Helmsman 38E for May 2018 delivery

[Durant F]

Congrats on delivery of a very fine vessel.
I’m sure you’ll find Scott and Lisa as helpful as I did.
Have fun!

 

[dhays]

Looks great! I'm sure you are just itching to get all the commissioning done.

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

congrats! probably too excited to sleep tonight..

 

[flyer50]

Now I know why some new boat owners are MIA from TF for a while...

It's been a whirlwind of a month- capped off by a new knee for me this week. I describe this summer as the "best of times, worst of times". So far things are progressing well. Another Helmsman 38 owner a few slips down also had his summer disrupted by a leg injury so at least I have a neighbor to commiserate with!

The boat is a beauty. The fit and finished of the Helmsman is superb . She handles wonderfully and is going to be a joy to live aboard . The recent improvements to the 38E from soundproofing to enlarged windows to new decking molds are much appreciated. The engine is great- Scott arranged for a "captains briefing" on the Cummins from Hatton Marine here in town which gave us a good foundation to start with.

Commissioning has been at the Helmsman/Waterline marina on Lake Union in Seattle. It's a friendly, laid back place. We've enjoyed learning the systems at a pleasant pace and shaking things down as they arise. As expected, there have minor items across the various systems but nothing that Scott and his team have not been able to explain or rectify. Van has been a nice addition to the Helmsman team- he tends to be more hands on, giving Scott a chance to step back and manage the operation. OK, Scott has still plunged into our engine room on several occasions!

Another new 38E arrived 2 weeks after ours. The owners had previous commitments and needed to get the boat commissioned ASAP. Scott and the guys had the boat heading north to the San Juans in just over a week! This meant that our boat understandably took a back seat for a bit, which was no problem for us especially in light of my pending procedure. It has been fun watching the new and brokerage boats come and go.

Our canvas work- done by Mark from Ontario Canvas turned out great (they do most of the new Helmsmans here in Seattle).

Our Spectra Catalina watermaker installed by Emerald Harbor Marine here in town(EH) went well until it was time to set the controller. There were some issues with the pre-filter settings/program in the lake that we can hopefully sort out once we can get the boat back in salt water with the EH electronics guru on board. I have talked with a couple of Helmsman owners who are pleased with EH and the Spectra watermakers they installed.

Our new AB dinghy is a quality tender but I should have listened to those who suggested a 10-11' vs our 9 1/2. Our Torqeedo 1003C motor is nice and we already like not having gas on the boat. We got good deals on both the boat and motor at the Seattle Boat Show back in January. Unfortunately, a knowledgable friend who has had the luxury of owning both the Torqueedo and ePropulsion motors side by side prefers the battery, noise, and operation of the ePropulsion over the Torqeedo. Oh well, we made the best decision at the time.

As far as our Simrad decision, time will tell. I have not been especially pleased with the manuals nor customer support thus far. Had it not been for my knee problem, I might be further along on this one. Hopefully it is our learning curves that are causing the qualms. I realize this is a nonstop debate on these forums so please no "I told you so"...yet!

Pics coming soon.

 

[Durant F]

OK.....OK...
Update please..

Promised pictures as well ?

Inquiring minds want to know....

 

[nwboater]

I can't say that your choice of Webasto is wrong. Please do some research on Hurricane Hydronic heaters. I have had Espar, Webasto and Hurricane. I have been by far happiest with the Hurricane, very simple and you can easily repair them yourself.

I would encourage you to look at the Kabola diesel furnace. They are robust and operate on a continuous-duty basis. Mine has gone years without need for servicing (not so with the other heaters you mention). Plus, the Kabola furnace is whisper quiet and delivers overs 80% efficiency...you can put your hand at the exhaust without being scorched. Try that with a Webasto unit! Also, recommend that you include a heat exchanger to send waste engine heat to the hydronic loop while underway...free heat and keeps the boat warm and dry. Here is a link to the PNW dealer: http://www.marinetec-us.com/

 

[dhays]

I would encourage you to look at the Kabola diesel furnace. They are robust and operate on a continuous-duty basis. Mine has gone years without need for servicing (not so with the other heaters you mention). Plus, the Kabola furnace is whisper quiet and delivers overs 80% efficiency...you can put your hand at the exhaust without being scorched. Try that with a Webasto unit! Also, recommend that you include a heat exchanger to send waste engine heat to the hydronic loop while underway...free heat and keeps the boat warm and dry. Here is a link to the PNW dealer: http://www.marinetec-us.com/

I’ve had a Webasto air furnace on my sailboat. It was bullet proof. On our current boat we have a Hurricane hydronic furnace. It is 8 years old and I had to have it repaired once. It performs great. A friend just bought an older sailboat and he has a Hurricane in it. He had to do some service work on it shortly after he bought it. He considered replacing it, but decided not to since with just a bit of service (which he did himself) it performs great. The furnace is over 20 years old!

I agree completely to spend the money to plumb a heat exchanger from the engine. Mine is not setup that way and I wish it was. If I want heat I have to run the furnace even though the engine is producing all the heat I could want if I only could access it. I do have my hot water tank I setup that way, but not the furnace. Not worth doing at the moment but if I was setting up a new boat, definitely!

 

[BobnDoc]

Now I know why some new boat owners are MIA from TF for a while...



It's been a whirlwind of a month- capped off by a new knee for me this week. I describe this summer as the "best of times, worst of times". So far things are progressing well. Another Helmsman 38 owner a few slips down also had his summer disrupted by a leg injury so at least I have a neighbor to commiserate with!



The boat is a beauty. The fit and finished of the Helmsman is superb . She handles wonderfully and is going to be a joy to live aboard . The recent improvements to the 38E from soundproofing to enlarged windows to new decking molds are much appreciated. The engine is great- Scott arranged for a "captains briefing" on the Cummins from Hatton Marine here in town which gave us a good foundation to start with.



Commissioning has been at the Helmsman/Waterline marina on Lake Union in Seattle. It's a friendly, laid back place. We've enjoyed learning the systems at a pleasant pace and shaking things down as they arise. As expected, there have minor items across the various systems but nothing that Scott and his team have not been able to explain or rectify. Van has been a nice addition to the Helmsman team- he tends to be more hands on, giving Scott a chance to step back and manage the operation. OK, Scott has still plunged into our engine room on several occasions!



Another new 38E arrived 2 weeks after ours. The owners had previous commitments and needed to get the boat commissioned ASAP. Scott and the guys had the boat heading north to the San Juans in just over a week! This meant that our boat understandably took a back seat for a bit, which was no problem for us especially in light of my pending procedure. It has been fun watching the new and brokerage boats come and go.



Our canvas work- done by Mark from Ontario Canvas turned out great (they do most of the new Helmsmans here in Seattle).



Our Spectra Catalina watermaker installed by Emerald Harbor Marine here in town(EH) went well until it was time to set the controller. There were some issues with the pre-filter settings/program in the lake that we can hopefully sort out once we can get the boat back in salt water with the EH electronics guru on board. I have talked with a couple of Helmsman owners who are pleased with EH and the Spectra watermakers they installed.



Our new AB dinghy is a quality tender but I should have listened to those who suggested a 10-11' vs our 9 1/2. Our Torqeedo 1003C motor is nice and we already like not having gas on the boat. We got good deals on both the boat and motor at the Seattle Boat Show back in January. Unfortunately, a knowledgable friend who has had the luxury of owning both the Torqueedo and ePropulsion motors side by side prefers the battery, noise, and operation of the ePropulsion over the Torqeedo. Oh well, we made the best decision at the time.



As far as our Simrad decision, time will tell. I have not been especially pleased with the manuals nor customer support thus far. Had it not been for my knee problem, I might be further along on this one. Hopefully it is our learning curves that are causing the qualms. I realize this is a nonstop debate on these forums so please no "I told you so"...yet!



Pics coming soon.

Congratulations! Sounds like you have a wonderful boat. I know because it is at the top of our wish list. We have a Cutwater 30cb.
For the while we’ll have to settle for knowing our boats share the name, Salish Spirit. Our boat is birthed at the Edmonds Marina. I hope we’ll meet up in 2019 as we both cruise the Salish Sea. Bob