Blue Note repower thread

[67hat34c]

Well Jim I would bet you can find a crew to bring her home fairly easily. Heck if i had the time I would help but spent the extra time with the Bird.

[egaito]

I don't think these hulls, and their contemporaries, were designed to go this fast. I have heard that the 36 gets squirrelly at speeds much above this; don't know from experience. Don't know that I would want to find out, either.

My 41 is a bit squirelly at the top end, "keel walking" a bit back and forth. I rarely run her wide open, and it's very manageable at cruising speed with the tabs. I've read here on the forum that some have shaved the keel back a bit to reduce this tendency.

[jim rosenthal]

An update......

Blue Note may be home soon (sounds of cheering). She was hauled again and the bottom soda-blasted, after which another coat of Interlux barrier coat was rolled on, with bottom paint to follow in AM Sunday. We could not get the wheels tuned this haulout in the time frame available. That will be done this winter unless I just get another set. Delivery crew is going to try to leave Monday AM from Morehead for parts North. I may be able to get on part of the trip; we'll see. Turbo blankets are in hand, and probably already fitted.

I am looking forward to seeing her again, needless to say, and hoping she has a prompt and uneventful trip home.

[jim rosenthal]

Blue Note came home last week, brought by Bobby Rice and a helper. She made it in two days; despite some fairly rough weather in Pamlico Sound and the lower Chesapeake Bay.

Since that time I have been working through the items that Tom's crew did not have time to correct before delivery. They are coming up here in the near future to work on her, but one thing is worth mention here:

We had a great deal of trouble getting functioning tachometers on the boat. The Cummins gauge panels are supplied with large VDO tachs which will not fit into the bridge or lower helm panels without major surgery. The problem is that I wanted to preserve the original look of the chrome-rim instruments under the plexiglass panels, so this meant original-size tachos. We moved the VDO tachs left over from the CAT installation up to the bridge, and they should have worked, but Tom could never get accurate info on how to program the tachs from VDO. I have had this experience with VDO myself; they make a decent product, but they are totally inaccessible to anyone calling in for help. You just can't reach anyone- it is all voice mail, telephone menus, the usual BS. The sea trials were done with the big new tachs plugged in and taped to the bridge windshield.

As soon as she was back here, I called Isspro in Portland OR and spoke with Don, who shipped me four programmable tachs set for (I think) 159 tooth flywheel. They have a black face, chrome rim, and match the old instruments. We installed them yesterday, and except for a slight tremor of the tach needle at idle, they work fine. The wiring was not difficult and they are nicely made. Isspro makes instruments themselves; they sell OTC but they build their own stuff.

I recommend them highly. This is my third or fourth encounter with Isspro and they are a high-class, responsive customer oriented company. I called on Friday and had the tachometers a few days later. He had even preset the DIP switches for 159 teeth.

The VDO tachs could have been made to work, if VDO had bothered to respond to MANY inquiries. Instead, much of Tom's time was wasted trying to get info from them, never obtained, and this is not to VDO's credit. If you are looking for updates to gauges, etc, I would try Isspro. They also custom-make tank senders, they have several lines of gauges, and so far, in my experience, they have been great to deal with.

[surfdancer45]

Jim: Glad you have your boat back. Looking foward to your performance figures with the new engines. Happy crusing. Bob

[jim rosenthal]

From yesterday, and from the sea trials: about 31 kts WOT, at 3050 or so. We need to take a little bit of pitch out of the port wheel. Yesterday, 25.5 against the tide, at 2500 revs, and 26.5 with it, which is about right. Very smooth, and significantly quieter than before. I don't have mileage figures and won't for a while, but the overall power is the same, and the weight is less, so I figure it will be about the same or a little better.

[Jackman]

Congrats Jim!

Must have felt good to be at the helm again. I'm glad everything worked out for you. Good thing I didn't go with the 370's...my boat is squirrely enough as it is with the 330's. Those extra revs would have been too much for me at 32'. How was the stability and ride at cruise and WOT? Curious if you felt any walking above 30kts?

Maybe a meeting is in order for the spring or summer of next year? I can get to your area on less than 1 tank for sure!

[jim rosenthal]

Jack, I would be very happy to participate in and help organize a rendezvous in this area. Like for small Hatterases, or whatever. We should talk about this.

I have not had her up to WOT yet. 26.5 felt fine, rather quiet, no drama. This power package in thest boats is really ideal; it's hard to think of anything else that would beat it. The amount of engine compartment room is a lot better. They just really fit nicely.

I am going to spend some more time this weekend working on her and going through the list, which will hopefully be shorter by Sunday. My plan is to get some jazz CDs and crank up the stereo and work on all these little tasks. Then maybe go for a boat ride, if the weather is nice and the Bay is not totally covered with other boaters....

[whaler23]

I'm ready for the rendezvous Jim, let's set something up for end of Sep or beginning of Oct.

[the kuz]

Jim, I'm stable at 29 KNTS. Don't know about 30+. We put in digital tachs made by Aetna Engineering in Grand Rapids MI. Very happy with them. Same size and style bezel as the originals. We also would be interested in a get together. Annapolis? Solomons? (I could check with our Yacht Club about hosting there. Also a friend of mine owns Calvert Marina and I could try to work something there), Somewhere else? I would be interested in the prop set up you end up with. You must be lighter/cleaner than Baby Grand. If our tachs are reading the same, you are getting 1+ KNT more speed than we do @ 2500 turns. I'm sure you are thrilled.

Best Regards, Bob K