Princess V52

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Smooth Sailing

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Hi All,

Am new to this forum but have been lurking around for awhile. What fantastic cruising destinations you all have there in Europe compared to here in Singapore..!

After a couple of years on charter boats decided to take the plunge to get a boat a year ago and have now moved on from a Riviera 45 to a Princess V52. Will be finalizing the option list with the dealer over the next few weeks and the build slot has been confirmed for June2011.

Would really appreciate any advice from the seasoned boaters here on any options that are a necessity vs the "looks good but waste of money!".

Some of the additional options (on top of the usual bare neccessities such as a/c, larger generator) that are being proposed include: variable bow and stern thrusters, rear awning, tender (jet vs outboard), generator readouts at helm, engine room camera, c120w ray marine chart plotter with dsm300, salt water wash in cockpit, underwater lights, anchor counter at helm, tv lift system in upper saloon, spare propeller (at 5-6k per pop!), spare gelcoat, generator and engine spares...

Thanks v much for all your inputs! :D
 
The ones I'd strongly vote for are:
rear awning (sun), tender with largest engine that you can fit in the garage, Garmin not Raymarine nav gear, u/w lights, TV lift, engine/gen spares, spare gelcoat 2.5 litres(otherwise you have to have it shipped from uk and it ranks as "dangerous goods", which doubles the hassle of getting a scratch fixed)

The saltwater wash seems pointless. Yuo want freshwater to wash things, not blimming saltwater, jeeze. Spare props should be bought only when you need them, hopefully never. Generator readout and e/r camera are nice to have but not necessary. anchor counter is nce when it works but they are unreliable. I have had my boat in service about 4 weeks since new and the anchor counter has already busted a bit. Variable thrusters are nice - I have them for the first time on new boat. Not essential though, so it depends how much they cost

Underwater lights must be Lumishore,. Anything else is a poor relation. If the dealer say differently, they are just plain wrong. There is nothing avaaible that outperforms Lumishore. Princess fitted them to jonnybuoy's (of this forum) V42 recently os they can get them. 3 or 4 of the x-72 colour change would be good, and 4 of the x-120 colour change would be fantastic

Good luck
 
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work out how much electricity you will need to run all your appliances at once and go for one a bit bigger than that, as it is unlikely you will have everything on all the time. A/C would be very useful in Singapore. I wouldn't bother with variable speed bow thrusters, normal ones used in bursts are just as good and less to go wrong. Probably don't need a stern thruster at all if you are confident in your boat manouvering skills, although it might help resale later. Rear awning good idea to protect the boat when you are away. generator readouts at helm - if assuming there are some instruments as standard with the gennie, then if cheap OK but I wouldn't bother. Raymarine or Garmin - everyone has their favourites, go and try the different makes out at a boat show or reseller. salt wash - what ever for??? underwater lights if you like them (I do) anchor counter can be useful, however coloured plastic inserts in teh chain work just as well. TV lift - yes, spare propeller - you really need two if you are going to bother because they are handed. (spin in opposite directions) but as JFM said hopefully you never will. they don't wear out. Tin of gel coat -yes you will never get a match later. engine spares - usual service items, filters, impellers, drive belts, don't forget a good set of tools and all the life jacket and safety kit too!

tender - jet drive or outboard, some people don't like jet drives as they can suck in plastic bags/seaweed which is hard to clear without lifting out of the water so you might have to row, on the other hand jet drives are great to drive and arguably safer with children etc. send us all some pics when you get her.
 
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Jfm - thanks v much, really appreciate the advice. So far I have only had experience with ray marine and not Garmin. Their option list only includes a Raymarine C120w with 4kw 48" hd radar or a furuno 3d at close to double the price! Is there any particular Garmin model I should request for and based on your experience why would one choose a Garmin vs a Raymarine ? Also on The tender would u go with a Williams jet or say a valiant or vain outboard?

Unfortunately the v52 does not have a tender garage but a lo-hi platform. Will request for the fresh water wash, and will only opt for the readouts and er camera if price is reasonable. Thks for advice on the anchor counter will skip it. The underwater lights is 2x blue a12 pro led for about 2 k gbp. Will definitely ask Princess to quote for the Lumishore - maybe 3 is sufficient as the beam is only about 4.3-4.4 m.

Thks again ... Let me know if u ever pop by in this part of the world ..


Good luck[/QUOTE]
 
I know nothing of such exotica but only yesterday I was talkining to a man who does and he spoke of engine room cameras which are regularly fitted to the boats he builds.
Apparently if the alarms go off a quick check of the engine room camera will tell you if there is a fire down there which saves the dangers of opening the hatch to have a look....and gives extra vital seconds to get the liferaft ready and the distress call made without singed eyebrows.
Seemed to make sense to me and in the overall scheme of things not huge extra expense.
 
I have been lifelong Raymarine user (3 boats, and my last one had the very latest touchscreen Raymarine 3x E120 and digi radar) unti my current boat which is all Garmin. Garmin is about the same price, but LOADS better. But that's just my opinion - each to their own. I'm delighted with the Garmin though. For radar, get 4 foot open scanner if you can. I went mad and got the 12kw but the 4kw will generally be fine. For plotter get the touchscreen 7015 if you can fit the 15inch else 7012 is the 12 inch version. Raymarine and Furuno are fine of course, except that you will find the Raymarine ST70 instruments hard to read in bright sunshine

For the tender you need to get what you want. I had the Avon jetrib with same (weber 102hp) engine as williams. It busted and Avon gave me a whole new one under warranty, delivered in a crate. The busted one had 4 hours on the clock and i was the second owner. Go figure! The jets can be a lot of fun so get one if you think it will suit your needs. Be prepared for the noise the motor makes though. A good alternative is Walker Bay 340 genesis console with Yamaha 30hp efi, loaded with all the goodies, totally reliable and will never break down. I had basically this on last boat and it was nice. Valliant is perfectly ok too

The u/w lights you mention are OceanLED amphibian series. They will work fine in a wimpy sort of way but don't expect anything special. They are basically 6 or 10 LEDs like you would buy online or in a high street electronic store, soldered to a board - there is no serious LED technology or R+D at OceanLED The lumens per watt (efficiency) is nowhere near Lumishore and the total lumens output is a fraction (like, 1/10th or something) of a Lumishore x72. Below pics are 4 lumishore x-120 on my last boat; you will get nothing like such a big swimming pool of light with OceanLED. All that said, a set of Lumishores will be double the price of the amphibians in the same way a BMW is x2 the price of a Kia (though the price per lumen is cheaper!). The light from a pair of Amphibians will be a bit less than my old tender in the first pic below (which has 2 lumishore x36 drivelites on it)

tn_DSC_1049.jpg

panorama4.jpg
 
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Thks v much - am going for a 11kw Onan generator. The a/c has a capacity of 64k btu - will need it with the year round weather of 33-35C!

Will go and try out both Raymarine and Garmin - I know that fair line does have Garmin in their option list and it seems that princess is trying to "flog" Raymarine.

Nearly forgot on the toolkit!

Btw on the anti-fouling, it seems that princess has a disgusting blue colour ? Any recommendations for that as I will most prob opt for a blue hull.
 
Croc said:
I know nothing of such exotica but only yesterday I was talkining to a man who does and he spoke of engine room cameras which are regularly fitted to the boats he builds.
Apparently if the alarms go off a quick check of the engine room camera will tell you if there is a fire down there which saves the dangers of opening the hatch to have a look....and gives extra vital seconds to get the liferaft ready and the distress call made without singed eyebrows.
Seemed to make sense to me and in the overall scheme of things not huge extra expense.
Click to expand...

Yep - they even have it for cockpits etc... My only grime is that the display screen will need it to be divided into : radar, chart plotter, camera and depth sounder !!! Don't think my helm space can take 2 displays but princess trying to propose a pop up chart plotter for the 2nd one to save space ... Hmm wonder what cost that will set me back ! Agreed that if price is reasonable will most prob opt for the e/r camera for safety !
 
rhuray said:
Btw on the anti-fouling, it seems that princess has a disgusting blue colour ? Any recommendations for that as I will most prob opt for a blue hull.
Click to expand...

The 11kw Onan is a nice machine. 1500rpm and quiet - a proper genset. Engine is a Kubota

Each to their own but I always use black antifouling. Looks good with a white or a blue hull. Very much imho

BTW blue hulls look nice of course but in your climate white might be the "sensible" choice, in view of the sun? Not that the "sensible" choice is always the right one!
 
rhuray said:
Yep - they even have it for cockpits etc... My only grime is that the display screen will need it to be divided into : radar, chart plotter, camera and depth sounder !!! Don't think my helm space can take 2 displays but princess trying to propose a pop up chart plotter for the 2nd one to save space ... Hmm wonder what cost that will set me back ! Agreed that if price is reasonable will most prob opt for the e/r camera for safety !
Click to expand...

With garmin touchscreen it is incredibly quick to flick to the camera view, check all ok, then flick back to the nav view. If you are on plotter+radr, it is 3 touches to see engine room, then 3 touches to get back to nav/radar.

Depth can be shown in a data box in a corner of the screen. It doesn't need a whole section of screen. It can also be shown in a little screen ST70 raymarine or GMI 10 garmin
 
rhuray said:
salt water wash in cockpit
Click to expand...
Are you sure it's meant for washing?
I've seen a few boats with a huge hose connection in the cockpit, connected to an equally huge pump, but that was a fire hose, not meant for washing - which doesn't make any sense with salt water, as also jfm said.
Actually, I never heard of a Princess fitted with a fire hose system, but if that's what they're now offering, I wouldn't rule it out.
Re. thruster(s), I'd rather fit hydraulic ones if available. Much more worth the higher cost than any variable speed gizmo. Then again, I've never heard of a Princess in that size range fitting hyd thrusters.
 
I carried around 2 spare props and a spare shaft for 5 yrs on my last boat and never used them. They're heavy lumps as well so speed loss is a consideration. But the question is whether you've got prop repair facilities local to your cruising grounds and that should dictate whether you buy these items. I wouldn't bother with variable thrusters. On a 52ft boat, standard fixed speed thrusters are entirely adequate. The sternthruster comes into the nice to have but not essential category but make sure that the bow thruster is the most powerful they can fit, if you have a choice, because it needs to work when you most need it ie in a strong cross wind/tide situation. I would go for a saltwater washdown pump, not in the cockpit, but at the bow 'coz its useful for cleaning mud off the anchor and from lazy lines if you moor stern to in your area. Agree with jfm on the anchor counter; they're useless and you're much better off either painting the chain as I do or attaching those little ties you can buy from a chandlery. On the subject of useless, I wouldn't bother with a foward looking echo sounder either.
Regarding a/c, again I would choose the most powerful (tropical?) option Princess offer especially if you're planning to put a/c in under the hardtop. One option you haven't mentioned is an icemaker. Absolutely essential IMHO! But don't have it plumbed into the boat's domestic water supply unless you're 100% sure you're going to be taking on potable water all the time
 
Thks - there is a local Garmin and raymarine dealer so will have a look at the eqpt before choosing which option ... I hope that the helm space can fit a 15" screen. The radar I chose is a 4kw version. Do u think that the touch screen works well ie for Raymarine c vs e series?

For the tender you need to get what you want.
- if the price is reasonable will go for the Williams !

The u/w lights you mention are OceanLED amphibian series. They will work fine in a wimpy sort of way but don't expect anything special.
- thks for the pics - they are amazing !! I"ll go for the x72 colour change plus and will go with either 2 or 3 LEDs... any advice between 2 vs 3.

Thks
 
jfm said:
The 11kw Onan is a nice machine. 1500rpm and quiet - a proper genset. Engine is a Kubota

Each to their own but I always use black antifouling. Looks good with a white or a blue hull. Very much imho

BTW blue hulls look nice of course but in your climate white might be the "sensible" choice, in view of the sun? Not that the "sensible" choice is always the right one!
Click to expand...

Yes v true the dealer told me that the blue hull would need more tlc ! Then again buying a boat is never a "sensible" choice ! Will most prob appoint a full time crew here as cost is alot cheaper to hire a full time skipper compared to uk so he will be cleaning the boat every 2-3 days

Thks on the black antifouling ... I may go with that ...

Any advice on whether a beige sun awning would go well with a blue hull ?
 
Very nice boat the V52. Only snag with powerful u/w lights is that you can see what's in the water as you will see from this totally realistic shot:

Shark.jpg
:D:D
 
jfm said:
With garmin touchscreen it is incredibly quick to flick to the camera view, check all ok, then flick back to the nav view. If you are on plotter+radr, it is 3 touches to see engine room, then 3 touches to get back to nav/radar.

Depth can be shown in a data box in a corner of the screen. It doesn't need a whole section of screen. It can also be shown in a little screen ST70 raymarine or GMI 10 garmin
Click to expand...

Thks - for the depth would that be a readout or a front scanner eg dsm300? I think I have a st70 as STD from princess.
 
Deleted User said:
I carried around 2 spare props and a spare shaft for 5 yrs on my last boat and never used them. They're heavy lumps as well so speed loss is a consideration. But the question is whether you've got prop repair facilities local to your cruising grounds and that should dictate whether you buy these items. I wouldn't bother with variable thrusters. On a 52ft boat, standard fixed speed thrusters are entirely adequate.
Regarding a/c, again I would choose the most powerful (tropical?) option Princess offer especially if you're planning to put a/c in under the hardtop. One option you haven't mentioned is an icemaker. Absolutely essential IMHO! But don't have it plumbed into the boat's domestic water supply unless you're 100% sure you're going to be taking on potable water all the time
Click to expand...

I was actually considering an ice maker ! But when I heard it was going to be plumbed to the main water tank , I decided to go for a ice box ::)

Thks - I decided to go for the upgraded bow thrusters !
 
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