On Friday, September 1, 2000 at 4:30:39 AM UTC-4, Le Grande Raoul wrote:
Hi, friends!
I've just purchased a U.S. Navy 26' motor whaleboat. For those of you who
are not familiar with this craft, it is a double-ended, fiberglass, open
whaleboat powered by a Perkins 4-107, 50 HP diesel. They are very stout
and are a good platform for conversion to a variety of purposes.
Conversions I've seen include a harbor taxi, a general open workboat with
a boom derrick, cabin cruiser ala Albin 25, 'heavy water' sport boat with
enclosed aluminum pilothouse/cabin and as a motor sailer.
Mine is still as delivered from the Navy- including almost a 1/4" of gray
paint in some places- must have been some really bored sailors. 
The
motor is in poor shape but I have a line to all needed parts and would be
doing the work myself, so that course of action would be affordable. I'm
also interested in other, more modern power plants that have been
installed. I'm in Port Townsend, WA and we have lots of heavy tides and
currents. I know that even shoehorning a 6-71 into my boat won't get me
more than 7 to 9 knots but I *do* want a surplus of power so I can make
good time in all conditions that a boat of this type should be out in. The
4-107 gives that extra power and I don't think I would be interested in
the 15-25 HP engines that I have seen transplanted into these boats.
My question is this:
If you have or know of these boats, what conversions and results have you
observed? What types of motors have been used and to what end?
Thanks, much,
Jeff Benedict
--
Jeffrey E. Benedict *
-----------------------------------------
"Hey foo', shuttup wityer jibba-jabbah.
I ain't got no tahme fo' no knucklehaid
like you."
Mr.T
I have a 26 Navy motor whaler just like yours. The thing to be aware of is these boats have a hull speed of about 8 knots. Adding more power just digs the stern into the water and raises the bow. My MWB is a 1984 UNIFLITE with a 4-107 Westerbeke aka Perkins. I can cruise at 8 knots with about 800 rpms. If I power up I can get the bow so high I can't see the horizon. The additional power is useful if you have a full compliment of passengers (upwards of 20 people). I cruise in warm & fair weather and have an open boat with a forward and aft bimini. The helm has been repositioned closer to the stern and on the centerline. The original tanks had corroded so I had new ones fabricated which I installed. That required cutting away some of the decking to access the old ones and to install the new ones.