Artemisia - new build thread for a Prestige 680

[petem]

My upgrade to the flybridge galley is near completion, with the fitting of a top of the range Gaggenau grill replacing the standard smaller Kenyon grill. The new Gaggenau, which has lava rocks under the grill element, is 50% bigger which means that I can comfortably cook for six now, rather than four on the Kenyon. The grill position has been swapped around with the sink, which has resulted in a bigger and deeper sink too. I am delighted with this new arrangement, and cannot wait to christen it by cooking a couple of mega dry-aged cote de boeuf for our first celebratory dinner on board!

This is the grill in the Gaggenau showroom. I love the beautifully engineered twin controls for the two separate cooking elements.

With the lava rocks (supposedly) there is no messy drip tray to clean after cooking as nearly all the fat and excess liquids get absorbed into the stones and then burn off over time. We shall see!

There was not enough room to fit the controls beside the grill itself, so the factory have found another good place for them.

The weights are holding down a stainless steel plate which not only protects the GRP top from the residual heat of the grill, but also acts as a practical prep surface whilst cooking and to serve from. Underneath the grill is a small refrigerator.

My new large and very practical sink :eagerness:

Very nice mods inded.

 

[IDAMAY]

Hopefully the lava rock "technology" has come along over the years. I bought a second user boat a few years ago that had a Smeg BBQ with lava rocks. They were admittedly larger rocks than the ones shown in the photo but there was a mass of "gunge" on and below the rocks. The previous owner had five sons and I gather the BBQ was used frequently!

 

[MAFWeiss]

Hopefully the lava rock "technology" has come along over the years. I bought a second user boat a few years ago that had a Smeg BBQ with lava rocks. They were admittedly larger rocks than the ones shown in the photo but there was a mass of "gunge" on and below the rocks. The previous owner had five sons and I gather the BBQ was used frequently!

I am sure that will be the case. So after extended use I will simply replace them with fresh rocks at the end of the season.

 

[Jamesuk]

Great boat!

 

[Jamesuk]

Stainless steel chain – whether or not this is a worthwhile extravagance

YES, we have 100m 13mm it is great, anchor is well used so is Lewmar non Stainless: you may want a 'for show anchor lol' or say 'i anchor look how well used it is'!

Water maker – given the cost, we will likely try a season without one before deciding. Saving 10k on Alcantara just confirmed that you need to get a Watermaker! 250-300 litre per hour should be ok! We have an ENWA: excellent 4 membrane system

Did you spec a Inventica Multi-sim Yachtspot? Much cheaper watching Golf masters with zero interuptions and a 50th of the cost of the domes.

 

[Jamesuk]

Ahh: i may have missed it in your spec

Will you be getting wireless controls?

As you are new to boating I would actually recommend it.

example: when you are going stern to into Montenegro you can stand on the aft deck and know your exact distance and your deckhand can be there ready with the boat hook and stern lines to make sure the rest is done smoothly. No shouting!

Now I see you have the dynamic GPS installed am I right in thinking this probably does not work like it does on an Oil rig and so you should expect in strong winds for it to fail. In which case the wireless controls will help out a lot when docking.

I met two couples who ran with stern deck steering. The wireless guy could go anywhere on the boat (55ft MOBO) but the other guy (65ft mobo) had control of his engines and thrusters on the stern deck using a built in console.

Look forward to seeing the boat at Ancasta HYS

 

[MAFWeiss]

Great boat!

Thank you James.

Regarding your other comments, please see below:

you may want a 'for show anchor lol…
We already have the Ultra stainless steel anchor and swivel to go with the 100m 12mm G50 stainless steel chain.

Water maker
I have decided to have that fitted post build and have ordered the Aquamatic 900-2 modular unit with a UV steriliser

Did you spec a Inventica Multi-sim Yachtspot?
No I left it to Landau, who are doing most of the post delivery works, to fit what they thought best. So they have specced:

TV Antenna – Glomex V9125/12
RouterYacht Surfer – SURF4G-E 4G marine Router
Wifi extender - SURF WIFI 2 Antenna
4G Comrod GSM antenna

Will you be getting wireless controls?
No, I do not think I need that as I have good visibility from the flybridge (plus rear view cameras), a hatch door by the lower helm joystick, and a third helm position on the cockpit. So more than happy I can dock the boat without any more gizmos.

Now I see you have the dynamic GPS installed …so you should expect in strong winds for it to fail. In which case the wireless controls will help out a lot when docking.
I do not intend to attempt any dangerous manoeuvres in a marina in high winds, or rely on the dynamic GPS, or indeed lateral movement with the pod drives. I already have had a bad experience of this, and I do not intend to repeat it!

 

[MapisM]

I do not intend to attempt any dangerous manoeuvres in a marina in high winds, or rely on the dynamic GPS, or indeed lateral movement with the pod drives.

I couldn't agree more. :encouragement:
Then again - and it's a genuine question, with apologies if it sounds sarcastic, but I can't think of a more diplomatic way to put it - why did you choose the IPS?
I mean, the usage where you had some bad experiences is normally what sounds more attractive, to most boaters considering IPS boats...

PS: just popped to my mind, maybe the P680 is not available at all with shafts?

 

[MAFWeiss]

PS: just popped to my mind, maybe the P680 is not available at all with shafts?

Give that man a coconut! layful: It may well be that the ''final'' boat in me, perhaps a 75-78 footer, will indeed be shaft driven. But at this stage in our journey, my beloved and I think that everything else that this Prestige 680 has to offer, far outweighs the issues of pod v. shaft.

 

[jfm]

I totally agree that with 3rd station controls in cockpit you do not need any more gizmos. I've had fixed 3rd station controls and portable ones, and with the latter I always use them in the aft cockpit, so there is no advantage to having a wireless yacht controller in my book. Indeed I can see a disadvantage, which is that one of your hands is 100% occupied holding the darned thing. With fixed controls, you can for a few seconds free up BOTH hands to help C with ropes or something, and then go back to the controls when you need to apply power. For plenty of time when docking you are just gliding and don't need to apply power, and for those moments you have 2 hands free

 

[Nigelpickin]

Give that man a coconut! layful: It may well be that the ''final'' boat in me, perhaps a 75-78 footer, will indeed be shaft driven. But at this stage in our journey, my beloved and I think that everything else that this Prestige 680 has to offer, far outweighs the issues of pod v. shaft.

Mark, I think you will find the Volvo IPS far more reliable, from what I've experiencenced and heard. It will be good to hear your opinion once you've docked her a few times.
Very much looking forward to hearing about your 78'we also!

 

[jfm]

Gotta say though, I see no point in a wifi extender, and as intimated at Boat Show I think Landau are totally wrong on that recommendation. All it does is connect you to marina wifi, which you share with 100 other users, and so get not nearly enough bandwidth. Why you'd want to make yourself MORE connected to such a crummy facility defeats me. What you want is 4G - you can stream HD movies to your TVs if you want, while at anchor. When 5G or whatever comes out, chuck away the £80 router and get another, plug and play. The £40 etc a month will be way cheaper than Landau's gear (which will be outdated soon if not already) even after some years. If you follow this policy, you can forget the "marine" router and fit an Asus or similar high end home/small office router for £80 with zero installation fees

 

[jfm]

That's a nice watermaker. Completely trouble free. The automatic back flush function is excellent

 

[Hurricane]

Gotta say though, I see no point in a wifi extender, and as intimated at Boat Show I think Landau are totally wrong on that recommendation. All it does is connect you to marina wifi, which you share with 100 other users, and so get not nearly enough bandwidth. Why you'd want to make yourself MORE connected to such a crummy facility defeats me. What you want is 4G - you can stream HD movies to your TVs if you want, while at anchor. When 5G or whatever comes out, chuck away the £80 router and get another, plug and play. The £40 etc a month will be way cheaper than Landau's gear (which will be outdated soon if not already) even after some years. If you follow this policy, you can forget the "marine" router and fit an Asus or similar high end home/small office router for £80 with zero installation fees

100% agree
Virtually all our good satellite TV channels have now gone.
4G seems to me to be the way forward to catch up on our TV etc.
Data contracts are still a little steep but if you look hard enough there are some unlimited data ones out there - in Spain anyway.
I've been using your concept over the last few years.
My system incorporates a router with the WAN side connected to a WiFi client.
As 4G unlimited data packages become more available, I will simply change the WiFi client for a 4G client and everything in the boat remains the same (just faster and more reliable).
Thats what I'm hoping anyway.

Using data like this leads to another concept - making that data available throughout the boat - IPTV on your all TV sets etc - a whole new game.
Otherwise - why have a TV in the Med?
Lots to think about.
Just sticking in a router is only the start of it.

 

[MAFWeiss]

Gotta say though, I see no point in a wifi extender, and as intimated at Boat Show I think Landau are totally wrong on that recommendation. All it does is connect you to marina wifi, which you share with 100 other users, and so get not nearly enough bandwidth. Why you'd want to make yourself MORE connected to such a crummy facility defeats me. What you want is 4G - you can stream HD movies to your TVs if you want, while at anchor. When 5G or whatever comes out, chuck away the £80 router and get another, plug and play. The £40 etc a month will be way cheaper than Landau's gear (which will be outdated soon if not already) even after some years. If you follow this policy, you can forget the "marine" router and fit an Asus or similar high end home/small office router for £80 with zero installation fees

Thanx JFM and Hurricane for the input. I have forwarded on your comments to Landau and it will be interesting to see how they respond.

 

[MAFWeiss]

100% agree...
Virtually all our good satellite TV channels have now gone.
4G seems to me to be the way forward to catch up on our TV etc.
Data contracts are still a little steep but if you look hard enough there are some unlimited data ones out there - in Spain anyway…..
Otherwise - why have a TV in the Med?
Lots to think about.

Actually the reality for our use of the TV is that where we are in Italy, there are literally 100s of channels - none of which one would ever want to watch. And the only time we do watch TV is when we are on our own in spring or autumn and the nights are too cool/cold to sit outside, and then invariably we watch DVDs. I have though just started to get into Netflix. As for unlimited 4G data packages, Italy is not great for those - indeed I have yet to find one out there!

 

[jfm]

Thanx JFM and Hurricane for the input. I have forwarded on your comments to Landau and it will be interesting to see how they respond.

There's sort of nothing to respond to Mark! You install same modem/router as you would at home (Asus or other good quality) and instead of connecting it to your phone socket as you would at home you shove a 4g data card in. The thing is powered 24/7 off 12v (or off 230 v inverter if you want). Then it's like being at home. You set up the password, and all your iPhones and TVs connect. If a TV happens to be near the router, connect with Cat5 cable to bypass the wifi connection, but wifi is fine. Job done, just like at home. Nothing "marine"; nothing you can't chuck away at minimal cost. I have my Asus router hidden behind a furniture panel because a boat is so small that the signal gets everywhere, through furniture panels etc, so I don't even need to look at

As regards range to the 4g antenna on land, it seems to be at least a few miles offshore, so it's pretty good for coastal cruising. That's with no special antenna. You can buy special antennae or raise the ones supplied using an SMA extension lead, but I've never bothered. Also the Asus routers have a USB socket to which you can connect an external hard drive, on which I have all the boat's manuals and data and build photos stored, so I can access them wirelessly on any Pc/tablet on the boat. I'd use this router... https://www.asus.com/Networking/4G-AC55U/ which is their new model; I have last year's model of the same thing but they've improved the performance. You really need to buy a new one every seasons or every 2nd season

Basically I just don't see the point in anything "marine" here

 

[jfm]

Actually the reality for our use of the TV is that where we are in Italy, there are literally 100s of channels - none of which one would ever want to watch. And the only time we do watch TV is when we are on our own in spring or autumn and the nights are too cool/cold to sit outside, and then invariably we watch DVDs. I have though just started to get into Netflix. As for unlimited 4G data packages, Italy is not great for those - indeed I have yet to find one out there!

Same here; most Tv is rubbish and you'd never waste your life on it but Netflix and some youtube is fun when mood/occasion suits. Normally I'd prefer to be in the sea or eating or tinkering with the boat

 

[MapisM]

As for unlimited 4G data packages, Italy is not great for those - indeed I have yet to find one out there!

Not really unlimited, but from Vodafone (which has, together with TIM, the best 4G coverage in IT) you can buy for 149 Eur a SIM card that gives you one year of 15Gb/month data connection, which is a lot.
Mind, believe it or not this Vodafone offer is only valid TODAY, Mar 17th (!)

That aside, the companies which offer the better 4G deals, weird as it might sound, often are not real network operators.
Some months ago, I subscribed an offer (sorry, not available anymore now) from Alternatyva, with flat 4G connection based on Wind network, for 150 Eur/year.
Since then, after a short time running in parallel to check the performance, I even dismissed my landline, and all I'm now using is an Alcatel Y900 portable 4G router.
It's as small as a credit card, just 1cm or so thick, and capable to handle up to 300Mbps 4G speed - not that you can get it anywhere yet, but I've seen up to around 100 in places, which is amazingly fast.
When I'm at home, it's bridged to my old ADSL router, which handles WiFi and gigabit Ethernet through the house as it did in the past.
And whenever I move elsewhere, boat included of course, I just grab the Alcatel thingie and use the same connection anywhere.
Well, anywhere in IT, that is. Time being, roaming is still not included.

PS: goes without saying that I second 100% what jfm and Hurric said re. 4G being the way to go! :encouragement:

 

[Hurricane]

Not really unlimited, but from Vodafone (which has, together with TIM, the best 4G coverage in IT) you can buy for 149 Eur a SIM card that gives you one year of 15Gb/month data connection, which is a lot.
Mind, believe it or not this Vodafone offer is only valid TODAY, Mar 17th (!)

That aside, the companies which offer the better 4G deals, weird as it might sound, often are not real network operators.
Some months ago, I subscribed an offer (sorry, not available anymore now) from Alternatyva, with flat 4G connection based on Wind network, for 150 Eur/year.
Since then, after a short time running in parallel to check the performance, I even dismissed my landline, and all I'm now using is an Alcatel Y900 portable 4G router.
It's as small as a credit card, just 1cm or so thick, and capable to handle up to 300Mbps 4G speed - not that you can get it anywhere yet, but I've seen up to around 100 in places, which is amazingly fast.
When I'm at home, it's bridged to my old ADSL router, which handles WiFi and gigabit Ethernet through the house as it did in the past.
And whenever I move elsewhere, boat included of course, I just grab the Alcatel thingie and use the same connection anywhere.
Well, anywhere in IT, that is. Time being, roaming is still not included.

PS: goes without saying that I second 100% what jfm and Hurric said re. 4G being the way to go! :encouragement:

Yep - but if you want to stream TV, 15Gb per month wouldn't be enough.
IMO, any contract would need to be unlimited data which, at the moment, is difficult (but not impossible) to find.