Willard 50- Where is a Willard 50?

[kapnd]

I have scrubbed the bilges until my fingers bled, trying to erase the many years of oily splash. The hatches, unfortunately, were not designed to stop water and grit intrusion. The transom area was the worst, I guess "full speed ahead" caused all the crap to slosh there the highest.
I have much experience with fiberglass fabrication, and feel confident that I could do this work without significantly weakening the hull, but do not want to open a can of worms!
I have a pump just forward of the ER bulkhead, and another behind the transmission, looks like these were the OEM locations, and are the best that can be done without a sump.
The humidity is fierce down there, and having a lake under the hood doesn't help.

 

[FF]

The humidity is fierce down there, and having a lake under the hood doesn't help.

We install these turbine vents in the PH overhead. It is over a std RV 14x14 hatch , so can easily be changed out for a cover or a Fantastic vent fan.



Not very yachty but with a few Dorade vents to let air in , can keep the interior humidity (south FL0 down.

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Roof Turbine Vents | Ask the Builder

 

[FF]

We are now in Fl, and have room for an O nite RV or boat of most any size , under 6ft draft.

Come for a tour!

Being your sense of humor , ( hint) the boat is not White for a reason.

 

[cardude01]

FF's setup is very cool. Everyone should take him up his offer.

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

Time for some pics, Fred

 

[Nomad Willy]

Here's a real Willard 50.
None were built.
This pic I took from a market testing add in PMM Feb 2002 Pg 65.
Would have been a big boat. The 40' Willard looks huge next to my 30' .... and so does the earlier built W36.
So when you see a 50' Willard talked about it will be US Navy boats built either by Willard or Uniflite. They are Navy boats (mostly surplus) boats .. not Willards or Uniflites. They were never marketed to the public except in surplus sales.

 

[FF]

The military style construction would be of little use to the public.

Most don't require a boat with 100% flotation , or one that can be bulldozed off a carrier deck 60ft and survive.

Price is always the concern for public use , so I doubt if even the monel fuel tanks would be bought.

Certainly the heavy duty bronze steering would be overkill for a 200 hour a year boat.

Sadly the Fire Retardant resin is only a few cents a pound extra , and would be a good safety feature John Q might pay for.

Yacht hulls are built to a std , commercial vessels a different std , and the military has its own rule book.

Not many yachts have a collision bulkhead std.

 

[kapnd]

Fred,
I really appreciate all the features mentioned above, the boat is built like the proverbial "brick shithouse"!

The engine and fuel tanks are mounted quite high in the hull, tanks are actually on deck, and the engine mounts are at the same level.
I can easily crawl clear under the engine and transmission, well, not that easy, but I have been there!
I assume that there was some reason for the high mounting, probably some specification that does not apply to a civilian craft. I am wondering if there would be significant stability gains in placing the weight lower in the hull? (Just the tankage, I wouldn't care to move the motor)
I run the boat in open ocean, and it has some roll in a beam sea, and though it is a slow roll, I'm wondering if that could be improved upon by lowering the CG, and without adding more appendages below the waterline or dragging birds?

 

[Nomad Willy]

kapnd,
May be related to a low mounted starter.
An engine I was quite excited about installing in my boat had a low starter. It was also about 8 to 10hp too much power. So I choose the Mitsu.
I would think that DD would have a high starter as many DD's were sold for marine use.
Another posibility is that the prefered gear has a large spacing between input and output shafts.

 

[kapnd]

kapnd,
May be related to a low mounted starter.
An engine I was quite excited about installing in my boat had a low starter. It was also about 8 to 10hp too much power. So I choose the Mitsu.
I would think that DD would have a high starter as many DD's were sold for marine use.
Another posibility is that the prefered gear has a large spacing between input and output shafts.

I'm pretty sure it was designed that way, possibly to allow the engine to keep running even with lots of water in the bilge?
Mine is a '94 model, came with a very nice Cummins B, not a DD.
The trans is a TD 506, way up in the air. There's around 6' of shaft before it exits the hull.

 

[FF]

I have no idea why an engine would be high mounted except to allow the oil pan to be dropped so an inframe overhaul could be done easily in-place.

Nice feature if the cabin has no roof hatch for engine removal.

 

[kapnd]

Finally got a handle on the bilge water situation.
I mounted a plastic bodied shop vac in the bilge, with the sucker at the low point, and then mounted a baitwell pump low on the side of that which pumps overboard.
So far no automatic controls, just turn it on till it sucks the bilge dry, then pump out the vac.
Its mostly rainwater, the on deck hatches don't seal or have drain channels.
That will be the next project, any ideas out there?

 

[FF]

"Its mostly rainwater, the on deck hatches don't seal or have drain channels.
That will be the next project, any ideas out there?"

We simply installed commercial aluminum deck hatches.

A big oval over the rudder , and round over the stuffing box for the shaft and for the backing rudder shaft.

KISS

New rubber is available OTS for the Fwd aluminum hatch over the Water tight Fwd compartment.


Sadly we will be putting LUCY up for sale this fall.,

So if someone is looking for a KISS boat to loop, carry a party or go back to work , let me know.

$$ 49K US , east coast delivery , now in Ortona FL.

 

[kapnd]

There’s a 40’ MUB with a very nice 6-71 in Hawaii that’s going to the crusher soon, it was derelict, and nobody bid on it at auction.
It has a poorly executed cabin, but would be a solid base for a build.