New build Princess F55 flybridge

[rafiki_]

All looking fantastic Henry. Extraordinary that your giro flattens the Solent. Many folk will be very happy.

 

[EricJ]

Looks all really good! How do you find the size of the galley; is it comparable with the galley down below in the p50?

 

[MapisM]

It was a bit strange not having to constantly give permission for course alterations as I'm used to at each waypoint.

You were used to Raymarine a/p, where afaik such feature can't be disabled, I suppose?
I discovered that in my current (all-Raymarine) boat, and after 17 years on the previous one (all-Furuno), that was the most annoying downgrade, in spite of the fact that the old Furuno stuff was 10+ years older!

It seems a bit weird being able to display anything you want anywhere.
I'm used to each screen doing a particular job.

In my experience, while it's nice to have the option of "shaping" your dashboard as you prefer, once you've found what works well for you and the initial "play with the new toys" effect will vanish, there's no need to change the layout and/or switch from one window to another.
In other words, in practice you will soon revert to a "fixed" layout anyway, with the only difference that you'll have decided it (which is nice, obviously!), rather than the builder who placed the radar here, the plotter there, etc.
That's assuming you have enough screen real estate at your disposal, of course.
Otherwise, multiple dedicated screens are actually better even if less flexible, imho!

 

[henryf]

You were used to Raymarine a/p, where afaik such feature can't be disabled, I suppose?
I discovered that in my current (all-Raymarine) boat, and after 17 years on the previous one (all-Furuno), that was the most annoying downgrade, in spite of the fact that the old Furuno stuff was 10+ years older!


In my experience, while it's nice to have the option of "shaping" your dashboard as you prefer, once you've found what works well for you and the initial "play with the new toys" effect will vanish, there's no need to change the layout and/or switch from one window to another.
In other words, in practice you will soon revert to a "fixed" layout anyway, with the only difference that you'll have decided it (which is nice, obviously!), rather than the builder who placed the radar here, the plotter there, etc.
That's assuming you have enough screen real estate at your disposal, of course.
Otherwise, multiple dedicated screens are actually better even if less flexible, imho!

I very much agree with everything you say other than the last sentence possibly.

I'm still in the learning / honeymoon phase trying to discover what everything does. I'm also conscious that as its a new boat so I may be focussing on the mechanical elements a bit more. How long does stuff take to warm up, what are the temperature and pressures doing, what sort of fuel burn am I getting and how can I equate that to our charter use.

Your point about glass real estate definitely struck a chord. When speccing the boat I basically just ticked all the navigation / operational options on the list. Like everything else and in stark contrast to @jfm I worked on the premise that Princess were hopefully going to be there or thereabouts and I would find out exactly what I'd got when unwrapping the present. In some aspects of life I plan with meticulous detail - strangely travel is one of those areas, with the boat it was probably all a bit overwhelming and I think that's going to be the big difference between this thread and any possible San Lorenzo based thread which may or may not appear. Being honest I'm probably a bit lazy and, dare I say it, I use the combined wisdom on here occasionally to help plug my gaps. There are times when I'm staggered by the level of specific knowledge contained amongst our motley crew.

Both helm positions feature a couple of 16 inch screens and a smaller 7 inch screen in addition to the more basic 5 inch screen which combined seems, at this stage to cover all the bases. Could I have saved a few pounds and still achieved a satisfactory result? Possibly but in the general scheme of things it would have been a rounding error and I didn't want to have to start cutting out new holes everywhere.

 

[henryf]

Looks all really good! How do you find the size of the galley; is it comparable with the galley down below in the p50?

Probably the most important question I've been asked so far on the thread !

Anyone in this from the start will know that the reason we kept the P50 Mk3 for so long was because all the galley up designs before the F55 were too lacking in storage and refrigeration for our use. We charter and so have to cater for a number of guests. We don't cook per-se and most of the charter guests take lunch ashore but we do need to rustle up an afternoon tea and keeping people hydrated throughout the day takes its strain on the galley. Sometimes outside caterers provide food which needs to be kept cold and served.

I do remember when @jfm launched Match he went to great lengths to create a kitchen which would allow a professional chef to come aboard and do some serious cooking. From memory a couple of good ovens and I'm not sure we didn't benefit from their heat in Swanwick one evening as a huge party of guests descended. Of all his customisations that was the one which I thought delivered the most needed solution.

Galley up designs clash with the desire to provide wide open views from the saloon and often do away with high level storage. They also use under counter refrigeration. regardless of the storage limitations at 6 foot 2 I can't be stooping down to get something out of the fridge. Refrigerated drawers are a good solution but they take up space which could be used for general storage.

Initial thoughts are that we will be ok. I've posted up a load of photos to try and show what we ended up with. I suspect the arrangement of cupboards will change as we start to use them but I think we'll be fine. With the galley down design of the P50 we could use the cupboard under the stairs and also the 3rd cabin for storage. With our F55 what would have been the crew cabin is a walk in storage / larder space and its just opposite the galley in the cockpit. Unlike the P50 we don't have to move people from seating to access it. Whilst for general use I'd probably prefer transom access to the crew area for our specific needs the more restricted access from the cockpit does actually work quite well, all be it's a bit tight getting stuff in and out.

 

[henryf]

We also use the cabinets opposite the galley to store stuff and as a serving area for things like afternoon tea.

You will note we didn't opt for a dishwasher. The ones fitted won't be big enough to cope with any serious washing, use a load of water and take too much time. They also waste kitchen real estate. I know for some people the thought of washing up whilst chilling on the boat is horrific, but for us a sink works well and is quick.

We will have to improve on the rubbish bin arrangement when chartering. A larger bin in the corner of the cockpit and probably a black back in the galley. Being more on display the black bag may morph into another bin but we'll see.

The drawers to the left of the microwave are quite deep and probably need to be used a bit more efficiently. I think they will become food storage rather than utensil storage.

 

[EricJ]

it is a very nice galley and nice finish also. Is that worktop a cost option or part of standard choices? It looks great. It is good they kept everything on one side and not have part of the worktop space on the starboard size like some boats have. So you have an additional fridge on the starboard side next to the full height model?
the dishwasher option eats a lot of space but on the other hand it is good that Princess at least fit a 45 cm model rather than the drawer dishwasher from before.
The way they designed this galley it does take away too much visibility I would think compared to mid ships galleys in similar sized boats such as the Sq55 from 2010ish. Never been on one but I would think this obstructs the view, especially since it is on the port side.

 

[MapisM]

I very much agree with everything you say other than the last sentence possibly.

Do you mean the one on dedicated screen being better than a single, small(ish) MFD?
I guess you must be used to large and/or multiple MFD if you don't agree with that.
Having tried myself a boat with a single but very flexible MFD, capable of showing plotter, radar, sounder (or a combination of them), imho three separate/dedicated screens is much better, because at least you always know where to look for what.

Then again, two 16"+a 7" and a 5" MFDs is a helluva lot real estate, so of course that's a no brainer vs. dedicated, single function displays!
Looking fwd to hearing how you will handle them after the honeymoon period.
My guess is that you will configure them in whatever way you will be happy with, and stick with that 99% of the time.
Not that there's anything wrong with it, mind.
You could never exploit such configuration flexibility with old school dedicated instruments!

 

[benjenbav]

I’m sure you’re right about a dishwasher taking up too much space in the galley, which looks very nice as it is.

OTOH I was mildly surprised that, when catering for charters - even just snacks and drinks - you wouldn’t find a dishwasher extremely useful. I would have thought it would be a great addition to the crew cabin and that you’d be able to fit a 600mm dishwasher in there - albeit you might need to disassemble and reassemble it to get it in.

 

[Keith-i]

I would have dispensed with the cupboards and just had two dishwashers. One full of clean stuff and the other with dirty. They just work on rotation then with no need to empty the clean stuff into cupboards.

 

[Hooligan]

I very much agree with everything you say other than the last sentence possibly.

I'm still in the learning / honeymoon phase trying to discover what everything does. I'm also conscious that as its a new boat so I may be focussing on the mechanical elements a bit more. How long does stuff take to warm up, what are the temperature and pressures doing, what sort of fuel burn am I getting and how can I equate that to our charter use.

Your point about glass real estate definitely struck a chord. When speccing the boat I basically just ticked all the navigation / operational options on the list. Like everything else and in stark contrast to @jfm I worked on the premise that Princess were hopefully going to be there or thereabouts and I would find out exactly what I'd got when unwrapping the present. In some aspects of life I plan with meticulous detail - strangely travel is one of those areas, with the boat it was probably all a bit overwhelming and I think that's going to be the big difference between this thread and any possible San Lorenzo based thread which may or may not appear. Being honest I'm probably a bit lazy and, dare I say it, I use the combined wisdom on here occasionally to help plug my gaps. There are times when I'm staggered by the level of specific knowledge contained amongst our motley crew.

Both helm positions feature a couple of 16 inch screens and a smaller 7 inch screen in addition to the more basic 5 inch screen which combined seems, at this stage to cover all the bases. Could I have saved a few pounds and still achieved a satisfactory result? Possibly but in the general scheme of things it would have been a rounding error and I didn't want to have to start cutting out new holes everywhere.

I like the house made for Teddy . He looks very happy

 

[TonyR123]

Dishwasher - same as you henry - we have never used our current one, so new boat is specced without one. Def not enough space for 2 dishwashers!

Mattress - the Vispring are very nice mattresses. I have already ordered some memory foam toppers, should then be like the bed at home. Then topped off with fitted bamboo sheets - supposedly keep you cooler, will see how that goes!

Screens - Currently have 2 screens. When moving they are chartplotter and engine info. When docking then one switches to anchor cam. Once at anchor then switch the other to time and sea temp (both in large font). So for us each screen servers different info depending on if at anchor or not. The v55 I also have a smaller additional screen so who knows how they will be configured. When docking/anchoring as sure one will switch to the cameras. Now the gyro is also managed from the screen and not a separate unit.

 

[henryf]

Do you mean the one on dedicated screen being better than a single, small(ish) MFD?
I guess you must be used to large and/or multiple MFD if you don't agree with that.
Having tried myself a boat with a single but very flexible MFD, capable of showing plotter, radar, sounder (or a combination of them), imho three separate/dedicated screens is much better, because at least you always know where to look for what.

Then again, two 16"+a 7" and a 5" MFDs is a helluva lot real estate, so of course that's a no brainer vs. dedicated, single function displays!
Looking fwd to hearing how you will handle them after the honeymoon period.
My guess is that you will configure them in whatever way you will be happy with, and stick with that 99% of the time.
Not that there's anything wrong with it, mind.
You could never exploit such configuration flexibility with old school dedicated instruments!

I just couldn't see the advantage of fixed displays over the variable ones as per this set up - other than cost I guess. I started to change what gets displayed today and have to say it is REALLY easy. You just tap and hold the icon in question then say I want to change it, Garmin says what do you want and hey presto.

I'm still amazed that everything seems to talk to everything else really well. The only area where I'm slightly struggling is with tides / currents. It seems to take a long time to load up the data.

 

[henryf]

it is a very nice galley and nice finish also. Is that worktop a cost option or part of standard choices? It looks great. It is good they kept everything on one side and not have part of the worktop space on the starboard size like some boats have. So you have an additional fridge on the starboard side next to the full height model?
the dishwasher option eats a lot of space but on the other hand it is good that Princess at least fit a 45 cm model rather than the drawer dishwasher from before.
The way they designed this galley it does take away too much visibility I would think compared to mid ships galleys in similar sized boats such as the Sq55 from 2010ish. Never been on one but I would think this obstructs the view, especially since it is on the port side.

I don't think the worktop was a cost option. I suspect choosing the Allure pack probably unlocks a few bits. At first I wasn't sure but I'm falling in love with the helm seats.

Actually visibility from the lower helm is really good to the point where a lot of people who normally only feel comfortable up on top would probably pull the blinds up and give it a go. You lose a little bit of the port hand aft corner but really not an issue.

I also like having what feels like the saloon coming backwards but it is a space you can use for serving food. We will be getting clear protective plastic for it along with the tables.

 

[henryf]

I like the house made for Teddy . He looks very happy

Teddy is the only one who knows how to steer the boat

 

[henryf]

I’m sure you’re right about a dishwasher taking up too much space in the galley, which looks very nice as it is.

OTOH I was mildly surprised that, when catering for charters - even just snacks and drinks - you wouldn’t find a dishwasher extremely useful. I would have thought it would be a great addition to the crew cabin and that you’d be able to fit a 600mm dishwasher in there - albeit you might need to disassemble and reassemble it to get it in.

We use a lot of wooden cutlery and paper cups / plates.

 

[Commercial Dave]

Aquaholic has just uploaded an F55 walkthrough on YouTube

 

[henryf]

Dishwasher - same as you henry - we have never used our current one, so new boat is specced without one. Def not enough space for 2 dishwashers!

Mattress - the Vispring are very nice mattresses. I have already ordered some memory foam toppers, should then be like the bed at home. Then topped off with fitted bamboo sheets - supposedly keep you cooler, will see how that goes!

Screens - Currently have 2 screens. When moving they are chartplotter and engine info. When docking then one switches to anchor cam. Once at anchor then switch the other to time and sea temp (both in large font). So for us each screen servers different info depending on if at anchor or not. The v55 I also have a smaller additional screen so who knows how they will be configured. When docking/anchoring as sure one will switch to the cameras. Now the gyro is also managed from the screen and not a separate unit.

We do have a seakeeper screen on the lower helm, flybridge it can be controlled by any of the screens. Currently using the little 7 inch but only because we want to keep looking at it. Once the lovely has worn off we'll just turn it on and let it do it's thing.

 

[henryf]

Just had the drone out which means legs are still like jelly

Celebrating with a sandwich. The seals were totally unimpressed by my amazing launch / recovery and cinematic pilotage !

 

[ari]

Aquaholic has just uploaded an F55 walkthrough on YouTube

Just came here to post the same!