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.

 

[henryf]

I have essentially made exactly the same jump as you, P50 mk3 to an F55 and the bathing platform troubled me. I could perform perfect recoveries with the crane and my straps, how would I cope with the bathing platform?

A remote is essential and Swanwick fitted it for me in a jiffy. You need 6 or 7 fingers on one hand but I was born in Lincolnshire so no problem there…..

Contrary to JFM I have the universal chocks and they work for our Highfield set up. I’ve also never got my feet wet.

I sit in the tender, trim the outboard up so it’s just in the water, have a boat hook in the tender to steady things and someone on the big boat with another boat hook looking after the bow of the tender.

You need to get a feel on a nice calm day for where the tender needs to be placed. As you lower it into the water see where it’s positioned in relation to the remaining bathing platform that forms the hull of the F55.

Then it’s a case of raise the bathing platform and commit. Don’t worry about absolute perfection. So long as you’re there or there abouts you can do the fine tuning once the platform is up and the tender out of the water.

When you use the platform ask it to go up all the way before lowering it just to make sure it’s aligned properly and hasn’t sunk one side or shifted.

Before raising it make sure nothing will get trapped and never have swimmers on the platform when raising or lowering. You don’t want limbs getting squashed.

The only problem I’ve had was when it wouldn’t raise properly. Came up a bit then stopped. Turns out a bit of tree branch was wedged in the mechanism and the locking lever or a sensor was unable to do its thing. No damage or anything forced, it just stopped and I had to lower it again. Managed to fish out the branch with a boat hook.

Hope that all makes sense. Once you get the hang of them they are a great thing and brilliant for swimming. The charter guests love it.

Henry

 

[simon]

I use 2 light ropes attached fore and aft to the tender. Stand on deck and use ropes to pull and hold over the platform then just lift the platform, simple really. No crushed toes or bruised shins!

 

[Hurricane]

I see you are having problems in rougher seas.
But a Hi/Lo platform must be an improvement over using a crane.
Lifting onto a fixed bathing platform with a crane requires as much care/procedure.
Especially (in our case) when recovering the tender to the flybridge.
Recovering our 4.3m Novurania to the flybridge always worries me.
I think of it like yachties think of spinnakers (if you have to get it down - its too late).
Same with the Novurania, if the weather is too rough it will have to go on the bathing platform and then it is in the way if we have to run for cover to a marina.
Thats the only disadvantage of having a large tender - it can get in the way on a Med style berth.

 

[MapisM]

Thats the only disadvantage of having a large tender - it can get in the way on a Med style berth.

That's actually less of a problem with a hi/lo platform, because you can lower it just as much as you need to clear the passerelle and lines, when mooring stern to.

Then again, the main reason why I can't say I like them is because they are by design overhanging.
And AOTBE, I would trade it for 6 feet or whatever of longer hull any day of the week.

I appreciate that this is progressively less relevant as size grows, and probably it's neither here nor there in a 30m small ship like jfm SL, for instance.
But in a sub-60 footer, for any given LOA, that does make a difference.

 

[jfm]

Mapism, I generally agree, but when you are playing the "<24m" game as I am, that trade isn't possible. I mean, if you traded the hi-lo on a c29m boat for a extra chuck of hull, it would exceed 24m. So there is no "cost" in the form of reduced hull length when you add a hi-lo platform to a 95 foot boat whose hull has already been designed at 23.99m LLL and LH

 

[benjenbav]

Would it be at all feasible to use a few of the inflatable sausage-type rollers between the two sets of chocks to drive onto and deflate to lower the tender onto the chocks. Just to deal with the 10 seconds of bashing about.

Would need a fairly good compressor to get air in and out and some way of securing the rollers that didn’t take more time than you’d got will to live, perhaps.

 

[47GC]

Adds a bit of complexity. To be fair, after some practice it does get easier. The platform is better than a crane, unless of course you’re lifting up onto the fly bridge!

 

[MapisM]

Mapism, I generally agree, but when you are playing the "<24m" game as I am, that trade isn't possible. I mean, if you traded the hi-lo on a c29m boat for a extra chuck of hull, it would exceed 24m. So there is no "cost" in the form of reduced hull length when you add a hi-lo platform to a 95 foot boat whose hull has already been designed at 23.99m LLL and LH

Very good point, understood & agreed.
But even without considering this "bureaucratic" constraint, with as much hull in the water as you have (even if obviously it's one of those "the more the better" things!), I can't imagine a few feet more astern to make a perceivable difference on a SL96.

OTOH, if we come back to planet Earth, let's look at the numbers of the thread protagonist - allegedly a 55 footer.
Princess declare a 58' LOA pulpit included - a number I can only guess someone in their mktg dept. wanted to put in the brochure, because other than that it doesn't make any sense.
Without pulpit, she's 55' 8", hence consistent with the designation - fair game, in this respect.
BUT, even if I couldn't find a "hull-only" length, it's easy to guess just looking at the stern that if the hull stretches above 50 feet, it can only be by a few inches.
BTW, interestingly, the boat is available also with a fixed platform if you don't tick the hi/lo box, but for obvious reasons they use the the same mould, so that's as overhanging as the hi/lo version, and doesn't affect the hull length one bit.
Bottom line, what we have here is a boat designated as 55', reported as a 58' in brochures and tests (including Jack's YT video, for instance), and which in practice has a 50' or so actual hull.

Not that Princess is alone in doing that - rather the opposite, in fact.
But I'm convinced that AOTBE, a 5 or 6 feet longer hull CAN make a bit of difference, when that accounts for up to 10% of the LOA (and even more when compared to LWL, obviously).
Hence my preference for structural platforms fully integrated above the hull, at least up to 60/65 feet worth of boat.

Anyhow, as always, each to their own on that.
For instance, another occasion where the hi/lo platform shines is scuba diving.
Having tried that first hand, I can highly recommend it to anyone thinking to go that route.
Also because - contrarily to the tender, whose launch/lift can also be handled by passerelle or crane - there's nothing else as convenient as a hi/lo for going back onboard when armed with all the stuff required by scuba diving!