Prairie 36 Improvements

Yes, I was uncomfortable sleeping in the aft cabin until I got the new hatch installed.

The Last of our Improvements ....... for now

Finished the carpeting in the forward cabin and finally got our name on the boat. One coat of bottom paint is on and the second should be done early next week.

We do have a few more things on the "Improvement List" so they will get queued up for projects in my spare time while doing the "Great Loop". If all goes as planned we'll be starting the "Loop" on Friday June 1st.

Looking great. Have fun on the loop. You should start a thread about the loop.

FOG!
I am so very excited for you! Have fun and exciting times on the Loop.

I finally got my Prairie 29 this month. She is in Brunswick, GA and shall be trucked up to New Bern next week. So you end your beginning projects to cruise, and I am beginning.

Wohoo.

Tim

Looking good FOG

Thanks everyone. We will be starting a Blog on the AGLCA website. I’ll post a link here once it’s up.

Tim, congratulations on your Prairie 29. I hope you start a thread in the Prairie Forum soon.

Measurements

Since we have our Prairie 36 on the hard I thought I would take a few measurements that would be useful to us on the “Great Loop” and could also benefit someone else. I know Capt Tom also took some measurements of his Prairie 36 that are here, http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s34/prairie-height-27814.html at post #14. I’ll also post my findings there and link it it back to here for reference.

I also found a brochure titled Prairie 36 Long Range Trawler dated August 1980 that had the following specifications:
Length Overall - 36’0”
Draft - 3’3”
Beam - 13’0”
Freeboard Forward - 7’2”
Height Above Waterline to Top of Mast - 19’9”
Height Above Waterline to Top of Windshield Rail - 14’0”

My findings were as follows:
Length Overall - 40’7”
(this includes 29” of bowsprit + 7” of rail beyond the bowsprit and a 24” swimstep)
Draft - 3’7”
Beam - Rub rail to Rub rail = 13’9”, Sheer = 13’4”, Waterline = 12’1”
Freeboard Forward Top of Bowsprit to Waterline - 7’1”
Height Above Waterline to Top of Mast - 19’2”
Height Above Waterline to Top of Windshield Rail - 13’9”
Height Above Waterline to Top of Bimini- 16’9”

If you compare there are some differences but I think all very close. I hope other Prairie 36 owners or potential buyers find this useful.

One More Improvement Before The Loop

We got a little delayed on our bottom paint job due to rain so I was able to squeak in one more improvement. We have had and used on our last boat a couple of folding bikes for quite some time. I normally fold them up and store them below, but we're running out of room and do want to have some space available for visitors on the Loop.

I was just going to strap them on the aft cabin deck or fore deck when I thought maybe I can adapt car bike rack. That way I can get them up off the deck, out of the way, and secured.

After all I built a much more robust bike rack for the back of my sand rail so we could ride a fat bike down the sand dune hills in CA. You can check that one out here, go about 3 minutes in for a view of the bike rack.
Anyway a couple of pics of the bike rack on the boat.

You might want to get a vinyl bag/cover made to go over the bikes. We keep our x3 folding bikes in vinyl bags and with a spray of lanolin or similar after use, they stay rust-free

Aquabelle said:

You might want to get a vinyl bag/cover made to go over the bikes. We keep our x3 folding bikes in vinyl bags and with a spray of lanolin or similar after use, they stay rust-free

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Thanks for the info.

Did a bunch of work on our 35 Sealord the past few years. This is the fly bridge before and after. Shes in now getting the teak sundeck removed and glassed and a new rub rail.

Great Loop Update

We started the Great Loop on 6/6/18 and are now in Manasquan NJ. We hope to move on to NYC Harbor tomorrow. We are having some technical difficulty getting our blog going, but once it’s up I’ll post a link here.

Sounds great. Have fun. We were in Manasquan 2 years ago bringing our boat home from VA. My wife left her appendix in Manasquan.

Here's one that's been on my list since day one. A very minor change that took a bit more effort than it should have, but is SOOOO worth it!

The only way to turn on my engine room lights was from the breaker panel. There's really no ideal place to install a switch that wouldn't be either inconvenient, or in the way.

So I went with one of these:

It's a "door jamb switch" like you'd use for a closet or cabinet. Turns on the lights when the door is opened (switch is un-compressed.)

The problem was, each ER light fixture had wires which went into a bundle. No way to tell which was "first" in the circuit. I also found there were TWO wires coming from the breaker, so I had to find where both went.

After hours of tracing and un-bundling wires, I discovered the first fixture in each string. First thing was to wire them together, so now I have only one circuit. The other, now-unused wire was coiled neatly and left for future use (an infrared ER camera or two.) One wire will be sufficient, because I've changed all the bulbs over to LEDs and they draw a fraction of the current the old incandescent bulbs did.

Once all that preliminary work was done, I drilled a hole in the 2x4 that the engine hatch rests on, and wired in the switch. The breaker stays on all the time (reducing wear on it) and the lights come on whenever I open the hatch.

Sometimes small victories are the best.

Great idea Tom, I have to copy you!

Kevin

I also think it’s a great idea. I don’t know how many times I have removed the V berth stairs and opened the forward ER hatch to find out that I forgot to turn on the lights.

FOG said:

I also think it’s a great idea. I don’t know how many times I have removed the V berth stairs and opened the forward ER hatch to find out that I forgot to turn on the lights.

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Oops. Hadn't thought of that. I very rarely go in to the ER that way, and usually only after I've already got the main hatch opened up. I think I'll be OK, although I could wire another switch to each of the other two hatches (fore and aft.)

My thing was forgetting to turn OFF the lights. Especially when I had florescent bulbs down there. They'd put interference on the tach cables and the gauges would be whacky once I got back up on the flybridge. Also coming back after a few days off the boat to find the ER lit up was always a "Doh!" moment.

CaptTom said:

Oops. Hadn't thought of that. I very rarely go in to the ER that way, and usually only after I've already got the main hatch opened up. I think I'll be OK, although I could wire another switch to each of the other two hatches (fore and aft.)

My thing was forgetting to turn OFF the lights. Especially when I had florescent bulbs down there. They'd put interference on the tach cables and the gauges would be whacky once I got back up on the flybridge. Also coming back after a few days off the boat to find the ER lit up was always a "Doh!" moment.

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Sometimes I will also forget to turn off the ER lights even though my panel has a red light next to that circuit breaker. Living aboard while we’re doing the “Loop” I’ll check the electrical panel every night before I turn in, and every once in a while see the red light on, then have one of those “Doh!” moments.

You’re not alone, Tom.

I replaced the ER lights with LEDs. I sometimes forget and leave them on but since they draw so little power I guess it isn’t too bad. I do leave them on when we are underway so I can see the ER on the camera better than with the infared lights on the camera.

Comodave said:

I replaced the ER lights with LEDs. I sometimes forget and leave them on but since they draw so little power I guess it isn’t too bad. I do leave them on when we are underway so I can see the ER on the camera better than with the infared lights on the camera.

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+1 Same here.

Comodave said:

I replaced the ER lights with LEDs. I sometimes forget and leave them on but since they draw so little power I guess it isn’t too bad. I do leave them on when we are underway so I can see the ER on the camera better than with the infared lights on the camera.

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I do like your ideas. I’m suppose to be reducing my “To Do” List, but it feels like it’s increasing. I guess that’s part of owning an older boat and being out here on the “Loop”. The good news is that I’m staying out of trouble because there’s always something to do. Lol

We just got done painting the hull and sundeck sideboards. Replaced all the portholes, what a job between the two. It does keep me busy. In a couple of years I won’t have anything left to do except routine maintenance. I am in the process of installing a second MFD so I can keep the engine room camera and the depth sounder displayed all the time. Thinking about replacing my fuel tanks. No problem yet, but they are steel and 31 years old. I want to replace them before I get too old to do it. I may do one each winter and do a cleanup of the engine room at the same time while each engine is out.

FOG
I thought you were supposed to be done with all the maintenance and enjoying the Loop?

Oh yeah...we own older vessels so work is NEVER done.

Enjoy the Loop and remember us back here who are still putting things together and planning and hopefully might get out there one day.

Tim

kokopelliTim said:

FOG
I thought you were supposed to be done with all the maintenance and enjoying the Loop?

Oh yeah...we own older vessels so work is NEVER done.

Enjoy the Loop and remember us back here who are still putting things together and planning and hopefully might get out there one day.

Tim

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Tim,

Definitely enjoying the Loop. But as you said the work is never done.

We started a blog, but decided not to post everyday as some do, not to write much and just throw some pictures up every once in a while. Here’s the link for those that might be interested.

And Locks - America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association

Loop

Great pictures... Keep them coming.

Autopilot Update

FOG said:

When I purchased our Prairie 36 there was not an auto pilot in the listing. However, there was a circuit breaker for one on the electrical panel. The broker said it was not working and had been removed.

A few weeks ago I found the Course Setter 21 by Benmar control in the fly bridge cabinet piled up with some other stuff. There was a cable attached but a little bit of water started coming out of the plastic enclosure so of course I didn't turn it on.

I couldn't find manuals, but thanks to Sam here on the forum I now have an electronic set. When I opened the enclosure I found the compass cylinder is filled with a fluid. I think the fluid is suppose to be there but I'm not 100% sure. The manual doesn't say anything about it but it does say that is should be mounted level. So I think the compass needs to float like a regular compass.

I have a theory on how the compass may be providing electronic signals to the auto pilot circuitry but before I dig any further I'm hoping someone can shed some light on this.

Anyone have experience with this model?

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I was able to get the Autopilot up and running. It turned out to be an easy fix. Just needed to be taken apart and then a good cleaning of all the electrical connections. Had I known that I would would have done it much sooner.

Anyway I got some good use out of it on Lake Michigan and continue to use it here on the rivers while doing the Great Loop. Even though it’s an older unit, it works well giving me some relief of hand steering for hours on end.

Congrats on getting the Autopilot running. That can be a HUGE help on those long, straight runs in open water.

We never get to use it much in Maine, since we're always dodging lobster pots. Offshore it's great though.

Keep those loop blog posts coming!

Hi FOG,
Just started checking your blog. Love the Prairie 36. Amazing progress you have made. We moved from Wilmington a year ago back to the Raleigh area. Rough times after Florence but area seems to be recovering, if slowly.

Rediscovering Trawlerforum after a hiatus. Good luck on your travels!

Ben said:

Hi FOG,
Just started checking your blog. Love the Prairie 36. Amazing progress you have made. We moved from Wilmington a year ago back to the Raleigh area. Rough times after Florence but area seems to be recovering, if slowly.

Rediscovering Trawlerforum after a hiatus. Good luck on your travels!

Click to expand...

Thanks Ben,

Everyone says a picture is worth a thousand words, so we decided we were not going to write much in our blog. See the link in post 234.

If someone wants to know more about the picture, they can always contact us.

We are now in Green Turtle Bay with several other Lopers. The Great Loop has been a fantastic adventures so far, but we are going back to Wilmington soon to take care of business. We have been told our house is OK, but there are several fallen trees that have caused damage to our car, a shed, etc.

Hey Everyone,
I'm the lucky guy that now has Fog's Prairie 36. When I first saw the ad on YW, something seemed familiar. Over our time off work last winter, I had read this entire thread in detail. It seemed like a project I would possibly undertake one day. Turns out, I was reading about my future boat.
We are very fortunate to now own Fog's boat. His level of craftsmanship and attention to detail is incredible. It was definitely a labor of love and we appreciate all of his efforts and all of the input from everyone on this thread.
If anyone has further interest, we will be happy to add pics of our projects and travels.
Thanks again Fog...
John & Michelle