From fishing to cruising transition

stevej

After 13 years of fishing out of Newport, Oregon we made a decision to do some cruising this year. So North to Alaska in late June is the plan.
Realized from the start that turning Shearwater into a “cruiseship” after all these years of doing open ocean day trips was going to be a bit of job.
Not that the boat has been modified from its original configuration but the requirements for living onboard comfortably without services for several days at a time does not have a lot of overlap with 12 hours on the ocean, return to port process fish, cook crab and sleep in the camper.
Some of the big ticket efforts are detailed below.

Anchoring – The “Armstrong” retrieval system is in need of an upgrade as is the anchor and rode.
Windless – E-Z Anchor pro 1200, will be mounted slightly in front of the v berth step. This is a big unit and with the cover in place it blocks some view of the bow on the port side, have a clear view from the helm though. They also seem to have a reputation for longer term reliability that some of the main stream windless systems lack (based on internet research so take the assessment for what it is worth). The very nice folks at E-Z actually return phone calls and go to great lengths to insure you get setup correctly, which is little rare these days.
Anchor roller is a large “sea dog” retrofitted with the 3 3/8” E-Z flat roller. The planned mounting location gives about 4’ between the roller and spool so have a better chance that line will wrap somewhat evenly and not bunch up.
Dedicated G34 battery will be installed in the locker to power with an ACR between it and the main battery bank system.
Rocna 10K anchor – good enough for “New Moon” is good enough for me. Looked very hard at the Mason Boss used by two other very experienced C-Brat’s (Thataway and HunkyDory) but there is a considerable price difference between the two. Put the money saved into the windless.
Rode – 300’ 1/2” West Marine three strand with 20’ of 3/8” 316 stainless chain.
Backup anchor and rode will be 14lb Danforth with 500’ of 3/8” New England 3 strand that has been sitting around the house.

Batteries – Time for a refresh this year no matter what the boating plan is.
House batteries will be two 31M-PC2150 Odyssey’s, windless will get a 34M-PC1500 Odyssey.

Cabin –
Insulation – Zero cabin insulation today. Have 5 gallons of Mascoat (Thanks to BC for the “pain free insulation thread”, all his work and feedback from others). Most of the interior is pulled out of the boat so first coat will go on soon (all masked off and waiting for some slightly warmer weather), looking to do 3 coats on the v berth including under the berth platform, 2 in the cabin and head. Just spraying the sides and not doing the cored bulkheads.
Heat – Continue to use the Webasto purchased three or so years ago. Been reliable(but not without some quirks) produces copious amounts of heat and defogs windows like magic. Plan is to move from under the dinette seat to the head and properly duct with 60mm outlets in the head, v berth, dash/defrost and a single 90mm in the main cabin. Attempting to revive the old Wallas DU-100 for cooking and backup heat. if I can’t get running then have a two burner Origo for cooking and will come up with a plan “b” for heat.
Head – Removed the Jabsco electric and holding tank. Maybe mine is just old but it’s a liquid only system, never been worth a cr*p so to speak. As much as I would like a $14,000 Thertford carbon fiber toilet I went with Thataway’s endorsement of the Sealand M711-28 with holding tank. Do have one challenge in that Shearwater does not have a pressurized water system but have a couple simple ideas to deal with this.
Discharge will be handled Via a Whale marine gulper pump, hoses, y-valve, shut off valve and thru hull will be upgraded to 1 ½” to support.

Electronics –
Current electronics have served me well for many years and the upgrade is not a strictly cursing requirement, it’s just time to upgrade.
Installed a Garmin autopilot 3 years ago so going with Garmin 7610xsv chart plotter/sonar with vchip map upgrade coupled to a Garmin GT50M sidVu/downVu tranducer.
The Bluechart mobile application with Active Captain is really quite an amazing tool. Plan/modify routes, research anchorages , modify waypoints as well as many other functions then upload to the chartplotter via Bluetooth wireless. IPad will serve as backup navigation system along with paper charts.
The Furuno radar has never missed a beat and will stay for another season.
VHF antenna will be upgraded to a “Digital” replacing the Shakespeare Galaxy. Current I-Com VHF will stay, time permitting I will wire the NEMA interface into the chartplotter.

Lots of other work outside of the major upgrades above to be done over the next 10 weeks.
Will post some pictures as things move forward, any commitments, questions or suggestions are appreciated.

stevej

Aurelia · Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 1:36 pm Post subject:

Post those pics and keep the results flowing. It sounds like you are using the site to great effect and that trip north sounds pretty good to me.

Greg

Ferg · Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 5:35 pm Post subject:

Sounds like you've given this a lot of thought. I realized that I like working on the boat just as much as I like cruising her. I'm running out of projects

hardee · Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 6:59 pm Post subject:

SteveJ, (Know where Laurelwood is? I went to school out there, wayyyyyyy back in the 60's Laughing

I'm going to bet you are carrying a handheld VHF. If not, I would highly recommend one. It's good to have for communication between the mother ship and the dingy, or as a back-up for the ICOM.

I'll be up that way, too, late June and on for a while. Be fun to say Howdy.

Harvey
SleepyC Moon

Sunbeam · Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 8:43 pm Post subject:

thataway · Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 10:07 pm Post subject:

Sound like well thought out modifications. Should do you well! The only comment is that you are going to be at the margin capacity of the reel winch--and probably OK, if it level winds. It is a great system, rarely used on C Dorys because of the space and vision issues.

The "old" Cruseships are great boats--and wonderful to see another one being brought up to date!

Hunkydory · Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 10:33 pm Post subject:

Steve, that's a long list with time consuming items on it & a whole lot more for you to do to boot before being ready to shove off. Three months may seem like a long time to prepare, but it will fly by. Even with all the trips north we've made, each year finds more new items to do, along with the routine that keeps us quite busy for several months of preparation. I now wonder how we were able to get it all done in the past when we were both still working.

The original style Buddy Heater makes for a good heater back up.

I looked at some YouTube video of your proposed windless. The drum type definitely have their advantages, but a small area top side for mounting isn't one of them. I hope you find the time to post a photo of it installed.

Where to do you plan to launch to start the cruise & how far north before returning. We will most likely be coming off the SE Alaska water just about the time you start out.

I hope all your preparation goes well & the actual cruise wonderful

Jay

hardee · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:28 am Post subject:

Leon · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:50 am Post subject: Sat Phone

I just ran across a produce that converts your cell phone into a Satellite phone. It is out of Britain, and I just sent away for information. I would like to know the cost of buying it, and the cost of using it. There are a lot of places on the north west coast with no cell phone or no VHF. If this isn't too expensive it would be a nice back up. Here is a link for it. they have it for android and iphone. http://www.thuraya.com/SatSleeve

Ferg · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 5:54 am Post subject:

Harvey, that looks like a terrific project! You start and I'll be right out....maybe.

Seriously, my first boat was wooden. I thought it would be a labor of love, it wasn't.

NewMoon · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 8:38 am Post subject:

Hi Steve,

Sounds like good plans. You have a great adventure ahead of you - maybe we'll see you up there this summer.

stevej · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 12:38 pm Post subject:

Greg,
Will get some pictures up soon, not much interesting right now except an interior that looks like a hurricane touchdown site and a whole bunch of boxes of stuff waiting to be installed. The wealth of ideas and information provided by the C-Brats is second to none!

Ferg,
I do enjoy researching and working (outside of the cash flow) Wink

on the boat. This set of projects is pretty extensive and not without some apprehension but things are moving forward.

Hardee,
Not only do I know where Laurelwood I live there. Right across from the school on Hartley, small world sometimes. The Ananda’s bought up most of the school property and have turned it into a retreat http://anandalaurelwood.org/. Good people with a nice vision for the land and happy to have them as neighbors.
Would be fun to meet with you but might have a timing issue, current plan is to head North on 6/24 so let me know when you will be around.
Got the VFH end covered and also have a set of the small two way radios for Ship to dink communications.

Sunbeam,
Ferg wrote:
I'm running out of projects

That can happen?!
That’s funny

Thataway,
Thanks for the encouragement. I try to think these things through but you know how it goes on first time projects, just hope I have most of it covered and not too many “did not think of that” instances.
Agree on the capacity issue of the reel, will have 320’ to work with and limited somewhat on anchoring depths. The ability to level wind will be a wait and see, couple things that should help is the distance between the anchor roller and spool (4 feet) and the swap out of the v-roller for the flat roller.
It defiantly blocks some view on the passenger side, minor blockage when standing in the isle but no issue from the helm. With the low dinette seating arrangement in the original CruiseShip only view passengers have is a view out the side window unless kneeling on the front seat. Should be OK I expect.

CruiseShip #3 has been very good to me and the crew and well worth the effort to her moving into the next 20 years.

Jay,
You and Jolee have an incredible sense of adventure. Been following your Yukon trip planning and sounds pretty amazing. The sharing of your past experiences have played a significant part in helping to keep me motivated and moving things forward.
Understood on the long list, time consuming and with limited time. Luckily my cohort in this little effort has an exceptional set of skills and knows boats so work can divided up between us. Still there is a tremendous amount of work to be done.

Buddy heater is being considered and have one available if the Wallas plans go south

Shearwater is about as small of a boat that I would consider for the E-Z system, I was somewhat taken back by the actual size of the 1200 with cover. Will post some pictures very soon, expect to start mounting next week.

Our trip time is only three weeks, expect to arrive in Prince Rupert 6/27 and Ketchikan the following day or so. Plan to spend most all of it on the West side of Prince of Wales Island with Craig being the farthest point North. Still some discussion on doing a return route around the North end of Prince of Wales but there is so much to explore we will most likely just do up and back on the West side. Would really like to spend some time in Bob’s Bay and maybe Hole in the wall on the West side of Dall’s island if we get a weather window that permits.
Be fun if we cross paths but sounds like we will be plying different areas. Best of luck with the Yukon.

Leon,
Interesting bit of technology. As much as I would like to pack a sat phone it’s not on the plan for this trip. I did look at the SPOT sat phone very closely and it looks to be reasonable cost wise at around $500.

Hello Richard,
Your trips and sharing of them has done much to inspire me to make the journey North. Really enjoyed the Craig pictures and they cemented the plan to travel that direction (can’t go completely without fishing). “Cursing in big way” is part of my reading material. Has great insight and many practical experience based ideas, so nicely done and thanks for effort to publish this.
Be great if our paths crossed (See the reply to Jay above for time and destination) let me know where your plans will take you.

Thanks for the input from everyone. Have a number of questions I will post later and open a grand adventures thread to get into additional trip details.

stevej

NewMoon · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 4:04 pm Post subject:

Steve, we'll be north of you much of our trip this summer, but plan to come down from Sumner Strait through Dry Pass to Craig mid July. In the next few days we should make it through Tlevak Narrows - maybe we can connect.

We hope to mooch up some big Kings, and troll for a mess of Coho. Halibut, Dungies, and Spot Prawns on the agenda too.

BTW - make sure you have the current info for Tlevak Narrows. It can get really wild, and timing is way different from tide timing.

"Cursing in a big way" - I love it!

stevej · Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2016 11:33 am Post subject:

Richard,
Thanks for the advice on Tlevak Narrows. Tlevak looks scary on the charts so the on water experience will be done with much caution.

We will be packing a single shrimp trap, a crab pot and and Salmon rods. With no refrigeration will have to temper our our fishing lust. Will be difficult though as fishing is what we do and second nature to being on the water for us.

Care to share what depth and general area you were shrimping in? We had some good results out of Egmont, BC in 300' feet of water and using canned cat food for bait.

Suspect we will leaving the area about the time you show but will keep an eye open for "NewMoon". You never know.

"Cursing in a big way" - Might not be far off at times!

stevej

NewMoon · Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2016 12:34 pm Post subject:

Hi Steve,

Tlevak isn't scary as long as the current isn't ripping when you're there.

We set shrimp pots most often in 300-350 feet, sometimes as little as 200-250. We look for rocky bottoms on shelves near deeper water, or "ravine" bottom configurations, where current will bring food and shrimp back and forth with the tides. One place we've done well is just south of the entrance to Dunbar Inlet, roughly 15 nm SSE from Tlevak.

We buy prawn bait pellets in SE AK - stop in at Murray Pacific in Ketchikan if you enjoy a good place for boat and fishing gear. Fill a perforated bait cup maybe 2/3 of the way with these.

If you haven't tried it - you can do halibut with salmon rods too. Put 40-50lb braid on one of your reels for bottom fishing. Big rubber grub lead-head jigs, or solid metal ones, or a two-hook rig with herring. Tip the jigs with halibut skin for added attraction. Squid or octopus is even better.

Some of our best halibut have been about 2 nm S of Tlevak, just off to the side slightly out of the strongest current. Haven't tried it yet, but have heard that some good butts are found in the not-too-deep waters S of Duke Island in the Dixon Entrance.

Have you figured out crossing the Dixon? Could send a more detailed writeup on that if you like. Current vs wind is key, as with so many other places.