Mussel Ridge 46: The Boatbuilding Phase
The Mussel Ridge 46 moved indoors for final assembly and systems installation in December, 2022.
The major component parts of our Mussel Ridge 46 new-build arrived in Newport from Hutchinson Composites in Cushing, Maine during the last week of July—hull, deck and deckhouse. In the four months since then, we’ve undertaken the boatbuilding phase of the project, turning those components into what is undeniably a good-looking vessel gearing up to chase giant bluefin tuna.
But let's rewind a bit. Utilizing our accurate 3D scans and Shop Saber CNC, we had designed, cut, pre-assembled and glassed the structural stringer and bulkhead grid on a build jig in our shop so they were ready and waiting to be dropped into the hull when it arrived.
Last spring, based on a 3D laser scan of a sister hull, Newport Yacht Builder’s engineering team designed a fixture for assembling the MR46’s internal structure grid of longitudinal stringers and floors (left). The team then sent “cut files” for the Saber Shop CNC to cut all the stringers and bulkheads for assembly (right) before the hull arrived in Newport.
We did the same for all interior components, bringing them up to finish paint, ready to be installed as soon as the deckhouse and foredeck were ready to be mated with the hull. Newport Yacht Builders has teamed up with Nautical Design in Pennsylvania to fashion drawer and door inserts of King StarBoard (marine-grade high-density polyethylene). These items will soon be arriving in Newport for final installation.
The molded deck and deckhouse were mounted on a fixture on which the team could work efficiently.
We also designed and CNC cut a fixture to hold the deck and house in our shop at chest height so our team could easily glass the deckhouse roof in position and prepare the deck itself for bonding to the hull.
Interior components and structural bulkheads and stringers were built on CNC-cut fixtures that matched the hull’s dimensions.
Just before Thanksgiving, the Scania 1000hp diesel was lowered onto its mounts, and we were ready to put the big parts of the MR46 together and move her into our building shed.
OK, it wasn’t always a building shed for custom boats, and the overhead door was not up to the task, being way too small for the 14’6” beam and nearly 15’ height of the boat. With high prices and long lead times for an appropriately sized overhead door, we decided to design and fabricate our own custom doors for the shop as well.
Even with the enlarged doorway, moving the boat indoors in early December required careful maneuvering.
As winter sets in, Ransom Morse of Buzzards Bay Boatworks (hydraulics/fuel/plumbing) and John Arruda of Ethos Electric (AC, DC Systems/electronics) have begun installing the systems, which we previously designed and laid out within our master 3D model of the boat.
With a new, enlarged shop doorway, the systems installation on the Mussel Ridge 46 officially became an indoor project for the winter. Olivia Burnham photo
With the majority of the boatbuilding done, our design/build team has now shifted focus to detail work: steering gear foundations, live wells, machinery mounts, and air cowls. As with any boatbuilding project, there remains plenty of filling, sanding, and painting to be done as all of our components come together to become a whole.
Stay tuned!