Recent content by GMS

Just realized I never updated this thread after our 2nd Sea Trial... The 2nd Sea Trial was an entirely different experience and I got the opportunity to bring the boat into the dock (Yes, probably broke all sorts of unwritten broker rules, but the owner was standing right next to me the entire...

First off, I don't think it is a recommended configuration to have a simple combiner switch between LiFePO and lead-acid battery banks, if the lead-acid bank develops an issue (e.g., short circuit or other damage) when combined the LiFePO batteries would be able to dump a tremendous amount of...

Checking in with your insurer prior to heading down the LiFePO house bank route is wise, but the insurance thing should become more and more of a non-issue. ABYC has endorsed (or at least approved) LiFePO4 chemistry for use in boats (with certain safe guards of course) and that usually carries...

Great update Rod! Very nice to hear your capacity results after 1-2 years of floating the battery for backup power usage. The BMS was choose for our house bank does not readily allow for letting the batteries sit at 50% SOC as we would have preferred, it is nice to see some evidence that keeping...

This might be my favorite comment in the thread so far ;-) All the input has been very useful and reinforces how we believed the boat should behave. The owner (23 years, not a licensed captain) was clearly off his game and not excited about the weather on sea trial day - so, we suspect that...

Flatswing, Thanks for the informative input. The maneuvering difficulties did not involve trying to walk the boat sideways, it was simple close quarter turns leaving a marina with no current (plenty of wind, but no current). I am sure a stern thruster would help, but as we haven’t closed on...

RT, Thanks for the input! Just to clarify, if your stabilizers were parked, then engines alone were sufficient? To the best of our knowledge the stabilizers were still parked (had moments before been unpinned). Cheers, G

We are under contract to purchase a twin engine trawler (56’ DeFever) and we had an interesting experience during our sea trial. During close quarter maneuvering the captain (long time owner) was using a great deal of rudder positioning in addition to the twin engines (and still seemed to have...

Consider an AP remote control device with the AP unit mounted where you have space (or maybe Garmin offers an AP remote that just couples to the MFD). Many manufacturers offer APs with wired or wireless remote controls and should duplicate the quick access functionality of the AP unit itself...

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/bod/d/seattle-north-sea-trawler/7727081610.html Nice looking vessel and fun story on the designer too... Is the price USD or CAD, either way it seems a bit on the high side for essentially a custom build (if one were to compare with a Nordhavn, etc...). No...

Curious to hear the reasoning on applying Awlgrip to the hull (I assume instead of a gel coat finish) - is this because it is the first hull or a preference over gel coat or some other reason? My apologies if this topic has already been discussed... Going to be an amazing boat - hope to catch...

Fraser Fiberglass in Vancouver, BC was suggested on a different forum. While Fraser appears to built excellent hardtops, the budgetary pricing provided by them seemed expensive (but I have nothing to compare it with at this point). Budgetary pricing for a ~60ft boat was around $100k USD...

I believe an official from the Ferry system was later quoted as saying that in retrospec the repositioning should have been delayed due to weather. With the Ferry system down 1/3 of their ferries, it seems like a bad decision to risk any boat in unnecessary transit through rough waters...

Wow, beautiful boat that looks like it was very well maintained!

As a long time fan of power catamarans, this boat caught my attention a year or so ago (yes, it has been for sale for a long time). Love the layout (at least as best one can tell from the pictures). The overall condition of the boat looks concerning (serious growth on hulls, etc...). Looks like...