New Build - Electric Powered

[N4061]

July 5, 2024 update: work continues on the seating and battery compartments. Fiberglass and white paint being applied to areas that will not be as accessible in the near future. Access panels have been measured and cut. It's now hard to see with all the white paint but the PVC air ducting is in place and blends in nicely which is not something I even thought about. Motor and batteries have been received and appear to be in great shape (no shipping damage). Not sure if I mentioned this earlier but I decided to provide Paul with a separate set of funds for him to use for any "add-ons" or "over & above" items. We review this separate budget weekly and discuss any planned expenditures prior to them be added. So far this has been working well with minimal usage which is good news.

As I go through this process, I try to imagine what it would be like building a larger custom boat. After I developed this boats design specification followed by design with Paul I have been more "hands off" than I expected. Being on the other side of the country doesn't help but possibly this is a good thing since I don't get in Paul's way. I have full trust in Paul and hopeful he will work with us on the next boat which is still on our horizon and being conceptualized as we narrow down its intended mission. Fun stuff.

 

[N4061]

This past week Paul provided photos of the seating area including the seat backs. The amount of detail that goes into the seating is simply amazing. He starts with vertical pieces all cut to size around the curved back rest then adds a layer of horizontal cut pieces before everything gets faired and glassed over. Simply unbelievable the amount of time, detail, quality and strength going into this little boat. He fit checked the 500GPH bilge pump in its forward compartment and everything measures up as planned. Looking at the raised coaming we can see how it will need to transition from all sides being covered with teak to only one side and the top when it meets with the seating area. Paul already advised we will need more Teak Little details that require discussion and planning but all fun. The flooring shown in the photo is not permanent and there to provide a solid foundation for Paul to work on. We already agreed where in the teak floor to have access panels or sections that can be lifted for access below. I remember on our Nordhavn 40 the clean white one piece molded engine room deck looked so nice until I need to chase leaks and hoses underneath. Limited access caused more than a few headaches over the year's. After selling the N40's I promised myself never to buy another boat without plenty of access panels especially in the ER. Things are starting to take shape.

 

[N4061]

July 29, 2024 Update: Paul completed the final glass lay up over all seating backs and horizontal surfaces. It's too bad all his craftmanship work installing the separate wood pieces needs to be covered. He also cut out the boarding step area in the coaming. We discussed type of radius we wanted prior to him making the cuts and they turned out perfect. This is another example of the amount coordination that goes into even a small custom boat. Flooring is going in and we discussed sections that can be removed for maintenance. All flooring to be covered with 1 1/2" wide natural teak. Regarding the bow stem I keep changing my mind on the finished look. At first I thought a relatively proud stem would look nice then decided no stem would look cleaner. After studying the bow with its flat surface up top that will be covered with a nice piece of SS trim, I thought a small stem (2' - 4" high) with the SS wrapped over it would look nice and different. Again, little details that take time to agree on and not items I would think about when buying a production boat. Fun stuff

 

[N4061]

August 04 update: all seating areas are now completed and fully glassed over. All Cedar wood working is also completed. Now starts the teak wood trim which is significant on this little boat and will take some time. After reviewing a photo of the rudder hanging off the transom with a long tiller arm I reached out to Paul with a few questions. While our original design was 100% tiller steering Mary objected and demanded a small helm station which Paul will build. He had mentioned we would likely need to give up the tiller which was fine but now I see it attached to the rudder. A pleasant surprise and probably a misunderstanding by myself regarding not being able to keep it. With the helm steering I will need to add the stipulation that the tiller is removable for when we are both seated aft. Keeping it as a steering back-up system is something I like. Starting to look like a real boat. Fun stuff.

 

[N4061]

August 11th update: Work is progressing with the teak trim and seat covers. It's interesting to see the amount of craftmanship it takes to lay down every single piece with spacers for the filler joints. We discussed water drainage (again) and concluded the drain holes in the bow will work fine and with the number of removable floor panels we designed into teak floor any water will find its way to the bilge. Paul forwarded the Awlgrip color chart for us to pick out paint colors so he can start the order. I called Goeff at Marshall Marine who built our sailboat to confirm a match back to those gelcoat colors used and confirmed Flag Blue and Oyster White. Next step is to reconfirm these colors with Mary then decide if we add a dark red below the water line for contrast. We had dark red bottom paint on the sailboat which looked nice but is not required on this boat so not sure what we do. I have heard the pros and cons using Alwgrip Paint and to be honest could go either way (traditional paint) but figure we will try Alwgrip this time around. Fun stuff.

John

 

[N4061]

Update Aug 16th. This past week was focused on installing all the teak with great progress. Attached is a photo of the recessed bow including the woodwork design I wanted in this boat. Amazing the amount of time that goes into a boat like this. Paul received some steering hardware (all custom) he designed and will start installing this week. Looking forward to the photos. He also recommended a white bottom (not dark red) and provided some photos of boats with similar dark blue hull as ours and white bottom, they look great. We are going with Awlgrip paint on this boat so this will be something new for us to experience. Fun stuff

 

[guy with a boat]

That boat will be a piece of art. Very nice.

 

[N4061]

August 24 update: work is continuing with all the teak trim - lots of trim. Access covers are complete less their hinges and handles. In the photo below you can see round holes on the bulkheads of the seating area, these are for ventilation - something I would not have thought about and don't believe we had on any of our trawlers. You can also see the battery box covers that will also provide steps for entering and exiting the boat where the coaming was cut. Paul also performed his first fit check of the hydraulic steering unit that mounts onto a shelf against the transom. Great engineering resulted in a perfect fit. Everything was then removed so he can complete glass work in the area before reinstalling everything. After reviewing new photos of the hanging rudder, I noticed it was a little larger than I preferred so Paul agreed to trim it down. As many trawler owners know, slow moving boats require a large rudder so there is a balancing act between function and style. We are also finalizing the sheer plank and accent trim. Mary prefers a modern look while Paul recommended traditional style and I'm in the middle. Most fiberglass hulls use either paint or decal with some boats having the strip recessed into the mold. Paul uses a very small piece of cedar wood that when stained turns it into a gold color. Same result as far reaching the desire for a thin gold strip but how do we achieve it?

Regarding paint color we once again considered other options including our dark blue hull with a white bottom. Paul sent us a few photos of boats with this combination that I thought looked great, but Mary was not impressed so we will stay with dark blue hull above and below the white waterline strip. If we do not like it, we can always paint the bottom dark red like our sailboat was but not use bottom paint. Fun stuff.

 

[N4061]

Aug 28 update: the past two days have been busy coordinating with Paul on something as simple as adding a painted stripe on the hull just below the rub rail. We are looking for something to dress up the dark blue hull as seen on a few other Downeast style boats and sailboats. Most boats have these small stripes painted on or use decals which is what we were thinking before Paul sent photos of his work. His approach is to add a sheer plank and piece of cedar wood to create the thin stripe. After reviewing photos of other completed boats he built we quickly agreed our boat would not have any decals and we would remain with hand-built tradition. The only change we requested was to make the sheer piece as thin as possible, so it blends into the hull as best possible to reduce any pronounced look. The cedar stripe will be about 3/4" cedar wood and after varnished looks like gold leaf color.

Next was the Awlgrip color chart Paul mailed us and was simply amazing. I was thinking they offered about a dozen different colors then we opened the color chart and counter over 130 colors - wow. All have a very nice sheen including the whites. Needless to say, we are now rethinking our options.

Next was a new quote Paul received from the company on Long Island who will be fabricating all the cushions, canvas tops and boat cover. After reviewing the quote, I called the owner to introduce myself and discuss next steps. While we were hoping some of this work could begin while the boat was still being finished at Paul's location the owner insisted the boat be brought to his location where it will be stored indoors. We are likely looking at a month for all this work to be completed likely resulting in a delay to around December for the boat to be shipped. Turns out the company Paul selected for our boat is the oldest sailmaker in the USA and a little history. Fun stuff.

John