Another new start for Helmsman

backinblue said:

I'd suggest 8 plait over 3 strand nylon. Works better with the windlass and stores easier and flatter as it is much more flexible. Highly recommend New England Rope.

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Two Truths said:

I purchased a 600' reel of Samson braided polypropylene line, and keep it flaked in an Ikea "Frakta" bag, which is dirt cheap on Amazon (2 for $7). It worked perfectly last summer, and is easily stored in the cockpit lazarette. I was not interested in the bag system seen on Youtube, for a few reasons. It only holds 300' of line, which doesn't seem adequate to me. It is a bit too clever and complicated. (After pulling in the line, you would have to take it apart and reflake the two sections separately. I just flake it directly back into the bag and am done with it.) Finally, if I remember correctly, it was way expensive. The Ikea bag is next to free.

The simple "flaked in a bag" stern-tie can be deployed and recovered just as fast as a reel, is light, and takes up no room at all when not in use. And if you come from sailing, flaking the line gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling.

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I tend to agree, 300' feet does not seem enough. However, what is the trick to retrieving the line, without doubling it, to retrieving without having to launch the dink to do so? You could double your 600' line and hope you could retrieve without snagging, but that would be the same as building her 300' line with a 600' one and doing the same thing, no?

We elected to get a grill and fridge on the FB. Helmsman43, a poster on this site, decided to get the same. I think it turned out well and thought I would share a picture of the setup. The fridge is inside the cabinet with vents on the sides of the cabinet. One concern was whether the area would be too tight, but the drawings Scott provided showed that it would work out well, and it did.

Scott suggested insetting it as part of the helm area, which would still allow for a dinghy up top. We are really pleased with the way it turned out.

HtT,

Here is a couple of pictures of the PH door, and a shot of the ACR switches at the panel. The channel has a hole that allows water to flow out to the walkway.

Nate

Another pic, showing the channel off of the deck.

Helmsman said:

We elected to get a grill and fridge on the FB. Helmsman43, a poster on this site, decided to get the same. I think it turned out well and thought I would share a picture of the setup. The fridge is inside the cabinet with vents on the sides of the cabinet. One concern was whether the area would be too tight, but the drawings Scott provided showed that it would work out well, and it did.

Scott suggested insetting it as part of the helm area, which would still allow for a dinghy up top. We are really pleased with the way it turned out.

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That's a very nice and useful addition to the FB helm area. I really appreciate Scott's willingness to help with modifications.

That layout does indeed look terrific!

Nice job on the cabinet on top! I want one - Tom

That setup would be a great optional addition for the Helmsman models. It probably wouldn’t work with a radar mast but it’s perfect with a radar arch. I wonder how hard it would be as a retrofit item.

We are loving the photos. Keep them coming

Speaking with Scott this morning I complimented him on Helmsman's grill-frig design. If it were an option I would have ponied up. Not sure if you can retro. I saw a difference in the anitskid on the floor and assume electrical.

Then the 6-pack royalty back to Helmsman(Nick) for designing it.

It works with an arch. It would be too tight with a mast I think. You could still do it if you off set it behind the settee, I think.

Wiring would not be too much of an issue on a retro fit.

Helmsman said:

We elected to get a grill and fridge on the FB. Helmsman43, a poster on this site, decided to get the same. I think it turned out well and thought I would share a picture of the setup. The fridge is inside the cabinet with vents on the sides of the cabinet. One concern was whether the area would be too tight, but the drawings Scott provided showed that it would work out well, and it did.

Scott suggested insetting it as part of the helm area, which would still allow for a dinghy up top. We are really pleased with the way it turned out.

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Could more better identify the grill on top? It doesn't look like a grill to me, so I'm confused. And, a picture and ID of the fridge inside the cabinet, so we could know what sort of fridge might fit in the space?

Following with great interest, and thinking very seriously of joining in the Helmsman gang. I love the quality I'm seeing, and the buyer-oriented order process. Tim

Caballero II said:

Could more better identify the grill on top? It doesn't look like a grill to me, so I'm confused. And, a picture and ID of the fridge inside the cabinet, so we could know what sort of fridge might fit in the space?

Following with great interest, and thinking very seriously of joining in the Helmsman gang. I love the quality I'm seeing, and the buyer-oriented order process. Tim

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The two appliances are a Kenyon Frontier 1300 watt Electric Grill, and the Isotherm Cruise Elegance 130 4.6 cu ft Silver Door AC/DC fridge. We went with an electric grill. We aren’t using propane on the boat and we fo have a generator.

On Board tools

Time to think about getting a dedicated set of tools for the 38e.

I know that will be developed over time, and though I have extras of this and that, I'm wondering if anyone has a slick purchase of a tool-box that fits in the engine room (Embark has no gen or A/C or H2o Maker).

So if anyone out there bought a particular tool case plastic or metal (I'm thinking of the top case of a craftsman tool cabinet), not sure if a salt environment and fits just right let me know.

I might do two, one mechanical and a small one for electrical.

For that matter, any tool sets (craftsman, other quality sets (Snapon < I wish) suggestions to start with would be great.

My guess is, most folks transfer over from previous boats, but at least if anyone measured and found a good box for the 38e engine room, I would go get one.

Thanks, Tom

Tom-Jill-Lilly said:

Time to think about getting a dedicated set of tools for the 38e.

I know that will be developed over time, and though I have extras of this and that, I'm wondering if anyone has a slick purchase of a tool-box that fits in the engine room (Embark has no gen or A/C or H2o Maker).

So if anyone out there bought a particular tool case plastic or metal (I'm thinking of the top case of a craftsman tool cabinet), not sure if a salt environment and fits just right let me know.

I might do two, one mechanical and a small one for electrical.

For that matter, any tool sets (craftsman, other quality sets (Snapon < I wish) suggestions to start with would be great.

My guess is, most folks transfer over from previous boats, but at least if anyone measured and found a good box for the 38e engine room, I would go get one.

Thanks, Tom

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Tom, in my experience, tools and tool sets are matched to the task at hand. I have three tool sets: engine maintenance and electrical, hull and engine zinc replacement, other servicing tasks (like tightening the rudder post seal). In my experience, one can get by with a basic set of tools but it's a must to have the right tool for the job. Happy cruising!

Tom-Jill-Lilly said:

Time to think about getting a dedicated set of tools for the 38e.

I know that will be developed over time, and though I have extras of this and that, I'm wondering if anyone has a slick purchase of a tool-box that fits in the engine room (Embark has no gen or A/C or H2o Maker).

So if anyone out there bought a particular tool case plastic or metal (I'm thinking of the top case of a craftsman tool cabinet), not sure if a salt environment and fits just right let me know.

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We’re going with tool bags. My brother-in-law is a retired boat mechanic who swears by a well organized tool bag. This video convinced me. https://youtu.be/Z4kDspZP6Zs

We bought one from CLC Work Gear on Amazon. We may use a separate bag for electronics and electrical work.

Doug_Snider said:

We’re going with tool bags. My brother-in-law is a retired boat mechanic who swears by a well organized tool bag. This video convinced me. https://youtu.be/Z4kDspZP6Zs

We bought one from CLC Work Gear on Amazon. We may use a separate bag for electronics and electrical work.

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Same here. Tool bags are the way to go.

We have two bags. One for miscellaneous tools, one for electrical and then a standard/metric complete socket set in a hard case. Spare parts are kept in a separate bag. Got them on Amazon.

We do the same, but put all those separate bags in a watertight plastic bin with some desiccant packs.

tools

All great comments.
So much for the pretty snap-on tool chest. Going bags!
At Amazon, I didn't know they made so many.
Fun!

Want to second the recommendation for two tool bags (at least). However, on our last boat our lazarettes were pretty wet, which causes havoc for tools left out there. So we went with these waterproof tool boxes which were cheap and kept things dry:

https://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|2259970|2259977&id=1262542

And having just spent a few hours restoring our thrusters (thank goodness they went toes up in the dock), I am reminded that the most useful tool on a boat (besides your noggin') is a mini clamp multimeter. This one has been very useful.

https://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|10918|2303347|2290010&id=942437

This thread is a helpful reminder for us to do a complete tool inventory before summer cruising season--especially because we are on a new boat!

Spares and other

Hydraulicjump said:

Want to second the recommendation for two tool bags (at least). However, on our last boat our lazarettes were pretty wet, which causes havoc for tools left out there. So we went with these waterproof tool boxes which were cheap and kept things dry:

https://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|2259970|2259977&id=1262542

And having just spent a few hours restoring our thrusters (thank goodness they went toes up in the dock), I am reminded that the most useful tool on a boat (besides your noggin') is a mini clamp multimeter. This one has been very useful.

https://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|10918|2303347|2290010&id=942437

This thread is a helpful reminder for us to do a complete tool inventory before summer cruising season--especially because we are on a new boat!

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To get a little deeper, have containers for: various marine silica cements, rescue tape, zip ties, teflon tape, etc.; another with stainless steel jubilee clamps of various sizes, electrical fuses for different amperage loads, small strong scissors, thruster shear pins, pencil zincs, etc. Spares: keep a water pump, macerator pump, bilge pump and short lengths of appropriate tubing on board.

This list is just a beginning and is really for times when you want to do some extensive cruising and to places where you can't tie up to a marina in a few hours when an unexpected mechanical failure happens. Keep what is absolutely the minimum, essential tools and spares on board, and most of all, get handy with small repair. Saves a lot of grief on the water.

Oh, and a common pain reliever is nice to have because after bending and twisting in the engine compartment for a few hours, the bod gets a bit stiff and unused muscles will be sore!!

This afternoon, Scott drove Alba Bella from Dania Beach, Florida to board the cargo ship BBC Michigan in Port Everglades for her ride to Victoria, B.C. She’s finally heading in the right direction. Much thanks to Scott for all his effort to get us reunited. We are officially excited again. She doesn’t look so big in her present company but beautiful to us.

Nice Doug. Wondering if we could stowaway on her and cruise the Panama Canal.

That would be fine with us, but you will have to hurry. The ship sails tomorrow. The itinerary reads like a cruse line package. Golfito, La Paz, Ensenada and Victoria. I imagined what it would be like traveling on our own boat on the deck of a cargo ship. The shrink wrap might spoil the view but the accommodations are fantastic.

Great news Doug. Congratulations

Excellent news!

Alba Bella is on her way

As we were watching BBC Michigan leave Port Everglades on AIS and the Port Everglades webcam, we received a PM from TF member, Furycove, whose beautiful 55 Fleming is just astern of our boat. It’s getting real, again.

Find “Alba Bella”



Next stop, Golfito, Costa Rica

Who is the shipper?

The shipper is Legend Yacht Transport.