My new EX MOD Gemini - Help needed

[sas pinkie]

Hi chaps.

I am new here, and new to boats.

My name is Karl, and I am an avid military vehicle fan. I work on an island, so needed to learn to drive a small launch incase I needed too in an emergency. For this the company paid for me to go and do a RYA Power boat level 2 course. Well..... that was the best two days of my life so far and I was hooked.

So I searched and searched, hoping to combine my new found hobby with my old one and find an ex military boat. Well they seem to be rarer then Hens teeth, but after two years of searching I found a little tatty ex MOD gemini with its original Mariner 30 for what I felt a bargain £500.....

So. I know own what I hope will be a great little boat. but there is a little tidying to do. I have seen another pic of an ex MOD gemini on here, and it looks very similar, only ever so slightly different.

Mine has the ali Keel, but it seems to be a little broken near the joint/catch end. can these Keels be repaired if so where is a good place to try, or can it be replaced.

The decking is like the one in the pic, only mine only has the slats, without the board on top. Was it always like this, or has someone been messing.

The fuel tank is missing. What should I be looking for in a fuel tank. Any one know what the original one would have been like (I want to keep it as original as poss so I can show it at military vehicle shows, as well as go using it on the local rivers and even the sea once i feel more confident).

Its missing its original oars, what would they have been like, and can replacements be sourced?

I am also after original style life jackets to go with it if anyone knows where they are available?

Sorry for all the questions, but as I said, I am a complete Noob with these things, but hey, everyone has to start some where.....

Cheers

[9D280]

Welcome to ribnet!

I can't unfortunately answer a lot of that, but as your tank is missing, the best / quickest bet for getting out foer a blast would be a modern plastic type.

IF the original was a metal 5 gallon type, you may be surprised how few of them haven't rusted to extinction.... I guess worst case you could get a leaky one for "show use" & use a decent one to carry the fuel.

Sounds like a fun project!

I'll hand over to someone who knows the historical answer...

[m chappelow]

Originally Posted by 9D280

Welcome to ribnet!



IF the original was a metal 5 gallon type, you may be surprised how few of them haven't rusted to extinction.... I guess worst case you could get a leaky one for "show use" & use a decent one to carry the fuel.

...

I would agree with 9D280,
i have seen a few ex army olive green 5 gallon steel ones ,if its those i think they were the same as the old johnson/evenrude but painted olive green , at boat jumbles at various times ,but many have probely seen better days ,
i use one of my ex rnli boats for display events for fundraising and education purposes in schools at times and the original flexi fuel tank sweats fuel,so after extensive cleaning just use it for static display purpose only and then use a plastic tank if i want a blast about with the boat .

for the oars i would try boat jumbles .

with regards to the lifejackets cant say i have seen any on the second hand market except for the ex raf pilot ones in ex gov surplus shops ,
dont know how right it is ,,i have just spoken to a contact and she informs me that a lot of ex military stuff is getting held back at the moment by the gov as the uk are changing a lot of kit and they want it all distributed before any old stuff starts to come out onto public sales .

[Slaphead]

Getting original flooring for any military rib/sib is likely to be difficult because you will probably have to buy the complete package to get the bits you need. Aluminium can be welded. Have a look at these pics. They are the original component parts of a Gemini floor and keel. In relation to fuel tanks, I would think that if you could get a hold of a Barrus grey MOD tank it would look sexy enough in the boat. Oars are a grey area as not all Gemini's had the holders in the same place, ie some where on the top of the sponsons, some on the inside and not all were fitted with holders at all, prefering to use paddles instead.