Towboat
Lieutenant
Thought I'd chime in here now that I have had the chance to put a hundred hours or so on the boat. There is not much information on these hulls so perhaps this may help someone who is looking at a similar boat someday. I will try to answer any questions anyone might have
Other than a near catastrophic engine disaster when the aftercooler core began leaking (fortunately at idle on the mooring), there have been no engine problems
. I knew I should have gone though everything before really using the boat, but how bad could it be for just a couple months, right?? Yeah...lesson learned.
Anyway, I really like the boat overall. I'm getting an honest 4gph at 2K RPM which is right about 13kts. Bump it up to 2200 and I'm now into the turbo and substantially more fuel, but also about 16kts. Top speed is 22 - a little under propped I think, but I'm ok with that, no need to push it.
The hull rides great in head and following seas, but she is a little stiff on the beam. Wet, but no pounding at all. I was a little surprised to feel what I would assume to be some hull flex in a short, steep head sea. No pounding at all, just a little hull movement depending on how you hit each wave. These observations were made mostly in 2-4' and some 3-5' of the typical short, messy, confused fall Penobscot Bay chop.
I figured the boat would feel totally solid with no movement - my obsessive personality wants to worry about it, but it's survived 23 years and 2000 hours so It's fine I'm sure. Absolutely no evidence of any stress cracking anywhere. No idea about the hull thickness, but the displacement is 9-10K without many extras and with 4 big stringers she seems plenty stout. Guess I was just surprised to feel anything at all.
Boat rides very flat at speed - almost too flat. She's obviously designed to carry a deck load so when light it is a bit wet in a head sea. In recreational trim, all the weight is midship and forward with a finished cabin, two 8d's, forepeak water tank, etc. We'll see how she rides with a couple thousand pounds of people & dive gear next month.
Great boat for my purpose - maybe not the best for drifting due to the roll, but it also has very little gear on board so some extra weight from fishing gear might calm that down a bit.
Other than a near catastrophic engine disaster when the aftercooler core began leaking (fortunately at idle on the mooring), there have been no engine problems
. I knew I should have gone though everything before really using the boat, but how bad could it be for just a couple months, right?? Yeah...lesson learned. Anyway, I really like the boat overall. I'm getting an honest 4gph at 2K RPM which is right about 13kts. Bump it up to 2200 and I'm now into the turbo and substantially more fuel, but also about 16kts. Top speed is 22 - a little under propped I think, but I'm ok with that, no need to push it.
The hull rides great in head and following seas, but she is a little stiff on the beam. Wet, but no pounding at all. I was a little surprised to feel what I would assume to be some hull flex in a short, steep head sea. No pounding at all, just a little hull movement depending on how you hit each wave. These observations were made mostly in 2-4' and some 3-5' of the typical short, messy, confused fall Penobscot Bay chop.
I figured the boat would feel totally solid with no movement - my obsessive personality wants to worry about it, but it's survived 23 years and 2000 hours so It's fine I'm sure. Absolutely no evidence of any stress cracking anywhere. No idea about the hull thickness, but the displacement is 9-10K without many extras and with 4 big stringers she seems plenty stout. Guess I was just surprised to feel anything at all.
Boat rides very flat at speed - almost too flat. She's obviously designed to carry a deck load so when light it is a bit wet in a head sea. In recreational trim, all the weight is midship and forward with a finished cabin, two 8d's, forepeak water tank, etc. We'll see how she rides with a couple thousand pounds of people & dive gear next month.
Great boat for my purpose - maybe not the best for drifting due to the roll, but it also has very little gear on board so some extra weight from fishing gear might calm that down a bit.
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