Coastal Cruising Under Power: How to Buy, Equip, Operate, and Maintain Your Boat - Softcover

Hamilton, Gene

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071445145 ISBN 13: 9780071445146

Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press, 2006

Synopsis

Coastal Cruising Under Power is your ultimate companion for exploring the coastal waters of North America with confidence in your powerboat. This beautifully illustrated guide provides countless tips on anchoring, piloting, weather, and more, along with in-depth, step-by-step instructions on numerous specific skills and techniques.

About this title

About the Authors

Gene and Katie Hamilton write the Do It Yourself . . . Or Not? column syndicated by Tribune Media Services, and are regular contributors to Chesapeake Bay magazine.

McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Coastal Cruising Under Power

How to Buy, Equip, Operate, and Maintain Your Boat

By Gene Hamilton, Katie Hamilton

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2006 Gene and Katie Hamilton
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-07-144514-6

Contents

Foreword, by Captain John Wooldridge
Acknowledgments
Introduction: An Invitation to Come Cruising
PART I Choose Your Cruising Powerboat
1 Choosing a Boat Design
2 Interiors
3 Engines, Drive Systems, Steering, and Stabilizers
4 Electrical Systems and Generators
5 Freshwater Systems, Heads, and Tanks
6 Cooking, Refrigeration, Heating, and Cooling Systems
7 Buying the Boat
8 Where to Keep the Boat
Part II Select Gear for Cruising
9 Navigation Equipment
10 Communications Equipment
11 Anchors and Related Gear
12 Safety Equipment
13 Dinghies
14 More Essential and Useful Stuff
15 Records and Paperwork
Part III Use Your Boat
16 Learning Skills
17 The Rules of the Road
18 Boat Handling
19 Anchoring
20 Weather
21 Piloting and Navigation Basics
22 Cooking on Board
Part IV Keep It Running Well and Looking Good
23 Routine Maintenance
24 Tools and Spare Parts
25 Keeping it Clean
Part V Live the Cruising Life
26 How to Live the Cruising Lifestyle
27 Supporting the Cruising Lifestyle
28 Planning a Cruise
29 Diversions
30 Favorite Cruising Recipes
Part VI Cruise These Great Destinations
31 Erie Canal
32 Chesapeake Bay
33 Intracoastal Waterway
34 North Carolina
35 Abacos, Bahamas
36 Florida Keys
37 Southwest Florida
38 Northern California Delta
39 Puget Sound
40 Door County, Wisconsin
Appendix 1: Boating Resources and Information
Appendix 2: Cruising Boat Manufacturers' and Websites
Appendix 3: Cruising Destination Information
Index

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Choosing a Boat Design

Over the past 35 years we've owned seven boats, from a J/24 racing sailboat to a42-foot wooden trawler—and just about every type in between. We didn'tstart small and work our way up the food chain with larger and larger boats.Each boat was perfect for us at the time, but every time our life situationchanged and the boat we had no longer fit our needs, we went shopping.

No boat can be all things to all people and no matter how clever the navalarchitect, all designs are at best a compromise. Only a finite number ofobjectives—such as adequate accommodation, good boat speed, and adequatefuel and water capacity—can be achieved with any given design. A change inone area will affect other aspects of the boat, and some compromises provebetter than others. Successful designs are the ones that meet or exceed theirstated objectives.

In the following sections, we'll present our take on the types of powerboat thatwe think are suitable for coastal cruising—boats that meet or exceed theirstated objectives.

But before we get into the particulars let's make one point clear: it's not theboat that makes a cruise successful, it's the attitudes of the people on board.Anyone can successfully cruise coastal and inland waters in almost any boat.We've met people on modest boats enjoying the cruising life to its fullest, andthose on elegant yachts not having any fun at all. Life and boats, as they say,are what you make of them.

IS THERE A BEST BOAT?

The answer is no. Every boat has both its qualities and its limitations. Whenyou evaluate your present boat, or shop for a new one, it's important toenvision how you will use it.

A slow-moving displacement hull (we'll explain what that is in a moment), forexample, is relatively inexpensive to operate, but the deep draft (depth of theboat below the waterline) can limit your choice of cruising areas, especially inthe shallow waters of the Bahamas and Florida Keys.

High-speed cruising boats generally have a shallower draft and a wider choice ofcruising areas, but they are expensive to operate. As technology evolves,however, boats are being built lighter without sacrificing strength, and enginesare becoming more fuel efficient. These developments could result in loweroperating costs.

Tank capacity is another major consideration when choosing the right design. Ifyou plan to cruise where fuel, water, and food are readily available, thentremendous load-carrying capacity isn't necessary. However, if you plan tocruise in remote areas where facilities are limited, then fuel and watercapacities are a serious consideration.

There are dozens of questions that you must ask yourself before you decide whattype of boat is right for you, and there no simple answers, but the more youlearn about boat design, the better you'll be able to select a boat that trulysuits you.

WHAT'S IT MADE OF?

Most production boats these days are made of fiberglass. Few wooden boats arebuilt anymore, though there is usually a selection of older ones on the market.Whether an older wooden boat is a wise choice depends on the maintenance it hasreceived. Some are still solid and seaworthy, while others are really onlysuitable for firewood. Aluminum and steel cruising boats are also available, butusually only in larger custom or semi-custom models. Here's a quick rundown ofthe characteristics of the major boatbuilding materials.

Wood

Wood has long been an excellent material for boatbuilding. It still is, and youcan't beat the quiet ride of a wooden hull. But few builders currently have theknowledge and skilled labor to produce a quality wooden boat by traditionalmethods.

Modern epoxy coatings and adhesives allow a skilled builder to create a boatthat is essentially wood but is more durable and requires much less maintenancethan traditional wood construction. These contemporary hulls are usuallydescribed as cold molded, and we'll have more to say about them later.

A wooden boat can have a long life expectancy if it's maintained properly, butwill quickly deteriorate if it's neglected. There are still good used woodenboats around and they can represent good value when compared to a fiberglassboat of the same size, though they will require more expense and effort when itcomes to maintenance.

In the mid-1980s we bought a 21-year-old, well-maintained wooden Grand Banks 42,Old Grand Dad. She'd had only one previous owner, she had a good survey, and shecost us about a quarter of the price the fiberglass version was selling for atthe time. For five years, she served us well. We lived aboard her during thefirst year and then cruised on long vacations for another four years. We soldher for what we had paid, but during those five years we did most of themaintenance. We had the yard do some major repairs (like new shafts and enginework), which came to about $20,000.

All boats require maintenance but you can skip buffing or waxing a fiberglassboat for years with little but cosmetic damage. If a wood boat is neglected forany length of time it will quickly deteriorate. All protective hull and cabinpaint must be maintained on a regular schedule. Wood is constantly expanding orcontracting so chasing down small leaks around ports, doors, hatches, or in thedeck is a continuing process. Most of the maintenance you can do yourself and ifyou keep on top of it, it's not overwhelming.

Fiberglass

The introduction of fiberglass construction to the mass marine market in the1950s and 1960s revolutionized boatbuilding. The evolution continues, as newcombinations of materials are introduced to make boats lighter and stronger.Today, fiberglass boats dominate the cruising boat market. The boats arestrong—but not indestructible—and require far less maintenance thanmost other materials, though they are far from being "maintenance free."

One of the big advantages of fiberglass construction is that this material canbe molded into just about any shape. Fiberglass boats can also be quite roomyinside, since the structure doesn't require frames, as is usually the case inwood, steel, or aluminum construction.

A typical fiberglass laminate consists of layers of different types of glassfabric bonded together with polyester, vinylester, or epoxy resin. Thisconstruction method allows builders to lay up thicker, heavier laminatedsections where the hull stresses are the greatest like under the engine mounts,and thinner, lighter sections where the stresses are lower in the side portionsof the hull.

Fiberglass, however, technically known as fiberglass reinforced plastic or FRP,can have its problems. Variations in quality are introduced by the builder'sselection of the types and amounts of reinforcing material he uses and the type(or types) of plastic resin he chooses to bind them.

Quality control doesn't stop with the selection of materials: critical care intheir application is important too. Unless the builder precisely controls themixing of the resins and their application to the fiberglass reinforcingstructure, small air voids or areas of uncured resins are created, which reducethe strength of the entire laminate. If the voids are large enough, thestructure can delaminate under stress.

Another problem with fiberglass is that laminates thick enough to withstand highstress can become quite heavy. Builders are conquering this drawback byintroducing lighter cores, such as end-grain balsawood or closed-cell PVC foam,between thinner skins of reinforcing glass. Today, many boats are no longer"solid" FRP from the waterline up. The hull sides, decks, cabin sides, andinterior bulkheads (walls) are all cored.

In a further effort to maintain strength without weight, builders are now usingother materials besides fiberglass for reinforcing various areas of laminate.Carbon-fiber rods, with a tensile strength six times that of a piece of steel ofthe same weight, are used to add rigidity to keels, chines (where the bottom ofthe hull meets the sides), and gunwales (the top edges of the hull). Strongermaterials such as Kevlar are also used in the reinforcing fabrics instead of (orin addition to) fiberglass. And even among fiberglass fabrics, there are nowmany nonwoven options, such as unidirectional knitted cloth, that provide extrastrength without the added weight of more layers.

Fiberglass boats are constantly improving in many ways. But a unique problem inusing FRP for boatbuilding remains: a condition known as blistering. Blisteringoccurs when, over the passage of time, water penetrates the outer gelcoat by aprocess known as osmosis and mixes with water-soluble materials in thefiberglass layers beneath it. The seawater mixes with the laminate particles andthen becomes a more complex solution that cannot flow back out through thepassage it entered. As a result, it builds up pressure as it tries to escape,and then explodes, causing blister domes to appear on the outside of the hull.

Not all resins are equally impervious to water. The polyester resins known asorthophthalic are the most permeable. Isophthalic polyesters are denser and moreresistant to water intrusion. Vinylester resins are more resistant still, andepoxy resins are almost totally impervious. Of course, increasing the resistanceof a hull to water intrusion comes at a cost, but builders will usually tell youthe types of gelcoat and resins they use, and paying for the more water-resistantversions can be worth it in the long run.

Blistering is largely a cosmetic problem at first, but the liquid within ablister can eventually penetrate deeper into the fiberglass and ultimatelyresult in at least partial delamination of the affected area. So blisters mustbe repaired. Fortunately, epoxy-based barrier coats can be applied over thebasic laminate to reduce further water intrusion and, most often, eliminatefurther blistering. But this treatment, too, is not cheap.

Finally, let us add that fiberglass boats are not expensive to repair. The workis relatively easy and readily handled by most boatyards. In many cases you, theowner, can even do it yourself. No boatbuilding material is perfect but thethousands of old boats built of fiberglass that still exist are a testament toits longevity.

Cold-Molded Wood

Although wood is the major component of cold-molded boats, this method ofboatbuilding has many similarities to fiberglass construction. Cold-moldedwooden structures are made of many very thin layers of wood, crisscrossed overthe form of a male mold and bonded together with epoxy resin. The process iscalled cold molding because the modern epoxy adhesives do not require theapplication of heat to cure properly. Stainless steel staples may be used tohold the strips in place until the resin cures, but it is the epoxy, not metalfasteners, that eventually holds everything together. The final result is atotally unified plywood structure that is very light for its strength.

Cold-molded construction is even more labor intensive than "hand laid"fiberglass and is more often used for custom-built boats—It is notconducive to production building. For this reason, cold-molded boats aregenerally more expensive than fiberglass when new, though used models are oftenavailable at an attractive price simply because custom-built boats do not havethe broader appeal of production designs offered in glass.

Steel And Aluminum

In the United States, steel and aluminum construction is limited mostly tocommercial boats or custom yachts, though the Dutch and other Europeans havebeen building steel cruising boats for decades. A skilled builder can fabricateeither material into a beautiful yacht. Steel is heavy, so you won't find manyboats under about 35 feet LOA (length overall) built from this material.Aluminum is lighter but more expensive, and is usually used to build customyachts, especially those of 80 feet LOA and up.

Steel construction is usually associated with workboats, but when a hull isbuilt to yacht specifications it's difficult to distinguish steel from otherhull materials. Steel is extremely strong for its weight and can be bent andstretched without losing this strength. This makes for a resilient hull that cantake severe punishment. In a hard grounding or collision it will most often bedented rather than punctured or cracked.

If not properly maintained, rust and corrosion can attack steel and damage thestructural integrity of the boat, especially if relatively thin plate has beenused to reduce the boat's weight. But modern paints and other rust-preventivecoatings can reduce the maintenance required to keep a steel boat in Bristolcondition.

Aluminum is lighter than steel, and more expensive to purchase and fabricate,but it doesn't rust and requires less maintenance. Like steel, aluminum can beformed into a beautiful, fair hull. It's often used for cabin-houses and for thesuperstructure on steel yachts since it is lighter. Aluminum is also used inhigh-speed, lightweight boats. The weight savings enable such boats to carrymore cargo for a given displacement.

Aluminum is not without its drawbacks, however. One of them is a tendency forgalvanic corrosion in a saltwater environment. The common copper-basedantifouling bottom paints cannot be used on an aluminum boat (unless a non-conductivebarrier coat is applied to the hull first), because aluminum ishigher on the galvanic scale (less noble) than, say, copper or bronze. (There'smore on this in Chapter 4, Electrical Systems and Generators). Also, commonlyavailable bronze through-hulls for fittings, such as seawater intakes, must beelectrically isolated from the hull. But these are small considerations giventhe general desirability of aluminum as a material for large custom yachts.

HULL TYPES

While boat hulls sitting side by side in the water may look alike from the dock,they may be very different below the waterline. Hull shapes come in threevarieties: displacement, planing, or semi-displacement. Hull shape greatlyaffects a boat's performance, so it's important to know the pros and cons ofeach type.

Displacement Hulls

Until the invention of modern high-powered engines, most boats were designed asdisplacement hulls. A displacement hull pushes through the water, not over it.Most cruising sailboats still have displacement hulls, as do most commercialfishing and cargo vessels. The hull of a displacement-style cruising powerboattypically has a rounded, wineglass shape and a keel that extends the full lengthof the boat. The rounded shape gives the hull an easy motion in a seaway. Thisshape does not pound into a head sea but is instead pushed through it for a morecomfortable ride. It will roll in a beam sea (waves coming at the boat from theside)—as will any other powerboat—but the motion of a displacementhull is smoother. Depending on the size of the waves, this type hull may roll 10to 20 degrees but the motion is smooth as it moves back and forth. The hardchined planing hull will roll the same but the roll will be faster with a snapthat may send objects flying about.

Displacement hulls are designed to operate at slow speeds and usually haveefficient, large diameter propellers that require a draft of 4 feet of more.Since the hull is pushed through, rather than over the water, boat speed islimited by the energy that gets wasted making waves and by the friction betweenwater and hull. More horsepower will push the boat faster, but there is acertain speed beyond which the extra power needed to increase it any further isso great that it becomes impractical.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Coastal Cruising Under Power by Gene Hamilton. Copyright © 2006 by Gene and Katie Hamilton. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
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Edition details

• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0071445145
• ISBN 13: 9780071445146
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320