New build Princess F55 flybridge

[PaulRainbow]

Finally they’re doing what the Navionics app has been doing for years. I’ve never understood why the permanent chartplotters don’t have this feature.

It's been a feature of some Garmin plotters since 2016

 

[PaulRainbow]

Garmin - you can get the "garmin active captain app" then along with the navionics app, plot any routes on your phone/tablet and download to the boat.

You don't need the Navionics app' Tony.

Install the Active Captain app' on your phone/tablet, log in to your Garmin account and it will allow you to download the charts that are registered to you. You can do this on two devices. You can then use the app' stand alone, or use the Helm" feature to mirror the MFD.

If set to sync with the MFD and routes/waypoints created on the app' will be sent to the MFD.

If the app' is in "Helm" mode, you can use it as a remote for the autopilot, amongst other things.

 

[TonyR123]

I admit I havent downloaded the garmin app as yet - on my list for "boat to dos once arrived" list. I currently use the navionics app to plot routes at home for both balearics (motor) and england (sail). Sailing boat doesnt have garmin so actually run the navionics on a tablet instead of boat plotter as too small. May not use navionics app at all for the v55 going forward - who knows.

 

[Portofino]

The usefulness of which I can't for the life of me understand.
Have you ever seen the test workbench used by Bosch shops for replacing/calibrating injectors and their nozzles?
You don't want to carry that around with you, trust me.
In your boots, I'd rather drill a hole in that spare and use it as a key holder.

BTW, if you think that also replacing a prop can be a DIY job (let alone with the boat in the water!), well, think again.

You are missing the point .Parts availability with lugging your own spare props about the Med ( Solent )
Could take months to get a spare prop which is a disaster looming of Bouba esq proportions time wise for commercial operators.

The injector tips just came with that kit along with a myriad of weird and wonderful tools I have never seen before .Although I have used the valve lash adjustment tool , but quite ok with a size 13 mm ring spanner / socket and large flat screw driver the trad method .Hey Ho .Boy toys .
You are right personally better let the pros mess with injectors .

A set of metric tools , nothing specific in that pic can be had anywhere in case one needs anything.Although folks should carry a set anyhow so they are hardly “ the best present / accessory “ or what ever language you wanna use .Even if a 13 mm spanner was engraved with a Priny logo it’s still a universal 13 mm readily available.

How ever a set of props and fixing paraphernalia IS THE BEST accessory/ gift / etc a builder could bestow to a commercial customer.IMHO .

Unless the customer runs a prop shop with casting facilities .

Interesting to know from a factory side in this case Priny what stock levels of current boats in production they hold ? Presume in theory today they could put there hands on a pair for a P55 , but then rob an existing build ? How jobsworthy the resistance would be ?
Doubt the bean counters continually under pressure looking at the books , would want systems to stray away from JIT stocking ?

Once that modal / engine manufacturer changes then presume the prop specs alter and then all they can do is refer back to the prop foundry or something……which is my point could take months .

Leisure = no issues just sit on it in the marina you are actually saving money with the engines off …….a silver lining awaiting fresh props .

Aside as I said they make great Object D Art imho .A pair with spanner mounted on H s bulkhead in the spare room would look pretty cool imho .

 

[MapisM]

A calendar with stripped off ladies would be cooler than a pair of props imho, without adding any useless ballast to the boat.
But each to their own!

 

[markc]

I have a spare pair of props and a spare shaft on my boat. There's a certain sense of comfort that they bring, but hopefully I'm never in a position to need them

 

[Hurricane]

Routes and Plotters
I consider myself to be a bit geeky so this comment is "out of character".
When we started on our current Princess, I had the latest "Glass Bridge System" that money could buy.
In fact, it is still excellent.
I spent many hours plotting routes and waypoints.
Do you know? - it is all a waste of time.
These days, I use the most useful feature that ALL plotters have - "Go To Cursor".
I simply move the cursor to the position I want to go and press "Go".
This creates a temporary waypoint that the autopilot can follow.
Of course, a passage is done in stages but if I'm using the plotter to control the auto pilot, I simply use this "Go to Cursor" method.
Yep it was great creating routes in the beginning but definitely not essential.

However, there IS one feature that I use all the time and that is to resume your track to your from current position.
Lets say you have to change course - maybe it is to avoid a ship - for us, it is usually to play with the dolphins.
When it is time to resume a route to your waypoint (temporary - go to cursor etc or from a route) you don't, necessarily, want it to drive the autopilot back to the original track.
In the Raymarine world it is called "resetting your cross track error"
Most of the time, you want it to take you directly to your next (chosen) waypoint.
I appreciate that navigating in tighter waters there are other considerations but on a longer open passage going back to the original track is silly.

A few years ago, I was helping with a delivery andI couldn't get that option to work on that version of that particular Garmin system.
The only solution I could see on that version was to stop the "Go To" and reset it - and there were too many steps.
Sorry guys, that put me off Garmin - even my old Raymarie Pathfinders from years ago had a simple "correct cross track error".

A feature that I use a lot with our Glass Bridge is the feed from the ships PC.
This gives me on the bridge a completely separate nav system using different charts and GPS etc but also provides me with a graphical log of where we have been.
Knowing where you have been in the past helps a lot when revisiting a place.

 

[Parabolica]

St Albans then Synapse. I set up an architectural model making division. They were great product model makers then got into figures for Disney approval etc.

A fantastic job but you were at the end of the design chain which meant no time and everything was to tender, they didn’t value skill and relationship. More than a few all nighters

Yep, that was the world it was for sure.
Ain’t much different now either tbh. Certainly an undervalued skill and industry.

You must know Ali Coleman from your Synapse time?

 

[Hooligan]

Routes and Plotters
I consider myself to be a bit geeky so this comment is "out of character".
When we started on our current Princess, I had the latest "Glass Bridge System" that money could buy.
In fact, it is still excellent.
I spent many hours plotting routes and waypoints.
Do you know? - it is all a waste of time.
These days, I use the most useful feature that ALL plotters have - "Go To Cursor".
I simply move the cursor to the position I want to go and press "Go".
This creates a temporary waypoint that the autopilot can follow.
Of course, a passage is done in stages but if I'm using the plotter to control the auto pilot, I simply use this "Go to Cursor" method.
Yep it was great creating routes in the beginning but definitely not essential.

However, there IS one feature that I use all the time and that is to resume your track to your from current position.
Lets say you have to change course - maybe it is to avoid a ship - for us, it is usually to play with the dolphins.
When it is time to resume a route to your waypoint (temporary - go to cursor etc or from a route) you don't, necessarily, want it to drive the autopilot back to the original track.
In the Raymarine world it is called "resetting your cross track error"
Most of the time, you want it to take you directly to your next (chosen) waypoint.
I appreciate that navigating in tighter waters there are other considerations but on a longer open passage going back to the original track is silly.

A few years ago, I was helping with a delivery andI couldn't get that option to work on that version of that particular Garmin system.
The only solution I could see on that version was to stop the "Go To" and reset it - and there were too many steps.
Sorry guys, that put me off Garmin - even my old Raymarie Pathfinders from years ago had a simple "correct cross track error".

A feature that I use a lot with our Glass Bridge is the feed from the ships PC.
This gives me on the bridge a completely separate nav system using different charts and GPS etc but also provides me with a graphical log of where we have been.
Knowing where you have been in the past helps a lot when revisiting a place.

Totally agree I have a Garmin and I cannot find a feature that allows me to hit one button and reset the course to the original course if I deviate for whatever reason from the original course. What I have to do is cancel and reset. I often also use Navionics on my iPad side by side with the Garmin. It does auto routes as well and I think is excellent and gives a good overall picture.

 

[jfm]

Routes and Plotters
I consider myself to be a bit geeky so this comment is "out of character".
When we started on our current Princess, I had the latest "Glass Bridge System" that money could buy.
In fact, it is still excellent.
I spent many hours plotting routes and waypoints.
Do you know? - it is all a waste of time.
These days, I use the most useful feature that ALL plotters have - "Go To Cursor".
I simply move the cursor to the position I want to go and press "Go".
This creates a temporary waypoint that the autopilot can follow.
Of course, a passage is done in stages but if I'm using the plotter to control the auto pilot, I simply use this "Go to Cursor" method.
Yep it was great creating routes in the beginning but definitely not essential.

However, there IS one feature that I use all the time and that is to resume your track to your from current position.
Lets say you have to change course - maybe it is to avoid a ship - for us, it is usually to play with the dolphins.
When it is time to resume a route to your waypoint (temporary - go to cursor etc or from a route) you don't, necessarily, want it to drive the autopilot back to the original track.
In the Raymarine world it is called "resetting your cross track error"
Most of the time, you want it to take you directly to your next (chosen) waypoint.
I appreciate that navigating in tighter waters there are other considerations but on a longer open passage going back to the original track is silly.

A few years ago, I was helping with a delivery andI couldn't get that option to work on that version of that particular Garmin system.
The only solution I could see on that version was to stop the "Go To" and reset it - and there were too many steps.
Sorry guys, that put me off Garmin - even my old Raymarie Pathfinders from years ago had a simple "correct cross track error".

A feature that I use a lot with our Glass Bridge is the feed from the ships PC.
This gives me on the bridge a completely separate nav system using different charts and GPS etc but also provides me with a graphical log of where we have been.
Knowing where you have been in the past helps a lot when revisiting a place.

Hurricane - 100% agree on routes. In all my years of boating I have NEVER made a route and doubt I ever will. I just use goto cursor. like you. When the boat gets to the cursor, I enter the next point.

I use auto route creation to measure distances when it's not a straight line and I'm planning/contemplating a trip, but not for driving the boat.

Garmin does have reset XTE. On older firmware years ago it was harder to find (3 menus layers down iirc) which was dumb, but not nowadays. So Garmin/Raym are identical on this point nowadays.

 

[jfm]

Totally agree I have a Garmin and I cannot find a feature that allows me to hit one button and reset the course to the original course if I deviate for whatever reason from the original course. What I have to do is cancel and reset. I often also use Navionics on my iPad side by side with the Garmin. It does auto routes as well and I think is excellent and gives a good overall picture.

No way! If your kit is old, download the latest software/firmishware

 

[jfm]

it looks like this is a special Planus model for Princess. Your toilet with the footprint with edges and bolts is not on the Planus website. They do have a model called Match though
very nice heads; Princess does a very fine job there.

Hmmm. That is a standard Planus Eric, but a discontinued model called Elite. I presume that Planus must still make it for the trade, even though it isn't on website. It has visible screws but its main problem (and I guess reason was discontinued) is that the white ceramic ledge at the back of the seat hinges isn't deep enough when you add catalogue Sugatsune soft-close hinges that everyone wants these days, as in Henry's pic . When I say not deep enough, what happens is that the seat won't go past 90 degrees so won't stay up. Princess overcome this (after a fashion) with a little wooden spacer to stand the WC off the wall, as you can see in the pic. You see this throughout the Princess range. When I was noodling (unsuccessfully) a custom spec for a y85/95 my list included redesigning all this to eliminate the stand off piece, but I withdrew before we got to discussing that level of detail so I don't know whether they would have agreed the mod. It very much isn't the end of the world of course, but really Princess ought to be fitting a different model of Planus/Tecma

 

[jfm]

Finally they’re doing what the Navionics app has been doing for years. I’ve never understood why the permanent chartplotters don’t have this feature.

"Finally"? My 2013 Garmin boat had it.

 

[henryf]

Toilets - how quiet are they actually? Also how quiet is the water pump, i.e. when you turn on a tap do you notice the pump? Both quite nooist on current prestige

I had a little play today.

Toilets - certainly the quietest toilets I've had on a boat. I would say they use more water than the Dometics we used to have. This is partly down to design and partly down to an improved water delivery system on the F55 compared to the P50.

The Planus toilet encourages you to pre load the pan with a generous charge of water. Once the business has been done more water comes in and it flushes away. There doesn't seem to be a lengthy churning of material as there was on the Domestic, just a short period of processing. Then the toilet has a tiny gulp at the end after a few seconds. I'm going to bow to the knowledge of the forum on how well they deal with material. Lack of a long churning period worries me but let's hope design is improved. They are certainly quiet.

@jfm your encyclopaedic knowledge of boat components and design is simply staggering. My head would burst if I considered every component in the detail you do !!

Water pumps. The water pump is much quieter on the F55 compared to the P50 to the point where you have to strain to hear it running. Ive posted up a couple of photos of the pump set up, it's much more involved than I was expecting I assumed a single pump but as you can see there are actually 2 pumps working together. The whole lot is located in the engine room between the 2 engines. Main water tank is under the master cabin bed I believe.

 

[EricJ]

Hmmm. That is a standard Planus Eric, but a discontinued model called Elite. I presume that Planus must still make it for the trade, even though it isn't on website. It has visible screws but its main problem (and I guess reason was discontinued) is that the white ceramic ledge at the back of the seat hinges isn't deep enough when you add catalogue Sugatsune soft-close hinges that everyone wants these days, as in Henry's pic . When I say not deep enough, what happens is that the seat won't go past 90 degrees so won't stay up. Princess overcome this (after a fashion) with a little wooden spacer to stand the WC off the wall, as you can see in the pic. You see this throughout the Princess range. When I was noodling (unsuccessfully) a custom spec for a y85/95 my list included redesigning all this to eliminate the stand off piece, but I withdrew before we got to discussing that level of detail so I don't know whether they would have agreed the mod. It very much isn't the end of the world of course, but really Princess ought to be fitting a different model of Planus/Tecma

Interesting…indeed I have seen that spacer before. Do you perhaps know why the toilet is on a pedestal? There are different height toilets available and as far as I know all the piping is in the base of the pot.
it looks like the forum is back in full swing we are discussing the design of a toilet

 

[Elessar]

Hurricane - 100% agree on routes. In all my years of boating I have NEVER made a route and doubt I ever will. I just use goto cursor. like you. When the boat gets to the cursor, I enter the next point.

I use auto route creation to measure distances when it's not a straight line and I'm planning/contemplating a trip, but not for driving the boat.

Garmin does have reset XTE. On older firmware years ago it was harder to find (3 menus layers down iirc) which was dumb, but not nowadays. So Garmin/Raym are identical on this point nowadays.

Wow. I use routes all the time. I use reset XTE often.

Route ETA is a key feature for me. On passage at D speed I will say, I want to eat at 1900 so I will open the throttles at 1730 or whatever.

On every passage I like route ETA displayed

In fact raymarine didn’t have it available in a permanent box (only a temporary pop up) I asked them to add it and they did!

I thought my dislike of Garmin was familiarity but that’s a show stopper for me.

 

[jfm]

Water pumps. The water pump is much quieter on the F55 compared to the P50 to the point where you have to strain to hear it running. Ive posted up a couple of photos of the pump set up, it's much more involved than I was expecting I assumed a single pump but as you can see there are actually 2 pumps working together. The whole lot is located in the engine room between the 2 engines. Main water tank is under the master cabin bed I believe.

That's a standard-ish water pump set up for a 55 footer and it's very good imho. It should be set up so the pressure thresholds in the two pressure switches are slightly different, so that if you turn on one tap then one pump runs, but if loads of taps are turned on then both pumps run. Good system, and it contains redundancy in that you still have water if one motor/pump fails. If you ever have to do a significant repair on it (unlikely) you need to follow the instructions carefully to set the pressure switches. I did it once on Sq58 and it wasn't easy!

 

[jfm]

Interesting…indeed I have seen that spacer before. Do you perhaps know why the toilet is on a pedestal? There are different height toilets available and as far as I know all the piping is in the base of the pot.
it looks like the forum is back in full swing we are discussing the design of a toilet

Almost certainly the pedestal is there because there is the angled V hull right under that toilet, so a pedestal is the only way to do it.
It doesn't alter my answer above, but iirc the piping on the "short" version of the Planus Elite hangs below the ceramic base, and dips down into a 7 inch hole that you must cut in the floor. Perfectly ok and sensible. In later models of Tecma and Planus all the piping is within the ceramic base of the pot.

 

[jfm]

Wow. I use routes all the time. I use reset XTE often.

Route ETA is a key feature for me. On passage at D speed I will say, I want to eat at 1900 so I will open the throttles at 1730 or whatever.

On every passage I like route ETA displayed

In fact raymarine didn’t have it available in a permanent box (only a temporary pop up) I asked them to add it and they did!

I thought my dislike of Garmin was familiarity but that’s a show stopper for me.

Horses for course - I'm not bothered about route ETA but that's my choice (and of course most of my big routes are straight line anyway )

What are you saying is a showstopper? I didn't get your point.

 

[jfm]

Henry it will be interesting to hear from you how you like or dislike Garmin, having used Raym for years.

For me the difference isn't so much features like how you enter routes or whatever because all the big brands are quite similar. The big difference imho is processor speed. Charts contain so much info, and screens sizes are now so big, that you need high end processors to redraw and zoom in/out quickly. This is a feature that magazine reviewers etc miss but to me it is a big point, and Garmin wins hands down on this point.