Dive Twins

This is the ongoing story of the restoration of Pat Patterson’s one off Dive Twins motor cat. from the current owner.  .  .

I understand it was based on Summer Twins basic structure so it isn’t perfect as far as placement of certain things one would expect in a motor boat. The boat was originally named Dive Twins and intended as a diving boat so minimal life-support and maximum space for gear and people. A later owner renamed her Island Twins and that was her name when she was hoisted from the drink. Nobody figured out why she sank, but she certainly did — from stem to stern. I’m not superstitious but…

Pip has indicated that they thought about extending the cabin aft and using some of the ample deck space. We are considering doing that at some point as she would be more useful to us with more sheltered area.

The boat was a disaster after the sinking and, although the salvagers said they had recovered the engines, the rebuilders said pretty clearly otherwise! The cost of new 60hp diesels, two of them, made it impractical to go that route. We re-designed the sterns then installed ex-mod 75hp Yamahas. Retriming has been accomplished with the large battery bank and ballast far aft. It’s faster than the original with a top speed of about 25 knots, coming on plane at around 10 knots, and happy to cruise just about anywhere. Yes, outboards use juice, but the cost of diesels will buy a lot of petrol. Steering is with a hydraulic system. We had her in the water for a couple of months last summer and she was a delight to use.

The rest of the boat was also a disaster. We took reference photos so we could remember where things go, but we were able to salvage very little. There is a photo of my wife on deck — about the time she said “I want this one!” We’ve restored a few boats, but this is the biggest task so far and I’ll wager the last. Off the top of my head, we acquired her in 2010. I hope to have her nearly completed by year’s end, but adding the sailor’s fudge will say she might possibly be finished by this time next year!

We’ve not made any attempt to trim her out with any imitation of luxury and so it’s mostly several coats of good quality paint. Because she was put together with Summer Twin mouldings there are some gaps that require imaginative joinery to fill. She will be up to scratch with new wiring and navigation equipment (all sitting in boxes like Christmas from last year’s boat show), heating, etc.

Please click on an image to view full size. Depending on your browser if you can go to “Full Screen” i.e. F11 key, the bigger photos will expand to fill the available space. Or you can use the “Full Screen” button – top right of the light-box. Click/tap/swipe/mouse-wheel forward-back or use keyboard to show next/previous photo.

Pressing the “X” top right of the light-box returns here.