Innehållsförteckning för January/February 2021 från PassageMaker

Helmsman Trawlers has launched the first hull of its second-generation 43 series, the 43E. The new model is a progression from the 38E, a TrawlerFest Best in Show award winner that debuted in 2016. Features of the 43E are not revolutionary, but evolutionary, with key modifications born from experience and customer feedback. Tooling was adapted to adjust the camber of the pilothouse roof, improving rainwater drainage control and altering the aesthetics of the forward windows. The pilothouse windshield has been retracted, enhancing the boat’s appearance without altering the layout or size of the pilothouse. Interior volume was increased in the forward head and guest stateroom by altering the exterior side deck design._Soundown acoustic foam was added as a hull liner beneath the teak joinery in the master stateroom. “In this…

Stepping aboard the Summit 54 at the Waterway Marina in Stuart, Florida, I immediately understood her mission. She’s about being able to relax at a faster pace—say, 25 knots—with a stylish, shippy exterior and an elevated interior décor. “The Summit 54 is the answer to Kadey-Krogen owners’ requests for an all-weather motoryacht with the admired features and safety elements of the 42-year-old brand, but this time around with more speed,” says Tom Button, president of Kadey-Krogen Yachts. The company created the Summit Motoryachts brand—and the flagship 54 planing-hull design—in collaboration with other respected experts. The 54 is built by the same team of shipwrights at Asia Harbor Yacht Builders in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, who have produced Krogens for 25 years. The hull is by designer Michael Peters, whose expertise in speed…

If your boat is more than a few years old, you’ll eventually need to renew the bedding compound under at least some of the deck hardware. This chore is important, especially on boats with balsa-cored decks, teak-planked decks and fuel tanks located directly below the fuel fills. Water intrusion under such circumstances can cause rot, corrosion and other dire developments long before obvious warning signs manifest. Probably the gloomiest (read: most expensive) problems arise in a scenario where the fuel tank is directly below the fuel fill. If the bedding compound is dried out and cracked, then water is undoubtedly slipping through. That water is damaging the surrounding coring material (if the deck is, in fact, cored) and eating away at the top of any fuel tank that happens to…

Less than two years ago, U.K.-based boatbuilder Arksen unveiled a vision to accommodate growing demand for sustainable oceangoing adventure. Today, Arksen is on the precipice of its largest hull to date. Construction has begun at Wight Shipyard Company in the U.K. on an 85-footer the builder calls Project Ocean. Project Ocean will accommodate up to 12 guests in four staterooms, including a full-beam master with an adjoining multipurpose room that can be used as a library, study, media room or children’s cabin. Sporting a hybrid propulsion package and an energy management system by Praxis Automation Technology, Project Ocean is expected to have a cruising speed of 9 to 11 knots, a top speed of 14 knots and a maximum range of 7,000 nautical miles. Solar capacity will off er up…

ONE weekend in Hingham, Massachusetts, while I was conversing with some salty dogs in their cockpits, an ancient fellow came wavering down the floating docks carting a pile of provisions. We gave him a hard time, as dock etiquette required, and he informed us that “She’s ready! Two years with a wrench and a brush, and by God, she’s finally ready! I told you I would do it! I’m off to South America, boys!” “Well, you just give me a holler on channel 71 when you break down at marker number two, and I’ll tow ya back,” a fisherman said while hosing down his skiff. We all chuckled as the old fellow kept on down the dock. “What’s that all about?” I asked the guys. “Is he crazy or just…

You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, a fifth dimension known to terrify many boaters. Your next stop: the docking zone. Countless boats lie at rest in marinas, rarely used because of nightmares and anxiety about docking. In spite of training and encouragement, many boaters fear handling their boats in a marina around other boats. The fear is not unfounded: More insurance claims arise out of damage to boats in a marina than from events in open water. The problem stems in part from books and classes that cover the mechanics of prop walk and twin-engine pivots, but that fail to address one of the most important aspects of close-quarters handling—that…

When it comes to troubleshooting and DIY projects, I think of blood. I know, I know—you’re thinking that I have a very strange mind. But troubleshooting and do-it-yourself go together with blood like, well, juggling and chainsaws. Blood, of course, is something many of us get used to from a young age. Skinned knees and elbows are a part of childhood, and Band-Aids are as familiar as a school notebook. Even more, when tinkering with boats, cars and tools, the color red is always in vogue (and not just for topsides and Ferraris). And blood can show up at any time. My wife is a gourmet chef who works with fresh ingredients, which explains why she didn’t understand about can openers. Recently, she held up a thumb sliced by a…

Every March, when winter starts its forever slog on the northern shores of Lake Superior, our family’s crew of five starts plotting our next summer adventure. In the sea of uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic last spring, we would need our boat more than ever to accommodate the ideal socially distanced vacation. Mazurka is our 1980 Marine Trader trawler. Her 38 feet in length were perfect when my husband, Mark, and I lived on her in Chicago for four years (yes, even in winter). For the past decade, she has moored in Knife River, Minnesota, a friendly, under-the-radar marina for our floating cabin. We now have three “tsunamis,” ages 10, 8 and 6. In early spring, the kids forget the boredom and downtime of going 6 knots; all they remember…

Whether you’re hauling out the boat for the winter or for an annual bottom paint job, it pays to ask and answer a number of questions before she comes out of the water. A formal sea trial prior to hauling will do just that, and can be combined with your trip to the yard. Depending on the boat and your budget, you might want to bring a mechanic along, but the following procedures are within reach of most boat owners. In any case, you will need at least two people: one to operate the boat and the other to perform the inspections. GETTING STARTED Begin by placing clean white absorbent pads under the engines. They will remain there until the end of the sea trial. Put them down and forget…

If I squint and imagine the perfect vessel for freshwater exploration, I see this boat as an Airstream-type trailer for the water. My wife and I recently did a camping trip. It was a nice break from being around the home acres, with the normal tending to the garden, the grass to mow and all the constant chores that life has for us these days. I work from my home, so I tend to be pretty darn busy running the boat shop, and keeping projects and coworkers fed and watered amid the buzzing hive of small-business activity in the midst of a pandemic. We typically work at several boat shows in the late summer and early fall, but those are all canceled. With time on our hands, we decided to…