Another new start for Helmsman

[Tom-Jill-Lilly]

2023 Rendezvous

EmBark is signed up for the Helmsman 2023 Rendezvous in PortTownsend. We are in slip 21 right next to Doug and Patti. Hope to see the East Coast Helmsman owners there too. Would love to meet you all!!!

 

[chanprr]

I am looking forward to meeting everyone! Sorry I won’t have our new 46 to show.

 

[FWT]

Can't make it. Wish I could, and hope to one year soon.

 

[Doug_Snider]

We’re having fun being dockmates with Embark. Today Margaux applied her masterful graphics. Lots of activity. Well worth the wait.

 

[Nancy and Rick]

We’re having fun being dockmates with Embark. Today Margaux applied her masterful graphics. Lots of activity. Well worth the wait.

Looks beautiful Doug and Patti!

 

[Nancy and Rick]

Well crap!! Where did that come from? I thought I just dreamed it up. That's awesome, and I did not know this was being done. Has it been built yet?

Don't think hull number 1 has been built yet but she looks beautiful...

 

[backinblue]

Well crap!! Where did that come from? I thought I just dreamed it up. That's awesome, and I did not know this was being done. Has it been built yet?

I don't see 250 HP pushing that boat as seen in the "picture".

 

[Helmsman]

We’re having fun being dockmates with Embark. Today Margaux applied her masterful graphics. Lots of activity. Well worth the wait.

The boat looks great, Doug! Congratulations to you and Patti.

 

[chanprr]

The boat looks great, Doug! Congratulations to you and Patti.

Another excellent job by Margaux! Looks fantastic!

 

[Tom-Jill-Lilly]

Alba Bella

That is such an awesome boat!

I wish I had one..... Wait...

I'm in one!!

Loving it!!, Embark

 

[Doug_Snider]

That is such an awesome boat!

I wish I had one..... Wait...

I'm in one!!

Loving it!!, Embark

Great photo. Wish we were there. We’ll be down tomorrow.

 

[chanprr]

Mine was awesome and the main reason I'm having a 46!! Not to mention Scott and Van!!

 

[TrawlerGreg]

EmBark is signed up for the Helmsman 2023 Rendezvous in PortTownsend. We are in slip 21 right next to Doug and Patti. Hope to see the East Coast Helmsman owners there too. Would love to meet you all!!!

East Coast here! I'll be heading out to Rendezvous with my wife, Alison, as we await delivery of our 38! Looking forward to amping up the East presence for Helmsman...look forward to meeting everyone!

 

[Tom-Jill-Lilly]

East Coast here! I'll be heading out to Rendezvous with my wife, Alison, as we await delivery of our 38! Looking forward to amping up the East presence for Helmsman...look forward to meeting everyone!

Hi Greg you look new to the forum. Looks like you recently signed a contract for a new 38! Congrats. What hull number are you?

Tom

 

[backinblue]

East Coast here! I'll be heading out to Rendezvous with my wife, Alison, as we await delivery of our 38! Looking forward to amping up the East presence for Helmsman...look forward to meeting everyone!

Hi Greg,

What part of Long Island Sound? Hope to see you on the water soon.

 

[Helmsman]

East Coast here! I'll be heading out to Rendezvous with my wife, Alison, as we await delivery of our 38! Looking forward to amping up the East presence for Helmsman...look forward to meeting everyone!

Welcome to the new starts Greg! Congratulations. You picked a great trawler! Feel free to ask any and all questions you might have.

 

[Helmsman]

Helmsman43 and I just completed a 140 mile trip up river on the Mishy Jean. She performed well! We went through three locks on the way. We had to stop after the first day due to tornado warnings. We had a late start that day, so we did just 40 miles. That turned out to be a fortunate choice. Though we had torrential rains, a tornado within five miles, and 65 mile an hour winds, we came through ok. Fortunately, the marina put us in a covered slip.

We met a couple the next day who came down from the originally planned “first day”marina destination. Their Bimini was damaged and that marina was damaged by another tornado. The lady on the boat said the front of their trawler lifted out of the water!

We waited a week for the flooding to recede and made 80 miles the second day upriver with an average head current of 2 knots. Beautiful spring day with few boats on the water. There are miles of river with no human habitation evident. It was nice to be out away from everything with a reliable boat.

We had to tie off to a lock wall at the Wilson Lock and Dam because we got through it late. The fetch across the lake and a strong wind created three or four foot waves from 12am until 4am. Not much sleep that night!

A great first trip, with accelerated learning about the handling characteristics and other nuances of the boat. The boat was solid, stable, and a work horse heading upriver. My wife and I will stay in Alabama for a few weeks to finish outfitting, and then head out for more fun.

 

[FWT]

"The lady on the boat said the front of their trawler lifted out of the water!"

WOW

 

[chanprr]

Helmsman: Glad you're safe, and looks like you're getting an accelerated introduction to the handling of your 43E.

 

[Helmsman]

Helmsman: Glad you're safe, and looks like you're getting an accelerated introduction to the handling of your 43E.

Thanks. I have a 38. Helmsman43 is the handle for a poster here and a good friend of mine. He accompanied me on the trip. He does own a 43 which he received a few weeks ago. We will be moving his from Deltaville Va up to the Annapolis area in a couple of weeks.

 

[Helmsman]

"The lady on the boat said the front of their trawler lifted out of the water!"

WOW

It was a pretty intense 24 hours we boated into!

 

[chanprr]

Yep, I had a memory blank!!

 

[TrawlerGreg]

Hi Greg you look new to the forum. Looks like you recently signed a contract for a new 38! Congrats. What hull number are you?

Tom

60..

 

[TrawlerGreg]

Hi Greg,

What part of Long Island Sound? Hope to see you on the water soon.

For the last 15 years, we have been boating along Long Westchester county, New York, the north shore of Long Island, and good chunks of the Connecticut coast. My wife and I also have done weeklong charters throughout the Caribbean on power catamarans. most recently, we have done the BVI‘s. Look forward to exploring the entire east coast and making the jump over to Bahamas. Really excited about taking delivery in the new year and meeting those owners in May at the Rendezvous

 

[Hydraulicjump]

Mishy Jean adventure

Hey all. The Mishy Jean adventure borders on epic and is a reminder that the most dangerous thing on a boat is a schedule (I posted this before, sorry). But I am also reminded that in the whitewater world where we come from all good stories like this start with “No s**t, there I was…”. Glad you survived and hope you did not scuff up your hull.

To Scott and Van, we are on the Douro River in Portugal. Please send a Helmsman 38e as soon as possible. This and the Tagus might be the most perfect Helmsman cruising grounds in Europe! The wine and food alone would be worth it.

And congrats to all the new boats out there. It is so exciting and we know well the feeling. Can’t wait to get back to ours next month.

 

[Helmsman]

Hey all. The Mishy Jean adventure borders on epic and is a reminder that the most dangerous thing on a boat is a schedule (I posted this before, sorry). But I am also reminded that in the whitewater world where we come from all good stories like this start with “No s**t, there I was…”. Glad you survived and hope you did not scuff up your hull.

To Scott and Van, we are on the Douro River in Portugal. Please send a Helmsman 38e as soon as possible. This and the Tagus might be the most perfect Helmsman cruising grounds in Europe! The wine and food alone would be worth it.

And congrats to all the new boats out there. It is so exciting and we know well the feeling. Can’t wait to get back to ours next month.

I agree. A schedule leads to mistakes, and also leads to frustration. I am really glad we chose to wait.

 

[Doug_Snider]

Commissioning

We just finished two and a half weeks of commissioning on Lake Union. The activity level was intense with our boat and Tom-Jill-Lilly’s Embark on the docks with us. We did our best to stay out of the way and let things get done. By Wednesday of last week, things had settled down enough that we could move aboard. At one point, five different companies were working on the boat.

By Friday, things had settled down enough that we could start setting up house. Tom departed for Roche Harbor, stopping in Port Townsend for a night. We got our first on the water training as Eddie Legard was calibrating the autopilot. Going from a twin screw semi-planing hull requires some mental reprogramming. Scott had some sage advice about rudder position and the concept that you’re really steering the stern. We’ll get more training tomorrow and hopefully leave the nest on Monday and head north.

Our impression so far is that everything is better than we dreamed. The heads, for example, seem to be smarter than we are. We did a few flushes just for the amazement. We won’t have to worry about our non-boating guests gumming up the works.

We feel that we made a lot of good choices and credit our friends on Trawler Forum for steering us in the right direction. We can’t say enough good things about the professionals working on our boat. Eddie and Patrick at C and L Marine Electronics, Mark at Ontario Canvas and the amazing young lady working with him, Margaux Serock who did the graphics and all the Helmsman crew made who went over every inch of the boat made the process enjoyable.

Tomorrow Alba Bella will begin her voyage with us after an unexpected odyssey without us. It was well worth the wait.

 

[Hydraulicjump]

Congratulations. Your boat is flat out gorgeous. You all should be appropriately over the moon. Enjoy taking the boat home, starting with your first run with it through the locks. It is such a different piloting experience from your previous boat, but once you get the hang of close quarters maneuvering with it, it is quite easy. Scott was a godsend in breaking some of our bad habits developed over the years with a nimble Ranger Tug. My biggest challenge remains knowing where the port side is relative to the dock. But I was getting much better at it until winter and travel took over. Can’t wait to get the boat out and start re-learning its edges.
We look forward to seeing your boat and meeting all the other members of the Cult of Helmsman at the Rendezvous in Port Townsend this spring, if not before.

Jeff and Barbara on Off Leash

 

[backinblue]

I can't help but notice a pretty good list to starboard. Is that likely due to full/empty tanks?

 

[Doug_Snider]

I can't help but notice a pretty good list to starboard. Is that likely due to full/empty tanks?

The tanks are a little out of balance. We switched tanks and it should start to level out on the trip home. We're going to add fuel in Edmonds and we'll keep an eye on it. Scott says there is a natural tendency to list to starboard because of the heavy countertops.