Boat design consultancy - one year later

[MapisM]

the e/r and bilge look extremely clean,
is this standard maintenance, or do you pay extra attention to cleanness ?
also the stern gear looks impressively clean and neath, as all the rest of the boat.

is it all DIY or do you have crew / others taking care or that ?

Nope, actually I'm not so maniac about bilge cleaning, and honestly in the e/r area it's not as clean as in the previous pic...
And the u/w gear had just been antifouled in the other pic above!

For both standard maintenance and extraordinary jobs (as the one discussed in this thread) I use a local yard, but I have no crew.
The boat is very maneuverable, even with no thrusters at all, and myself plus swmbo are by now well trained to deal with her.
Actually, in most "normal" situations, she could be maneuvered also singlehanded, if it weren't that her registration requires a crew of two persons.

 

[MapisM]

Hi folks, while looking at the sunset yesterday night, I thought that it was a shame not to have in this thread any pic in a proper boating environment. So, here goes...
For the records, 28/23 degrees air/water temperature, just looovely!

 

[BartW]

23°C watertemp you must have had some time with hot weather now, and no wind ?
I guess its only the upper layer of ... how many meters ?
below that still 15..18°c or so ?

nice pics, you have started your holliday mode ?

 

[Seahope]

Great pictures. I particularly like the one of the engine room. Nice looking engines!

 

[AndieMac]

Good spacious area on the upper deck, and the SS sections and bases look very substantial, not much chance of flexing with that sort of gear.

....and a beautiful sunset!

 

[Rum_Pirate]

On top of that, here are some pics of the specific details requested by AM:

Engine room:

Am I missing something?

The engines appear to be held down by two bolts each.

ie the mounts furthest away from the photographer.

The two mounts closest to the photographer do not appear to have any bolts, and seem to 'rest' on the engine bed.

Great boat regardless.

 

[benjenbav]

Hi folks, while looking at the sunset yesterday night, I thought that it was a shame not to have in this thread any pic in a proper boating environment. So, here goes...
For the records, 28/23 degrees air/water temperature, just looovely!

Super. On Saturday night in Oxford, UK we put the central heating on at home! Wish we were there.

 

[MapisM]

23°C watertemp you must have had some time with hot weather now, and no wind ?
I guess its only the upper layer of ... how many meters ?
below that still 15..18°c or so ?

nice pics, you have started your holliday mode ?

Not so deep in that area, it's a channel between two islands, 20m or so in the deepest part.
No idea of the bottom temperature, but while snorkeling to check the anchor I spotted an abandoned lobster pot, and went down to recover it. Only 4 or 5 meters, but no big difference in temperature.

Re.holiday mode, yes and no. I'm actually working, but luckily I don't need to stay in a office anymore, so why stay at home when phone and email are available also onboard...?

 

[MapisM]

Am I missing something?
The engines appear to be held down by two bolts each.

Yeah, looking back at that pic, I would also be worried...
...though luckily all bolts are there, phew!
They're just in the inner part of the engine mounts, as per below pic.

 

[MapisM]

On Saturday night in Oxford, UK we put the central heating on at home!

 

[BartW]

I see your preference for port and starboard throttle and gear levers to be seperate, as opposed to that of the linked 'brochure' boat, which is possibly more standard.
I prefer them as you do, so you are not darting backwards and forwards over the wheel, instead, just rolling off one lever onto the next.

I don't understand, pls explain,

for manouvring, I only use the gear levers, so like them to be close to each other,

for accelerating, I like to move both throttle levers with one hand, synchronous

just want to learn

 

[Cookee]

Good looking job on the hard/soft top! I'm sure the boat gives you a lot of pleasure, especially in that environment!

 

[MapisM]

I don't understand, pls explain,

for manouvring, I only use the gear levers, so like them to be close to each other,

for accelerating, I like to move both throttle levers with one hand, synchronous

just want to learn

Bart, actually it's one of those things where there's neither a 100% correct nor a 100% wrong solution.

I've seen that BA has the levers coupled by function rather than by engines. Btw, they're hydraulic throttles by the look of them, right? Position aside, they're my preferred type.

But back to your question: when maneuvering, at times you might need also some RPM, not just the gear. And when that happens, it's more intuitive to use one hand for each engine.
Besides, when mooring stern to, it's convenient to helm looking astern, and using the levers behind you with two hands (right hand on port engine, left on stbd). This is much easier if the levers are coupled by engine.
The point you're making re. using just one hand to move both throttles is correct, and that is an absolute must on fast sportboats, which must be "driven" keeping always one hand on the wheel ('fiuaskme, the right hand on the wheel and the left on the throttles, though that's also a matter of preference).
But you can forget that with BA, 'cause you will touch the wheel very rarely, also while cruising. Therefore, using both hands to operate the throttles is not a problem.

 

[MapisM]

Good looking job on the hard/soft top! I'm sure the boat gives you a lot of pleasure, especially in that environment!

Glad to hear that you liked the job.
And yep, she definitely does.
Not so much in term of "driving" pleasure TBH, but I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too...!

 

[AndieMac]

I don't understand, pls explain,

for manouvring, I only use the gear levers, so like them to be close to each other,

for accelerating, I like to move both throttle levers with one hand, synchronous

just want to learn

With a planing boat like Blue Angel Bart, the idle thrust will be quite strong, so in a lot of tight manoeurving cases (other than strong beam on winds and fast running tides) engaging the gears only will be fine.

When you need to give the boat short sharp bursts of rpm's for extra prop thrust, your hands need to move back and forth over the wheel to reach the throttles. I just find it a little distracting while moving about and checking distances-off coming alongside.
It's just a personal preference.

Do you find the hydraulic controls (gears and throttles) quite firm to activate?
How much hesitation before engaging forward and reverse, from the neutral position....2 seconds?

 

[BartW]

With a planing boat like Blue Angel Bart, the idle thrust will be quite strong, so in a lot of tight manoeurving cases (other than strong beam on winds and fast running tides) engaging the gears only will be fine.

When you need to give the boat short sharp bursts of rpm's for extra prop thrust, your hands need to move back and forth over the wheel to reach the throttles. I just find it a little distracting while moving about and checking distances-off coming alongside.
It's just a personal preference.

Do you find the hydraulic controls (gears and throttles) quite firm to activate?
How much hesitation before engaging forward and reverse, from the neutral position....2 seconds?

long time no see AndyMac, good to have your back here !!!

in the Yacht Master course early this year they teached me not to use throttle during manouvring,(or only in extreme circomst like you quote ) and have to admid, that this works quite well,

I like the hydraulic controlls, despite the repair I had to do during the first trip, (broken tube socket) including putting again pressure in the system with a bycecle pump ,
but I don't really notice a hesitation before engaging FW nor REV.
Due to the size it works all slow, but I don't have a feeling there is a delay in the system nor the controls ! ?

 

[AndieMac]

I like the hydraulic controlls, despite the repair I had to do during the first trip, (broken tube socket) including putting again pressure in the system with a bycecle pump ,
but I don't really notice a hesitation before engaging FW nor REV.
Due to the size it works all slow, but I don't have a feeling there is a delay in the system nor the controls ! ?

Yeah Bart we have the bike pump on the rear engine-room bulkhead, just by the gearbox control oil reservoir, it mainly gets used to pump up the steering system pressure (Hypro-marine) which drops over long periods of unuse.

What gearboxes does BA have? The Princess has Reintjes WYS 234, but certainly has a 2 second delay between neutral and either fwd or astern, used to it now, but would rather not have it. BTW pressure is up to required level.

Had a gearbox oil line fail (fatigued from vibration) a couple of years ago at sea, losing the 25 litre oil capacity in the bilge, managed to 'borrow' a bypassed section of solid line from the opposite box, refill and keep going.
It pays to keep a decent amount of reserve engine/gearbox oil stowed aboard.

 

[BartW]

Do you think that the winter cover will give extra protection to the teac on the FB ?
was that a purpose of that cover ?

does it ever freeze in Sardegna?
doesn't that harm the teac floor ?

I have a few small leaks through the FB floor,
have been thinking about a cover for winter period on BA

same for the cockpit floor, a small leak to the Engine room,
but thats when I'm cleaning, I like to use LOTS of water, when it's sunny.
there is a curtain to protect/close the cockpit for wind and rain.
but I'm afraid this will be damaged / blown away by the mistral.

 

[MapisM]

Do you think that the winter cover will give extra protection to the teac on the FB ?
was that a purpose of that cover ?

does it ever freeze in Sardegna?
doesn't that harm the teac floor ?

Yep, the "winter cover" will definitely help protecting and prolonging the life of both the teak and the seams, and that's the reason for this "foldable" design. Actually, I think that the sun protection offered by the top cover alone is already an improvement, but of course the full cover is better, 'cause it covers the whole surface and protects also from rain.
Freezing is not a problem around here, but it surely wouldn't be a good thing for a teak deck, I reckon.

All the best for the troubleshooting of those leaks on BA.
I would suggest to not underestimate them though, because wood on boats is known for rotting mainly due to fresh water (rain), rather than saltwater.

 

[BartW]

We’re planning to make a winter cover for the FB of BA very soon, similar to yours, but WITHOUT the sunroof, as we do already have a sunroof that we hardly use,
I’m just wondering if it will be possible to have that cover not gathering to much rain without a supporting structure.
Yes we will have to add a few poles / items to raise the cover in the middle,
ao use the FB table (put something on it)

Perhaps I could fold down the frame of the sunroof while it is fold together,
And or fixing a pole on the helm seat
Any advice on this ?