A Long Way Home II

First 3 pictures are of the trawler Summer but last is of Seabeam.

Summer looks like an American Marine Alaskan to me. DeFever design built in wood in AM's Kowloon Yard.

Marin I'd guess the Seabeam came before that. Could be a Vic Frank boat too.
But probably Canadian built.

This park in Comox made us smile. Complete w grazing deer, sculpture and a tea house. See Chris in the tea house.

So why not take the compouter with you, we always take the computer to watch moves/play games/read books to pass the time. We have driven to/from Prince Rupert many times taking my dad to visit sister and bother. Nice senery but boring after a while.

So where in Washington are you going to end up! The winter will probalbe feel like summer to you, unless you go east of the mountains.

Kids with animals in the park.

Charming Comox.

Here it looks like Willy ran into the side of a bldg instead of a whale.
Remarkable resemblance.

manyboats said:

Marin I'd guess the Seabeam came before that. Could be a Vic Frank boat too.
But probably Canadian built.

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I don't know what Seabeam is. But Summer is most certainly an American Marine Alaskan built in the late 60s or early 70s. Here are a couple of shots of a 1975 49' Alaskan I took the other week in Ganges. Other than the larger hull ports it is almost identical to Summer. All Alaskans are wood.

This is my favorite production recreational boat design (it's deFever's).

Marin,
Sorry .. I got the wrong name in the wrong place on my post. I agree on the Summer/Alaskan. That's it to be sure. I personally think it looks top heavy. DeFever does too but Jeff (Artic Traveler) says they are not. Of course he has one but I believe him. I don't care for the big top heavy looking boats like sundecks and such. If one is to be extreme I'd rather be extreme as in long, low and narrow. Obviously most feel otherwise. I'd prefer the Seabeam refit as a pleasure boat. It's a double ender too. Seabeam isn't a narrow boat though. I think trawlers tend to be fat. I posted the pic for the guys (you included).

So is your favorite the Alaskan or the DeFever? Other than appearance is there any relationship between the two boats?

Eric-- The American Marine Alaskan is a deFever design. That's why most Alaskans and boats like the deFever 46 look almost exactly alike. It's also why a Fleming looks the way it does. Tony Fleming managed the American Marine yard for several years and when he left to start his own company he took the deFever/Alaskan design with him and modified it to suit his taste.

One of the big mistakes many of us GBers feel American Marine made was not transitioning the Alaskan line from wood to fiberglass as they did their Grand Banks line. The Alaskan line was discontinued when AM closed their Kowloon Yard in the mid-1970s or thereabouts.

Here's a boat that looks very good to me. I especially like the FB. Looks like the designer intended to limit the people on the FB to a reasonable number. No doubt windage was taken down a peg too. Probably a puncher, a bit fat and heavy but probably very capable and well balanced vessel. I like it.


Hobo is in quite a number of ways like Willy. A bit smaller and of course wood. I'd like to see her out of the water. In the water she's definitely good to look at.

It was often breezy and frequently we had company.

Our local mechanic Hyden. Being so slender he could wrap himself around our small engine like a cat. He sure stuck to the job.

Hobo is mighty easy on the eyes. Great looking little woodie.

Craig,
Easy call for both of us eh?. But I like the boat above it too. Don't like Hobo's anchor stick'in way out there though. Marin's favorite too. I like Seabeam best though. I wanted to go over and take up all the fenders on her for a better pic. Wife put a leash on me.

I saw a Vashon recently that turned my eye too. Nice double end design small boat.

Gotta love that old troller look though as that pointy stern sure limits your stern platform options. Haven't seen a good looking swim platform on one yet. Removable teak or mahogany ladder would work well though.

manyboats said:

Don't like Hobo's anchor stick'in way out there though. Marin's favorite too.

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He's probably got it stuck out there in the hopes that it snags a tree on the shoreline as he drifts by since he obviously knows it won't hold onto the bottom.

For a slightly larger cousin of Hobo's, Eric, take a look at the gray fishboat conversion in my Gulf Islands 2012 photos. I really like the design of that that one even though it's not a true double-ender.

With regards to the swimstep challenge on a double ended boat, the gray trawler has a really nice, stable teak (or some such wood) boarding ladder that clamps over the starboard gunwale between the pilothouse and the little stern cabin. I'll put up a shot of that side of the boat later. It's a good solution.

I thought of that Marin. We use a hook ladder to board the dinghy. With two one could perhaps attach a folding platform much like a swimstep. I'll be look'in for the pic.

1st pic is en-route to Ladysmith.

2nd pic = long low and narrow .. and fast.

3rd Pic The north end of Saltspring Island.

Eric--- What did you think of Ladysmith? We've not been there although we understand they have significantly upgraded their marina facilities over the last few years. But we're thinking there's nothing all that interesting there. What's your opinion?

!. I believe this to be an old Mathews.

2. I believe this to be a Fuillard.

5. I believe it's getting late.

This is at Port Browning .. I believe.

Sorry Phil,
I missed your post entirely.
Bought a house in Concrete .. a good solid town about 30 min up the Skagit (hwy 20). Will be down in about 2 weeks for a week or 2 then maybe back up for another week. The boat's at Latitude Marine in LaConner .. blocked up. Got the house covered and I think the rest will be OK.
Are you in Everett? Think I've seen your boat there. First thing we do when we're in Everett is go to the Sisters by the CO-OP and Herald.
When is the next PNW Rondy going to be? This time I can make it.
I have a 27" i-mac and an I pad. Use the i-pad mostly for a nav aid. I use it w my chart plotter then I can keep what's in front of me on my screen. Keeps me off most of the rocks. But w/o my computer I use the i-pad when I find wi-fi like at Starbucks.

Marin,
Don't know nuthin.
Anchored in the harbor way up at the head past the several marinas.
Good anchorage. Plenty of room for scope w your old Buick hood ornament style anchor. Saw practically no Rocna's until we were very far south. I think they are getting more common down here. Still have my Manson Supreme but only used it once on the trip. I think I was afraid I'd pull up a bunch of mud. Had almost no mud come up on the anchors ... mostly used the XYZ.

Great pictures eric. What a lovwerly part of the world. 'Course, I can't feel the temperature there - that might change my mind a bit. Queensland has made me soft.
I agree with Marin that Alaskan 49 is a great design. I can't agree with you about it being top heavy looking - not like it is, but it's a classic illustration of a design I reckon one should not slap a flybridge on to, as that would ruin the lines. Also, being raised pilothouse design, with that whatever-it's-called bridge thing - memory fails me for the moment - at the pilothouse level, who needs a flybridge anyway?

Portugese bridge. I have no idea why it's called that but it can be a nice feature according to the people I've talked to who have boats with them. Everything from letting you get round the front of the boat in rough water without being exposed to waves and spray to being a great safety "net" for small children to get round the boat, assuming you keep the center door closed and locked.

Thanks Marin, actually the name Portuguese came to me as I hit the post button, but I was not absolutely sure, so I left it, knowing someone else would know it.

Marin said:

Portugese bridge. I have no idea why it's called that but it can be a nice feature according to the people I've talked to who have boats with them.

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Yes Marin, but not practical for boats as small as yours and mine.

Hold up there guys,
I thought I made it clear that my criticism of tall boats and FBs is pure personal opinion. I even think a Krogen is too high up in the air but it's just personal opinion .. nothing more. I've never been on a tall tented sundeck like Mike the broker's and actually I've never in my life been on a FB while underway either. I'm look'in at it a bit like a farmer from Nebraska standing by the government locks in Seattle look'in at a tall trawler and think'in "man that's way up there Thelma". And being high in a wheelhouse or FB is judged by myself only as a perception of what it would be like. But I know what windage can do to Willy and she draws 3 1/2' and next to most other trawlers she has almost no windage at all. And the helmsman on Willy is quite low and I've had to hang on so many times I can't count so I'm think'in "wow what must it be like way up there" but I've never been there done that. But I wouldn't buy a tall boat w/o lots of experience being high up. Never heard of anyone falling out/off a FB or getting hurt flailing around up there nor have I seen a tall boat get caught by the wind, slammed into something and get damaged. But I don't speak out of a total vacuum either. I driven tall semi-trucks a lot and been up on many roofs but there must not be as much to my perception of tall boats as I do perceive. But I usually criticize things .. not people.

Mark how do you see where your'e going w all that stuff in your face. Perhaps you should put a wheelhouse ........ Was I actually going to say that.

Youz guys up there in the PNW don't know how lucky you are when it comes to beautiful design in boats. Down here in the Miami swamp, most of our marinas are filled with late model, streamlined white bars of soap with no souls. One of the trend setting evolutions that have come along is the competitive grey (ILO white) bar of soap. They have hot tubs and plush interiors but telling one brand from another doesn't even seem important anymore. The occasional Taiwan trawler is a pleasant change of stale air, and thankfully, the area still has its fan support of Hatteras boats, although mostly made up of the 45 ft. plus sport-fisher wake-master group. The ICW and off-shore islands cruising crowd adds seasonal color to our boat viewing, but I don't remember the last time I passed something with a nice round stern.

On the floats at Port Browning. No ExtraTuff boots here .. must not be in Alaska anymore. There's something else about these youths that says the same thing. Perhaps that they are hang'in around yachts instead of fish boats and the glow of the yachts changes their image in some way. Friendly enough.
Speaking of top hamper and windage New Rosa has more than some but I'll bet her bottom descends 4' or more and that gives her license in my book. Rosa seems exceptionally narrow though.

2 Part of the resort at Port Browning. Made us feel like we were half way to Las Vegas .. Hmmmmmmm

3 The wind out of the esat at Port Browning. This could be a good destination for many NW guys here.

4 Chris on the beach. The gentle softness of the beach in southern PNW is rather warm and fuzzy after 7 years where literally 98% of beaches are just rock. The locals even called Prince of Wales Is "the rock".

Eric, New Rosa looks like she would be a little tender. She also looks like a slicer that would cut the water cleanly.

manyboats said:

....I've had to hang on so many times I can't count so I'm think'in "wow what must it be like way up there" but I've never been there done that.

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We've driven from our flying bridge in four-foot waves and it's not too bad. Yes, it moves around a lot up there but you're sitting down and the movement is not all that uncomfortable. We don't drive from up there anymore not because the motion bothers us but because we don't like the sight picture from up there. In close-in maneuvering and docking we find it much easier to judge the boat's exact position relative to the dock and other boats from the lower helm. Plus with two of us if the person at the helm needs to get on deck to help out it's just a matter of stepping out the door. And as I've said before, we can't hear, feel, and smell what's going on in the engine room from up above.

Eric--- Here is a shot of the boarding ladder that is used on that little gray fishboat conversion we saw in Silva Bay. Seems a pretty substantial device to me. I have no idea where they store it once they're aboard. Perhaps it comes apart and stows flat somewhere.

Oh yes I see it Marin. Thanks. Ours is plastic and aluminum tube.

I like the stern on that boat but it would benefit visually from being a bit curved. If I was designing that boat I'd lower the transom and thereby lengthen the WLL. The designer I suspect designed the boat to be most efficient w a heavy load and the WL up considerably. The rest of the hull looks very much like it was designed for heavy loads. That's a somewhat decent example of why some commercial boats don't convert perfectly to pleasure boats. But so few FD pleasure boats exist that a pleasure boater looking for or needing a FD hull often buys a fishboat and converts.

Well guys I'm pack'in up this computer and put'in it in a box. See you on the i-pad at times. Have a nice fall everyone.

Eric

It just occurred to me they might simply stow the boarding ladder in the dinghy once it was up in its davits.