Contract Signed / New Build Underway

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Good decision on rail height. Building standards specify railing height, if railings are too low they cease to function as safety rails and become a trip device which will actually send you over if you come against them while upright, due to more body weight above rail height than below it.
 
Teak Interior

While we have explored different areas an aspects of the boat we managed to skip over the teak interior and "value" this boat offers. I fell in love with teak interiors over 30 years ago while boarding a GB Aft cabin model during a boat show. Wow, I thought to myself, some day I will own such a boat. To this day I remain passionate about teak inside a boat for all the same reasons many other boaters feel.

Fast forward to the H38EPH and I cannot say enough about craftsmanship, fit & finish of all the woodwork. It is the best I have found on any boat including many that cost 5X more.

Understanding teak is a depleting natural resource and some well known trawler builders are now starting to make it an option (cherry and other woods becoming the standard) we are grateful we can build one more boat with teak and not have to pay a premium.

As much as we both love the warmth teak brings Mary understands the need to keep things bright and airy inside so she will work her magic with the soft goods to fins that special blend.

We still need to discuss the Pilothouse and will address this important room next week.

John
 
Slightly off subject

I'm not exactly sure how to interpret the number of views (20,000) reported on our blog (is this correct term?) but I will say that is a big number and way more than we ever dreamed. Hopefully those who are following our journey have picked up a thing or two along the way that will assist them with their future new build.

Today we selected a personalized license plate for Mary's new Honda. Staying with the nautical theme she selected "2 at Sea". This should compliment her other new car (MBZ SL 400) license plate "Yacht SD". For those wondering what the heck does this have to do with building a boat all I can say is that it is a "California thing" to link ones car to ones hobby or interest and spend money on personalized plates. This being said she is a southern California girl and normally gets what she wants. It should also be noted that she lets me build boats which cost a little more so who am I to judge? Life is just too dang short and unpredictable not to enjoy it and have a little fun.

That's all for today. Tomorrow I have a teleconference with the builders of the Whitehall rowing boats to discuss the possibility of turning one of these beautiful boats into a tender. Its a long shot but worth exploring.

John
 
Storage on deck

I don't think anyone will argue that you cannot ave enough storage on a boat. One area that had me a little concerned on this boat was aft deck and where we would store all the lines and fenders? After an in depth review of the 38 during the Seattle Boat Show I was able to convince myself that a clean and unobstructed aft deck (no storage boxes) was worth using the lazerret for storage. Even for a semi displacement hull the lazeret provides more than enough storage. Another pleasant surprise was a huge locker just starboard of the anchor locker large enough to hold a few more fenders. Overall I believe the boat offers plenty of exterior storage.

OK, back to Mary and Daisy as we enjoy a margarita some music while enjoying the weather after a days work.

Today was a good day!?
 
Windows

While most people likely want stress on window construction and type it is something we take serious and for good reason. Any boat you plan to use year round and in open ocean cannot afford to have water leakage, breakage or corrosion issues. While we overall positive experiences with our other boats we did experience one small leak and significant corrosion issues with another. I repaired the leak myself and had to have Nordhavn step up and take care of the corrosion issues. I wasn't alone and the yard actually flew in crew to California to work on many new boats. A recent informative post on the Nordavn owners site revealed the corrosion is alive and well on aluminium framed windows and doors. We have not heard of an issues with any Helmsman boats and optimistic things will be fine.

Besides reducing the salon windows 15% we also ordered them pre-tinted medium so we don't have to deal with this post commissioning. We prefer tinted windows for the privacy and to help keep the salon cooler on sunny days. We also think the contrast between the black windows and white boat adds a nice touch to look of the boat.

Another consideration we stress over is the balance between opening and non-opening windows (mostly due to the potential leakage issue). On this post we decided to stay with the standard mix.

John
 
N4061 said:
While most people likely want stress on window construction and type it is something we take serious and for good reason. Any boat you plan to use year round and in open ocean cannot afford to have water leakage, breakage or corrosion issues.

Sorry for all the gramer errors, first using an i-pad.

John
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Progress Report

Scott provided a batch of photo's this week showing the process and progress of the all new deck mold. We can see in these two photos the gel coat (red) has been applied to the mold (was blue) and getting ready for the fiberglass layups and eventually an all new deck & deck house. To be honest when we started this journey I didn't realize our boat would be the first with the entirely all new deck house. I thought we would only be re-tooling for the PH but I'm glade to see Scott making the investment in completely new mold to include all the other enhancements for the new H38E. Building an entirely new mold is not cheap and shows his commitment to building a quality boat and "doing things right".

There's not very much more work that can be accomplished inside the hull until the new deck is attached providing the required structural reinforcement. So far so good.....

John
 

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Trip Planning

While we know first hand how life's uncertainties can derail even the best planning this doesn't stop us from doing a little dreaming and thinking ahead. Over dinner last night we were discussing the boat and where we would like to take her this summer. Since we are still locked into weekends and a few week long trips, our options will be limited to southern California. We can go as far south as Ensenada, Mexico or north to Santa Barbara for the next few years unless we decide to leave the boat at a different port and fly home.

Last week while discussing our return to Sunroad Marina the manager mentioned he was planning four day trip to Ensenada and asked if we would be interested to joining the small group. We hesitated to commit since the boat is not even built year and I'm one who likes to break in a boat slowly by staying close to home port for the first 50 hours of engine run time. All this being said Mary and I agreed that if timing works out and the boat is fully commissioned we would make this 10 hour run down the coast as part of breaking in the boat. While we normally do not travel with other boaters knowing we will be with others this time provides a nice "safety net". For anyone who has not headed north along the Mexico & southern California coast it can be a little uncomfortable due to the head seas you will likely face for hours and days on end. Our last trip up from Ensenada was in 4' - 5' swells(not bad) very close together (bad) providing a very unpleasant 10-12 hour run. With the occasional 7' swells we buried the bow of the N40 (taller boat) more than a few times which was a mix of fun, excitement and concern all in one. I don't want to do this in a new boat that has not been broken in so we will have to see where we are with everything before we make the final decision. Safety fist.

Ensenada is great place to visit for a long weekend to enjoy great food, drinks, the wineries up in the hills and just very pleasant people. There are two primary places to stay; Hotel Coral is a first class hotel marina that makes you feel far away from everything and Cruiseport Marina in the center of town where the cruise boats visit. Walking distance to town and very clean / safe. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Ensenada it is worth a stop over.

John
 
Wifey B: We loved Ensenada. It served as a great introduction to Mexico.
 
N4061 said:
While we know first hand how life's uncertainties can derail even the best planning this doesn't stop us from doing a little dreaming and thinking ahead. Over dinner last night we were discussing the boat and where we would like to take her this summer. Since we are still locked into weekends and a few week long trips, our options will be limited to southern California. We can go as far south as Ensenada, Mexico or north to Santa Barbara for the next few years unless we decide to leave the boat at a different port and fly home.

Last week while discussing our return to Sunroad Marina the manager mentioned he was planning four day trip to Ensenada and asked if we would be interested to joining the small group. We hesitated to commit since the boat is not even built year and I'm one who likes to break in a boat slowly by staying close to home port for the first 50 hours of engine run time. All this being said Mary and I agreed that if timing works out and the boat is fully commissioned we would make this 10 hour run down the coast as part of breaking in the boat. While we normally do not travel with other boaters knowing we will be with others this time provides a nice "safety net". For anyone who has not headed north along the Mexico & southern California coast it can be a little uncomfortable due to the head seas you will likely face for hours and days on end. Our last trip up from Ensenada was in 4' - 5' swells(not bad) very close together (bad) providing a very unpleasant 10-12 hour run. With the occasional 7' swells we buried the bow of the N40 (taller boat) more than a few times which was a mix of fun, excitement and concern all in one. I don't want to do this in a new boat that has not been broken in so we will have to see where we are with everything before we make the final decision. Safety fist.

Ensenada is great place to visit for a long weekend to enjoy great food, drinks, the wineries up in the hills and just very pleasant people. There are two primary places to stay; Hotel Coral is a first class hotel marina that makes you feel far away from everything and Cruiseport Marina in the center of town where the cruise boats visit. Walking distance to town and very clean / safe. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Ensenada it is worth a stop over.

John
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Hi John

With safety first as one of your prime concerns... and thoughts of traveling in potentially treacherous waters, have you and the manufacturer delved into extra strong superstructure windows? Wave conditions in area of your above post I bolded could become considerably worse if weather really acts up.

1970, in 37' raised deck sport fisher... My family ran into unexpected fall season weather turbulence with resulting dangerous waves in NE Atlantic. Suffice it to say dad there after built bolt on window overlays of thick Plexiglas. That day will always be remembered - with thanks, to you know who - of being left alive!
 
Wndows

The question about window size, thickness and safety is something we have struggled with finding the balance of getting it right "90% of the time". While Scott and I briefly discussed increasing the thickness of the windows I decided that since he never received word of any issues from owners (many used their boats hard) that I would limit my enhancements to reducing the surface area by 15% (discussed earlier). In a worst case situation we could always add storm plates but if the forecast ever warrants this action you can bet we are staying in port. Great question. thanks

John
 
Electronics - Back-up

Earlier we discussed our decision to stay with Furuno electronics but we managed skip over the number of displays, radars and controls. Since we plan to limit our cruising to local coastal cruising we decided that if we go with the best (Furuno) the odds are on our side regarding a failure thus we do not need to invest in a second or back up system on this boat. The only exception will be a second AP control with rudder indicator on the flybridge. The main reason for this decision is that I rely a lot on the rudder indicator and prefer to steer from above when pulling out of a tight location. It is also convenient on those clear sunny days enjoying the view from the flybridge and need to change course quickly. A second VHF radio installed at the flybridge will also make the list. Even with this reduced shopping list the estimated cost will be around $25K.

Funny thing about buying a new boat is that you can spend $200K or $1M and the cost of electronics comes out close the same unless you want to go to the extreme. Something for new buyers to take into consideration.

John
 
N4061 said:
A second VHF radio installed at the flybridge will also make the list. Even with this reduced shopping list the estimated cost will be around $25K.

Funny thing about buying a new boat is that you can spend $200K or $1M and the cost of electronics comes out close the same unless you want to go to the extreme. Something for new buyers to take into consideration.

John
Click to expand...

Well put John.

Come to think about it... similar to same fairly level dollar cost must follow through regarding maintenance/replacement on the lower or higher value boats.

Humph... never thought about it that way before. :speed boat::D
 
Fuel Range

Fuel range is topic that we have not discussed in detail here on the TF and I'm curious what others believe is a reasonable range for their boats and style of boating. Coming from the FD N40 with 1,000 gallons fuel capacity (never filled up) and over 2,000 mile range we were concerned moving to the SD hull and ability to "go fast", burn lots of fuel and not go far. A reality check confirming we likely will not travel much faster then 7-8 knots keeps us around hull speed with the standard 400 gallons of fuel a range of about 950 miles. Plenty of range for harbor hopping along the southern coastline and even enough for a Cabo run (1,000) with one stop along the way.

On the east coast and our desire to run the ICW in the future I have to believe this range is more than sufficient even along the more under developed legs of this journey. Then there is the dream of running to the islands off Florida which I believe 950 miles of range would be fine.

Curious what others think about this subject.

John
 
I feel carrying extra tankage than what will "normally" be required is wasted dollars and space. If perchance, once in a great while, you might run into a leg that exceeds your fuel volume I'd recommend then using bladders. Space on a boat is precious. Bladders can be resold as like-new-used.
 
I'm going to use speed cruise to represent the true cruising speed of a boat, 70-80% load, and economy cruise to represent cruising at near hull speed to get near maximum economy.

Crossing oceans 1000 nm at speed cruise. 3000 nm at economy cruise.
Coastal cruising 500 nm at speed cruise. 1000 nm at economy cruise.
Looping 250 nm at speed cruise. 400 nm at economy cruise.
Local and short hop cruising 200 nm at speed cruise, 300 nm at economy cruise.

A couple of other thoughts. I don't want to have to stop during the day for fuel. Want to be able to run all day at my desired speed or some acceptable combination of speeds. We do own a sport boat that at a cruise of 35 knots only has a range (at 90%) of 265 nm. That means it can only run 7 1/2 hours or so at that speed without fueling. Annoying but necessary in that type boat. However, in any type of normal cruising, if cruise is 20 knots then I must have range at 20 knots of at least 250 nm and preferably 280 nm.

I must be able to make it between all potential fuel stops. For a looper, this means at least 220 nm, so with a minimum reserve at least 245 nm. If one wants to come down the Mississippi all the way, then it means 330 nm, so with a minimum reserve at least 365 nm.

I also need a reasonable balance of fuel for my cruising habits. Too much and it sits. Too little and I have to adjust trips. Another factor is being able to fuel with the best prices. Traveling outside the country that can be huge. You pay double in the Virgin Islands what you pay in Puerto Rico. We get a price of around $1.70 today at home. St. Augustine is $2.49. The cheapest in the Bahamas is about $3.10. Some up to $5.00. If my range is only 300 nm and I go to Nassau, cruise around a little, I'll be paying the higher price. If my range is 600 or 1000 nm I can go to the Bahamas, enjoy three weeks, return home and then fuel.
 
Fuel Range

B & B, we share you observations especially having the freedom of deciding were and when to refuel. Moderate to long distance trip planning can be challenging enough balancing schedule, weather and vessel preparation. Having a boat with sufficient range for your planned style of cruising provides one less thing to worry about. The only potential downside of a larger fuel capacity is filling up and not using the fuel within a single season and having it sit over the winter. While diesel fuel holds up better than gasoline we do not like to have it age more than a few months.

On the H38E we are pleased the boat comes standard with dual Racor fuel filters allowing for a back-up filter even underway. While we have been fortunate over the years with fill-ups, receiving contaminated fuel is always a risk even close to home.

John
 
N4061 said:
The only potential downside of a larger fuel capacity is filling up and not using the fuel within a single season and having it sit over the winter. While diesel fuel holds up better than gasoline we do not like to have it age more than a few months.
Click to expand...

That's a problem we don't have. Boats get lots of use and we have no winter.
 
N4061 said:
Fuel range is topic that we have not discussed in detail here on the TF and I'm curious what others believe is a reasonable range for their boats and style of boating.

Curious what others think about this subject.

John
Click to expand...

My last boat carried 1,000 gallons, which gave it a range of less than 300 nm, the way I ran the boat, which was mostly max cruise with some (much more fuel efficient trolling and slower night travel). That really wasn't enough range for long range west-coast fishing. My current boat carries 2,300 gallons, and 95% of the time I am getting better than 1 to 1 (genset included). I don't miss the speed (but in a pinch will run it up to 18 knots) so now I have huge range. We once left San Diego, arrived in La Paz 7 days later after fishing offshore, etc., only stopping the engines once (anchored overnight in Los Muertos with 40 knot winds). Upon arrival, we had more than half our fuel still in the tanks. It suits me just fine not to have to worry about buying fuel, but when I wait until I am down to 300 gallons to refill, the fuel bill can be a whopper (although I will be fueling up soon, and prices are down substantially since last time I did).
 
I am excited to announce that I took delivery of La Paloma Blanca, to be known as "Paloma," on Friday the 25th at Waterline Boats in Seattle. This is a shot of Paloma arriving at her new port, Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island, across Puget Sound from Seattle.

Paloma is hull number 26 of the Helmsman 38s and it is a beauty. The build is typical Helmsman, perfect and the commissioning of the boat after the arrival in the US has gone smoothly as we made the boat our own. The patience and perfectionism of both of the Helkers and their willingness to accommodate my requests have made this purchase a great experience. This is our sixth boat and I expect it will be the last since it has all we could possibly want in a boat. And after all of the trepidations of adding 10 feet onto our last boat, it was an easy boat to handle taking out of the tight marina and bringing into our home slip. In addition we had to go through locks to get out of the lake and the boat handled well.

Great boat and we are thrilled with our decision. Friends have been wandering past our slip and admiring the boat and we plan to have a welcoming party soon and show off all the room on board.

I am happy to answer any questions but first you have to find me; I am going to be boating as much as possible and going to be busy getting all of our stuff on board but the storage space right now seems almost unlimited.

If you want a great boat, get a perfectionist builder. Scott and Lisa fit the bill.
 
I could not post the picture easily but you get the idea.
 
Congratulations!

Congratulations on the new boat. You made a great choice.

John
 
Anchor Breast Plate

I guess we are getting a little anxious waiting the boat to arrive so what do we do, we start reviewing everything on the boat all over again (never good for Scott). One item that I struggled with on the H38E was he breast plate or anchor protector. While there is nothing wrong with the current one I wondered how the boat may look without it. I know based on past experience that plates do not really serve much of a purpose since they are so high up on the front of the bow. In fact on our N40's I always felt the anchor roller was too far aft not providing the true required of space between the dangling anchor and the lower portion of the hull.

Thinking about this a further I emailed Scott and asked his opinion. He responded today confirming the plate is more for appearance then function and we could delete it if we desired.

So this morning I started to play with a head on picture of the H38E and colored out the breast plate. I also looked at trawlers that are built with and without the breast plate installed. It appears to be almost a 50/50 mix on small to mid size trawlers. So for our boat we will hold off having the plate installed and go for a cleaner look up front. Scott advised in his email that if we should change our mind later we could order one from the yard.

That's enough changes for this week. :)

John
 
N4061 said:
I guess we are getting a little anxious waiting the boat to arrive so what do we do, we start reviewing everything on the boat all over again (never good for Scott). One item that I struggled with on the H38E was he breast plate or anchor protector. While there is nothing wrong with the current one I wondered how the boat may look without it. I know based on past experience that plates do not really serve much of a purpose since they are so high up on the front of the bow. In fact on our N40's I always felt the anchor roller was too far aft not providing the true required of space between the dangling anchor and the lower portion of the hull.

Thinking about this a further I emailed Scott and asked his opinion. He responded today confirming the plate is more for appearance then function and we could delete it if we desired.

So this morning I started to play with a head on picture of the H38E and colored out the breast plate. I also looked at trawlers that are built with and without the breast plate installed. It appears to be almost a 50/50 mix on small to mid size trawlers. So for our boat we will hold off having the plate installed and go for a cleaner look up front. Scott advised in his email that if we should change our mind later we could order one from the yard.

That's enough changes for this week. :)

John
Click to expand...

John

I agree:

After maximizing within concept, then, minimize within reason - to gain best clarity of design efficiency!

This rule-o-thumb concept works well throughout many levels of invention.
 
Progress Report

Last week the yard successfully completed the removal of the new deck mold from the plug. Next step is to commence lay up of the new aft deck / salon / Pilothouse house / forward deck. Things are progressing well and we are pleased to be the first boat to receive this enhanced entirely new deck. Once the deck lay up is completed and the deck is secured to the hull things will start back up inside the hull.

John
 
Progress Report Follow-up

Today we looked on line at West Marine and there selection of Emergency Locating Beacons for recreation boats. An interesting observation was how the price of this"must have" item has reduced in price over the years. I recall spending around $600+ back in 2005 for a comparable class I beacon today that is only around. $450 today. Its a nice change to actually see the price of something actually go down over time.

Does anyone else know of any other boat related items that ave reduced in price over the years?

John
 
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