[PUP] Alvin 32-35, or other options

[Ron Rogers]

Al,

Your concerns, except for speed, are all valid and are frequently the ones
articulated by prospective buyers of vessels with high freeboard. The very
best way to answer these concerns is to charter a GH37 from Mirage. They
probably offer some instruction.


But let's get something straight; there are times when most boats become
hard to control. My 20T Willard 40 with single engine and bow thruster was
extremely difficult to dock bow in (!) during a severe thunderstorm with
horizontal rain. Although I got her in, it might have been much wiser to
anchor until the storm had passed. You make choices. In my case, the dogs
wanted to go to the bathroom very sincerely.

Could I have moored in those conditions with a GH37? I don't know, I would
have to try. They have twin screws and a bow thruster and that combination
would help, but she has more windage. If I couldn't, I'd drop the anchor the
same as with my boat. In either boat, I would have been safe. In this
situation, I was often standing still and being blown sideways. Just before
that we were making 7 knots into 5-6 foot seas on the nose with 34 knots of
wind with the stabilizers off - it was very pleasant. When you have way on,
things are different.

Now about speed. Vessels in the 40 foot class making 10 knots are not true
full-displacement trawlers. They look like trawlers, but they have hard
chines aft and flatten-out aft. They are semi-displacement designs more
closely resembling a Downeast lobster boat than a trawler. And, these hulls
are not sipping diesel at 10 knots. At 7.5 knots, with the generator
powering the A/C, and the main driving the hydraulic stabilizers, my 40 foot
true trawler is consuming 2.5gph. With a more modern engine (John Deere
turbo) that would drop below 2gph. The Willard 40 can exceed hull speed with
the factory prop and reach 8.54 knots in a glassy calm while gulping fuel at
perhaps 6gph or more. The Albin does not have a true trawler hull. BTW,
running in a pack of companion boats is not easy owing to the differing
characteristics of the boats and the inclinations of the owners.

The boats that you have chosen to compare are apples and cumquats. The GH37
offers the liveaboard comfort of a large condo with great views. The prices
do not compare either. I'd set my dollar limit first and then look for a
boat.

Ron Rogers