Halvorsen

There are already a couple of Halvorsen owners amongst the TrawlerForum membership, and I know of a bunch more who are active on other such sites who may well spend time here too. Here's looking forward to developing a little (but very international)*Halvo fraternity on TrawlerForum!



Cheers!
Mark

Way to go Mark! Now if I could only figure out how to add a photo to my profile and signature, I'd be set.

My God....Halvorsen is about 140 years old and we are listed under "Other Makes."

Still haven't figured out this "avatar" thing.

SeaHorse II wrote:

Still haven't figured out this "avatar" thing.

Click to expand...

Looks like you got it figgered out thre Seahorse.* Welcome aboard and we'll discuss adding Halvorsen.* Would y'all be against being lumped in with Island Gypsy?

John:

I don't have a problem with Halvorsen being lumped in with Island Gypsy as they are almost exactly the same boat. (32's that is)

BTW...My last boat was a 30' Mainship Pilot (1999) and I loved it! My wife wanted a bigger state room and that is why we are driving a 32. The Pilot, however, did everything I ask of it and I had zero trouble with it.

Walt

I figured Island Gypsy's are Halvorsens, so definitely no issue being lumped in with them.


Hey, this is what a Halvorsen Gourmet Cruiser 32 looks like against a Nordhavn 55... She (the Nordie) is the "Global Adventure" which, after completing a good chunk of her round-the-world voyage, is now for sale here in Hong Kong. I couldn't help going to check her out! A real little expedition ship and - I conclude - not ideal for day boating in HK!

I'll stick to my Halvo for now!

Mark

Hi, Mark and Walt.* Are we the only three Halvosen/IG owners here, or are there others?

Jeff: We are it for now.

Just got back from a San Diego Bay cruise with an old friend who is in town. Had the Bay pretty much to ourselves, so we just put the boat on 1400 rpm's, broke out the Pepsi's, had a couple smokes and kicked back.
if there is anything better to do on a Fall day, I'd like to see it.

Walt

Hi Jeff. I note that troy994719 drives an Island Gypsy 36 which is one of the boats pictured at the top of the web*page, so we're not entirely alone.*Come and join us Troy!

Jeff, my boat has arrived in Hong Kong but not yet delivered to me. Commissioning and final touch-up works take a bit of time after construction at*a Chinese yard, so I don't think she'll be mine until next week.

More anon.

Mark

Mark:

Which boat at the top of the page is the Island Gypsy 36?

Hi, Mark and Walt,

Just finished winterization on Saturday.* I was thinking back to the days of winterizing my sailboat; it was always (or so it seems) 40 degrees and blowing and I was always freezing, working on a cold engine that was jammed under the companionway.* Winterizing this boat is positively civilized, what with the heat and all.

Mark, we'll be awaiting the word to pop the bubbly in celebration of your new boat.* It should be a fun day!

Jeff

SeaHorse II wrote:

Mark:

Which boat at the top of the page is the Island Gypsy 36?

Click to expand...

2nd one from the left!

My swim step on my 2005 Halvorsen 32 Gourmet Cruiser is coming apart before my very eyes. My yard says that salt water has intruded in to the swim step assembly and has attacked and corroded the aluminum inserts, causing them to swell and crack the fiber glass enclosure. Has anyone else ever had this problem?

Walt,

Wow, that doesn't look good.* I had a somewhat similar problem, but not nearly as extensive.* My swim platform is a solid fiberglass slab, with an underlying frame built of, I believe, wood.* I had a small crack, perhaps 5-6 inches in length and 1/8" in width, form along the middle of the port-facing vertical edge of the platform parallel to the top and bottom surfaces.* This was not a simple gel-coat crack, but a crack completely through the fiberglass skin.

There was also a problem with the glass work on the hull under the point of attachment of the swim platform.* No cracks, but there was weeping (a bit of brown water) from the point of attachment of the swim platform mounting brackets.* This was due to either a manufacturing void or a poor-quality repair.

I was concerned about water infiltration, so I had the yard remove the swim platform last winter and repair it and the hull.* In both cases, repair consisted of grinding out the fiberglass in the areas in question, letting them dry out thoroughly and properly reglassing the areas.* The repairs look great and were very well done.

How is your swim platform constructed?* Is the supporting framework under the *fiberglass aluminum?* What do you mean by "inserts"?

Jeff:

Thanks for the reply. It raises my spirits knowing someone else faced a similar problem.

The frame inside the glass swim platform is aluminum plate. (1/8-1/4, can't really tell yet) There are additional aluminum inserts inside the glass and they are positioned over the SS brackets that are attached to the transom. This is so that you can drill and tap the inserts that accept large machine screws, thus holding the platform to the brackets. Now, my rudder, which is also fiber glass over a frame is of similar construction. The difference there, however, is that the rudder frame is SS! Why SS on the rudder and aluminum in the swim platform? Because aluminum is easier to drill and tap and since the Chinese never grew up with boats, they don't know any better!

By the way....remember my speed problem?* I had an analysis done and it would apper that I'm propped wrong! Don't know if I'm going to spend the money for 3 extra kts* at cruise and 15.5kts at WOT but that's what the experts are telling me. Please don't let Yardway Marine know about this as if they want the data, they can spend their money for an engineering study like I did.

Although I love this little boat, after chasing down fixes for the last year that should have been solved in the build, I don't have much faith in Halvorsen and Yardway Marine.

Walt

PS I picked up .8 kts with just a bottom job and Prop Speed application

Hmmm, maybe I have aluminum inside my swim platform, as well.* Is yours repairable?


That's great that you've gotten some resolution on your speed issue, or at least a definite diagnosis.* How does the Prop Speed stand up to barnacles and the like?* I'm looking for a better solution there.* On my previous boat I tried painting the prop, which worked for a while but didn't last the season.* I've also tried wax, which works to some extent.


My current issue is a couple of deck cracks; one at the base of the flybridge steps and the other at the joint between the steps and the bridge deck.* I had a leak from the latter and it drove me nuts.* I rebedded all the bridge hardware, to no avail.* I finally ran a bead of polysulfide along the raised lip on the bridge deck that keeps water from running down the steps; that did the trick.* My yard's opinion is that there's a*crack there that had been covered over with a layer of gel coat, rather than being properly repaired (ground out and filled with epoxy).* More grinding and glassing this spring.


Yeah, it's really annoying.* I guess a boat is a work in progress.




-- Edited by jethrobd at 20:33, 2008-01-17

Jeff:
I suppose anything is repairable but in this case I don't think so. I'm already looking into getting a swim platform built out of teak. I know, I know...teak? With my blue hull and teak trim and caprails it's a maintenance headache but like a 57 Chevy, it sure looks great when it's kept up. These are good looking boats...not just my opinion but almost everyone that sees them. So far I found a guy in the high desert of Arizona that makes teak swim platforms but he is pricey. Beautiful work though.

As for the prop Speed, I have had it a grand total of <u>one day </u>and so far, it still looks great! Seriously, I've talked to several guys that had it done about three years ago and they swear by it. (Expensive....the kit was $219 and with labor (buffing out the prop, etc.) it was $400!!! I know that's dumb but I've already told my kids that my plan is to spend my last $100 ..30 minutes before I kick the bucket.

Jeff:

I just ran this off boat Diesel and it almost coincides with what my prop guy is telling me.

Jeff,
Prop Speed is the only way to go.
I have been using it for a few years now.
It is good to know that when you go to use your boat the prop is not fouled and you don't have to dive and clean before departure.
I leave my boat at th3e marina for long periods between cruises and since changing to prop speed have not had any build up.
Have previously used hard antifoul and also heated` the prop before coating it with lanoline, none of these were really successful.
Prop speed is expensive but I can get a couple of years out of one application , I haul my boat every 12 months as it is timber and you gotta watch them worms.

Benn

Walt,

Don't let a teak swim platform scare you just because it is teak. It has great non-skid properties and doesn't need much maintenance due to the fact that it is not bonded to anything else(ie fiberglass) other than the screws that hold it to the supports. It also is continuously coated with salt water*while underway which is good for it. It will last almost forever with no maintenance needed.

NOW, if you are one of those folks that just can't stand to have grey teak hanging off of an otherwise beautiful boat and insist on having it varnished/cetolled, well then you are creating maintenance for yourself and also highly degrading the non-skid properties of teak. I have seen people do this and I have seen themselves or their guests go sliding off of them. If you varnish or cetol your swim platform, it is no longer a swim platform. It is a decorative piece of wood and a boobie trap for the unsuspecting(which inludes everybody on your boat).

Get the teak swim platform! Don't varnish it!

-- Edited by Baker at 10:57, 2008-01-18

-- Edited by Baker at 00:46, 2008-01-19

Thanks for your comments John...it would appear that we are on the same page.
That's exactly what I plan to do!

Walt**

http://www.woodworkingforwatercraft.com/platformcruiser.html

Benn and Walt,

Thanks for the Prop Speed info.* Being in New England, I haul my boat annually and its out of the water 5-6 months.* Do you know if the Prop Speed application will still be good after drying out for 6 months?* $400 would be pretty good for a multi-year application, but a bit pricey for an annual cost.* Youd need to burn a lot of fuel to make the fuel savings pay off.
*
I completely agree with John re varnishing the swim platform.* I varnish my cap rail and eyebrows, but I would leave the swim platform unfinished.* My cap rail is slick when its wet.
*
By the way, anyone know the name of the piece of wood trim that runs around the edge bridge deck on a Europa-type trawler?
*
In the wonderful book Brightwork - The Art of Finishing Wood, Rebecca Wittman describes the ideal method of maintaining teak decks as simply washing them down weekly with salt water.* No varnish, cleaner, brightener, or harsh soaps.* Sounds like youll just have to take the boat out at least weekly to keep it looking good, Walt.* Just chalk it up to maintenance!
*
Jeff

The only reason to use salt water is that if there is a leak in the deck that allows moisture to get down under the planks and into a wood subdeck (or a fiberglass-wood-fiberglass sandwich subdeck) the salt water is far less conducive to the development of dry rot than fresh water. If the teak is laid over a solid fiberglass subdeck you can use fresh water to keep it clean.

To remove dirt, grime, soot, etc from the surface of the teak, Lemon Joy is the detergent I have seen recommended the most (I had thought Rebecca mentioned this in her book but maybe I'm mis-remembering). It's not a harsh detergent and even in a very diluted mixture makes good suds in cold water.

Jeff:

Wish I could answer your question about Prop Speed drying out after a winter layup but I can't. We boat year round where I live (San Diego) those thoughts never enter our minds! (Had to say that)

As far as the teak trim around your bridge deck...I don't know what they call it either. I'll bet the prop Speed site will answer the drying out question.

I'm enclosing a photo of my swim platform and am wondering if it looks anything like yours.

Walt

Ok, Ok, you had to rub it in.* Actually, there are many advantages to owning a boat and living where the early AM temperature (today) was 12F.* I just can't think of one right now, but I'm sure there are some.* So there.* Ha!

My swim platform looks nothing like yours.* It's all fiberglass, rather than a teak grate in a fiberglass frame.* The center section is finished in a non-skid pattern, with the outer few inches finished smooth.* There is an integral SS ladder, which slides into a frame bolted underneath the platform.* The whole platform is hinged, so it can be raised to reduce overall length; quite handy, actually.* I'll see if I can find a picture tonight.

Jeff

Guys, nice to see the Halvorsen forum active.

Crack open the bubbly... I have now finally taken delivery of my new Halvorsen Gourmet Cruiser 32! What a project it's been! Some heartache along the way, but tremendous satisfaction. We spent Saturday cleaning her interior and stowing our stuff away, and ripping plastic covers off the upholstery. Then I sat down and took a moment to reflect on the boat around me when I realised that she is AWESOME! Walt, sorry to rub it in, but my 2 foot extention of the aft cockpit has turned her into a floating patio!

Will be sure to post some pics in a week or two after I/she gets settled. Walt, you know my boat pretty well by now, and Jeff has also been the source of some useful info over the many months since I first contacted him for advice (right around the time I contracted the boat early last year). Jeff, my modified flybridge layout has also turned out real well, and makes the most of the relatively small real estate up there.... thanks for your measurements of about 10 months ago!

Walt, sorry about your swim platform. I think the GRP frame with teak grating looks sweet on this boat, but I saw a very similar platform design all in teak the other day (on a very different boat), and that looked very nice too. Will try to find that boat and take a pickie for you. Meanwhile, I suggest you hammer away a few more emails to the builder with a simple request for a quote for a new swim platform + shipping to USA. I'm gonna ask if mine has the same aluminum core. I note however that mine has slightly different shape to yours (I think) which may mean that a subsequent design change (as well as change in the shipyard) has also resulted in a different internal contruction. Will see, but I doubt I'll be that lucky.

As I once said, your prop looked visibly different to mine in the photos, and I guess that is after all due to different sizing, if not also different shape. After the builders had my prop adjusted during construction (it's now very different from the spec that is etched into the brass), I worried that my boat wouldn't perform as she should. Glad to say I got 13.8 knots out of her in a nasty chop during my final sea trials about 10 days ago. Yes, I might have an extra 40-50hp advantage over yours, but I also have the extra weight of a flybridge, etc and probably way too much DC artillery (I calculate about 330kg of batteries!). My point is that you should be able to squeeze an extra few knots out of yours... if you wanted to (I know you have been happy restriced to "normal" cruising speeds). I have no idea... what does a decent prop cost? There is always the option of buying Chinese and shipping it over!

I ordered PropShield from the UK and had that applied to my prop when the boat came out for final bottom inspection and some touch-up works. Unfortunately I was away for Xmas vacation at the time, so never saw what it looked like or if the boatyard guys applied it correctly. Will see how it all looks in several months time (or sooner when I go snorkelling), but instructions say it's good for only 6-7 months which sounds like a waste of time... perhaps I will look to your PropSpeed stuff next time. Let's compare notes in half a year! The PropSpeed versus PropShield Dance-off!

Enough for now. I'm on the road in China enjoying an unusually speedy internet connection. Hope to be back home on Friday evening so that I can spend all weekend on the boat putting her through her paces, and will no doubt have plenty more questions for you guys for ever and ever thereafter!

Ciao,
Mark

Congrats and good luck, Mark!!!! Enjoy that "slow boat to China"!!!! SO what will be the name???

Mark,

Congrats!* It's a wonderful feeling being on your boat once she's all yours.* Here's wishing you and your family many years of happiness on her.

I can't wait to see the*pics - I'd love to see the custom mods, especially the flybridge.

Walt, here are a few pics of my swim platform; the best I could find in the winter (that's the platform in the left photo to the nearside of the bluefish).* You can see the ladder underneath in the other photo.

Jeff

-- Edited by jethrobd at 20:03, 2008-01-23

Thanks! She's called "Beluga". I held off on replying to you in the hope that I would have some nice pikkies to post, but unfortunately the weather was crappy at the weekend, so no photos. I was also a bit too busy putting her through her paces (maiden voyage after delivery) and re-testing all her systems, and drafting a snagging list for the builders. Mostly "normal" stuff, but one or two items needing quite urgent attention. Maybe I'll have photos after next weekend but, for now, here's one from several weeks ago which you might have seen before. Have now got some nice Perko side lights on her, which makes <u>all</u> the difference!