Contract Signed / New Build Underway

When we lost our last dog, the house was painfully empty. I needed time - a month? several months? to process the grief. Bruce couldn't handle it, and within a week he had located a new puppy and we were bringing him home. I did not want to do it, but we did. It was hard: caring for an infant, a stranger, while mourning a best friend. But it was the best thing we ever did. Hard, definitely, but good. I would do it that way again next time (and there will be a next time). You will feel the pain of missing Daisy for a long time, but you will love the puppy too. And the puppy will soil your new boat! Treasure the memories. Welcome the new pup.

Congrats on the near-completion.

The only thing probably keeping you from sliding off your seat in anticipation is the exhaustive preparation you have ahead of you the next few weeks. Very exciting time, hope it all goes as smoothly as possible for you. Looking forward to you taking the wheel and sharing your thoughts on how the boat, with all your customization, meets your expectation. Congrats, John!

Progress Report

Not very much to report today except for more work coordinating the boats eventual arrival and plans. To help us deal with the loss of Daisy we will likely take a few days off late next week and head to Cabo San Lucas for a change in scenery. Our last visit was about nine years ago so we expect things to be different but still fun including a 40 mile drive north along the pacific to a little town where "Hotel California" is the center of attention. I remember walking into the "art deco" style lobby with its dark blue walls and 1970's vintage decoration and the Eagles music playing everywhere. The hotel implies the song was written there and we believed it making the experience that much more fun. It wasn't until this year I learned that was not true and the real hotel referenced was the Bel Air hotel in Beverly Hills CA. Well at least the margaritas and music were good and we plan to visit again.

We also look forward to seeing the newer marina that was still being built last time we visited. I consider this a little pre-planning in case we decide to join what was the FUBAR or Baha ha ha run south in 2017. We also plan to look at houses and condo's and see if we think we would like a small second home there for retirement. That's about it for now.

John

Electronics

This morning I found myself reviewing our electronics selection one last time before contracting with Alcom Marine. Since the H38E has a single console to starboard, space is a premium for mounting displays and everything else that goes with the electronics package. Scott already confirmed our boat will be the first with the slightly larger console which can accommodate a 12" display but I was still concerned. This resulted in me sorting through recent photo's of the pilothouse and the one below which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I was so use to a small and narrow overhead console on our previous boats that when I took a closer look at the photo I realized we have a significant room and depth above for radios and instruments. It was mostly the radios that had me concerned but as we can see the depth is fine. On this boat we may install one radio to port for Mary to use in case I'm busy navigating or have an emergency and the other to starboard plus one in the FB. A wind indicator and possibly an electronic compass will also be installed to starboard.

In the photo we can also see how nice the new PH forward facing windows turned out providing clear visibility looking forward. We are looking forward to seeing final photos of the boat soon since she is scheduled to leave the factory today.

John

John

N4061 said:

This morning I found myself reviewing our electronics selection one last time before contracting with Alcom Marine. Since the H38E has a single console to starboard, space is a premium for mounting displays and everything else that goes with the electronics package. Scott already confirmed our boat will be the first with the slightly larger console which can accommodate a 12" display but I was still concerned. This resulted in me sorting through recent photo's of the pilothouse and the one below which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I was so use to a small and narrow overhead console on our previous boats that when I took a closer look at the photo I realized we have a significant room and depth above for radios and instruments.

Click to expand...

We have a 14 inch chartplotter and 10 inch radar on the console. Our VHS, depth, autopilot, stereo head unit, soc meter and spotlight remote in the overhead (with room to spare). Our overhead is hinged which makes accessing the wires really simple. It has been a great layout. Sounds similar to what you will have. I like the idea of the second radio on the other side of the pilot house.

Update

A quick update before we depart tomorrow for Cabo. This week included more coordination, meetings and signing of documents in preparation of the boat shipping from China. We also had to firm up the insurance and get that in place today - long story.

I asked Scott if he would be willing to help us out and have his supplier of the batteries add two additional house batteries to the commissioning shipment in Long Beach. Scott pulled though and confirmed today they will be provided. This will provide us with four house batteries from day one. Time will tell if we have enough or need more but I believe we should be ok for awhile.

We have a firm date of 9/22 to offload the boat which should work out well since we are scheduled to pick up the new puppy on 9/16. Yes, we decided to fill the emptiness in the house with another Chihuahua pup. Little does she know she will be spending a lot time on the water. While her name is still TBD, Mary likes Sailor Blue (so do I but my New York accent doesn't do "sailor" justice per Mary).

A few open items includes securing the thru-hull transducer and finalizing the electronics package which will wait until we return. I decided to purchase a hand held GPS unit for the trip south to SD just in case we run into fog. That's about it for now.

John

Not long now! What type of house batteries? We have four 6v golf carts and find that has been plenty for our boating style (which usually entails running the genny for at least an hour or so per day for cooking and heating hot water, even if we are not using AC and heat).

Does this mean the boat is on the freighter and underway? That would be great news.

Change of Container Ship

Well we are back from a few days in Cabo San Lucas and getting caught up on the boat. Before we discuss the boat I would like to say that after nine years since our last visit to Cabo things have changed. Even the last time we visited we were surprised by the amount of building that was going on but this time it was like southern California - crazy. The entire corridor between Cabo and Los Cabos is almost all filled up with hotels and residential communities. The amazing thing is how expensive the homes are, we are talking $1M - $3M on or very close to the beach.

We had a great time including Todos Saintos (about 50 miles north) and having a drink at the original Hotel California. We also spent one day driving to La Paz (about 100 miles) where we had lunch on the water and right in front of a Nordhavn 56MS. We didn't realize the boat would be there and knew the owner from emails. He walked over and we started talking before he invited us aboard for more boat talk. La Paz was actually a little cooler and less humid than Cabo which we found interesting. We had no idea the town was so big with modern amenities like Cabo. We were looking for one marina not four! It was a blast.

Now back to the boat and a quick progress report. We had to change cargo container ships which meant leaving Shanghai a week later than planned. This actually worked out well since we pick up the new puppy on the 16th and per Mary nothing was going to impact that higher priority (Scott we got lucky). With the boat arriving the following week we will have close to a week at home with Sailor Blue before her first car ride to SD and going aboard.

Below are a few photo's from last week showing the boat complete (less cushions) and getting ready for shipment. Again I can honestly report we are more than excited how nice everything appears to have turned out. The finish is everything we were expecting.

Exterior Photo

I hesitated to post this photo only because of the protective blue film the yard uses is starting to peel off but I think we can look beyond this. A few observations we took away from this particular picture is how much longer the boat looks with the extended, upper aft deck and railing. We always thought the H38PH had a sleek look with its low profile PH set aft, but with this extension of the upper aft deck and the redesigned bow railing it really shows as a more modern looking trawler - something Mary was looking for. Again I need to stress this is our opinion and we recognize not everyone will agree - which is fine.

Another take away from this photo is our slightly smaller (15%) salon windows which provides a wider space between the two port side windows. Its not very much but I think it gave us the balance of natural light, interior wood and safety we were looking for. You can also see the upper deck overhang above the salon windows which should help keep rain water from dripping down. I'm sure there are more changes with this new deck mold we can not see in the photos and look forward to identifying them once the boat arrives.

John

Saloon floor space appears massive. Also like the addition of liquor bottle holder/rack behind the helm seat...nice touch!

More Photo's

A few more photos:

amazed that is a 38,looks much larger,congrats,and great journeys!

It's a good looking boat, no doubt about it.

Here's a side by side. Does this accurately represent the change in window size and shape, John?

Nice!!

Looks good.

Windows

FlyWright said:

Here's a side by side. Does this accurately represent the change in window size and shape, John?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the side by side comparison, we can see the slightly larger separation between the windows. It appears the yard "got it right" and we are looking forward to seeing the boat in person.

Yesterday we had our "meet and greet" with the new puppy which Mary will call "Sailor Blue" or Sailor for short. We bring her home on the 16th and I'm sure will help will the healing process we are both going through.

Tomorrow we meet with Jeddy, the interior decorator we used on the last three boats to start looking at interior soft items. Once the boat arrives Jeddy will meet us in San Diego to take measurements and let Mary make her final selections. It normally takes about two weeks for everything to be fabricated and installed. We will have the electronics and canvas installed during this two week period.

John

I really like the reshaped and resized windows. The squared off aft window really helps the dock appeal! Looks like the aft pilothouse windows were shrunk, too. Looks great, John!

Would love to see more side-by-side shots of the changes you made on this model.

More Photo's

Scott provided some new photo's this morning of the boat being prepared for shipment and the finished interior. I like this head on shot of the bow with the new bow rail and pilothouse roof / windows. While it may be partially the camera angle we believe the changes we made do provide a slightly sleeker look which i recognize I mentioned before.

John

N4061 said:

Scott provided some new photo's this morning of the boat being prepared for shipment and the finished interior. I like this head on shot of the bow with the new bow rail and pilothouse roof / windows. While it may be partially the camera angle we believe the changes we made do provide a slightly sleeker look which i recognize I mentioned before.

John

Click to expand...

I forgot to mention the new wider / larger rub rail with a nice combination of rubber and SS. The contrast is just right against the white hull / deck.

Interior Photo

Here is a nice photo of the salon looking forward from the aft deck entry. To the left you can see both engine room access doors open and someone inside the ER forward. A few of our changes stand out including the location of the Microwave oven. We liked the enclosed look offered by Scott but the original design had it positioned a little lower. There was not enough room for a coffee maker or other potential appliance underneath so we simple raised it up about eight inches allowing for more space below. This small change also provides for a little more openness in that part of the salon.

Another change the yard nailed perfectly was the redesigned handrail. The original design included a more traditional post which we believed could use an update and be a little more modern. We provided the yard with a simple sketch and a few words. The outcome is perfect and I believe will become the new standard.

To the right we can see the washer/dryer cabinet with the double shelving area above. Who would ever guess there is a WD in there? The shelving above will serve as a wine rack area with pictures above.

One standard item we thought about changing but listened to Scott and left alone is the bulkhead cut-out on the starboard side. This design allows for a clear line of sight aft and will be helpful when backing down. It also opens up the salon to the PH just enough to help reduce the compartmentalization we had struggled with on our other boats.

John: She looks great! In the 2nd to last picture there is a lot of small webbing everywhere. Do you know the purpose?

Look GREAT!! - All Shined up and your place ta GO!!

It sure is a lot of fun watching a boat come together.
Looks like it won't be too long now.
Congrats!
Bruce

Preparing for Shipping

Larry M said:

John: She looks great! In the 2nd to last picture there is a lot of small webbing everywhere. Do you know the purpose?

Click to expand...

The webbing you see is to help support the shrink wrap which the yard applies prior to shipment. This little extra step is something we found as another example of the quality that goes into these boats. I can honestly tell you that our two new N40's arrived covered with salt spray and black soot from the container ship. On one boat someone left one of the small PH windows open just a enough to allow salt spray and soot get all over the PH console. It was a job getting it cleaned to our satisfaction.

While I recognize there is a cost associated with protecting boats to this level I have to wonder why some builders don't provide this service especially when your paying a million dollars even for a boat under 45'.

John

N4061 said:

While I recognize there is a cost associated with protecting boats to this level I have to wonder why some builders don't provide this service especially when your paying a million dollars even for a boat under 45'.

John

Click to expand...

And it's not like yours is the only boat they ship. Why wouldn't they all have a system and use it consistently? Pretty bad first contact with your new boat when it arrives a mess.

More Photo's

In this photo we can see the couch (starboard side) with the cream color leather Mary selected for the boat. All seating areas will use this same color to lighten up the boat from all the beautiful wood. The couch is about eight foot long and has a 90 degree bend along the aft bulkhead providing plenty of seating area. Once the boat arrives we plan use her for awhile before we decide what type and how large of a coffee table to add. Since we have the large table in the pilothouse for dinning we are not in any rush.

On a side note we noticed the color of the wood in the photos posted on TF is much lighter than the ones we received from Scott. These photos almost look like a washed out teak while the real color is a darker.

John

Interior Soft Goods

Today we drove 60 miles to Dana Point, CA to meet with Jeddy our interior designer for the past three boats and now this boat. We have known Jeddy for ten years now and it was great catching up after not talking for a couple of years. He now has his granddaughter helping out in the showroom and she took great care of us. Mary picked out the carpet and decided on a 2" reveal with a darker color boarder. She also found a very cool looking soft fabric, large pleated Roman Shade with a bamboo print and color. We never seen this type of print before and believe it will add a nice tropical look to the boat without making it too dark.

Mary will find the OSR bedspread and pillows once the boat arrives. Next step is for Jeddy to meet us on the boat, take measurements and build the templates for the carpet. From there we are looking at three weeks until everything will be installed. In the mean time he offered to provide us with a few pieces of new carpet he has left over from other projects and cut them to the salon and PH dimensions.

Jeddy also showed us the latest materials being used for outside (aft deck) flooring. We decided to hold off on this since lessons learned confirmed things left outside get dirty quickly.

After our meeting we drove down the street to the marina for lunch gambling we could still beat Friday traffic home - we lost that bet big time and our one hour trip turned into two plus hours. I hate southern California traffic and freeways. Cabo is starting to look real nice!

John

Last Photo Before Shipping

The last photo from the yard. All wrapped up and ready to go! While we look forward to the next phase of this journey I will miss the build process with all our changes and watching the boat come together. Now we sit tight without any new photos until 9/22/2016 when she arrives.