New Boat - Princess 56

admillington said:
I don't know but will find out when I go to the Factory on the 28th April and report back.
Click to expand...

Visited the Factory yesterday and spoke to James Barke about your boat and he believed she is currently being moulded so I couldn't see her but visited the P43 line and saw three P43 in various stages of completion. Each model is finished in a dedicated shed and there is a very structured build about an ISO process. I strongly recommend that you visit - it will strengthen your decision as to why you purchased a Princess and it is very useful seeing the lid off and where everything is routed.
 
Visit Report.

Don't know where to start as information overload.

Went down the night before and stayed in an excellent hotel just outside of Plymouth - http://www.glazebrookhouse.com/. Great Dinner and far too wine with James Barke talking about boats.

Went to Newport Street as that is where my P56 is being PDI (stage 1). Was given an introduction by a very well informed, long standing Princess Manager who pointed out of the window where Princess started in a small shed on the other side of the inlet. I visited the P75/P60/P43 production lines. The woodwork,cabling, metalwork etc production facilities are elsewhere (7 sites in Plymouth) and the items are delivered to the build shed on a just in time basis. Some notable points:-

1. All the cabling looms are created to the individual spec of each boat and each cable is clearly labelled - there is no wire in the build areas so no extra wire can be installed.
2. The underside of the boat is in clear gelcoat so they can see any issues in the build and that as the most "pure" form of gelcoat without colour filler so to offer the most resistance to the elements.
3. One crew do a fixed work plan for each boat so to keep consistency.

My boat was moored alongside a P60 - currently it is in the Audit stage by Princess before being passed to the distributor for their own PDI before handover to me. The logic is that it is far cheaper to fix any issues in Plymouth rather than miles away.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.58.12.jpg

Helm view

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.29.54 HDR-2.jpg

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.30.03 HDR-2.jpg

Galley View

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.29.57 HDR-2.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.30.10 HDR.jpg

Forecabin

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.30.21.jpg

Starboard Cabin

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.30.28.jpg

Corridor

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.30.37.jpg

Master Cabin

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.30.44.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.30.50.jpg

Master Cabin Heads

//dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28%2010.31.01.jpg

Saloon

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.31.38 HDR.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.31.41 HDR.jpg

Engineroom

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.39.04.jpg

Steering Pump

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.41.16.jpg

Flybridge Helm

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.47.20.jpg

Radar Arch

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.47.33.jpg

Overall I am very pleased with my purchase and looking forward to the end of May when she is delivered.








 
Love the walnut finish too. IMHO a dark wood always makes a boat look more 'shippy'. Those Vi-Sprung mattresses must have cost a pretty penny. We've got one at home and it is superb. I bet those weren't standard Princess fitment;)
 
Deleted User said:
Love the walnut finish too. IMHO a dark wood always makes a boat look more 'shippy'. Those Vi-Sprung mattresses must have cost a pretty penny. We've got one at home and it is superb. I bet those weren't standard Princess fitment;)
Click to expand...

The mattresses were standard fit in all cabins apart from the crew cabin - which I won't change as I will use it as a store.
 
admillington said:
Visited the Factory yesterday and spoke to James Barke about your boat and he believed she is currently being moulded so I couldn't see her but visited the P43 line and saw three P43 in various stages of completion. Each model is finished in a dedicated shed and there is a very structured build about an ISO process. I strongly recommend that you visit - it will strengthen your decision as to why you purchased a Princess and it is very useful seeing the lid off and where everything is routed.
Click to expand...


Looks great. Thanks for info. We are heading to Plymouth soon as weather improves on east coast. Looking forward to factory visit.
 
Like someone said I can only Dream of a boat like that but it looks lovely and I am sure you will really enjoy her. Well I can tell you are doing that already.

Made me smile though about Princess providing the posh mattresses in the main cabins but the 'dare I assume' cheaper one in the crew cabin :)

Dennis
 
They are a big seller -here out side the SOF dealers pontoon (la Napoule ) -steady stream arriving for PDI -
Usually hang around 3 weeks then off.-
So that says something +ve
Quite a few seem to get the "dealer fit " wooden floors fitted -remove the cream carpet , 2 guys take about a week .
 
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Portofino said:
They are a big seller -here out side the SOF dealers pontoon (la Napoule ) -steady stream arriving for PDI -
Usually hang around 3 weeks then off.-
So that says something +ve
Quite a few seem to get the "dealer fit " wooden floors fitted -remove the cream carpet , 2 guys take about a week .
Click to expand...

I did ask how many and my boat is in the early 100s and they are sold out now until the Southampton show boat.

I tested the bathing platform after one of the forum members mentioned it and it went a long way down and the boat had little fuel and water on board - of course, the final test will be when I try to get the Williams on board.
 
I'm not jealous at all :)

The one thing I would like is a full size fridge freezer like the 60'

In terms of the crew cabin in Asia it does genuinely get used. Whilst not a legal requirement unless you are chartering in somewhere like Thailand many people will cruise with a captain / boat boy who keeps the boat looking good, can stay with the boat when you are ashore, will be able to magic up stuff whilst you are touring around and can take the helm when you are entertaining or fancy letting someone else drive as you potter along at displacement speed.

Being truly honest most Asian crew could make do even if you didn't have the crew cabin fit out and you do get a lot of extra storage, not that the 56 is short in that department having a vast space under the cockpit floor. Western crew are a bit more selective.

Henry :)
 
My extra electronics plan - very open to comments

Fitted by Princess as part of the build:-

Twin Raymarine ES Screens

Raymarine SHD Radar

Raymarine Autopilot and Echo/Speed

Confused about the electronic charts with Raymarine - seems to be three different options.

To be fitted by Berthon:-

KVH M3 Sat TV connected to Humax Freesat Box
Dummy Dome to balance the look.
Echomax
Raymarine AIS650
Yacht Router - Wi-Fi and Cellular

Picture of Arch https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/2016-04-28 10.47.33.jpg


Proposal is to move the GPS antenna into the dummy dome

Fit the Echomax on the mount where the GPS antenna was.

Make a mount for the KVH - Berthon did this on another boat recently https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14012668/TV5 mount.JPG

Fit a Raymarine AIS100 Splitter so no need for another antenna.
 
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