New-ish Ocean Alexander Cruiser

Greatly appreciated. I'm hoping that Poseidon is more a refresh than refit (at least in the short term) but I guess we'll only know once we get into it. Survey was very good and the owner took it on himself to fix any defects highlighted. A walkin engine rooms sounds nice. Had spent a long time looking at Defever 49s (which also have walkin) but couldnt pass up the OA when I got to see one. Poseidon has the Cat 3208 Naturals (210HP) and a big old Oban generator so a bit cramped but small inconvience considering the amount of usable space. She is on a berth at Fenwicks marina (Brooklyn) and the plan is to keep her for the moment. Our previous boat (5 years) was a small Colin Archer Yacht that we kept at Parsley Bay so we know the area reasonably well. Will reply to PM from proper computer but are going to boat show and definitely interested in catching up.

I have to ask. How much is shipping to Oz?

Robert. The idea of an OAOC is interesting. It appears there are quite a few potential members on this forum with a good number of local Aussie OA owners. I look forward to following your ownership of Poseidon and hope to catch up with you on the water. Doug

Aquabella, Your trip north is my dream, which I hope to do next winter. How long have you owned her? It appears her refits have prepared her for a whole new lifetime of cruising.If you're planing on calling into the Gold Coast on you way south, PM me and we can catch up. I would appreciate any photos of Aquabella as I'm always looking at ways to improve the use of the various spaces onboard Carpe Diem. Doug

beachbum29 said:

I have to ask. How much is shipping to Oz?

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Shipping a mid section for an outboard motor to a friend in Perth a month or so ago cured my curiosity. I'm sure it cured his too.

$1,000

Beachbum29 - not sure about an OA, but last year I had a quote for a Defever 49 from West Palm Beach to Newcastle (about 100 miles from my home) for $US54,000. With tax / duty / misc expenses etc, buying a $US160K boat in Florida would have turned into around $AUD270K landed (and that was when the $AUD was very strong). When I saw the OA at a marina 10 minutes from my home, I couldn't get an offer in fast enought.

Beachbum29. Shipping Carpe Diem from Long Beach LA to Brisbane Australia cost US$70,000. Cheaper then the fuel bill for bring it out on its own bottom, if it was capable that is. Like Robert said its only viable if you purchase a boat at a great price. Still if you we're interested in cruising this part of the world for a couple of years I think it would be worth it. I hope one day to return it to the US to do some cruising there.
Doug

Shipping costs are much higher than I thought.

beachbum29 said:

Shipping costs are much higher than I thought.

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It's all relative. I found the boat I wanted and other then servicing/running costs have only spent $$ on a new Bimini.
Doug

My next project is securing a tender whilst underway. As Aquabella noted in a previous post, our cockpit area is small. My boat deck has been converted to an entertaining area which works fantastically. But I can't tow my tender all the time. Any Ideas?

Aussie Doug said:

My next project is securing a tender whilst underway. As Aquabella noted in a previous post, our cockpit area is small. My boat deck has been converted to an entertaining area which works fantastically. But I can't tow my tender all the time. Any Ideas?

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What size tender and how about the fore deck? See a lot of sport fish killers run a davit and dink up there.

CPseudonym said:

What size tender and how about the fore deck? See a lot of sport fish killers run a davit and dink up there.

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I'm not keen to carry a tender fwd as it will block my vision when navigating from the Pilothouse. Would like a 11' tender. I currently have an 11' alloy tender which I have been towing. The swim platform is probably the easiest and cheapest option.
Doug

Weaver Industries, Inc.: Davits for Hardshell Dinghies are a pretty good option for that application. They have a kit for 11' Whalers Weaver Industries, Inc.: WHALER SNAP DAVITS W/ HEAVY DUTY SWIMBOARD HOOKS

Thanks Craig. They look good and would suit my alloy tender. I'm a bit lazy and would have to pull the 15HP OB off/on every time I was use the tender. Someone sent me photos of other types. I think I would prefer something like these, If I can track them down for fitting in OZ. have you seen these in use before?

No I haven't but am jealous for that big of a swim board

dwhatty has an interesting set of davits on the rear of his Island Gypsy, perhaps he will chime in.

Carpe Diems swim platform is about 15' x 4'9" and very strong, so it could hold an 11' tender. with a 2'6" over hang I would still have plenty of room to board via the swim platform.my only worry would be getting caught in crap seas.

Aussie Doug said:

my only worry would be getting caught in crap seas.

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The only thing to do if the proverbial dung ever really hit the oscillating device is cut the dink loose and let it find its own darn way home.

Doug your duck board is almost as big as the center console my boys and I are going to build

Craig your right, I just need a knife or axe handy to cut it lose. The swim platform is big all right. A few times my wife and I have set up chairs and a table and had cocktails as the sun went down. Next time I'm out I'll put up a shade umbrella and take a pic.

CPseudonym said:

Weaver Industries, Inc.: Davits for Hardshell Dinghies are a pretty good option for that application. They have a kit for 11' Whalers Weaver Industries, Inc.: WHALER SNAP DAVITS W/ HEAVY DUTY SWIMBOARD HOOKS

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Check out the Weaver Hoist on their site - it handles the outboard for you.

Conrad. Thanks it looks interesting, I'll keep it in mind, I still like the idea of a rhyming the tender flat on the swim platform.
Doug

Aussie Doug said:

Robert. The idea of an OAOC is interesting. It appears there are quite a few potential members on this forum with a good number of local Aussie OA owners. I look forward to following your ownership of Poseidon and hope to catch up with you on the water. Doug

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Ocean Alexander used to sponsor an owners club on their web site. Activities were primarily in the Pacific Northwest, although they had at least one rendezvous in the Great Lakes some years ago. When I checked yesterday, the registration link was still there, but it wouldn't hook up. They might still be around.

After registering, I received listing of all boats that they had manufactured with size, boat name, owner, and location (for registered members). There were blanks for serial numbers where owners were not signed up. You might check with OA about this. The club/association was maintained through the Seattle dealership.

By the way, we use a Nick Jackson power davit.

The broker for Poseidon was Grand Banks who also represent OA (in Australia at least). They will be at the Sydney show with 2 boats (a GB 57 and a OA 73) so it could be an opportunity to raise it with them. Bit of local support for an owners club would seem appropriate.

Hi Skidgear. I have registered with OA owners club and hope to get the OA listing. Also I have had a look at the Nick Jackson davit system and think it will suit my needs I'lll get a quote from them and see if it will work for me.

AussieDoug - I was also able to register today (though previously had only got a web page unavailable error). Also have a contact email for someone in their marketing department in Seattle who may prove useful.

Robert, I'm hopeing to get the OA hull list that Skidgear mentioned. This will fill in a few holes for me re Carpe Diem. What's shes done where she's been etc. Also it might give an insight into the number of OA's in OZ. It would be great is we can get something going locally.

Doug, I just saw this in the back of the new edition of Sea magazine and thought you may want a look.

http://www.hurleymarine.com/

Thanks Craig, looks promising. I'll send away and see what pricing I can get. I have an alloy tender now which may be a bit to heavy. I can't make my mind up whether to stay with the alloy dink or buy a smaller lighter RIB with a smaller motor. Anyhow we"ll see what happens.

Robert, I've been contacted by the local OA broker on the Gold Coast, he got my details from the States after my registering this morning. Boy they are quick. he tells me that an OA/GB Regatta is being organized in the the next 6 months. I will keep you posted.

Aussie Doug said:

Conrad. Thanks it looks interesting, I'll keep it in mind, I still like the idea of a rhyming the tender flat on the swim platform.
Doug

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Doug, having had davits which kept the dink flat, but now using the snap davit type, I would advise a re-think of a system which keeps it flat. Reason I say that is yours is a true ocean going and serious costal vessel, and that being the case, the Weaver system, which winches the dink up effortlessly on it's side and disconnects the outboard and swings it up vertically, as in the recent link, works well, and yet is still a pretty seaworthy arrangement. A wave hitting it does not do much at all, in fact protects the cockpit a bit. What I found with the hanging davits type, is they do tend to swing around, especially if an inflatable, so need to be attached very securely in a seaway, but also they trap water. Ok, so drain plugs left open will deal with that if just rainwater, but they still tend to not drain properly, so there is often some water slopping around, especially if an inflatable, and it traps a lot of water. If you took a greenie cover the stern at sea, it could rip it off the stern altogether, especially those low-slung ones mounted on the swim-step, so not a truly ocean travel seaworthy arrangement. So, in my view those davit mounted arrangements seem pretty much a sheltered and coastal waters arrangement. Others may differ...but of course, if that is all you plan to do..?

Pete, I'm taking it all onboard. My first choice is to have a cradle built extending out from the old boat deck with a davit to deploy the tender. This is the ideal.. But cost maybe prohibitive. Which has sent me on my hunt for other solutions. The weaver system is ok, but I see a smaller tender with a smaller motor, that would be ok if you are just going into a beach or moving between friends boats. But if your anchored out always it's better to have a bigger tender with a bigger motor. So I'm looking at at least a 11' tender with a 15hp motor. My research goes on. I'm open to everything.
Doug