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steelslaver

steelslaver

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City & State/Province
Central Montana
Well I have been working on my boat for about 5 weeks

Auto pilot installed, so it will steer a straight line on its own

GPS installed at top helm

Bimini cover installed over top helm (Canvas cover)

Added 4 100 watt solar panels to the 200watt that were already on the boat. Now has 2 banks of 3 100AH litium batteries and 2 starting batteries for the motors. I can select which bank runs the 3000 watt inverter that provides 110. Also installed a 2400watt gas generator and 12 gallon fuel tank.

Installed a mid sized fridge with a freezer compartment and a larger microwave.

Installed a manual hoist, to lift E bikes on the top deck and put in a bike rack to stow those.

Found a 11 ft Livingston skiff and set it up so it can ride on the swim deck.

Mounted a propane BBQ and a small electric capstan winch for hauling crab and prawn pots,

Almost ready to head to Alaska for the summer
 
Steelslaver, I really hope you keep us posted on your travels. I know you are in Montana, but are you leaving from the Seattle area? I was exploring Puget Sound last week — all those islands and inlets etc.; just gorgeous and amazing water and topography that continues up the coast to Alsaka — thinking of your upcoming trip, and wondering what you course was, where you planned to moor and refuel, etc.

Sounds like a really cool trip and I hope you have the time to bring us along with you with updates and photos along the way.

From a ferry in the San Juan Islands:

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God bless all you hardy sailors out there, who brave the winds and ocean currents seeking justification for your habits. You are an inspiration to all of those of us who can't swim! I too once fell under the spell of boat ownership... in my case, a 'ski boat' with a 460 Ford V-8 and dry pipes. Loud, and lots of fun, but turned out to be a MASSIVE hole in the water into which I threw literally thousands of dollars! It was an expensive learning experience!
 
Grayfox said:
We need pictures! :rolleyes:
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Rudi said:
Size and type?
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LVSteve said:
How big is this “boat”?
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From the OP's description, I think it's kind of like this one:

musashi-yacht-Larry-Ellison.jpg
 
I almost bought a boat more than once, but I always sobered up first. We have like three lakes that we used to rent pontoon boats and go trolling for Musky. Canadotha Lake, Pymatuning, and Lake Arthur. All under 10 hp limits. Cheaper to rent.
 
I've had a few boats and loved them and never regretted buying them and when I'm on the water that's my "happy place" and all my other problems go away. But at 67 I decided to wave goodbye to my last boat and will still rent them and have pontoon boat reserved right now with a 140 hp Yamaha. We have friends that have an awesome lake house on Grand lake O' the Cherokees with private dock and its walking distance to the pier with boat rental.
 
Rudi said:
Size and type?
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The boat is a 1993 Bayliner 3288. 32' hull 11'6" beam (wide) has twin 150 HP Hino diesels. While it can hit about 18 knots at 2800rpm, I run it at 1800 for 10 knots and about 2.5 knots per gallon.A knot is 1.15 miles. I have made the trip up the inside passage and back a dozen times. With a 32 ft I will need to watch the weather. Boat could probably take some pretty snotty water, but I have had my share of that. I havea couple VHF radios so I can get good reports. Have a couple Marine GPS plotters and Radar. My crew (the wife ) is kinda green, having only spend 2 weeks cruising around Puget Sound last summer.
 
That is almost exactly what mine looks like. Mine has the cover over the back deck, the Bimini cover over the upper helm. Add solar panels all thew way around the upper rails in back and you have it. Wife made curtains for the back deck area and I setup a small propane on demand hot water heater so you can shower back there instead of in the head. The back deeck also has a small fold out table.

A 32' is a bit small for the open ocean, but I know gill netters that cross the Gulf of Alaska in them Going up the inside passage you are only exposed to the open sea 3 times. About a 5-6 hour run across Queen Charlotte Sound on the north end of Vancouver Is, then a small shot at Milbank Sound then again at Dixion entrance going from Prince Rupert back across the border in to SE Alaska. Once your there it a huge bunch of Islands.

Google Earth is a great way to look at it all.
 
steelslaver said:
...A 32' is a bit small for the open ocean, but I know gill netters that cross the Gulf of Alaska in them Going up the inside passage you are only exposed to the open sea 3 times. About a 5-6 hour run across Queen Charlotte Sound on the north end of Vancouver Is, then a small shot at Milbank Sound then again at Dixion entrance going from Prince Rupert back across the border in to SE Alaska. Once your there it a huge bunch of Islands.
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Many decades ago when we had a boat, the pres. of my dad's company had one of the first "tugboat/fishboat" style boats built at a shipyard in Nanaimo. 47' long. (Named "COYA" back then but no idea now). Had the electronics guy from the (mining) company do all the electrical stuff, which was not entirely successful as he wasn't knowledgeable on interference etc. and they had some problems with the radio and radar.

Anyway, old "J.D" decided to take a trip up the coast and made the mistake of trying to cross Hecate Straight (between the coast and Haida Gwaii), in inclement weather, which as Steelslaver will know, can be a very frightening (ie inadvisable) journey. They made it, but his wife gave him notice that if he ever pulled a stunt like that again, she was outta there.
 
Yes I have a total of 5 100AH Lithium batteries and 3 12 volt lead acid. The lithium are in 2 separate banks. A set of 3 is charged by the 4 new 100 watt panels and the set of 2 are charged by a 200 watt panel that was on the boat when I got it. The lead batteries are charged by the engines alternators and a charger while connected to shore power. There is also a charger for the lithium. I can select which set of batteries powers the inverter. The alternators also power a DC to DC charger will charge a set of lithium while the motors are running.

Bad weather and boats. When the waves get big enough there are no atheist cause everyone is praying..

Listen to the weather forecasts and coast guard advisories for the area your traveling. Add 50% to any wind and wave advisories, have a good anchor and stay somewhere protected and read some good books.

There are also spots where one needs to heed the tides. They don't just go up and down. That up and down causes currents and in places where a large body of water drains and fills those currents can get really strong. I have seen it cause huge whirlpools and more than one boat has been capsized by tidal currents. Also, then the wind and the tide are i n opposite directions it will cause the waves to stack. A 20 mph wind is not a problem, a 3 knot tide is not a problem, butt, if the wind is going south and the tide north it is going to be pretty lumpy. Then when the tide turns and goes the other way and it gets flat.
 
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Here is a fun fact
Just to the west of Blaine is Point Roberts. A peninsula that below the Canadian border. The only way out to the rest of the US is by boat or cross into Canada, then back into the US. That used to be simple, but has become more and more troublesome. The population is low and there are no schools. The kids are bussed over and back everyday. Some time ago, before Washington legalized weed, it was legal in BC. Then hey, all the school kids from Point Roberts all had cool electronics. A unheard of border check showed they had all become mules.
 
A Wife of a Buddy is from Point Roberts.
First time I heard of it!
Trivia Dude that I am, Love It !
 
steelslaver said:
Here is a fun fact
Just to the west of Blaine is Point Roberts. A peninsula that below the Canadian border. The only way out to the rest of the US is by boat or cross into Canada, then back into the US. That used to be simple, but has become more and more troublesome. The population is low and there are no schools. The kids are bussed over and back everyday...
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A real political/geographical oddity. Lotsa sympathy from their Canadian neighbours. And yes, COVID really hit them hard.
 

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Here is another interesting deal there is a small chunk of sea between S E Alaska and Canada out from Prince Rupert that both the US and Canada claim.

But, the most interesting little tit bit about the West Coast, US and Canada border is the Pig War. Around the mid 1850s Britian and the US hadn't agreed on where the border ran through the San Juan Islands and people from both lived on them. Anyway an American farmer shot a British official's pig that was rooting patatoes in his garden and it escalated to troops cannons tand ships being deployed before calmer heads previaled.
 
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steelslaver said:
...But, the most interesting little tit bit about the West Coast, US and Canada border is the Pig War. Around the mid 1850s Britian and the US hadn't agreed on where the border ran through the San Juan Islands and people from both lived on them. Anyway an American farmer shot a British official's pig that was rooting patatoes in his garden and it escalated to troops cannons tand ships being deployed before calmer heads previaled.
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Captain George Pickett (of "Pickett's Charge" fame), was sent to Washington Territory (now Bellingham WA) to oversee construction of Fort Bellingham, and participated in the Pig War of 1859. His house is still there. The bridge on Dupont St. had a bronze plaque commemorating him but the plaque was removed in 2019. But there is a coffee house west of the bridge that still has his name on itLettered Streets Coffee House.webp
 
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Steelslaver,
Just in case you happen to wander out into the middle of the Gulf of Alaska there is a refuge island for you called "Middleton Island", I spent a year there during my first assignment out of tech school. I helped dismantel that radar equipment before my assignment was completed in mid 1963. Enjoy the remainder of your summer, hope you have safe travels with clear sailing!
 
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