Princess 33

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DaveJRH

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Hi all,
Just become a member as I have just bought a Princess 33. It is not my first boat having owned a Fairline Sprint and a Colecraft narrow boat previously, not forgetting the Shakespeare ski boat during my misspent youth.
Anyway the Princess is 40 years old, but in remarkably fine fettle. It has twin shaft drive 80HP Ford Mermaids so hoping for slightly better economy than the Sprint. I have fitted 4 new batteries for piece of mind and a replacement immersion/calorifier, the original being picked up as suspect on the survey.
I am hoping to pick fellow members brains for tips and advice
Thanks in anticipation
Dave
 
Dave

Welcome to the Forum; as a happy Princess 45 owner having owned Fairline and Sealine previously, I must say that I am impressed with the quality of the Princess build.

So I do hope others with a similar model can assist you, I personally have found this Forum to be an excellent/invaluable resource.
 
DaveJRH said:
Hi all,
Just become a member as I have just bought a Princess 33. It is not my first boat having owned a Fairline Sprint and a Colecraft narrow boat previously, not forgetting the Shakespeare ski boat during my misspent youth.
Anyway the Princess is 40 years old, but in remarkably fine fettle. It has twin shaft drive 80HP Ford Mermaids so hoping for slightly better economy than the Sprint. I have fitted 4 new batteries for piece of mind and a replacement immersion/calorifier, the original being picked up as suspect on the survey.
I am hoping to pick fellow members brains for tips and advice
Thanks in anticipation
Dave
Click to expand...
A great boat my Dad had one in the early 90s , I don’t suppose yiurs is called Excalibur by any chance , we lost track of it after it left Newark in the late 90s , it was bound for Chichester .
I have looked in both marinas there and not found it , it was quite distinctive as it had 2 opening hatches in the cockpit roof .
The engines are great , economical and cheap to service , just make sure the stat housing gaskets don’t leak as they overheat .
 
volvopaul said:
A great boat my Dvad had one in the early 90s , I don’t suppose yiurs is called Excalibur by any chance , we lost track of it after it left Newark in the late 90s , it was bound for Chichester
I have looked in both marinas there and not found it , it was quite distinctive as it had 2 opening hatches in the cockpit roof .
The engines are great , economical and cheap to service , just make sure the stat housing gaskets don’t leak as they overheat .
Click to expand...
John100156 said:
Dave

Welcome to the Forum; as a happy Princess 45 owner having owned Fairline and Sealine previously, I must say that I am impressed with the quality of the Princess build.

So I do hope others with a similar model can assist you, I personally have found this Forum to be an excellent/invaluable resource.
Click to expand...

Hi John,

Yes i am very impressed with the build quality too, looking forward to hearing from fellow owners

Dave
 
volvopaul said:
A great boat my Dad had one in the early 90s , I don’t suppose yiurs is called Excalibur by any chance , we lost track of it after it left Newark in the late 90s , it was bound for Chichester .
I have looked in both marinas there and not found it , it was quite distinctive as it had 2 opening hatches in the cockpit roof .
The engines are great , economical and cheap to service , just make sure the stat housing gaskets don’t leak as they overheat .
Click to expand...

Hi Paul,

Mine is called Lily, but I will look out for Excalibur and I shall pay attention to the stat housing gaskets.
Thanks for the tip

Dave
 
Had one for about 7 years sold with it with around 3200 hours on the clocks , we did about 1000 of those.
On the hull, window leaks (esp front cabin) were the only annoyance, not much else apart from a freshwater tank needing replacement, tank was cheap but half the boat needed dismantling to get at it.
Sported a pair of VP 130 HP AQD40A which gave sterling service, from the logs , only real expence was a couple of alternators and after repairing a heat exchanger core umpteen times , shelling out for new one.
 
oldgit said:
Had one for about 7 years sold with it with around 3200 hours on the clocks , we did about 1000 of those.
On the hull, window leaks (esp front cabin) were the only annoyance, not much else apart from a freshwater tank needing replacement, tank was cheap but half the boat needed dismantling to get at it.
Sported a pair of VP 130 HP AQD40A which gave sterling service, from the logs , only real expence was a couple of alternators and after repairing a heat exchanger core umpteen times , shelling out for new one.
Click to expand...
Good afternoon "Oldgit" and thanks for the information. The alternators have been replaced prior to purchase and the two FW tanks appear to be OK for now. Front windows still watertight
Dave
 
oldgit said:
My little MBM Book of Boats gives the top speed as 13 knots with a pair of 80HP diesel engine, the book compilers tended to be bit optimistic regards top speed , you might have trouble acheiving that in 2020.
Around 500 were built between 1975 and 1987 including the Mk11.
Wonder if yours has a keel ?

Princess Model History | Princess Motor Yacht Sales
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Lily has a Y shaped hull with a 3/4 inch shallow keel.
 
Supposed to assist " Directional stability " not sure if there is enough keel to protect the props at all .
My P33 , with outdrives did wander and not hold a course very well, auto pilot saved a lot of effort on offshore cruises.
Our boat was frequently used on the non tidal bits of the Thames and Medway, both rivers tended towards a hard rocky bottom.
Kept spare set of props aboard .

Started with P25 , moved to a P33 and then a P35. Did recently consider buying a P388 until I actually took it out fro a run. Curious how a boat you think would/should be a step up or an improvement on your present boat fails to realise your expectations. ?
A quick trip in a Rodman 41 did for the P388.
 
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oldgit said:
Supposed to assist " Directional stability " not sure if there is enough keel to protect the props at all .
My P33 , with outdrives did wander and not hold a course very well, auto pilot saved a lot of effort on offshore cruises.
Our boat was frequently used on the non tidal bits of the Thames and Medway, both rivers tended towards a hard rocky bottom.
Kept spare set of props aboard .
On our moorings we have a couple of P33 and a P37 still doing sterling service for their owners.

Started with P25 , moved to a P33 and then a P35.
Did recently and briefly consider buying a P388 (until I actually took it out ) then had quick spin in a Rodman 41 (y)
Curious how a boat you think would be a step up or an improvement fails to realise your expectations in real life.
Click to expand...
Good morning, I have seen Lucy out of the water and the keel is just lower than the props which showed no damage at all. On the river test I was impressed how well it held course compared to our previous boat a Fairline Sprint with single outdrive. When I get time I shall upload some photos of Lucy.
Dave
 
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DaveJRH said:
Good morning, I have seen Lucy out of the water and the keel is just lower than the props which showed no damage at all. On the river test I was impressed how well it held course compared to our previous boat a Fairline Sprint with single outdrive. When I get time I shall upload some photos of Lucy.
Dave
Click to expand...

Shafts do hold a course better than outdrives.
The P33 with legs was a little prone to wandering off course especially in windy conditions unless you kept a constant eye on things. The previous owner had fitted a autohelm which proved invaluable.
My Broom 37 on shafts could more or less be left to get on with it and had no autohelm fitted , would have been nice to have one though.
 
oldgit said:
Shafts do hold a course better than outdrives.
The P33 with legs was a little prone to wandering off course especially in windy conditions unless you kept a constant eye on things. The previous owner had fitted a autohelm which proved invaluable.
My Broom 37 on shafts could more or less be left to get on with it and had no autohelm fitted , would have been nice to have one though.
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Was your Broom on shafts or outdrives?
 
My last two boats had shafts, but I had a Fairline Targa 34 before that on legs, with SS Duo-Props, which I must say did keep to course.

Quite a different animal to drive though as I recall, wheel before power and all that, but with a bow thruster you could park it just about anywhere.

Although I do recall one occasion when we had 45k+ winds in SC blowing us off an end berth, could not even approach bow-to as wind was too strong and gusts in all directions, in the end we turned our back on the berth, lassoed a cleat from the stern port quarter from the bathing platform, and had to power the bow in, came in well, much to my surprise and that of two dockmasters that turned up late just in time to do nothing.....:cool:
 
John100156 said:
My last two boats had shafts, but I had a Fairline Targa 34 before that on legs, with SS Duo-Props, which I must say did keep to course.

Quite a different animal to drive though as I recall, wheel before power and all that, but with a bow thruster you could park it just about anywhere.

Although I do recall one occasion when we had 45k+ winds in SC blowing us off an end berth, could not even approach bow-to as wind was too strong and gusts in all directions, in the end we turned our back on the berth, lassoed a cleat from the stern port quarter from the bathing platform, and had to power the bow in, came in well, much to my surprise and that of two dockmasters that turned up late just in time to do nothing.....:cool:
Click to expand...
I would imagine that a pair of outdrives handle similarly to a pair of outboards, had that setup on the Atlantic 26 when I lived in Cornwall and was a member of the lifeboat crew. She handled remarkably well in all kinds if seas. My Sprint on the other hand didn't, single outdrive and no bow thruster.
 
John100156 said:
Yes of course, single with no BT I suppose could pose additional problems (no challenges ;-)

Did she have contra-rotating duo-props? IIRC that's what I had on my T34 which may have helped a bit.....
Click to expand...
Yes she did have contra-rotating duo-props , very responsive on the throttle.
 
DaveJRH said:
Hi all,
Just become a member as I have just bought a Princess 33. It is not my first boat having owned a Fairline Sprint and a Colecraft narrow boat previously, not forgetting the Shakespeare ski boat during my misspent youth.
Anyway the Princess is 40 years old, but in remarkably fine fettle. It has twin shaft drive 80HP Ford Mermaids so hoping for slightly better economy than the Sprint. I have fitted 4 new batteries for piece of mind and a replacement immersion/calorifier, the original being picked up as suspect on the survey.
I am hoping to pick fellow members brains for tips and advice
Thanks in anticipation
Dave
Click to expand...
 
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