Synopsis (short abstract)This paper describes the efforts to develop an appropriate engine installation for boats designed and developed for fishermen in India and Sri Lanka operating from surf ridden beaches. These boats have to negotiate rough surf conditions for most part of the year with breaking waves up to two metres in height. The paper details the different types of pivoting engine installations tried out with air-cooled and water-cooled engines of different makes. The problems faced, the improvements made and the conclusions derived are set out. It also includes a detailed description of an installation. The detailed drawings are available with BOBP and may be obtained on request. The work on engine installations described in this paper was carried out by the small-scale fisheries project of the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) as part of its beachcraft development project. It began in 1980. The first trials were conducted from a beach just outside Madras and were reported in BOBP/WP/7 “T echnical Trials of Beachcraft Prototypes in India.” The original concept of the pivoting engine box was conceived by 0. Gulbrandsen (Naval Architect Consultant) who also designed the first prototype. Further development described in this paper was done by the authors, assisted by BOBP Associate Professional Officers P.A. Hemminghyth (Marine Engineer) and SO. Johansen (Naval Architect), counterpart officers S.B. Sarma (Andhra Pradesh), E. Srinivasan (Tamil Nadu) and G. Patrick (Colombo). G. Gowing (Surf Crossing Consultant) from Australia also contributed several useful ideas. Trials were carried out in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa in India and Sri Lanka. Another BOBP document of direct relevance to the subject described in this paper is BOBP/WP/45 “Further Development of Beachlanding Craft in India and Sri Lanka.”
