Firth of Forth buoy maintenance boat Conserver

Conserver was designed by the firm of naval architects Murray, Cormack & Associates of Scotland and built by F.L. Steelcraft of Borth (Wales). The vessel is owned by the Forth Port Authority. Her primary role is to carry out hydrography survey and buoy maintenance work. One of the most striking features of the vessel is the wheelhouse, which is offset to the port side; this allows for the anchor windlass to act as a capstan to dress buoy mooring chains back and forth along the deck for inspection and testing. The “HIAB Seacrane” mounted on the small raised deck at the side of the wheelhouse is used to bring buoys over the side of the vessel onto the clear work deck behind the wheelhouse. The small lightweight hoist on the stern is to handle water samples and hydrographic lines.The prototype has a 'Schilling' type rudder which makes for great manoeuvrablility for a single screw vessel - a feature which also works extremely well on the model.

General Specification of the full sized vessel:

Length overall: 17.8m (58.38ft)

Beam: 5.4m (17.72ft)

Draft: 1.88m (6.17ft)

Engine: One Gardner 8L3B – 250 bhp; top speed 12 knots

The model is from a kit produced by Model Slipway. Construction uses a glass fibre hull and sheet styrene for deck and wheelhouse etc. Motive power and radio control comprises an Electronize 545-12 motor; Electronize 43X electronic speed controller, Futaba 2 channel radio receiver and servo; 6 volt 4Ah lead acid main battery; 4.8 volt ni-cad receiver battery pack. Dimensions are length 740mm x 240mm beam. Total build time: 303 hours. Total build cost: £330.

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