Spring 2008

“Oysta 52”
 
A design that we are working on this spring of 2008 and I have great hopes of this being the next large boat for us to build in our shop. The customer came to me with a rather unusual request of a long-distance trawler capable of passages in any waters at any time of the year, especially hi-latitude type conditions.  For those of you not versed in the disciplines of geography, the definition of hi-latitude is cruising in the far north Arctic and the far south Antarctic regions. A crew of two would be all that is required to handle her in those conditions but she needed to be able to carry several passengers with comfort to those remote waters.

It’s going to be very interesting to see how this design evolves. The customer has a background of working in Alaska on tug and fishing boats in the early 1970’s, experience very similar to mine, and our evolved boating “eyes” are very much alike.

She is very much a blown-up and enlarged Sockeye 45 type of hull, much deeper and heavier of course, but with the same fantail stern that I am so fond of. Her pilothouse is medium-sized and placed further aft and it has a great flying bridge for piloting the boat when visibility is of the greatest importance. The galley is below down in the fo'c'sle area and there is room in the pilothouse for the entire crew to sit in warm, protected comfort. Keep an eye out for updates to this design as I work on it…

“Diana-too”
 
A very interesting proposition came about this winter just after a dismal, late January “Boats Afloat” boatshow in Seattle, one that had very few spectators and terrible weather.  A phone call started off the project with a simple question.  “Do you know the lobster boat “Diana” that is in Friday Harbor?”  I did know her very well as she belongs to one of my customers living in the San Juan Islands of Washington. The year before, we had built the Sockeye 45 “Widgeon” for Henry Wendt and his wife, Holly, and I remember very well their little 28ft. lobster boat that they kept at their dock for daily jaunts out to check the crab pots and weekly trips to the west side of the island to view the sunsets.  Truth is, I had first looked and admired “Diana” out on the East Coast in Maine at the shop of my fellow designer and builder friend, Doug Hyland.  I always keep my boat eyes open and occasionally, I see an example of a really beautiful and interesting boat. ‘Diana” was one of those boats and my memory of her was very keen. 

The fellow on the phone, as it turned out, was looking for a boat design that might be appropriate for his ex-wife to use to commute out to her summer home in the San Juan Islands. As she lived on a small island that had no ferry service, she needed a boat to take her back and forth. 

So the next week, Rick picked up Cyndie and me from a small local airport and we flew in his Cessna 180 up to Friday Harbor for a closer look at the ‘Diana”.  Henry and Holly showed us the boat and after a short sea-trial and a lovely lunch, we flew home on one of those February days that shouldn’t happen in the Northwest. It was sunny and almost warm, and Rick made the best of a bright, clear day with a ground and water skimming flight that would excite any of us.

After more negotiations, I started work on the preliminary design that you see here and I can now report that the “Diana Too” will be our next boatbuilding project in the shop. 

The parameters for the design are very simple and uncomplicated with performance expected in the 24 - 28 knot range for top speed and 18 knots for cruising speed with good fuel economy of about a 5 gallon per hour burn. A diesel stern drive will keep the engine space and noise aft and maneuvering has to be excellent as she will be single-handed most of the time. Accommodations are simple and neat -- an enclosed head forward and double berth with the galley out in the pilot area.  Seating is back up against the engine box for passengers or just lounging about swinging on an anchor.  Cyndie and Rick’s son is 6-5” tall so the headroom is generous in the helm area, but the proportions seem to be fine even with a rather tall house.  Keep watch as this fine, little boat develops...