Should we purchase a Helmsman?

[PNK]

Thanks for all that information, Kevin. While I was pretty confident that a wooden boat could be purchased for less than a similar-sized glass boat, I knew very little about the costs of upkeep. I will look into what those costs would be here on the East Coast, but I doubt they would be less. All the work you have done clearly was worth it, your boat must look as good as the day it came out of Arno Day's yard!
Peter

 

[KMAL]

Hull 43048 is under contract with delivery scheduled April of 25. She will be the 7th Pamanus to ply the waters of the Salish - the first one commissioned by my grandfather directly from William Boeing. Thanks to the many of you who have helped immeasurably as we narrowed our choices and made selections. 48 will be equipped with the Cummins 380, a single Magnus Master stabilizer, 6kw Genset, 360 Water Maker, Washer/Dryer, Nick Jackson Davit, and various other goodies.

 

[Helmsman]

Hull 43048 is under contract with delivery scheduled April of 25. She will be the 7th Pamanus to ply the waters of the Salish - the first one commissioned by my grandfather directly from William Boeing. Thanks to the many of you who have helped immeasurably as we narrowed our choices and made selections. 48 will be equipped with the Cummins 380, a single Magnus Master stabilizer, 6kw Genset, 360 Water Maker, Washer/Dryer, Nick Jackson Davit, and various other goodies.

Congratulations! That is awesome!

 

[chanprr]

Hull 43048 is under contract with delivery scheduled April of 25. She will be the 7th Pamanus to ply the waters of the Salish - the first one commissioned by my grandfather directly from William Boeing. Thanks to the many of you who have helped immeasurably as we narrowed our choices and made selections. 48 will be equipped with the Cummins 380, a single Magnus Master stabilizer, 6kw Genset, 360 Water Maker, Washer/Dryer, Nick Jackson Davit, and various other goodies.

Congratulations! Be patient while your 43 is under construction!

 

[KDT]

Hull 43048 is under contract with delivery scheduled April of 25. She will be the 7th Pamanus to ply the waters of the Salish - the first one commissioned by my grandfather directly from William Boeing. Thanks to the many of you who have helped immeasurably as we narrowed our choices and made selections. 48 will be equipped with the Cummins 380, a single Magnus Master stabilizer, 6kw Genset, 360 Water Maker, Washer/Dryer, Nick Jackson Davit, and various other goodies.

Congrats KMAL. We are expecting delivery of 43046 in January. It feels like an eternity. Our options are same as yours. Very exciting.

 

[KMAL]

Thanks - we are certainly excited, but also fortunate to have a boat we really love and enjoy to keep busy in the interim. Huge congrats on the 46 - we were certainly tempted but she is a bit to long for our slip (which we own and is covered - gold..). Anyway, it will be fun to see your boat in the water. And thanks so much for your response to my original post. Very helpful.

 

[KMAL]

Congrats KMAL. We are expecting delivery of 43046 in January. It feels like an eternity. Our options are same as yours. Very exciting.

Fantastic - will you be sailing her in the Salish?

 

[KDT]

Fantastic - will you be sailing her in the Salish?

East coast and Bahamas

 

[KMAL]

East coast and Bahamas

Awesome - I toyed with an East coast delivery for some fun Bahamas and south for a bit of time - but my thoughts were not accepted for even remote consideration by my bride of 40 years - and rightly so. But it was fun daydreaming of such adventures anyway.

 

[FWT]

Congratulations!

 

[KMAL]

Congratulations!

Thx - and thx again for your initial response - it was very helpful and kept the ball rolling.

 

[chanprr]

Hull 43048 ... will be equipped with the Cummins 380, a single Magnus Master stabilizer, 6kw Genset, 360 Water Maker, Washer/Dryer, Nick Jackson Davit, and various other goodies.

All good and useful adds. We selected much the same on the 46, for long distance cruising. Since the 46 will be about 50k lbs loaded, dual MM rotors are recommended. We opted for an induction cooktop so we won't have to worry about propane refills. Engine wise, we chose a John Deere 500 hp. We are anxiously looking forward to the arrival of the 46 in July, and will thoroughly enjoy shakedown in the Puget Sound/Hood Canal waters. In 2025 we plan to return to SE Alaska.

 

[KMAL]

All good and useful adds. We selected much the same on the 46, for long distance cruising. Since the 46 will be about 50k lbs loaded, dual MM rotors are recommended. We opted for an induction cooktop so we won't have to worry about propane refills. Engine wise, we chose a John Deere 500 hp. We are anxiously looking forward to the arrival of the 46 in July, and will thoroughly enjoy shakedown in the Puget Sound/Hood Canal waters. In 2025 we plan to return to SE Alaska.

If I could - I would take my current Deere with me and drop it into the 43. I have had several Deere’s - they are simply next category for reliability and ease of maintenance. All three of the Deere’s I’ve had turned over instantly regardless of temp - there is no stopping them, and they are very easy to work on. My current Deere is CD and IU and has service intervals up to 80,000 hours. Since I really do not use it as intended I have no allusions that 8Ok is achievable - but I will be long dead if it makes it to 30k - Cummins are good - Deere simply orbiting a different planet - enjoy both motor and boat - I look forward to seeing you out and about.

 

[FWT]

30,000 to 80,000 service intervals?

!!!!!!!!!

Could you be more specific? Oil? Impellers?

 

[KMAL]

I don’t have the manual with me - but the services require also include bearing, seal, replacements, investor rebuilds etc. the engine is designed for commercial applications. A bit more than oil, impeller, filters, and belts. I don’t know what all goes into the build - but presumably heavier duty sleeves, rings, bearings, etc.

 

[KMAL]

I don’t have the manual with me - but the services require also include bearing, seal, replacements, investor rebuilds etc. the engine is designed for commercial applications. A bit more than oil, impeller, filters, and belts. I don’t know what all goes into the build - but presumably heavier duty sleeves, rings, bearings, etc.

Injector - not investor.

 

[FWT]

Thanks. Those are major rebuild items.

 

[KMAL]

Thanks. Those are major rebuild items.

The service intervals include many items that you would undertake in a rebuild, however, all of the service intervals can be conducted in situ - without removing the block/cranckcase from the mounts - assuming you have good access to the engine. This is for the CD rated engine which also allows for intermittent use. The other Deere's I have had have been Lugger's with service intervals up to 30,000 hours. Not uncommon to see them hit 15,000 hours plus although I have never placed that many hours on one myself. Following is a detailed maintenance list on a Deere 6068 through its first 10,000 hours on Dirona - a 52 Nordhaven that has circumnavigated the globe:

"We track everything that has been done on the engine whether it’s maintenance or repair. Let’s look at maintenance first:

• Oil & filter changes: 36
• Most oil changes in a single year: 6 (both 2015 & 2016)
• Primary fuel filters changes: 26
• Secondary fuel filter changes: 10
• Valve adjustments: 5
• Harmonic Balancer Change: 1 (8,000 hour change interval)
• Accessory drive belt replacements: 3

That’s an incredibly small list of maintenance items for a 10,000 hours engine, but the repair list is even smaller."

Here is a link to Dirona's blog and to the 10,000 hour mark - for me, just fun reading:

John Deere 6068 at 10,000 Hours

It’s hard to believe, but our “new” John Deere 6068AFM75 is now nearly 9 years old, has been around the world, and has now clocked up over 10,000 engine hours: Hours: 10075.1 Nautical miles traveled: 69,187 Fuel burn: 59,257.4 gallons Load factor: 44.2% Longest ocean crossing: 3,689 nautical...

mvdirona.com

 

[Tom-Jill-Lilly]

KAML, congrats! It'll be great to see you on the waters gliding in the 43!

 

[KMAL]

KAML, congrats! It'll be great to see you on the waters gliding in the 43!

Thanks - we are excited to evolve our cruising - extending the season, our range, and accommodations .