|
| Sweet Charlotte |
06/21/2010 |
Thanks to all for the questions and comments left at our web site. I think I'll post answers at the end of this entry. If you would like to post questions and comments for public viewing, please go directly to the journal and scroll down to the bottom where you can post a comment. You can also email me directly if you don't want it public.
On the same day Eliana arrived in San Diego, our tender "Sweet Charlotte" arrived in Dana Point by truck. The timing was just coincidence, not planned that way.
You may recall from earlier posts that Craig Henderson from Bellingham, WA makes these boats himself in his workshop behind his house. His trade name is Bullfrog Boats. He actually makes them himself. His marketing is entirely word of mouth and he has no distribution. But he has been making them for some time and the customers I've spoken with love their boats. They are extremely durable, made for a lifetime of use and yet are light enough to hoist up on deck. The sides are rotomolded from polyethylene making for a soft bumper type of side without the vulnerability of an inflatable. And the bottom is all aluminum, that is the floor and the hull are all welded aluminum with stiffeners between and the whole assembly is air / water tight. The keel is angled steeply so it has a very smooth ride in waves and yet stays completely dry inside.
If Eliana is our home, Sweet Charlotte is our car. Or better termed, our SUV. It's a stuff hauler, people mover, diving, fishing, who knows what else. We like the idea of some big open floor space on the inside with high sides. We also like the ability to walk all the way around the rail for tie ups, fender and line handling. Finally, we needed a good place to store gear and the center console does a good job of that. Craig puts a 26 gallon fuel tank under the drivers seat so the range is very good.
Here are some pictures of 'Sweet Charlotte'.
I love this picture of Craig in his workshop. Reminds me of the farm shop.
Arrival by truck.
Just tied up for the first time.
View from the front
View from the back
Sides are fairly protective and easy to walk on when boarding.
So we've now gotten about 4.5 hours of engine time in and around Dana Point. Locally, seas are generally 3-5' swells on 9 second intervals and 2-3' wind chop. In those conditions we could go about 20 mph with reasonable comfort and no spray over the top. I can't find a good section of flat water to see how fast it will go, but I have gotten it up to 31 holding on for dear life. The only big issue I can see is that it's hard to trim the bow down. Having people in the front seat definitely helps with that problem.
Here is a short video clip of Sweet Charlotte tooling around one evening.
So now Sweet Charlotte has its own little parking garage next to Eliana's bow. So far its working pretty well. The funny thing is that visitors almost always walk right by the big boat to check out the little one! Comments we've received have all been fairly positive. Actually, we think the Bullfrog is a little homely to look at, but people seem to pick up on the practicality aspect right away.
Responses
We're starting to get enough comments and questions that need responding to, this seems like a good place to do it. It's nice to get questions and to know what people like to hear about. Otherwise, I'm shooting in the dark with my topics. If this format works, I may try to put these miscellaneous remarks at the end each time.
1. Dash Layout... This is one of the areas of interest during commissioning as the dash will be completely dismantled and reconstructed. All of our navigation, chart plotting, radar, displays will need to be installed. The factory has provided new panels to mount things onto and we'll throw away the panels where the throttles, etc. are right now.
We have a plan prepared for the helm layout, but even the trip from San Diego exposed some flaws in that plan. Of course, we literally drove it manually all the way using a Magellan hand held GPS with Kobelt's follow up rudder control. It was easy, but required constant attention. Never the less, that steering lever is pretty important. By the way, Eliana was ordered without a steering wheel so that layout obstacle has been cleared. But now that we have the boat here to actually look at, we'll cut out actual size templates of all the components and lay them out before we start cutting holes. Any advice is welcomed!!
2. Early Problems... Fortunately, the engine started and checked out so we could get underway. As soon as we added water to the water tank, the e/r bilge pump would cycle every so often. I never heard what the problem was, but Russell had that fixed in minutes. Then we noticed the engine room sink sump pump light came on in the pilot house, and stayed on. That's odd. Russell went down to check it out and found the sump wasn't running, so that one must be a wiring issue.
During the trip, electrical circuits and systems were started one by one. Water was transferred to the grey water tank. Black water and toilets were started. To my knowledge, things were working for the most part.
3. Interior and Mechanical ... The interior came almost completely covered up. The normal practice is to uncover much of it, inspect and then recover it for the commissioning process. So Debbie and I got a chance to see glimpses of it briefly uncovered. The quality of workmanship is outstanding and the woodwork is beautiful. The interior has a comfortable and relaxing feel to it. The engine room of course is vintage Nordhavn, clean, bright and spacious. Here are a few pictures of the engine room. Unfortunately, photos of the interior probably won't be possible until toward the end. We'll pass along what we can, though.
That's all for now!
Rick
|
| |
| < Older Entry |
Newer Entry > |
| |
|
|
|
| Posted by Unknown on Jun 25, 2010, 09:48 PM EST |
| a follow up to Vaughan's question about having 3 gensets, how do you transfer power from each set without having to shut everything down? jon |
| |
| Posted by Vic Lafrank on Jun 24, 2010, 07:28 PM EST |
| Gorgeous little ship! Can't wait to see it fully fitted out and ready for sea. Question: Is a DD 60 series an American engine or a re-badged MTU? 2-cycle or 4-cycle? Inline 6-cyl? HP? Are you saving on commissioning costs by doing some of it yourselves? And how much cruising speed (if any) are you losing by sticking to one engine instead of two? I understand that two small engines instead of one large one would cost you about 10% in fuel economy: is that your understanding also? Many thanx |
| |
| Posted by Vaughan on Jun 24, 2010, 10:34 AM EST |
| Very much enjoying following your website. It is great of you to share this adventure and allow us dreamers to follow along vicariously. I'm looking forward to see the Scott Cole interior. I've probably got hundreds of questions, but will keep it polite and (for now) just ask about the thinking that went into having 3 gensets? Maybe just a way to be as efficient as possible and be able to generate only the needed power at optimum load for diesel engine? or something else? Take care and Godspeed on the commissioning! |
| |
| Posted by Jud Browne on Jun 23, 2010, 06:46 PM EST |
Hello guys,
I have enjoyed your site and wish you the best in your travels. My wife and I are afew years behind you and love what you are doing. Eliana is beautiful! Safe travels and we look fwd to your next post.
Best
Jud and Melissa |
| |
| Posted by Chris Hallock on Jun 22, 2010, 12:24 AM EST |
Hey Rick,
Forgot to mention, I don't see the big purple Powercat on the front of that? Maybe thats on the other tender named "Willie the Wildcat"? LOL
Chris Hallock |
| |
| Posted by Unknown on Jun 21, 2010, 10:23 PM EST |
| congratulations rick and debbie on your new N76! not a bad little house to own!!! beautiful. look forward to your posts. jon |
| |
| Posted by Chris Hallock on Jun 21, 2010, 03:13 PM EST |
Rick & Debbie,
Congratulations on the new boat, she looks great, oh yea and that big white N76 does too that is blocking the cute little tender... :-) Are you going to add a second tender as well or just have one for now?
I would love to see a layout of your pilothouse panel if you have an electronic copy too. Being a technical guy its fun to look over these things and dream a bit more. I have all sorts of layouts for my little 31’ express cruiser, except I don’t have any helm space!
I am glad to see that you just went with the jog lever vs. a large destroyer type wheel, I would think that it would just get in the way. Maybe its a good place to put your feet. Are you going to add controls to the helm chair, so you can manually drive from there if needed?
Thanks,
Chris Hallock |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|