Name Ferrous

FERROUS was designed by the present and only owner in the early 1970'S. The object was to build a leisure boat for use on narrow canals and rivers. He wanted it in the style of inspection launches but not a replica of a particular one. The underwater shape was based on river tugs adapted for narrow canals to give good handling with low wash. Full working drawings were made and an accurate model made to see how the design would look. Satisfied with this a contract was placed with Porter & Haylett of Wroxham to build the hull. Construction started in the winter of 1973 and launch March 1974 in Birmingham. 

The original cabin was timber on steel frames with an outer cladding of aluminium sheet. Doors, hatches and and other fittings were aluminium castings. the cabin fit out, engine installation and other parts not included in the hull build were done by the owner. The first major change was the engine as the original one, an automotive Gardner did not like long periods of slow running. The replacement one is a Gardner 3LW derated to 30 BHP for canal use but still adequate for rivers giving a max speed of 9 MPH on deep water if needed. Also the replaced engine was mounted midships with the gearbox at the stern to give better balance to the boat. The other major work was on the cabin as by 2008 the timber part had extensively rotted so was rebuilt in stainless steel. 

The rebuild was patterned over the original so retaining its shape, aluminium castings again being used for hatches, doors, hand rails and the external cabin side frames which are decoration. As the cabin is the same size the original fitout could be replaced with little change. The some wat unusual name given to the boat came from the owners work in the iron foundry industry.