ADVICE FOR A newbie

[andyfollett]

Hi All, I am close to buying a Princess 42 flybridge that has bow and stern thrusters. Volvo 435hp engines and wondered what advice you would give to someone that has never driven a power boat?
I am competent in so far as I understand the environment. I have owned sail boats up to 50 foot for decades an I am oceanmaster qualified with many big trips under my belt, (Biscay, N sea, Med deliveries etc) I am planning on taking delivery of the Princess then maybe having a paid skipper with me for a half day to guide me through close quarter maneuverings. Am i missing anything? Will my insurance require me to take specific powerboat qualifications?
Thanks in advance, andy

 

[jfm]

Hi All, I am close to buying a Princess 42 flybridge that has bow and stern thrusters. Volvo 435hp engines and wondered what advice you would give to someone that has never driven a power boat?
I am competent in so far as I understand the environment. I have owned sail boats up to 50 foot for decades an I am oceanmaster qualified with many big trips under my belt, (Biscay, N sea, Med deliveries etc) I am planning on taking delivery of the Princess then maybe having a paid skipper with me for a half day to guide me through close quarter maneuverings. Am i missing anything? Will my insurance require me to take specific powerboat qualifications?
Thanks in advance, andy

You'll be fine. An afternoon to practise close quarter work is all you need. Remeber at slow speed with those big-pitch props the paddle wheel effect is big. So stbd motor clicked into fwd kicks to stern to stbd, like driving a tank. But you'll learn that v quickly and you'll be fine. Insurance = read the policy.

 

[[2068]]

It might also be useful for someone to show you around the engines, and have a think about what spares / tools you will have on-board.
e.g. belts, filters, impellers.

Having a good read of the manuals never hurts, especially when it comes to things like switching the active helm station which you probably don't want to be learning in the middle of a busy river!

You'll soon learn the joys of actually arriving in time for dinner, and in some cases in time for lunch, instead of arriving at 03:00 and spending most of the next day asleep

.

 

[Paul&Ness]

I would recommend a day of Own Boat Training provided by a reputable RYA training School. A day on your own boat under the expert guidance of an experienced instructor will help you gain confidence in manoeuvring your boat in close quarters environments. Money well spent

 

[andyfollett]

It might also be useful for someone to show you around the engines, and have a think about what spares / tools you will have on-board.
e.g. belts, filters, impellers.

Having a good read of the manuals never hurts, especially when it comes to things like switching the active helm station which you probably don't want to be learning in the middle of a busy river!

You'll soon learn the joys of actually arriving in time for dinner, and in some cases in time for lunch, instead of arriving at 03:00 and spending most of the next day asleep

.

Ha Ha. To be honest while i love the tranquility, patience required and connection with the moment that sailing offers, the grown up daughters and wife are not happy when the sails spoil the sunbathing!! Thanks for all comments guys,
Andy.

 

[Paul&Ness]

Will you raggie friends ever talk to you again

 

[andyfollett]

My mates all get seasick in the bath so have been on to me for years to replace my lovely sailing boat with something a bit quicker!! Ive simply capitulated to family and friends requests!!! Better to be on the water with friends than alone with the canvas I say.....

 

[Paul&Ness]

Nuf said

 

[Andy Bav]

Good luck with the purchase. When I did my ICC, the instructor was keen to do as much close quarter stuff on day 1 with no bow thruster, his rationale being that you can guarantee it will fail when you most need it.....

Where do you plan to keep her ?

 

[paul salliss]

I would recommend a day of Own Boat Training provided by a reputable RYA training School. A day on your own boat under the expert guidance of an experienced instructor will help you gain confidence in manoeuvring your boat in close quarters environments. Money well spent

I 100 percent agree but learn how to operate the anchor, work the nav, understand how to do engine checks, plus driving and parking it. You will need more than a day

 

[petem]

I 100 percent agree but learn how to operate the anchor, work the nav, understand how to do engine checks, plus driving and parking it. You will need more than a day

I think it's doable in a day by two would be better. Why not do an ICC assessment at the same tome to keep the insurers happy and to add some structure to the day?

 

[Elessar]

Hi All, I am close to buying a Princess 42 flybridge that has bow and stern thrusters. Volvo 435hp engines and wondered what advice you would give to someone that has never driven a power boat?
I am competent in so far as I understand the environment. I have owned sail boats up to 50 foot for decades an I am oceanmaster qualified with many big trips under my belt, (Biscay, N sea, Med deliveries etc) I am planning on taking delivery of the Princess then maybe having a paid skipper with me for a half day to guide me through close quarter maneuverings. Am i missing anything? Will my insurance require me to take specific powerboat qualifications?
Thanks in advance, andy

I've taught quite a few raggie to power conversions, and the big problem is getting raggies to slow down.......

You are used to getting enough way on for the rudder and keel to bite when manoeuvring, in a mobo you need to get used to blowing around and just giving a dab of power here and there when needed. The rudder won't bite in a mobo until you're doing about 10 knots!
In a marina for a newbie my rule of thumb is 10% of the time in gear only, 1 engine at a time only and leave the wheel in the middle. You can break all 3 of those rules in time, but that's enough to think about to start with.

The nav stuff will all be a walk in the park for you. Just remember that avoiding wind over tide is now more important than avoiding an adverse tide - that's the only change you need to make when passage planning. Well that and the fact that your tidal set will be much reduced because of your increased speed and if you travel at non D speeds you can mostly (ie if the tidal stream direction isn't going to change) just stick the pilot in track mode and save a load of thinking.

Finally anchoring. You will swing with the wind before the tide, your raggie mates will swing with the tide before the wind and you'll clonk into them when the tide changes if you stop too close. And the final tip - 870hp astern is not necessary to make the anchor set.

What a lovely first mobo BTW

 

[KevB]

A lot of the stuff you will already know, after all a boat is a boat.....
A lot of the stuff that you don't know will be the same for any owner of a new boat i.e. what switch does what and all that can be learnt safely tied to the pontoon.
A long afternoon of close quarter manoeuvring should be enough to give you a good insight into the difference between motor and sail.

As for qualifications, if you're thinking of taking the boat across to our european cousins then an ICC is good to have with CEVNI endorsement if you plan to take it on the continent inland waterways. ICC is a couple of hours showing off your handling skill, picking up buoys and man overboard routine (bucket tied to a buoy) and a dozen or so basic COLREG type questions.