Another new start for Helmsman

[Tom-Jill-Lilly]

Embark is taking a break in Korea on her journey to Seattle.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais...:SEAMAX_MYSTIC

It's starting to hit home we are getting a new shiny big boat, so, mapping out the boat show floor to efficiently spend more money next week

We have our new 10' Bullfrog and trying to decide on cushions or weaver chocks. Also, I cant find a cradle off the shelf and been told to build one from the Bullfrog dealer for lifting to the bridge (via crane). Any advice?

Thanks, Tom

[Doug_Snider]

That’s a big step. Our ship, or what we thought was our ship, had to wait at least five days for an opening in Busan. Our new ship is rounding the eastern tip of Cuba. It’s going to be a horse race.

[Doug_Snider]

Based upon a photo we got from the owner of “Wandering Goose”, the Fleming 55 loaded behind us, Scott noticed that the zippered windows in the shrink wrap had not been closed after loading. He notified the shipper and requested he contact the skipper to have them closed. Even from thousands of miles away, he is on top of every detail. You have to feel good about dealing with the whole Helmsman team.

[FWT]

Originally Posted by Tom-Jill-Lilly

Embark is taking a break in Korea on her journey to Seattle.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais...:SEAMAX_MYSTIC

It's starting to hit home we are getting a new shiny big boat, so, mapping out the boat show floor to efficiently spend more money next week

We have our new 10' Bullfrog and trying to decide on cushions or weaver chocks. Also, I cant find a cradle off the shelf and been told to build one from the Bullfrog dealer for lifting to the bridge (via crane). Any advice?

Thanks, Tom

Chocks for the dingy.

For what it’s worth I am starting with soft chocks. I regard it as a temporary solution. New mother ship and scores of things to square away. New dingy, and until I know I like the choice it’s an unknown. Soft chocks get me going, puts off hard chocks selection and hole drilling until I am ready to lock in choices.

[Tom-Jill-Lilly]

Hi FWT.

What Dingy do you have and weight?

Bullfrog Ding is 480 pounds with motor.
Add:
3 gallons of fuel = 21 pounds
A 2nd battery = 50 pounds
Downriggers = 40 pounds (most likely just one at 20 pounds)
Lead weights = 24 pounds (two cannon balls, most likey one at 12 pounds)

Other – water short of the bilge, swing/heave, tackle, rods, anchor = 10 pounds

So we are at 590-625 pounds. For me that's pushing it.


For keeping the deck clean, it was either soft Chocks or Weavers with removable plates. I do want a clean surface with the ding in the water.

Many folks have indicated that the plates being 1/4" is not an issue on the Weaver chocks.

Where to store the soft chocks? Is there room under the bench seat?

The soft chocks on bixlersmarine requires snaps says the manufacturer - so do I not want to drill holes only for a temp solution While inflatableboatparts says you can use straps in place of the snaps. I will call both on Monday. I might be too heavy for the soft chocks.

https://bixlersmarine.com/SoftChocks/

https://shop.inflatableboatparts.com...dinghy-chocks/

[chanprr]

My experience with choosing a dinghy is that ease of launching and retrieving is the first consideration. A second is total weight on the flybridge cover when it comes to mitigating roll in in beam seas. My choice is always to have a RIB and OB with total weight of not more than 300lbs. In regard to chocks, I built a collapsible cradle for the flybridge which I put aside when the dinghy is in the water, freeing up a lot of space upstairs. I preferred to have a clean swimstep so I did not have davits there, nor staples. Just my thoughts and experience here. Have fun selecting your dinghy.

[FWT]

Tom-Jill

Yeah, their idea is snap to the deck. But not my plan. They are quite light, big pillows. Once the dingy is lifted I’ll either stow them somewhere or use a light cord to tie them to something just so they don’t blow away while I’m off on the dingy. Then of course just put them back in place when it’s time to lift again. And, just lash it all into place via the rails until I’m ready to drill into the deck.

My dingy.

Polycraft Tuffy 300. Plastic hard dingy. 10 ft. As I recall 235 dry weight, no engine. Using a eProplusion I’ll remove with each use. So my lift weight will stay well under 275. I feel no need to plane.

My top criteria was stable in boarding. Too many small dinks have a round bottom which makes them great to row but tender. And, to lift over the rails I wanted to keep vertical dimensions down. We will just have to see how well the trade offs work out in reality. The bottom resembles many ribs. I bought a pair of the flat angle chocks.

It’s not perfect. Nothing is. I have to figure out oarlocks. For backup. And that’s not obvious.

[Tessoc]

Tom &Jill..Nice to meet you today. Look forward to seeing you at Pt Townsend and on the water this summer

Gary,Carol and Diesrl

[Tom-Jill-Lilly]

Originally Posted by Tessoc

Tom &Jill..Nice to meet you today. Look forward to seeing you at Pt Townsend and on the water this summer

Gary,Carol and Diesrl

It was nice to meet you too. Thanks again for showing us your boat and providing insight. We hope to see you again out on the water.


Jill

[Tom-Jill-Lilly]

Originally Posted by FWT

THAT

LOOKS

GREAT

Congratulations.

Seems like the whole batch of us posting about our orders on this thread are about to get deliveries. Nothing at all firm but MY ETA is approximately late April.

FWT - Congratulations!!! April is just around the corner. What is your hull number? Also, I noticed you input your name. Very nice and appropriate on many levels. How did you decide on that name?

Jill

[FWT]

Originally Posted by Tom-Jill-Lilly

FWT - Congratulations!!! April is just around the corner. What is your hull number? Also, I noticed you input your name. Very nice and appropriate on many levels. How did you decide on that name?

Jill

#55

Well, the name seemed to fit the boat. Second, pretty much every thing worth doing in my life has required me to be resilient. It all just seemed to come together. Boats are generally named after a lady, a character trait, or some attempt at humor. I offered up a boat name involving my wife, but she preferred not to go there. We played with a number of others, and when she came up with resilient it immediately struck a chord. When you know, you know.

[Helmsman]

Just an update. Helmsman43 and I have been on the boat for four days, installing electronics and enjoying the boat. Sore knees from crawling around the boat. The attention to detail and comfort in the engine room is crazy good. Wiring runs are well thought out with top notch artistry, in my opinion. Systems are logically placed, with the best compromise between efficiency and access.

Helmsman 43 has been sleeping on the salon settee and reports it is comfortable, though he advised a topper to soften. Conversion from settee to bed is 45 seconds to a minute.

We have installed lower helm electronics, the auto pilot, a circuit for the Pepwave and Starlink, and will add the upper helm tomorrow or the next day. Each day is discovering something new about the boat. The cool thing is the discoveries have been all good! More to come, but really enjoying the Mishy Jean this past few days.

One bit of advice…the first few days can be a little overwhelming. I would suggest moving in a little slowly. What seemed important for months may not be, while other things might. The support from the Helmsman team is top notch. They are fun to engage with, and want to get your questions answered. Super service from these guys. Would do it again tomorrow!

[NSM]

Helmsman, where are you ousting your Starlink?

[Doug_Snider]

Originally Posted by Tom-Jill-Lilly

Embark is taking a break in Korea on her journey to Seattle.

It looks like your ship had a remarkably quick turnaround in Busan. Tonight we watched the pilot boat meet up with the Seamax Mystic on her departure to Seattle. I think you’re going to win this race. Our ship is between Haiti and Jamaica. It looks like a five day backlog at the Panama Canal. At least we won’t be competing for commissioning services in Seattle.

We were pleased to see that you connected with Gary and Carol. We relied heavily on their recommendations when we were selecting options. They are very nice people, Helmsman nice.

[Datenight]

FWT,

I went with the Soft Chocks on our NP 45. Dinghy is an AB 10 AL Lamina 128 lbs. Motor Tohatsu 20 hp 95 lbs. Three gallon gas tank about 25ish lbs full, anchor oars, bilge pump, life jackets 10-12lbs. Total less people about 270 lbs.

I did not want obstructions/toe catchers on the fly bridge. Chocks store in the seat lockers when not in use. Installation of folding pad eyes are for another thread. I will be replacing the 2x6's with 2" rigid foam covered in fabric attached to the Soft Chocks with velcro. The additional height makes a difference with the outboard. This summer will be our third season using them.

Rob

[FWT]

Datenight:

Many thanks for that. Especially the pics. That is a nice, clean, efficient-looking installation. My temp solution using them may turn out to be not so temporary. And, folding pad eyes are a definite need and useful regardless of what temp or permanent chock selection is used. Those have been on my mind to do even ahead of any chock replacement. Again, I appreciate that response.

Enjoying your NP45? Great boat.

[FWT]

Helmsman: You two are triggering a major case of boat envy. Ours will be satisfied soon enough, and that's comforting.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by NSM

Helmsman, where are you ousting your Starlink?

I am not sure yet. I won’t mount it quite yet. The plan is to try it in several places first while underway. The initial plan is the starboard side of the arch under the radar beam. Will install in March after some travel. We are in a covered slip until then.

[Tom-Jill-Lilly]

FWT and Datenight...

Pillow soft-chock storage?

Does anyone out there have dims on the storage underneath the bench seat on the 38 bridge?

Thanks for the feedback and pics as well. I think the softchocks are the way to go.

After walking every dock in Roche Harbor of 377 slips to find what others do,
I was at the end of the last dock saying to myself "if only there was a 38 with a 10' bullfrog on its top" I'd have my answer.

Poof the very LAST slip was a 38 WITH a 10' bullfrog on top. Unbelievable.

It was on a vessel called Odyssey, the first time we've seen her. Gary and Carol with their dog Desiel gave us a tour. I went on top and looked at As 2x4 starboard hand built cradle which appeared to be very sturdy. It's clearance was 7" with the motor slightly tilted.

IN trade to obtain Embark, I gave up my 27' Seaport which was rigged for hardcore fishing, Salmon, Halibut, crabbing, and shrimping. So selecting a dingy, I wanted the more robust indestructible ding with a steering column to do lots of trolling. It also could be used as a shuttle in the San Juans when at home port.

So the fishing was prioritized over weight. Otherwise, I'd reduce as much weight as possible on top of the bridge and get an inflatable if all I was doing is running to shore and back.




After discussing the package with Bixlers, they recommended I go with the heavier 3 pillow system. I too would need to raise the pillows if I want the motor to come down a bit.

While I too would like a clean deck, so where would we store the pillows on a 38, (plus an additional one?)



(upstairs underneath the bench seat? I believe we have a propane tank and small dingy gas can scheduled for that area as well)

Lastly, I think I'll make measurements and/or make cardboard cutouts of the pillows, as Bixlers recommendation is a deep vee. https://bixlersmarine.com/softchocks/
I think that's because that all the have for heavy chocks (jet skis).

[FWT]

I can't help on where it might fit. But remember there is storage in the upper helm station console too.