Trawlerblog (or "Ships Blog: The Adventures of Abyssinia and Crew") is the interesting tale of a very unusual 100-ton aluminium ship operating out of Seattle and up the Canadian coast as far as Alaska. It's a genuine boat blog that's been running since last February, still updated dutifully. And real UK inland waterways blogs are so scarce on the water, so this one jumps the queue and gets on my boatroll immediately. It's pretty entertaining too; a great addition to my Bloglines subscription.
Abyssinia (the ship) seems to have been built partly as a commercial craft, partly as a home. It was launched in 1999, although it was little more than an unlined sailaway and didn't get its shakedown cruise until 2003. Its design and construction is chronicled on their pre-blog website. The boat itself is a fully aluminium hull, like a giant Sea Otter, and is an intriguing design from a naval architect who seems to be thinking outside the box. For example, the engine is right at the front, allowing 3 storeys of (quieter) living accomodation at what narrowboaters call the blunt end.
At first glance (indeed, second) Abyssinia looks a candidate for my 'odd boats' album, although I daresay in Seattle they'd say the same about Granny Buttons. The crew look pretty normal though. Well, as far as dogs wearing souwester hats can look normal!
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