Macduff Shipyards are nearing completion of the aluminium clinic boat/lake ambulance designed to serve remote communities on the north-western shore of Lake Malawi (see previous posts). The hull is nearly completed, and has a coat of primer paint for protection. A three-cylinder, air-cooled Lister engine has been installed and the next stage is fitting out of electrics, controls, sterngear and seating. Still needed to acquire are safety and deck equipment and a marine radio. The provisional plan is to have a ‘yard launch’ at Macduff at the end of April followed by sea-trials, then a commissioning ceremony in Macduff on 2nd May 2009. The following week, the boat will be shoe-horned into a 40-ft container at Macduff for its trip to the lakeshore in Malawi.