounts with the Python Drive is a joy... Everything's painted (except, maybe, a red racing stripe on the wheelhouse.)

We left Portland on June 14, 2005 and spent the night of the 16th in Falmouth because of the weather (35 knots on the nose -- Fintry was fine with it, but why get beat up when there's a good port to leeward)? We then left for the Azores on the morning of the 17th. Here's our steadfast crew for the Atlantic Crossing. Bill Hart, Larry Hennessy, and Chris Ware, shown on the quay in Horta. They put up with the bad weather night south of England, and then much better, almost perfect conditions crossing from the Azores to Boston. Thanks, guys.

We spent three days in Horta. Dee spent most of the time painting our calling card, which joined hundreds, maybe thousands, left by boats visiting Horta.

We arrived in Boston July 8, 2005 Fintry's new home is Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina. We kept Sweetwater there for her refit before our circumnavigation and it's a great place -- good people, good facilities, and a wonderful view of the Boston skyline.

To a naive visitor, not much has happened in the last three years. The interior of the number one hold is down to a few items on its punch list and the wheelhouse is nearing completion, but otherwise, the interior looks very much the same as when we left England. Those who look with an eye for detail, however, will see that a lot of infra-structure work is done: