New Liveaboard - The Adventure Begins

Happy Thanksgiving Fellow Boaters,

Tomorrow I will began a journey with my customers to bring their "new" 48 Hatteras LRC from Ft. Myers Florida, through the Keys, up to North Florida.

The owner and his wife will have some yard work done on her in North Florida.

In the Spring, the vessel and her crew will then embark upon a one-in-a-lifetime, liveaboard adventure that will includes trips to Nova Scotia, the Gallopogas and Easter Islands in South America and the Mediterranean. As the mistress of the vessel is a travel writer, you will likely read of those adventures in popular travel and boating magazines.

The new owners made their trawler liveaboard plans and saw them through.

You can read about our trip through the Keys on my blog. I'll be posting regularly.

MT

MT, hope y'all have a safe trip. Sounds like a lot of fun. Don't forget to plan 3-4kts of Gulfstream groundspeed going up from the Keys to Miami. I did that trip once with a friend and he planned our arrival at first light(so as not to approach at dark) and we arrived hours early because he didn't factor the Gulfstream. We were doing 10-12kts in a 42ft sailboat.

I thought people lived on boats to get away from yardwork???....

*"the vessel and her crew will then embark upon a one-in-a-lifetime, liveaboard adventure that will includes trips to Nova Scotia, the Gallopogas and Easter Islands in South America and the Mediterranean. "

That will!! be a heck of an adventure in a basically stock motoryacht!

Fuel tankage, water supply , stability and lots and lots of glass come to mind first.

Interior hand rails , gymboled stove , engine exhaust setup and even windlass size would also be a concern.

Lots of sailboats of 30ft+ think little of such a trip , but it will surely be an eye opener* in a motor yacht.

I wish them great LUCK, in weather windows.

FF

FF, dunno if you are familiar with the Hatteras LRC. I understand what you are saying but the LRC was designed with a little bit different goals in mind....LRC stand for Long Range Cruiser. SO it is a little bit different than your common everyday motoryacht. For starters, fuel tankage comes in at 1400 gallons. How many 48 ft boats do you know that carry that much fuel? Also, both engines put out a whopping 224hp....TOTAL....again not your average everyday motoryacht. It is a full displacement hull. The LRC line by Hatteras was the only full displacement boats built by Hatteras to this day. Do you remember what was going on in the late 70s/early 80s.....gas shortage...they were adapting to the market. I am not saying this boat is capable of going anywhere but that was the design intent when it was built....only 49 of these were built. And hatteras does build a heavy thick hull. Check Yachtworld if you are interested in the full specs. They are neat boats that ask a pretty decent sum of money for a 25-30 year old boat.

Hatteras also made 58 and 65 LRCs. They are excellent, voluminous long range cruisers that were well built and maintain high resale value for a reason. As well, they have exceptional headroom in the walkaround engine room and throughout the vessel. While they have their flaws, if well maintained, they offer a lot in a quality seakindly yacht. There are less of them in use due to hazards of the marine environment; a 58 was lost in a marina fire in Texas and a spectacular 65 was at the Orleans Yacht Club during Katrina. These LRCs are not to be confused with Hatteras semidisplacement motoryachts.

Adaquate fuel does not make a Voyaging vessel. All those little things like stability , seakindly , Above Vs Below ratios and Glass area get into the mix .

If the 58 can run 7K on 4gph combined she will be doing well 6gph is more likely.

With the most optomistic numbers and NO noisemakewr or heat 2000 NM is doable , at risk of dry tanks.

The Pacific run probably needs doubble that .

Smaller even more efficent engines , would reduce rge speed in any but calm water.

Because a boat makes a GREAT brown water cruiser , an addvert dept enthusiam does not create a Voyaging Vessel.

Yes I have been on board the 58's underway , and would happily run it all over the Carib , or up to AK.. But leaving Panama and heading west , perhaps not.

FF.

Well the trip was an adventure I suppose. Basically noneventful. The boats now on the hill completing some upgrades.

I did meet another couple a few weeks ago that had an LRC also. They had taken it to Panama through the canal and up the west coast to Alaska. Now that was a trip!

MT

Now that was a trip!

Perfect , for a "LRC". The boat probably never ran even 48 hours between ports and probably never had to be over 30 miles offshore. AND got to stay docked in heavy weather.

ATTEMPTING a Crossing the Pacific will surely be a quite different cruise.

FF

Fred,

You should take a look at a west coast chart/map. Though there are a few places to hide in the event of heavy weather, not all offer a mooring can or protected anchorage, let along a dock. The Baja Bash can take the wind out of the sails of even the most experienced seafarer. It just beats you to death, it's non-stop and there's no avoiding it. And you've not lived until you've experienced first hand a Tehuantepecer (look it up). I've experienced 50+kt winds through there, and the sea looked like a mirror... not a ripple, but the boat's getting sand blasted due to the crap blown off the mainland. About the weirdest thing I've ever seen.

In snotty weather, it's not uncommon for vessels to go 60-80 miles offshore when rounding Conception/Arguello. Once past Morro Bay, there's (literally) nothing except rocky (albeit beautiful) California coast until you reach Monterey. If you have a problem between the 2, you'd best hope that help can arrive (or you affect your repair) before the rocks claim your boat... and possibly your life.

You don't need to cross the Pacific to have "a cruise" in the west. Cruising the west coast from Panama to Alaska makes doing the loop seem like kindergarten. There's a reason you don't see as many vessels doing the Latin America to Alaska run as you do running the loop.

What Chuck said. I've only taken a boat into the waters off the coast in the PNW a few times and that was a 17' Arima fishing boat on real nice days. But I know several tug skippers and crab fishermen who work the waters off the coast of Washington and Oregon, and it can get every bit as nasty out there as it can in the middle of the Pacific. I grew up in the middle of the Pacific and, yes, it's real big water. But other than the occasional island, the closest lee shore in a storm is a thousand or miles away. The guys working the coast (and the recreational sailors and powerboaters who are out there, too) are sometimes in water that's every bit as nasty as it can be a couple thousand miles west but they have a lee shore only a few miles away or less if the weather comes down on them. And unlike those of us who boat the "inside" waters of Puget Sound, BC, and SE Alaska where we can almost always get to a protected bay or harbor within an hour when the weather weenies get the forecast wrong, the folks off the coast between Washington and Mexico have precious few places to go and so have to sit out there and deal with it.

There was a reason we had our GB trucked from California to Washington. Boaters who know what they're doing routinely run the coast in production trawlers of all types, but my wife and I are not in that class. When it gets crappy out there it doesn't matter whether you're two thousands miles off the coast or two miles, you're going to need the same skills to survive.* My hat's off to anyone who ventures out along the coast.


-- Edited by Marin at 19:39, 2008-02-18

Chuck and Marin could not be more accurate in their assessment of west coast cruising. It can really be a bear! Long legs, no place to hide, etc.

Walt

One of the "longest" rides we've had was from San Diego Bay to LA Harbor.* Was right after Easter, in April of 06.* 10' square seas (10' @ <u><</u> 10 sec.) the entire way up.* Only 80 miles, but seemed much longer.

Add that to the $2.35/ft./night charge from Shelter Island Marina for our 110'* "Guest Slip" (all they had for our little boat), and it was a painful trip in more ways than one.

Judy at JWY wrote:

Hatteras also made 58 and 65 LRCs. They are excellent, voluminous long range cruisers that were well built and maintain high resale value for a reason. As well, they have exceptional headroom in the walkaround engine room and throughout the vessel. While they have their flaws, if well maintained, they offer a lot in a quality seakindly yacht. There are less of them in use due to hazards of the marine environment; a 58 was lost in a marina fire in Texas and a spectacular 65 was at the Orleans Yacht Club during Katrina. These LRCs are not to be confused with Hatteras semidisplacement motoryachts.Well I active on the Hat site also and being a nubie I ask them to explaine the term"Blue Water Boat".Did not know that I was opening Pandora Box.Good thread,good read and the site is free.Robby in Mobile

Click to expand...

*


-- Edited by Robby and Bren on Thursday 30th of April 2009 06:14:51 AM

specialblend43.talkspot.com


This is a site from a fellow that was a guest for a while , before shoving off to the wild Pacific.

Sometimes it works, but he did get a 40 Nordy to OZ.

With the usual hassles , good reading...

I'm new to this forum, but have been around others for quite a while. I really didn't want to start off my first thread in a negative tone, but really took exception to the Hatteras LRC bashing that was done.

Speaking from experience and knowing a LOT about Hatteras LRC's, I can emphatically say that when properly equipped, the larger ones are capable of LONG passages. I personally own a 58' LRC that CIRCUMNAVIGATED on her own hull back in the early 80's. Not that I have plans to do that, but I'm comfortable in knowing she can safely take me pretty much anywhere I desire......

OK, I'm off my soap box. Please don't trash a boats reputation without knowing the facts. Hatteras LRC's are quite capable vessels....

Kismet,
We have learned not to take FF too serious. Next he will be knocking the TT's (Taiwan Trawler) which I own. He is a knowledgable, experienced boater- I personally think he jumps to different sites every morning, posting- just to stir up some stink.

Kismet,
Welcome! Your fine ship is sitting at my marina. I've enjoyed my strolls past her formidable lines. I have no doubt your ship could go any where she wants. How long are you in Deltaville for?

-- Edited by Daddyo on Monday 14th of December 2009 09:10:07 AM

Thanks for the warm welcome!* Of course, I probably shouldn't have stirred a pot that was already cold....but what the heck!

Daddyo, yes, Kismet is at your marina!* We're there for the long haul, other than some area cruising beginning in the spring.* Next fall, we'll take her south for the winter.* She'll stay in Naples and we'll probably do some island hopping from there.

I'm assuming from the avatar that SeaChange is your boat two fingers over from ours?* Are you liveaboards?

Thanks again folks....I'm sure I'll be around this site from time to time!

No we're "Amazing Grace" hard to make out as we're bow in, but yes in the covered shed. Liveaboards about 7 months of the year.* She is just beginning her winter slumber but a trip south is not completely out of the question this winter. I'll be back up there in the next few days, maybe I'll see you around. Liveaboards? Welcome to Deltaville and the forum!

Not liveaboards. We actually live in Richmond. I'm down about once a week at this point to check up on things. Actually in the process of installing remote internet monitoring and cameras, so I can check out the scenery when I'm away!

I'll PM you tomorrow with my contact information and look forward to meeting when we're down at the same time.