New Trawler Build: Introduction and First Question - Page 3

garrobito · 10-14-2016, 01:40 PM

Welcome aboard and congratulations for all new things on your life!!

Donsan · 10-14-2016, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miz Trom

I am puzzled where you might be getting the information that production has slowed. Here are photos from our last several visits, with the most recent visit about a month ago, to the Great Harbour manufacturing plant. Production is moving along quite nicely.

Sorry, didn't mean to imply production has slowed but rather they will not have the boat ready for some of the early fall boat shows as they had hoped. This was in the last monthly newsletter:

TT35 Update

The painstaking process of perfecting the mold tooling for the TT35 is finally over, and within a few weeks we will have hull number one ready for preliminary water testing. Our initial hope was to have the boat ready for public showing at the 2016 Annapolis Powerboat Show. That might still be possible if we were willing to pull some late nights and rush the interior work. Most every boat builder has stories of how they were still adding final details to a new model as it arrived at the show. But that's not us. We like to get things right, and if that means taking a bit more time, so be it. We are still looking at a Fall completion date, but in Florida, and closer to Thanksgiving. Between now and then, the pace will pick up and you'll begin to see more frequent updates on our Facebook page and in the October issue of the newsletter.

The pics look real good and thank you! More pics please!

Miz Trom · 10-16-2016, 05:45 PM

Hello Donsan:

I note that you live up near Palatka. I used to to waterski on the St. Johns River when I was a kid. The St. Johns will be very likely be one of our first trips on the boat.

I am guessing that you may have noticed in the photos that the design has changed somewhat from the original drawings (my avatar). Pierce, the Marketing Director at Mirage, suggested that the forward "swoop" of the gunwales be moved forward to accommodate the option of a helm door. I like it; what do you think? And of course, now I want a helm door.

Here are some more photos. That's Mr. Smurf holding up the mockup against the gunwales for steps to the bow. Ken tells me that Mr. Smurf is the one who has been at Mirage the longest. He is extraordinarily knowledgeable, and an absolute gem to talk with concerning the build.

Warm Regards,
Sweet Pea

Panhandler · 10-17-2016, 09:59 AM

Miz Trom, thanks for sharing your experience! My wife and I love the idea of the TT35, the ability to trailer it, ship it on a RORO, the shallow draft, and much more. We look forward to hearing more about your experiences and the boat!

Donsan · 10-17-2016, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miz Trom

I note that you live up near Palatka. I used to to waterski on the St. Johns River when I was a kid. The St. Johns will be very likely be one of our first trips on the boat.

I am guessing that you may have noticed in the photos that the design has changed somewhat from the original drawings (my avatar). Pierce, the Marketing Director at Mirage, suggested that the forward "swoop" of the gunwales be moved forward to accommodate the option of a helm door. I like it; what do you think? And of course, now I want a helm door.

We moved from Vero Beach to Buffalo Bluff about 2 months ago. With the exception of two hurricanes with their obligatory power outages, we are loving it. It is kind of backwards and Putnam is a very poor county but I like rural. Really, I am shocked the way development along the FL coast just passes this place by. The St Johns between Palatka and the south end of Lake George is great for boating. The area from south Lake George to Astor, no so much but I would probably view it differently in a trawler. We haven't made it down south of Astor yet.

The helm door idea sounds like a great one. Having one on each side would be even better. Is the helm door an option or the revised base design? If you plan to do the loop, you will probably need those doors in the locks.

Keep those pics coming!

Miz Trom · 10-17-2016, 01:39 PM

I do not know if the helm door will be an option or not.

Nomad Willy · 10-17-2016, 02:34 PM

Dan,
Good on you for not calling the TT35 a trawler. It is an OB cruiser as is the sea dory ect. For that matter most trawlers are cruisers too. The word trawler sounds big and masculine so naturally everyone wants to align w it.

I'm a big fan of cruisers and would probably trade my trawler for the right cruiser .. preferably an OB. I have an 18' OB open boatw a 60 Suzuki. Mine is w the older 1300cc powerhead. One of the reasons I chose it was because of the large displacement but most likely more important is the lower unit gear ratio. Think mine is 2.67-1. For you a 3-1 gear would be ideal but the lower the better. My 60hp on the 18' FG OB is very low power for the boat. Most all other boats of this size and weight have 115 to 150hp. On my OB running light w my wife and I and 12 or so gallons of fuel she performs well but add two more people and she's obviously underpowered. We rarely exceed a light loading so I'm going to address the "problem" w one or two lower pitched props. You may do that as time goes on. I had a very light 28' OB w a 55hp Johnson and I had an 11" pitch prop that I used w full fuel tanks. Would stop and put on a 13" pitch prop when about 1/3 of the fuel was burned. Seldom needed to fill the tanks.

Just throwing this out for furure thinking.

Lobstah · 10-17-2016, 04:15 PM

Beautiful boat...good on ya!

I looked at the specs for the 37...sure does have some cute little engines

2008 Great Harbour N37 Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Donsan · 10-17-2016, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lobstah

Beautiful boat...good on ya!

I looked at the specs for the 37...sure does have some cute little engines

2008 Great Harbour N37 Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Hope it didn't suffer any hurricane damage.

Sailor of Fortune · 10-17-2016, 04:43 PM

Thats all that boat needs is little engines, anything more would be wasted with that hull shape. She is what she is , not designed to be a speed boat.

**FlyWright** · 10-17-2016, 11:04 PM

Comfort over speed! The older I get, the more I like it!

bill johnston · 12-13-2016, 08:35 PM

any progress on acquiring your new TT35 Great Harbor trawlwer?

Miz Trom · 12-14-2016, 04:04 AM

Welcome to Trawler Forum, Bill from Belton. Is that Belton, Texas, just north of Austin?

We visited the plant about 3 weeks ago to see the mockup of the interior done up in plywood. The photos aren't very good because of the tight spaces. I will look through them again to see if any are worth posting.

Pea

Miz Trom · 12-14-2016, 05:18 AM

We brought Lucy the Wonder Dog, a.k.a. Captain Lucy, with us to check out the interior. Lucy is a Labrador Retriever/Basset Hound mix, so she has a Lab body with very sturdy but short legs. She loved the boat, and really took a liking to Ken Fickett. We all agreed that the settee table needs to fold over in the middle for Lucy to be able to sit comfortably there. The handsome fella in the grey sweatshirt is my hubby Dan.

Miz Trom · 12-14-2016, 05:47 AM

Forgot to mention, the galley will include a full-size fridge!

bill johnston · 12-14-2016, 07:30 AM

Hi Pea - Yes we are located in Texas just north of Austin. We are very interested in the TT35. In our current trawler (Cutwater 26) we have an Airhead toilet and it is incredible. No odors, easy to use and clean, and we get an extra 30 gallons of fresh water instead of a macerator and black water tank. When do you think you will be able to pick up your new boat? I spoke with Ken and hope to visit him in May, 2017. Keep us posted on your progress - Bill

Donsan · 12-14-2016, 07:58 AM

Hi Pea - Is your boat the only TT35 boat on order at this point? Is your interior custom or pretty much standard? Those sheets of plywood look none too comfy!

BandB · 12-14-2016, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donsan

Hi Pea - Is your boat the only TT35 boat on order at this point? Is your interior custom or pretty much standard? Those sheets of plywood look none too comfy!

Well, we do have some minimalists here. Maybe they'd like such?

**Baker** · 12-14-2016, 01:53 PM

I that is pretty damn cool that they do that plywood mock up and even cooler that you posted the pics!!! Thanks!!!

Miz Trom · 12-14-2016, 05:30 PM

Bill J:

We met with the owner of Airhead at the St. Pete boat show last week and he allayed all of our fears concerning the composting toilet. Super guy.

We had the exact same thought about more room for water tanks when there is no need for a blackwater tank, so we are.... taking the chance on an Airhead! In addition, Pierce Hoover from Great Harbour did a bunch of research, reaching out to a number of composting commode full-time cruisers and they all expressed similar positive opinions as yours.

We are hoping that the boat will be ready by February. They were tearing out the plywood mockup the day after we left and are working like crazy on the interior build right now. We hope to get up there next week and see the progress.

Being hull #1, we understood from the start that the build time was a guesstimate. Sometimes I have to restrain myself from thinking about all the boats we could have bought this year, and been enjoying, if we hadn't ordered the TT35.

But then I think about all of the features of the TT35 that I love, that I haven't found in any other cruiser (low draft, outboards, trailerable - which shows how completely I am my father's daughter) and I sigh and open up my study books on navigation. Or as I am doing tomorrow, lowering the boat and putting up the Christmas lights on our little 18-ft boat for the neighborhood boat parade.

Those Cutwater boats are absolutely beautiful. Does yours have the sterndrives? We almost bought one before we chose the TT35.

Warm Regards,
Pea