The main dimensions of Golden Shore’s double chine steel hull are LOA 14.96m, registered length 14.15m, beam 6.05m, moulded depth 3.47m, draft 3.4m and gross tonnage 32t. When the hull design was completed, Mooney Boats started to cut the Lloyd’s Grade-A 8mm steel plate in-house, using their own CNC plasma profiling equipment.
A key feature of Golden Shore is the considerable amount of working space and good access available on the main deck. That this has been achieved while incorporating catch handling conveyers for use when dredging, as well as a dedicated queenie handling system and net drum, shows the extent to which the owners/designers/builders have used the room available to maximum effect.
Another significant characteristic of the working deck is the considerably higher than usual height of the straight gunwale rail. This is a result of the request for the catch conveyors to be positioned to avoid crewmen having to bend when picking scallops off the belt. This ergonomic criterium therefore effectively determined all the other vertical dimensions associated with the positioning of the catch conveyors.
Golden Shore approaches Kilkeel for the first time after scalloping of the Co Antrim coast for the first month. (Photograph courtesy of Les Campbell).
Internal layout below deck from forward consists of forepeak, engineroom, fishroom, and steering gear compartment. A watertight door, situated forward of the starboard conveyor, gives access off the main deck into a crew changing area in the full-width steel deckhouse.
This area, which ensures that no protective deck clothing enters the vessel’s accommodation areas, leads inboard to the wheelhouse, galley/messdeck, shower/WC compartment, engineroom and cabin.
The mess table and seating is arranged forward towards the stem. The usual selection of electric cooking facilities, are positioned against the aft bulkhead.
A five-berth cabin is positioned along the portside of the deck casing at main deck level, accessed from the messdeck. Heating throughout the vessel, including the aft steering gear compartment, is 220V with thermostatic controls.
Golden Shore’s internal accommodation areas have been finished using solid oak and red laminate panel insets, to the high standards that Mooney Boats has quickly established as a trademark of its new builds.
The well-equipped galley and messdeck is finished to a high standard.
Fishing activities are centred on a Rapp Marine 2-drum 15t trawl winch.
King and queen scallops are bagged from an aluminium reception hopper in the fishroom.
Two hydraulic pumps are driven by a Twin Disc clutch mounted on the aft end of the Mitsubishi 6D16 TE2 auxiliary engine, supplied by DR Diesel of Kilkeel.
Fishing activities on Golden Shore are centred on a 2-drum trawl winch manufactured by Rapp Marine UK Ltd. From the 15t winch, which can accommodate up to 310 fathoms of 22mm-diameter wire and is positioned centrally abaft the deck casing, the trawl warps are led upwards at 45° to hanging blocks mounted on the goalpost-style lifting gantry amidships, before leading aft clear of the working deck to a second set of Fleming Fairleads hanging blocks.
When scallop dredging, the hanging blocks are mounted towards the outer ends of the traditional towing arms, and on the outer face of the trawl gantry when Golden Shore is towing either a queenie net or a prawn trawl.
Of box section construction, the manually operated scallop arms are pivoted on the legs of the stern gantry above the main deck to give an almost horizontal position when towing the dredges. On changing over to queenie trawling, the spreaders are quickly released and lifted ashore to provide maximum space to work and securely store the trawl doors.
Two Pullmaster 5t topping Gilsons are mounted on the lifting gantry, at the base of which two 2t Gilsons are positioned to pull down the scallop dredges.
At the owners’ request, the tops of the gunwale rails where the dredges come in are capped with 6mm stainless steel plating in order to minimise abrasive wear and tear. Similarly, 25mm thick blue nylon sheeting, 7m long by 2m deep, is bolted to the outer hull sides with stainless steel bolts to give additional protection to Golden Shore where the scallop dredges come into contact with its port and starboard sides.
