Most unexpected attribute of your boat

What was the most beneficial, unexpected goodie/benefit/whatever you acquired with your boat?

For me, it was easy access between dock and boat. No steps, no hard-on-the-crotch maneuver, especially for one who has a balance deficiency. Just step over the gunwale, and if additional balance needed, grab a gunwale railing or one on the saloon roof.

I'd probably have to say the way the boat handles. It's much easier to dock and do close quarter maneuvering than I expected. It also handles rough water better than I expected.

Other than that, it's just been a very comfortable boat to be on board.

The smiles per hour factor for me. Throw the lines and let the fun commence

For me, it's the ease of single-handing. Many individual features contribute to it...wide side decks, twin engines, stbd side door, responsive hull, double aft doors. All together, it adds up to a big positive.

On the negative side, it's a handful in a following sea.

Most unexpected favorite equipment - autopilot.

The friggin owner's manual!!!!! No sh*t!!! I bet you didn't see that one coming! As much as people rag on Carvers, I went into this boat with low expectations....only to be pleasantly surprised. The engineering is at least understandable with very few(if any) "why-the-hell-did-they-do-this" moments. If the section in the manual is about electricity, then there is a surprisingly detailed wiring diagram. Fluids??? A detailed plumbing diagram. While there are numerous compromises in any small boat, I am surprised at how well thought out most of the systems are on this boat.

markpierce said:

What was the most beneficial, unexpected goodie/benefit/whatever you acquired with your boat?

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For us it would have to be taking people out onto Douglas Channel who have never been out there before.

There's no ferry coming into Kitimat, so there are many people who have lived their whole lives here and never had the opportunity to have a personal connection with the channels spectacular scenery, to see Humpback Whales and other wildlife, or anchor in front of a waterfall and hike to the top of it.

That would have to be the most unexpected benefit so far.

I was most surprised to learn how well my little boat can handle rough water. I've said before on this site that I've taken Sherpa through some nasty weather/seas, but she always handles like a champ. I've also been pleasantly surprised with her economy--simply amazing.

I just luuurve the pilot door, right there beside the main helm. Just makes the whole journey so good, I usually have no need or desire to even use the upper helm.

CPseudonym said:

The smiles per hour factor for me. Throw the lines and let the fun commence

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markpierce said:

What was the most beneficial, unexpected goodie/benefit/whatever you acquired with your boat?

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A complete change in lifestyle. Rather than trailer a smaller boat to the boat ramp and spend a day or two on the water, we now have what amounts to a floating second home. Even if we're not cruising we will spend weekends on the boat socializing with slip neighbors.

When we do go out it's for a week, two weeks, a month or more. There's no way we would have spent more than a night or two on the trailer boat.

Baker said:

The friggin owner's manual!!!!! ........

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My Camano owners manual is very good as well. Apparently much of it was written by the early buyers and then edited and published by the manufacturer. There is a complete electrical schematic.

I personally have not found one thing on my boat that couldn't be improved.

That after 7 years we're haven't considered replacing Hobo and are now talking about the next 5-10 on her.

I guess the most outstanding performance surprise would be how quietly and effortlessly straight the boat goes, even in side winds and following seas.

The Olssen dinghy davit. BZZZZT lower the dinghy into the water, climb in, start the engine and unclip. Coming back: Clip, clip, stop the engine, climb out, BZZZZT, done.

I thought I'd need more power and was very nervous about selecting a repower engine too small. Surprised to find my final selection (37hp) was not only adequate but about 7hp in excess of what was really needed. I could have done everything I've done w 7hp less. A surprise to be sure.

Thought 6 knots would be such a drag I'd want to sell in a few years. Rarely does the slow speed make me want a faster boat.

I thought Willy would be a very wet boat but pleasantly surprised to find her very dry. Probably has a lot to do w the 6 knot feature.


High Wire I'm envious of your davits but refuse to rent a bigger slip.

manyboats said:

High Wire I'm envious of your davits but refuse to rent a bigger slip.

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Compared to dragging OBs on and off the dinghy on charters, unloading everything almost every time to tie it off on the swim platform, and risking re-injuring my back again, this way is pure hog heaven! Bow in leaves the dinghy available to explore while in the marina.

Hey Hey I agree HW but I just can't afford it.
I guess I'm a poor man.
You're system is the best I've ever seen.

For us, the list is really long, but some of the hightlights:

- generator for making coffee in the morning. Thought it was just a luxury, but has become a real convenience. On the sailboat we had to either plug into a buddy boat or fire up the alcohol stove to heat water for instant.

- A big one is having heat while underway in late fall/early spring. Never realized how handy a bus heater unit is. I don't understand why they are not installed on more boats. Nothing like going for a cruise in empty waters, 40s outside, in short sleves inside the pilot house, yet no need to run the generator.

- Specific to our Nordic Tug is the wiring and how everything is labled. Every wire is marked, every wire is run perfectly, every system is marked (filters, hoses, etc.). I've yet to see another boat that shows so much attention to detail (i know they are out there, just have not seen one personally).

- And given that our boat was purchased from the bank, getting the two huge binders that constitute the owners manual was a real surpise. They were not on the boat when we looked at it and did the sea trial, but the broker was able to secure them for us. Sections for every system and full schematics that are specific to our boat (including all the extras that came from the factory).

Finally, the amazing support we have received from the Nordic Tug factory.

I could go on, but these are some of the bigger surprises for us.

Archie...don't bring that trawler to Cape May...that davit has my name all over it...

Besides that it's a Tollycraft and built like a brick shat house. And, just before purchase she had been refinished and serviced by a pro... It's the Tollycraft Boating Club Forum that amazes me. Every question answered immediately. Each item I need or want to keep her as the original classic is soon available, new or used. Above and beyond the many instruction books that came with boat... every other page for every part of the boat has been supplied to me.

The coolest unexpected thing on our old GB is the custom-built, retractable mount for the radar display that hinges down out of the overhead at the lower helm.

When we bought the boat it had a great-in-its-day Raytheon 2600 on this mount, but its day had long since passed.. Green CRT display that required a hood to use in the daytime. After a few years the CRT began to go, and replacements simply didn't exist anymore. So we replaced it with a Furuno NavNet VX-2 radar/plotter.

But we used the same retractable mount and it's great. Puts the display right at the helm when we use it (which is all the time when we're underway) but moves it completely out of the cabin when it's not in use. And whoever made it did a first class job.

Marin is that an altimeter above and just to the right of the helmswomans head?

Looks like your Navamatics is close too.

No, it's the boat's original knotmeter. The drive cable that connects the spiral log on the outside of the hull to the electric sender inside the hull broke while the boat was on the truck up from California. Since the boat had a modern Signet depth/speed/time/distance etc. system on it, we've never bothered to try to fix the original (Vetus) unit.

Not sure what value an altimeter would have on a boat....

And yes, Navimatics on the iPad is a great tool for zooming in and out or panning arounfpd to get the "big picture." Much faster than flipping through charts (although we have them at the helm as well), and WAY faster than zooming in and out on the plotters.

And since our iPad and iPad Mini are both wifi/cellular, we don't need any connectivity since the wifi/cellular iPads have a stand-alone GPS receiver where the wifi-only versions do not.

High Wire said:

The Olssen dinghy davit. BZZZZT lower the dinghy into the water, climb in, start the engine and unclip. Coming back: Clip, clip, stop the engine, climb out, BZZZZT, done.

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Actually, that is something that would be nice to have

Marin - Who's gent in prominent picture, upper left??

Jean-Francois de La Pérouse, the French explorer our GB is named after. In the manner of Capt. Cook's voyages of discovery, La Pérouse was the first French naval explorer to visit the Pacific Northwest before continuing across to the northwestern and southwestern Pacific. Google his name and you'll find out about him.

His voyage around the world began in 1785 and ended in 1788. One of the people who applied for a position on his crew was a 16-year old boy from Corsica named Napoleon Bonaparte. He was not selected and so did not go on the trip. If he had, the history of the world would have been very different.

I have a two-volume English translation of La Perouse's journals of that voyage-- he was a pretty interesting guy, quite different in character than the typical naval commander of the day.

I obtained the line drawing of La Pérouse while visiting the La Pérouse Museum in Albi, France, the city he was originally from. It is mounted in a heavy brass and glass license holder from a cargo narrowboat that used to work the English canals in the 1930s.

My father was French (from France), hence the connection.

Boat farts from the holding tank.

Marin said:

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Not sure what value an altimeter would have on a boat....

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Use it like a barometer: rising altitude means falling pressure, etcetera.

I guess the Weaver hydraulic hoist would be my pleasant surprise. It is a game changer for getting the dinghy tilted up for storage. That along with the leaver gets the 15 hp engine stored vertically on the platform. The hoist is foot activated, so no arm or back problem. Easy-peasy.