"Roll Call" For Gourmet Cruisers and Island Gypsies

Codger2 · 06-30-2008, 09:24 AM

It's been a long time since anything happened on this thread! Please sign in if your Halvorsen is still "right side up."

Walt...SeaHorse ll La Jolla, CA
2005 32' Gourmet Cruiser

-- Edited by SeaHorse II at 10:25, 2008-06-30

-- Edited by SeaHorse II at 10:28, 2008-06-30

**Baker** · 06-30-2008, 02:52 PM

Walt, I could look at that boat all day. She is a beauty!!!

boogiediver · 07-18-2008, 01:55 AM

Hey Walt, I'm still here! And to prove "Beluga" is still right-side-up, here are a few recent photos...

Codger2 · 07-18-2008, 04:31 PM

Mark:

Who takes the photos of Beluga?* You really have some nice shots! The photos on PMM are just teriffic!

boogiediver · 07-22-2008, 07:58 AM

The builders sent an entusiastic amateur photographer around to take some shots for their new brochure. With a bit of direction from me, we got a few nice ones.... and some silly fun ones.

dwhatty · 09-29-2008, 09:12 AM

Well, don't see much activity here but thought I'd add a name/boat to this roll call. Just purchased a 2001 IG32 and will be bringing her to her new "home" port this weekend. Hope she can handle 15-20 knots of wind and 2-4 foot seas okay as that is the forecast.

Codger2 · 09-29-2008, 12:33 PM

Dave:

Welcome aboard! Great looking IG32! We will want to hear all about your trip, bringing her home. How far, winds, sea state, anyone sick, etc.

Walt

dwhatty · 09-29-2008, 01:42 PM

Ah, someone is alive out there.

What kind of weather have you had your boat out in and how did she handle?

On sea trial in about 15kts of wind and maybe 2' seas, the boat threw a lot more spray over the bow than our narrow, 70 year old, 38' wooden sedan cruiser (still unsold

) would, but she did not roll as much. I'm a little nervous about the thought of taking a new, relatively small, boat into 15-20 knots and 2-4 footers on a maiden (for me) voyage, although my son, who is an experienced 2nd mate in the offshore tug and barge trade, has agreed to go with me.

Codger2 · 09-29-2008, 03:59 PM

Dave:

The Ig 32s are a little wet but they are also "Bull Dogs" at sea! They are certified for "offshore duty" and can take one hell of a lot more punishment than the people who drive them. Just make sure your windshield wipers work and you'll be fine.

Walt***

dwhatty · 09-29-2008, 05:23 PM

Thanks Walt. Will report if and when.

dwhatty · 09-29-2008, 06:12 PM

Question:

What does "offshore certified" mean exactly and who certifies this?

Codger2 · 09-29-2008, 07:31 PM

Dave:

When boats are designed, the company can apply for a certificate, indicating the boats suitability for a variety of tasks. Some are certified as coastal cruisers while others may be certified as lake or bay. There are numerous categories and agencies that certify nautical designs. ABYC (American Boat & Yacht Council) is the one we are most familiar with. CE (Consultants Europe) is another that certifies boats in other parts of the world. The Halvorsen Gourmet Cruiser 32 is certified by CE as an "offshore" vessel). Normally, a plaque will be displayed in the salon of the boat, indicating who the designer, builder and yard is and what category she is certified to.

dwhatty · 10-06-2008, 09:56 AM

Walt:

You asked for a report of our trip.

First day we had winds of 25+ with 4-6' following seas, with the 6 footers occasionally breaking. Two of us onboard. My son the tug man was at the helm. I was holding on with white knuckles. Lots of wheel cranking, throttle work and blue language.

The boat did not bury her bow but came close several times. Surfing down some waves at 13+ knots.

The steering is 5 turns lock to lock and the boat does not respond very quickly to helm input. She tends to wallow and wander. Made life interesting.

If the boat tucked her shoulder at all she was hard to control.

We had intended to go 60 nm that day but, as the wind was freshening, we decided to head for shelter after 35 miles and pulled into Portland (Maine).

Glad we did not have to buck into or across the wind in those conditions.

But the boat took it.

Stern thruster packed up on docking, but no big deal. Solenoid clicks but no motor. A sharp rap started it for a few tries but then just clicks. New solenoid needed?

Stayed over in Portland for two nights waiting for better weather. Yesterday had light and variables and so my wife and I made the run from Portland to Deer Isle (about 80nm) in about 9 hours at about 9 knots.

All went pretty well except for that vague, wandering steering which also has absolutely no feedback. HyNautic. Lower helm shaft seal started leaking. Need a seal repair kit. Hopefully Teleflex has them as HyNautic seems to have been acquired by them. Would love to replace with a less turns lock to lock system.

Engine ran like clock work.

Also, for some reason, stbd tank does not draw. Contrary to the IG manual, there is no way to shut off port tank and draw on stbd only. There is only one fuel return and it goes to the port tank. (The manual shows two return shut off valves on the filter mounting board, one for each tank). Thus, to draw off stbd tank at all you have to have both tanks fuel feed valves open. The feed lines join at the filter. Plus the equalizer line doesn't seem to be doing its thing when asked to.

Fueling was interesting too. No prob with stbd tank but when filling the port one, each time I would let up on the pump nozzle lever fuel would erupt from the fill pipe (and, yes, the oveflow vent works). Also, pump nozzle does not fit into fill pipe. Diameter of fill pipe too small.

Various other problems, mostly minor, revealed. Some upgrades improvements needed as well. For instance, the drop down table that converts to a "double" bunk is fine for Chinese midgets I suppose. Have to come up with a new plan for any overnight guest(s). Plenty to work on in the off season. Just throw money.

dwhatty · 10-07-2008, 04:04 PM

Follow Up on fuel situation:

Poked around in the holy place today. Found that both tanks vents are clear. I dipped both tanks (by way of a long wire tie down the vent holes on top of the tanks) and found they each had about the same fuel left in them. Apparent to me that the tanks may be, after all, drawing equally and equalizing but that the sight guage on the stbd tank is not registering correctly (shows full/clog?). Found that the stbd tank had had a return inlet on top of it that is now blanked off. Can't physically reach it with my hand/arm as beam is in the way. DPO? Will fill tanks tomorrow for winter and see how much fuel we burned on our trip home. Suspect not too great gph as we were pushing it.

Also found two (out of six) broken off bolts from the drive shaft coupling (Drivesaver coupling) in the bilge and the other four bolts a bit loose. Don't know if this was preexisting, or if we hit something on the trip home, or if the interesting following seas our first day were involved. Luckily we didn't lose it all at any crucial point.

boogiediver · 10-19-2008, 11:43 PM

David,

Just a quickie to welcome you to the Halvorsen fraternity. I've been on the hoof in China for much of the time since you posted your trip report, so haven't had an opportunity to say well done and enjoy your new (old) boat!

That "vague, wandering steering" sounds familiar! for a couple of reasons...

Her square bum coupled with her relatively small size (I might be talking rubbish!) make her susceptible to being thrown around and going wobbly in a following sea in particular. (I'm an enthusiastic amateur - with the emphasis on amateur - so have a tendency not to know much about what I'm talking about!)

And, in my case, the*boat (8 months*old) has a HyDrive steering system*which appears to have not been perfectly bled despite several efforts to do so by the builders' reps here in Hong Kong. I thought the*steering cylinder has a*tiny bleeder valve built into it, but it turns out that "nipple" is*not a bleeder valve at all, and no valves were*attached to the cylinder*when the system was installed. So it is no surprise that the system could not be properly bled. We only found all this out last week when I docked the boat for*a general survey and minor warranty works. Bleeder valves have now been added, and I will only see if steering slippage*is*fixed after she splashes down this weekend.

I also have only one fuel return line into one tank despite schematics which say lines should feed into both tanks. (The genset returns fuel to the other*tank).*I complained like crazy in the early days*and still reserve my right to get the builders to address this before my warranty expires. But, truth be told, I haven't had a problem with this. I experimented a lot in the ealy days and have settled on just leaving the balancing line open.*My port side*tank is usually about 1/8th of a tank fuller than the starboard tank which pisses me off, but*the resultant list is literally negligible. The balancing line works slowly, so don't expect to see the levels balacing out in front of your*eyes.

For a bit of fun and in case you are interested, I have posted some photos of my Halvo GC32 on my website www.boogiediver.com. When you get there, click on "our boat". She has pretty much the same hull as your IG 32, except ours was extended to 34' by way of extention of the mould.

Keep us posted of developments and of your various upgrades. 'Always keen to learn from others. But don't give me too many*ideas... I have committed*on the purchase of a Simrad AP*and have to settle up with the shipyard for current works,*and apparently (according to the Admiral/bank manager) I have already spent my budget for 2009!

Ciao!
Mark

dwhatty · 10-20-2008, 06:21 PM

Hello Mark,

Glad to see some life on the board.

Ah, the teething problems of a new or pre-owned boat (or car or whatever). Many little things to be dealt with including:

Steering: It looks like we have a HyDrive system too (thought it was Hynautics but was in error). Finally found a helm seal replacement kit from the only USA Hydrive dealer and installed it to fix a leaking lower helm unit. (Contrary to what the instructions promised, a good pint or more of fluid was lost in the process). Will do a system bleed in the spring from the cylinder (which does have bleed nipples) just to have a benchmark. However, the 6 (not 5 as I thought) turns lock to lock of the system is not good, particularly in the following sea situation. I'm used to the lower ratio on our previous (although still current until she is sold) boat. I notice that Seastar/Teleflex helms now have adjustable lock to lock ratios. I wonder if their helm units are compatible with the Hydrive plumbing and cylinder? Let me know if your steering is better after your splashdown.

Fuel system: Interesting that you also only have one return line. Ours is to the port tank as is the genset return. But we have a slight list is to stbd. I'm having the yard look into putting a return line to the stbd tank, with appropriate valving, if some way can be found to physically reach the return inlet on top of it that is now blanked off. May have to cut a hole in the sole above to do this.

A propos of this, just removed some "ballast" from the port side that was panned by the surveyor. About a 150lbs of scrap 2" +/- diameter short sections of SS shaft material, stowed transversely, that had been duct taped into place by someone (yard, dealer, previous owner?) between the port fuel tank and the holding tank that could have shifted in a seaway. Will have to find some (somewhat heavier) flat lead ballast to replace it as well as secure it properly.

Then there is the guest accommodation table/bunk situation that has to be dealt with. As well as finding places for storage. The mind is going fuzzy trying to figure all this out but we do have a long winter to think about it.

I guess that we are in the process of withdrawal from a 38' boat to a 32' one.

Dismal fuel consumption on delivery trip. 10 gph!!! at 9 to 9.5 knots at 2200 rpm vs old (wooden) boat with twin engines getting 2.5 gph total at 8 knots.

But.... we like the boat so far. And all we have to do in the spring is polish it and launch, so I'm told, vs all the painting and scraping on the old boat?

As to your boat, do you have more pics? Would be interested to see your interior and more construction pics.

Was your boat built at Juxing shipyard?

boogiediver · 10-21-2008, 12:14 AM

David, in haste again, mine was build at Polymarine shipyard a couple of hours by ferry from HK. I saw Albins built there as well as a Spanish and Australian brand, and some fast boats that they build for Chinese navy. I understand that all Halvorsens have been built at Polymarine since they cut ties with JetTern some years ago (where Walt's boat was built, and who now build Selenes).

Here some pikkies (below)....

Photos of boat under construction will have to follow later.

You have more interior space than me, so just imagine how relatively little storage I have! The lazarette and my under-seat lockers in the cockpit and on the flybridge privide good space for cleaning materials and all out outdoor toys, but everything else has to fit into just a few little lockers in the forward cabin and in the icebox under the settee. As it happens, we are just weekend cruisers, so the space is enough for us.

Fyg, when new (and before we brought all out toys on board!), we got the following speed/consumption figures:

1400 rpm: 7 kts, 2.2 gph
1800 rpm: 8.2 kts, 4.9 gph
2200 rpm: 9.5 kts, 8.7 gph
2600 rpm: 10.7 kts, 13.1 gph
3000 rpm: 13.7 kts, 18.6 gph

Now I'm struggling to see 12 knots despite keeping my bum clean, so I put that down to the extra weight I have collected over the months. Will collect data again soon, now that she is in dock having new antifoul applied.

I'm no expert, but it has struck me that these are not the most efficient hulls around. Any particular thoughts on what*we are getting in return for that investment in fuel? What does your IG have that your old boat didn't have?

All the best,
Mark

dwhatty · 10-21-2008, 06:42 AM

"What does your IG have that your old boat didn't have?"

Hmmm?

Hopefully less maintenance. No more 6 weeks of spring prep (sanding, painting etc).

Better resale value and marketability?

Better sea boat.

More systems (a blessing and a curse).

Not as good looking though.

Codger2 · 10-21-2008, 09:20 AM

Dave:

You are right! Your old boat is a <u>beauty!</u>

The speeds you listed are, indeed, much better than I am seeing on my boat but your fuel consumption is much higher.

I have to run now but will have pics and more info this afternoon.

Walt

boogiediver · 10-26-2008, 11:18 PM

Dave, I dunno if you will be able to see the attached chart which plots my RPM/speed and RPM/consumption relationships as I measured them at the weekend (compared to*January when I took delivery of the boat). She has a fresh coat of antifoul, so it should come as no suprise that the performance is largely unchanged... she is after all still a new boat.

If anything, my top-end speed (orange line) is*slightly higher, averaging 14.3 kts on opposite runs. I found that a bit surprising since I am carrying more weight than on day 1, and I now have my dinghy mounted like a parachute against my transom, which surely creates some drag.... which might explain the slightly higher consumption figures (green line) at the upper RPM range!* Hardly scientific, so it probbaly doesn't prove anything, but at least it*shows me that she isn't performing any worse than the day she delivered!

Best,
Mark