Princess F55 - using submersible bathing platform for the first time

[Scubaboy79]

Hi all, I’m taking delivery of a brand new Princess F55 in February. Having previously had a P54 with a passerelle for launching and recovering our tender, this will be the first time using a submersible platform. Are there any hints or tips in terms of how to do it, or is it as simple as I hope it is…..put the platform down, float the tender off, put platform up…?

Thanks!

 

[jfm]

Yes it's that simple. A few thoughts:

Recovering in waves is quite a mission - you will learn by trial and error , but your crew need to act fast and you need to get the thing out of the water as fast as possible. There is a ten second period where your chocks bash the hell out of your tender and your tender can bash the hell out of your teak swim platform.

Recovering in calm weather is the easiest thing in the world

Use dedicated chocks made for your tender, not those universal things that hinge to different positions. Then you just need to get the tender close to the correct position, and it will fall into the V and automatically self align. There was a henryf thread on this a year ago.

You will need to work out the correct stbd/port position of the tender to allow your passerelle to come out without hitting it, etc, but that's all obvious.

 

[47GC]

Congrats on new boat. I always end up on the platform, with wife lowering me into the water for recovery. JFM is right, there is a period where it all goes crazy and your recovery vessel (jet ski) gets slammed into the platform then it hits the boat and your screaming to get the platform lifted! This is made easier with the remote handheld that we had installed. You can control when your ready to lift and do it from the remote. Makes recovery and launching much easier.

 

[Nautibliss]

Hello scubaboy79,

If you do not have a crew you will have to be careful with waves as the boat will rock so the platform will get shallower, do not get your feet stuck under the tender or careful to not hit the side of the platform with the hull or propeller of the tender. Look for boats cruising by while you do it as that will have the same effect and crush your toes if not careful. That's what I'm always afraid of, the teak can be fixed up but crushed toes will end your vacation.

Other than that it is so much easier.

Congratulations on the new boat, I am sure you will enjoy it.

 

[Scubaboy79]

Thanks everyone - really appreciate your replies. I hadn't given thought to what it's like when it chops up and these notes of caution are very wise! That said having the tender swinging off the end of the passerelle wasn't much fun either. I recall HenryF's post that a remote does not come as standard so will look into that. We will have a gyro which, if running, should take some of the heat out (although won't of course eliminate the pitch). Nevertheless very excited for our new boat!

 

[jrudge]

As above. Rough is interesting.

If you leave the tie down straps on when tender is off it's only a matter of time until ( assuming a jet rib) the tail goes up the impeller. Being short you can pull it out easily enough but it will stall the rib.

If property rough don't take it lightly and get people to help and do as you say as you need it up out of the water asap.

 

[jfm]

Not sure I follow the tie down strap thing - I always remove them completely for launch/recovery operations. By the way, stating the obvious, they need to be ratchet strap things, so you can lash the tender down tightly.

Gyro helps slightly but does nothing to calm the waves on a windy day or the wash of passing boats.

Tender recovery on my old squadron 78s was made easier by the hi-lo mechanism moving fast. On new boat it is slower which means the time for which things are bashing together and toes are crush-able is longer. I'm thinking of installing a bigger hydraulic pump to make it faster.

Unless you have lots of crew a remote is essential. On my previous boats I had radio remotes but on new (2024) boat they refused due to safety issues (you could move the mechanism from afar and injure someone) so on current boat I have a curly cord remote and its perfectly ok. Will be interesting to hear what you get with new Princess.

Congrats on the new F55 by the way - -I should have said that earlier, sorry!

 

[Seastoke]

The wife could be very handy when in a chop , she could video you so we all can watch .

 

[greg131187]

We have a Princess 68 so probably similar to yours. As the others said watch out for rough conditions even with stabilisers the tender has the potential to gets washed about allot by wave action. Some conditions we just don't launch or we recover early if we notice swell picking up. You'll learn to recognise when it's two on the platform and one at the controls vs just one on the platform.

Also I think the main danger with these platforms is the gap between the platform and the boat. It's quite easy to fall between with nasty hydraulic gear to tear you legs to pieces on.

Also don't take your swimmers off to early as you don't want wet shorts!

A great invention but requires some respect.

 

[Scubaboy79]

We have a Princess 68 so probably similar to yours. As the others said watch out for rough conditions even with stabilisers the tender has the potential to gets washed about allot by wave action. Some conditions we just don't launch or we recover early if we notice swell picking up. You'll learn to recognise when it's two on the platform and one at the controls vs just one on the platform.

Also I think the main danger with these platforms is the gap between the platform and the boat. It's quite easy to fall between with nasty hydraulic gear to tear you legs to pieces on.

Also don't take your swimmers off to early as you don't want wet shorts!

A great invention but requires some respect.

Yes I figured there isn't a way to do it without getting my feet wet, which will focus the mind on a cool day on the Solent....

 

[jrudge]

Not sure I follow the tie down strap thing - I always remove them completely for launch/recovery operations. By the way, stating the obvious, they need to be ratchet strap things, so you can lash the tender down tightly.

Gyro helps slightly but does nothing to calm the waves on a windy day or the wash of passing boats.

Tender recovery on my old squadron 78s was made easier by the hi-lo mechanism moving fast. On new boat it is slower which means the time for which things are bashing together and toes are crush-able is longer. I'm thinking of installing a bigger hydraulic pump to make it faster.

Unless you have lots of crew a remote is essential. On my previous boats I had radio remotes but on new (2024) boat they refused due to safety issues (you could move the mechanism form afar and injure someone) so on current boat I have a curly cord remote and its perfectly ok. Will be interesting to hear what you get with new Princess.

Congrats on the new F55 by the way - -I should have said that earlier, sorry!

I didn't bother to remove the straps so every now and then one went up the jet drive. It pulls out so no issue but you do loose power !

 

[jfm]

We have a Princess 68 so probably similar to yours. As the others said watch out for rough conditions even with stabilisers the tender has the potential to gets washed about allot by wave action. Some conditions we just don't launch or we recover early if we notice swell picking up. You'll learn to recognise when it's two on the platform and one at the controls vs just one on the platform.

Also I think the main danger with these platforms is the gap between the platform and the boat. It's quite easy to fall between with nasty hydraulic gear to tear you legs to pieces on.

Also don't take your swimmers off to early as you don't want wet shorts!

A great invention but requires some respect.

Very good point about minding the gap.