Don’t count on seeing this vessel at a boat show, anywhere in the world. And it’s seaworthiness is open to question. But two British marine engineers intend to cruise a sistership, just a little larger, across the English Channel before too long.
This story starts the way many boating stories start, with the two engineers, Jake Harris, 33, and Sam Newstead, 31, having a few beers after work at Sam’s South East Marine Engineering Yard in Rochester, about 30 miles southeast of London.
At first, they wanted to take out their dinghy for a short ride. Then they spotted a well-worn 12-foot metal skip boat, a self-propelled dumping boat that’s usually used for carrying muck and industrial waste, nearby. On a lark, they hammered in some wood and rags to fill the drain holes. Then they put the boat in the boatyard crane and lowered it into the Medway River. It floated. So they bolted on a 5-hp Yamaha and took it out for a spin.
They didn’t know how long it would float, so they tied some string from the skip boat to the dock and stayed close to shore. “We could have swum back to shore if we had to,” Jake told the Mirror. But it floated, and they cruised around long enough to take pictures. (Jake is at the helm in the picture above.)
The two engineers were so happy with their new powerboat that they bought it from a nearby recycling center for about $300. And they’re talking with the skip-boat manufacturer about getting a larger one to take across the English Channel. Read more:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/marine-engineers-turn-skip-motorboat-24348864
