Where are the trawlers in the PNW? Poulsbo

[Lollygag]

OK, Marin, you make a good point. Lollygag was marketed as a "Modern Trawler" back in the day but as a SD hull with two engines and no way to drag a net she doesn't qualify as a "trawler." I'll refer to her as a "Recreational Trawler."

 

[Marin]

O
I'll refer to her as a "Recreational Trawler."

That's like calling a Cessna a "recreational airliner" but whatever works for you is what works for you.

 

[Hawgwash]

That's like calling a Cessna a "recreational airliner" but whatever works for you is what works for you.

Sad to say, from an old timer's perspective, words are becoming less meaningful as "progress" speeds up, acronyms take over and neophytes occupy the driver's seat, kitchen and bathroom. It all started with bumpers, ropes, and Mark Zuckerberg.

 

[AKFish]

Choose one...spend time (FD) or spend $ on fuel (SD)

Fact is that a SD transom is not nearly as efficient as a FD transom at hull speed, but if you want to go faster, you give up on slow speed efficiency with the SD hull form.

Kevin, you must have excluded me because of my numbers, but I can say for certain that we operate in weather that you do not. I would not trade my FD hull for your SD hull, even though there are times that I would like to have your speed while crossing the Gulf.

One trip in April we had easy 20' rollers with 25-30kts SE. We ended up way off shore for the necessary tack. In all of these trips, I know the boat can take more than the crew.

For the casual boater, weekend warrior, sport fisherman, coastal cruiser, the SD hull can offer something the FD hull cannot...speed. For those needing long range and don't have many time commitments like a Monday am job, FD is hard to beat.

Just for fun, here is a video exiting Bainbridge southbound for the Gulf. The anchor hawse holes are 7.5' from the water. I look out 13-14' above the water from the helm. It never looks as impressive with pictures and video, but it was a fun ride.

Video

 

[Marin]

Cool video, thanks for posting it. Is yours a commercial fishing vessel?

 

[ksanders]

Choose one...spend time (FD) or spend $ on fuel (SD)

Fact is that a SD transom is not nearly as efficient as a FD transom at hull speed, but if you want to go faster, you give up on slow speed efficiency with the SD hull form.

Kevin, you must have excluded me because of my numbers, but I can say for certain that we operate in weather that you do not. I would not trade my FD hull for your SD hull, even though there are times that I would like to have your speed while crossing the Gulf.

One trip in April we had easy 20' rollers with 25-30kts SE. We ended up way off shore for the necessary tack. In all of these trips, I know the boat can take more than the crew.

For the casual boater, weekend warrior, sport fisherman, coastal cruiser, the SD hull can offer something the FD hull cannot...speed. For those needing long range and don't have many time commitments like a Monday am job, FD is hard to beat.

Just for fun, here is a video exiting Bainbridge southbound for the Gulf. The anchor hawse holes are 7.5' from the water. I look out 13-14' above the water from the helm. It never looks as impressive with pictures and video, but it was a fun ride.

Video

Just for the record guys and gals AK fish keeps his boat two slips down from me in Seward, Alaska.

Brett, yes if you go out in 20' rollers with 25-30 kt winds you choose to go out in conditions I would never choose to go out in.

Me, I'd much rather stay in port during those conditions. Then I can sit on my boat, have a beer, and listen to the sea stories from the guys braver than I

And just so you know, TF'ers the seas Brett posted the video of haden't even built yet. I know the area from his video like the back of my hand and he was in a relativly protected spot. You can see the headland on the left of the video. Once he cleared that the seas probably doubled in size from what you are seeing in his video since the winds were from the South east and he was heading close to due south duriing the video. Then he would have had to make a right turn to cross the gulf which would put the seas on his beam to aft beam, not pretty at all.

Brett the things you commercial guys will do to get your shrimp to market are amazing!

 

[AKFish]

Yes...shrimper. But, not a shrimp trawler. We use pot gear and catch spot prawns. We like to refer to the boat finish as "high end commercial" which is not nearly as fancy as KSanders' mega-yacht.

 

[Hawgwash]

Just for fun, here is a video exiting Bainbridge southbound for the Gulf. The anchor hawse holes are 7.5' from the water. I look out 13-14' above the water from the helm. It never looks as impressive with pictures and video, but it was a fun ride.

Yes, very cool. Any chance you could give us a video tour of the boat?
She all aluminum?

 

[Marin]

If you have any other short videos of your boat in action, including the shrimping, it would be great to see them. Do your prawns get exported or are they for local consumption?

 

[Diesel Duck]

Yes...shrimper. But, not a shrimp trawler. We use pot gear and catch spot prawns. We like to refer to the boat finish as "high end commercial" which is not nearly as fancy as KSanders' mega-yacht.

Are those Donalson/Ladner or Tanner stackable shrimp pots on your bow?

 

[Hawgwash]

My wife came down the next morning and we took off across the gulf for a 5 day excursion.

Kevin;
Just where do you go "across the Gulf?"
Looked at the satellite of your marina and can almost see you on the bridge. Interesting port; what is Liquid Adventures...lol.

 

[AKFish]

Marin, Thank You for the photos! My great grandfather was a fisherman during this time. I will always remember the smell of coal tar on his old scow. It was certainly FD.

Trying not to hijack the thread, but for those interested in the shrimp thing, you can see some posts on the boat facebook page. Search for MV Norskip. There are more pics and videos there.

And, yes, they are Ladner pots.

 

[Marin]

[Sad to say, from an old timer's perspective, words are becoming less meaningful as "progress" speeds up, acronyms take over and neophytes occupy the driver's seat, kitchen and bathroom.

It's frustrating isn't it? I'm glad I live in the region now and I and my wife and I have had some amazing adventures up and down this coast and intend to have a lot more. But as I've learned about the history of the area, both from my own interests and as a result of some of the books I've written and meeting and talking to long-time residents of Seattle and the BC raincoast, I feel that the absolute coolest time to have lived in the PNW/BC/SE Alaska area was in the early and mid 1900s. Seattle was a fascinating city during that time and the BC raincoast was truly fantastic.

Simply from the transportation systems alone, it was a grand time.

First two photos, Union Steamship Lines, second two photos, the Milwaukee Road's Olympian Hiawatha, last two photos, Boeing 314 Clipper and 377 Stratoliner (the very first plane I ever flew on when we moved to Hawaii).

And no, I have no idea why the system duplicated the first two shots at the end......

 

[Hawgwash]

...for those interested in the shrimp thing, you can see some posts on the boat facebook page.

Pity.
I don't do Facebook.

 

[Hawgwash]

First two photos, Union Steamship Line...

Damn it all Marin, cut it out; I have to get out of the basement for a while.

I'll drop by later with a line or two on the Catala and my first encounter with a Cee Bee

 

[ksanders]

Kevin;
Just where do you go "across the Gulf?"
Looked at the satellite of your marina and can almost see you on the bridge. Interesting port; what is Liquid Adventures...lol.

"Across the gulf" in terms of what I do is taking off from Seward, clearing cape Resurrection then traveling 35-50 miles eastward across the northern part of the Gulf of Alaska.

From there we either dink around the protected waters of Prince William Sound, or if the weather is nice enough to comfortably sit in the cockpit and fish, we do that out in the gulf itself. Anchoring for the evening is always somewhere protected of course.

Coming back is the exact same thing but reversed.

The prevailing winds in this area are south to south east, which exposes us to a pretty much full on beam sea with unlimited fetch.

Unlike AK fish's tolerance for seas, we typically make a no go decision if the seas are over 8' as measured by the cape clear bouy. If the wind is up and the seas are stacked close we'll generally choose not to make the crossing, but some times we'll go anyway and just deal with it. This year I added a freezer to the boat for example to allow us not to be pressured to return to port with our catch. Now we just vacuum pack them and freeze them on board.

The the methods we use are based on our hull form. Since we are in a constant beam sea we often use the throttle to push the aft of the boat down, and dampen the roll.

The things we have learned on our journeys in Alaska are the exact same things we will use when we eventually take our boat south again. Hop from port to port, use the boats power and speed to our advantage.

To be honest when we end up cruising without schedules in warmer climates we will become less tolerant of sea states. Right now with our short season in Alaska we have to tolerate larger seas or we'd miss out on boating trips. When we have no schedule we can be more conservative. For the next few years I still work for a living, abet not on a m-f regular work week.

BTW, a full leave Seward and go south gulf crossing is 320 NM straight line from Seward to Yakutat. Of that you can hole up in Hinchinbrook entrance with only a 30 mile detour then cross from there to Yakutat which is 210 NM

My boat has the fuel capacity to make reasonable choices. I can go for example at displacement speed to Hinchinbrook, then cruise at 15 knots across to Yakutat. Or I could do the whole trip straight line at displacement speed. If I chose the fast cruise option then no overnight journeys are required.

Theoreticslly with our 600NM range we could straight line Seward to Elfin Cove then fuel up there or even Juneau, but I see no reason to do that. Yakutat is a decent little town with a good harbor.

 

[Bob Cofer]

Last Saturday and Sunday the MTOA had a get together in Langley on Whidbey Island. Trawlers galore!

 

[MartySchwartz]

Last Saturday and Sunday the MTOA had a get together in Langley on Whidbey Island. Trawlers galore!

Really? Had not heard anything about it......

Marty.....................

 

[Bob Cofer]

From the website:

Our next planned event is the Rendezvous at Langley (southeast side of Whidbey Island) September 11-13, 2015. Bill and Jill Brown are hosting this. They are lining up speakers with topics of interest to our group and other fun things to do. It would help them in planning if you could let them know if you will definitely, probably, probably not or definitely not be joining us, and whether it would be by boat on land. Bill's email is: bbrown99@whidbey.com

 

[drb1025]

Last Saturday and Sunday the MTOA had a get together in Langley on Whidbey Island. Trawlers galore!

Funny, I pulled into Langley Sunday, not thinking I would need a reservation, and they were full on their new breakwater dock with the MTOA boats. Fortunately, they had an open end tie in the old part of the marina.