St. Francis 50: "Wayfinder"

[Hugh Howey]

Originally Posted by contrail

4) Glad the salesmen are confident and seem to have thought it through. Again, we have hundreds of dinghies down here, lots of AB's, (I have had three, myself) and the manufacturers are always trying to improve their products. The aluminum dinghy you are getting won't be the lightweight version they make, but you may still want to put those horizontal fins on the lower unit, just about the prop, to keep from going nose up when you pour on the coals!

good luck.

Thanks! And yeah, the lightweight version of the AL AB doesn't have the option for all the console/seating. But it was tempting. Still, much lighter than the fiberglass for the same amount of boat.

I'm going to re-prop for more launch and will probably add the fins as well. We'll see how the new prop does. I'm less interested in top speed. Want to be able to ski.

Will let you know how it goes. I'm sure I'll change my mind on things. Been at this a long time, and I keep changing my mind.

[Dave852]

Originally Posted by Seaslug Caravan

Heath, you need to put this link in context.



The SF 50 was his third ordered vessel.

The first two from different manufacturers ended in dispute, non delivery and legal argey bargey if i remember correctly.

If this guy ever decides to buy another boat i sugest all potential suppliers duck for cover.



Crazy stuff.

I am sure St Francis and the OP have discussed it and put this issue behind them a long time ago, old news.


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[Heath68]

Originally Posted by Dave852

I am sure St Francis and the OP have discussed it and put this issue behind them a long time ago, old news.


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I think so too to be honest. I'm just very cautious when spending that sort of money.. and knowledge is never wasted.

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[smj]

Originally Posted by Heath68

I think so too to be honest. I'm just very cautious when spending that sort of money.. and knowledge is never wasted.

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I agree. St. Francis knew what they were getting into when they signed the contract with him, yet in my opinion St. Francis dropped the ball in many ways. In the end the buyer ended up spending more money than what he anticipated but seems to be very satisfied with the final product.

[Heath68]

Originally Posted by smj

I agree. St. Francis knew what they were getting into when they signed the contract with him, yet in my opinion St. Francis dropped the ball in many ways. In the end the buyer ended up spending more money than what he anticipated but seems to be very satisfied with the final product.

Well hopefully people can see what I meant. I'm not trying to put SF down.. far from it, as people can see from my posts this is fast becoming my favourite retirement cat.. I love the way things can be adjusted/personalised and I'm happy enough with the performance.. as long as the company looks like its going to be around long enough to a) make my boat and b) provide an anticipated level of after sales service I think I'll be happy...

but.. if I was buying a Ford Mondeo (heaven forbid) i'd always google "Ford Mondeo Problems" and see what to look out for on the minus side. As a marketing graduate I know companies are very good at pointing out how good things are.. but its marketing and I'd also like to know what to look out for "just in case" and "to put it in perspective".

[Hugh Howey]

Yesterday I drove a pile of items to be sent to South Africa either to be installed on the boat or to supply the boat for the delivery back to the States. Interesting learning experience. I've never shipped items in a container before. We stacked 15 boxes of goods on a pallet and shrinkwrapped them. I'll be amazed to see these items actually end up in South Africa. The entire process seemed like barely coordinated chaos to me.

In two weeks, I fly over to St. Francis Bay to see the build in progress. Will take lots of pictures and update the thread. I imagine it's going to feel surreal to step into the bare hull of my future home. That'll probably be when the reality starts sinking in. And the wait will get even more difficult.

[contrail]

Hugh, I wouldn't worry too much! That's the way lots of things get to different parts of the world....do it a lot, myself, and usually it all gets there fine. Sometimes there is breakage.....hope it is insured! But that's the way St. Francis, themselves, gets stuff, I would imagine, so it will probably work out just fine. The world is not all FedEx, and yes, it can appear pretty chaotic! Just be glad you aren't on the receiving end having to deal with clearances and customs and duties and so forth.

[Hugh Howey]

Originally Posted by contrail

Hugh, I wouldn't worry too much! That's the way lots of things get to different parts of the world....do it a lot, myself, and usually it all gets there fine. Sometimes there is breakage.....hope it is insured! But that's the way St. Francis, themselves, gets stuff, I would imagine, so it will probably work out just fine. The world is not all FedEx, and yes, it can appear pretty chaotic! Just be glad you aren't on the receiving end having to deal with clearances and customs and duties and so forth.

Ah! Sadly, I'll also be on the other side to receive the goods, so I'll get to deal with that joy as well.

[Bulawayo]

I would have to agree regarding the diesel / water storage issue - and I think the standard fuel pumps shall have no difficulty lifting the fuel. However, the extra fuel is really only pertinent if you are going long distance cruising or to remote area's. If you are having air-conditioning and a diesel gen-set then the extra diesel capacity may be useful but you can also also carry extra jerry cans. Beware of carrying to much diesel in one tank as if you do get an issue with contamination the whole fuel tank is affected. We have a single diesel fuel tank but the outlet goes to a small manifold that splits into two, each with a filter, before recombining. If the filter blocks, it is a simple matter to close two valves and open the other two (we use two valves per filter, one before and one after, but you can get away with just one valve before the filter).
With a decent water maker and spares, we are happy with 400 litres water. We removed the second 300 litre water tank and instead carried extra jerry cans of diesel. On our cat (literally just sold) we reduced our water storage to a single plastic 400 litre tank with split level draw off. Once we had used the 'top' 200 litres we had to open the lower valve to use the remaining 200 litres. We ran our water maker (Spectre, 12v) daily to keep our water tank topped off. We also keep 2x 25 litre cans 90% full of fresh water in the companion way - ready for emergency use, or into the dinghy in case of abandon boat time. These are 90% full such that they remain floating - a full one sinks in salt water. These cans are strapped all around with webbing, to prevent the handles being ripped off, and have tethers to attach them to the dinghy. We also carry 2x 120 litre water bladders; they were not used, with the concept that if were going somewhere with dirty water that we could increase our water capacity. We also thought that if our water supply was dubious we could dedicate these to the clothes washing machine - something that we consider very useful having kids onboard.
The other thing we have done to our last couple of cats is to install a depth transducer into each hull - very useful in area's with bommies. Many people swear by fish finders which might also be a good idea- we have no experience of these though.

[Bulawayo]

Originally Posted by Hugh Howey

No, I haven't heard about corian problems. Anything I should be aware of? They looked great in hull #18, but that boat only had a few months and about 7,500 miles on her.

The blue settee is something I might regret. If so, I'll recover it. I'd rather take a few risks on the interior and fix them than go safe and then never be upset enough at the interior to try something bold. We've gone by this with our houses, and 9 out of 10 times, we love the bold move. When we go safe, again, it's not displeasing enough to care to try something else. You only live once, right?

The vinyl flooring also comes from our Florida home. I swear by the stuff. It looks and feels like wood, with a nice texture and grip, and it's bulletproof. The dog can't scratch it. Standing water doesn't phase it. Easy to clean. Good grip on your feet when wet, just everything going for it.

Not as pretty as teak and holly, but real wood scratches too easily. You have to really keep up with the varnish, or just let it craze over time. And so slippery when wet. I do love the look, but I also like the look of teak decks. Doesn't mean I ever again want to own one.

Not trying to talk anyone else into this madness. I'll probably regret a few of these decisions and have to remedy them later. We'll see!

Lynn and Larry Pardey made a good recommendation to us many years ado - they suggested using the dralon that coach/bus/trains use for their upholstery. We followed this advice when getting our saloon seating covered - after many years it still looked faboulous and was easy to clean spills off. Its not for everyone but is non-sweaty, very stain resistant and was not marked after four babies grew into into their teens.

[Hugh Howey]

Originally Posted by Bulawayo

I would have to agree regarding the diesel / water storage issue - and I think the standard fuel pumps shall have no difficulty lifting the fuel. However, the extra fuel is really only pertinent if you are going long distance cruising or to remote area's. If you are having air-conditioning and a diesel gen-set then the extra diesel capacity may be useful but you can also also carry extra jerry cans. Beware of carrying to much diesel in one tank as if you do get an issue with contamination the whole fuel tank is affected. We have a single diesel fuel tank but the outlet goes to a small manifold that splits into two, each with a filter, before recombining. If the filter blocks, it is a simple matter to close two valves and open the other two (we use two valves per filter, one before and one after, but you can get away with just one valve before the filter).
With a decent water maker and spares, we are happy with 400 litres water. We removed the second 300 litre water tank and instead carried extra jerry cans of diesel. On our cat (literally just sold) we reduced our water storage to a single plastic 400 litre tank with split level draw off. Once we had used the 'top' 200 litres we had to open the lower valve to use the remaining 200 litres. We ran our water maker (Spectre, 12v) daily to keep our water tank topped off. We also keep 2x 25 litre cans 90% full of fresh water in the companion way - ready for emergency use, or into the dinghy in case of abandon boat time. These are 90% full such that they remain floating - a full one sinks in salt water. These cans are strapped all around with webbing, to prevent the handles being ripped off, and have tethers to attach them to the dinghy. We also carry 2x 120 litre water bladders; they were not used, with the concept that if were going somewhere with dirty water that we could increase our water capacity. We also thought that if our water supply was dubious we could dedicate these to the clothes washing machine - something that we consider very useful having kids onboard.
The other thing we have done to our last couple of cats is to install a depth transducer into each hull - very useful in area's with bommies. Many people swear by fish finders which might also be a good idea- we have no experience of these though.

I did the same thing on my last sailboat with the jerry cans of fresh water. Love all this input. On the St. Francis, there are 4 diesel tanks, 2 each in tandem. You can isolate each tank, and there are water separators and filters leading into the tanks to minimize contamination. The engines use Racors as well, which I love.

[Hugh Howey]

Just got pics today of the hull coming out of the mold. Looks like they've got the deck attached and the major bulkheads in place. I also included a great shot that shows the size and location of the new fixed portholes on the side of the boat.

Starting to feel real. I fly over a week from today to tour the yard and see it in person.

Wayfinder | Wayfinder Build: Part 5 – Coming Together

[CodeRed]

Nice progress on your boat. Can you get that with a square top mainsail?

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[Hugh Howey]

Originally Posted by CodeRed

Nice progress on your boat. Can you get that with a square top mainsail?

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I believe you can. I didn't. Just went with a full roach main.

[CodeRed]

Btw very nice and informative blog.