Maine Cat 38

[malabarmcgyver]

Yes, this is Hull #1 with the center mounted outboard. The new builder is evaluating the cockpit for installation of twin outboards in a few weeks. He believes that it is quite feasible to add the nacelles for twin engines and plug the area with the single outboard. The single outboard was my primary reason for not viewing the vessel sooner. We want to use it as a Bahamas cruising boat and even though many monohulls cruise all the time with one engine, I wanted the redundancy of twins.

[VBsail]

Gotcha. My Shuttleworth has a Honda 50 under the table in the center of the cockpit. I was not a fan of the idea before buying and planning on changing it. After using it a season and a few tweaks am happy though. Modified it to steer independently and connected to NMEA for fuel & temp monitoring. Tried a few props. Had propco who specializes in high thrust barge/houseboat props make a custom prop with additional cupping. Running that against a chop solidified my decision to keep the 50.

[malabarmcgyver]

Steering independently would be an advantage. The wheel is moving to install the twins, so I think we are going to continue with the plan although the single engine didn't miss a beat on the three day delivery. We could also use the bench seating that the engine nacelles will provide and plan to use the center area, where the single outboard now is mounted, for life vest storage. The life vests are currently taking up way too much room in the galley. The 50hp outboard is 7 years old and has about 1800 hours. Even though it is running well, I wouldn't go far from home with that many hours. The neck and steering area is also quite corroded. Rather than putting $8K back into that single outboard, I would rather double that and have the redundancy. I get it though. It would be easy to get accustomed to the single engine, but that one day in the future when motoring against the wind and it stalls and I have to completely tilt the entire helm to access the engine is very unsettling.

[smj]

Originally Posted by malabarmcgyver

Steering independently would be an advantage. The wheel is moving to install the twins, so I think we are going to continue with the plan although the single engine didn't miss a beat on the three day delivery. We could also use the bench seating that the engine nacelles will provide and plan to use the center area, where the single outboard now is mounted, for life vest storage. The life vests are currently taking up way too much room in the galley. The 50hp outboard is 7 years old and has about 1800 hours. Even though it is running well, I wouldn't go far from home with that many hours. The neck and steering area is also quite corroded. Rather than putting $8K back into that single outboard, I would rather double that and have the redundancy. I get it though. It would be easy to get accustomed to the single engine, but that one day in the future when motoring against the wind and it stalls and I have to completely tilt the entire helm to access the engine is very unsettling.

So the burning question is, what brand and what hp are you looking at to replace the single outboard?

[malabarmcgyver]

Tohatsu 20hp 25 inch shaft with low pitch props. Two will weigh in slightly less than the current 50hp.

[Sparx]

I think moving the helm under the salon top is a good move. Out of the sun and closer to the winches.

The layout that results with adding bench seats outboard of the current center storage space has great possibilities. Your boat also has a table forward as I recall. Would you keep that? From my perspective I would aim to build in superb lounge space. On our boat we use portable chairs, but you might have the opportunity to add in very comfortable lounge seating over that center locker.

[Sparx]

Originally Posted by malabarmcgyver

Tohatsu 20hp 25 inch shaft with low pitch props. Two will weigh in slightly less than the current 50hp.

While I have no experience with the tohatsu, the specs look great. I especially like EFI, which I expect would eliminate the hassle of carburetors and also be very fuel efficient.

A pair of twenties is plenty of hp.

[smj]

Originally Posted by malabarmcgyver

Tohatsu 20hp 25 inch shaft with low pitch props. Two will weigh in slightly less than the current 50hp.

We recently replaced the old Yamaha 9.9’s on our Seawind with the Tohatsu 20’s. So far so good! About the same fuel burn and speed at the same rpm’s as the 9.9’s, but they have the ability to gain a higher top end speed with the higher rpm’s.

[malabarmcgyver]

Yes, there is a about a 1 meter square table amidships that rotates on the forward port stanchion. I didn't like it at first, but it actually worked quite well with four crew. We have another standard sailboat type double winged fold-out teak table that we may incorporate after the nacelles are installed. I also was not a fan of the heavy teak directors chairs so we bought lighter teak folding chairs that have a stand to keep them organized and stable. The problem that I now have is that I brought the directors chairs home and sanded and sealed them and now my wife loves them because the sealer really brought out the grain of the teak. They are bulky and heavy and fell over a couple of times on the delivery so we'll see what happens.

The builder talked us out of moving the helm forward and I agree with him. Firstly, there are conduit runs that house electrical, electronics, hydraulics, and fuel lines to the helm that would introduce complications and expense to the relocation. Secondly, we have been on an MC38 with the forward helm and the helmsman was socially disconnected during the sail with crew behind him. I enjoyed and appreciated being able to see everything and everyone in the cockpit. With our dog on board, I think this may be even more important. I also am not a fan of the helm seat. It is huge. I would rather not have anything there, but even a pivoting forward and aft leaning post would be better for me. The rear hammock seating was used at anchor on delivery for relaxing and socializing and the helm seat was useless in that situation whereas a leaning post would be more versatile. Again, however, my wife likes the helm seat so it is probably staying.

We haven't really had her out yet as a couple since we are entering the busy holiday season, but we have a week long trip planned before the end of the year.

[malabarmcgyver]

I guess a picture of the boat is appropriate!

[malabarmcgyver]

On delivery we averaged 9 miles to the gallon at an average speed of 7kts with the Honda 50hp. If the twin 20s can match this, I would be very satisfied. We ran the 50hp at around 2800 rpms. I think we burned between a half and three-quarters of a gallon per hour.

[smj]

Originally Posted by malabarmcgyver

I guess a picture of the boat is appropriate!

In my opinion, one of if not the prettiest catamarans around.

[smj]

Originally Posted by malabarmcgyver

On delivery we averaged 9 miles to the gallon at an average speed of 7kts with the Honda 50hp. If the twin 20s can match this, I would be very satisfied. We ran the 50hp at around 2800 rpms. I think we burned between a half and three-quarters of a gallon per hour.

Those numbers are very impressive. We’ve owned quite a few different cats with different motor combinations and all have burned about 1 gallon an hour with a speed of 6-6.5 kts., whether larger single or twin smaller outboards.
The twin Tohatsu 20’s push our Seawind at about 6 kts at 4,000rpm burning about a gallon per hour. We had twin Yamaha 9.9’s on our old TRT and it would burn about a gallon an hour making 6.5kts. Another TRT had a single Honda 50 and WOT would get them 15kts.

[malabarmcgyver]

I made an error - we averaged 6 KNOTS or 7 mph. I used the 7 to calculate the "miles per gallon" and incorrectly listed it a 7 kts instead of 6 kts. One of the crew asked how much fuel we used for the 135 mile trip and I responded a little less than 15 gallons according to the fuel gauge and his response was "Then your fuel gauges are wrong!" I refilled at the dock and they were accurate.

[Sparx]

Even at 6 knots that is great fuel economy. We average something around 1 gal/hr running a pair of 9.9 Yamaha , just as SMJ reported.

We motor at 6.5 knots generally.