Hauling the 63 on the Manatee River

New boats have warranty issues, it simply comes with the territory.  What does not necessarily come with the territory is how those warranty issues are resolved.  Our experience with Outer Reef with regard to correction of problems continues to be excellent.

Background: Over the summer we accumulated a list of problems that Outer Reef needed to correct. The good news is that all fall into the minor category.  The most significant, and also minor, was paint missing on the bottom discovered shortly after delivery.  This was pointed out by several divers and on the basis of their reports Outer Reef immediately agreed to repaint the bottom.  This, of course, necessitated hauling the boat and that required waiting for the right time and access to a boat yard with the capacity to lift the 63.

Explanatory Note: Finding boat yards with the equipment necessary to haul a 40 plus ton yacht is not that easy.  No yard in the Boston area would touch us.  The closest yard with sufficient lifting capacity was 40 miles south in Plymouth. Hence, we decided to put off lifting the boat until we returned to Florida.

Explanatory Note: The 63's empty displacement weight is 73,000 (36.5 tons).  At time of the lift she had 1,100 gallon of fuel (7,865 lbs at 7.15 lbs per gallon), 100 gallons of water (800 lbs) and our stuff (2,000 lbs).  Total weight: Approximately 84,000 lbs (42 toms).

Fortunately, two events created the perfect opportunity to haul the boat and address the current punch list.  The first was a trip by Diana to Chicago and the second was a request to dog-sit Kodi's best furry Sarasota friends, Molly and Jake.  This created a two week window where the boat could be on the hard.  We talked to the folks at Marina Jack and got their recommendation on a local yard with the capacity to lift the boat and a good reputation.  Snead Island Boat Works in Palmetto on the Manatee River came highly recommended.

So on Monday morning at 10:00 AM my friend Darrel accompanied by his friend Amos and Darrel's wife Sue met me at the marina.  The plan was for Darrel and Amos to accompany me on the 22 nautical mile cruise north with Sue providing transport back to Sarasota once we arrived.  With Sue's help we pulled out of the slip and headed north along the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway (ICW).

I chose the inside (ICW) route to Snead Island as opposed to going outside into the Gulf, which would have involved heading southwest through Big Sarasota Pass' shallow tricky water and a greater overall distance.  The inside route is shorter and involves calm waters. It has the disadvantage of two low bridges in the vicinity of Anna Maria Island.  Oh well, nothing is perfect.

Snead Island lifting bay

The cruise north was uneventful including the bridges.  We made the scheduled Cortez Bridge opening (with a short power blast).  That put us in position for the next Anna Maria Bridge opening and clear sailing for the remainder of the trip. We arrived at Snead Island Boat Works at 1:30 PM.   On the dock was Capt Randy, Outer Reef's delivery captain and warranty manager, who directed us into the lifting bay.

the 63 in the slings

The lift begins

Once lifted I had a chance to inspect the bottom.  This was of great interest to me as the bottom had been recently cleaned by a diver prior to leaving Hingham.  The question I sought to answer was how well had the diver, Bob Swartz, cleaned the bottom.  The answer is very clear in the four photos below.  He did an excellent job.  The bottom, especially the chines, showed only light fouling resulting from sitting still for 25 days.

Bow thruster showing some barnacles inside of the props
Note: Difficult for the diver to reach.

Stabilizer fin

Props and rudders
Notice the fish netting on the port propeller.  We ran over a fish net on the way south

Running gear and stern thruster
Notice the cleaning marks on the propellers

Guided Discovery moving to the pressure washing area

Explanatory Note: The hull is pressure washed immediately after lifting.    Boat yards in several states including Florida comply with the Clean Marina Act.  This encourages them to recirculate and recycle waste water used to pressure wash boats.  This is a big deal.  Friends of ours in Mystic Connecticut and former marina owners told us that they spent $100,000 to install the wash pad, drainage and filtration system required to comply with the law.

Close-up of the port propeller and line cutter showing some barnacle remnants

Another question involved the location of the depth sounder (sonar) transducer in relation to the keel. Since the transducer is not located on the bottom of the keel the depth readings are not accurate.  In April, Darrel and I used a lead line to estimate the offset (i.e., the distance between the transducer and the keel).  We estimated it at 24 inches.  In the photo below I measured the exact offset as 20". Bottom line: When the depth sounder indicates 5 feet of water we actually have 3 feet under the keel. We plan to apply the two foot offset to the Garmin sonar readout.

I used the wood block to establish the bottom of the keel.  It was just 2" inches short.  

Captain Randy Ives

The 63 on the hard.  Sanding of the bottom has begun.

Cleaned up running gear in preparation for Prop Speed

Cleaned up running gear from a different angle

On Saturday we visited the boat.  The bottom was finished and Prop Speed had been applied to the props and shafts.  Again some background.  A running gear coating called Velox Plus was applied in Taiwan.  45 days after delivery a diver reported that the 80% of coating was off.  Outer Reef promptly refunded our money.  We opted for the Prop Speed product this time.

Proop Speed applied to props and shafts

Coatings like Prop Speed reduce marine growth by making it difficult for the growth to adhere. Marine growth, especially barnacles, dramatically decrease propeller efficiency which both reduces speed and increases fuel consumption.  We saw this in Annapolis in 2011 when the 48 Sundancer sat for 30 days in brackish water.  When we attempted to cruise at 2,400 RPM, which would have yielded 30 MPH, we discovered that our speed at that RPM was 22 MPH.  When we lifted the boat at Marine Max' Baltimore we discovered considerable barnacle growth on the blades and hubs. Marine Max removed the barnacles using scrapers and a wire brush.  The cost, including the lift was approximately $700.  The cost of prop speed.  The cost to apply Prop Speed was $850.

Written by Les.