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New tugboat line launched in the Pacific NW
I got aboard the prototype of the Alumatug 28 today.Think 28 Nordic Tug, built of aluminum. Aluminum has its pluses and minuses, (like any hull material), but it
allows the company to build a high-value/ low cost boat. Brand new 28-footer with full ensemble of Raymarine electronics
(including radar), bow thruster, 160 HP diesel engine, VacuFlush head,
etc etc etc etc...... $195,000. In my opinion, that's an attractive
deal for somebody shopping for a new tug in a smaller size. The boat is built in Bow, Washington (near Bellingham) and sold by
North Harbor Yachts in Anacortes. I got a bunch of photos for a new feature we run in the mag ("First
Glance") that is basically a photo shoot of a newly introduced boat. I
may put them up on the pbase site when time permits. |
Chuck
Aug 16
2006
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| There are beaches, including some quite nice ones, from BP down to the
Solomons, and there's some darn fine beaches further down on this side
of the Bay and on the other side, too. You have to go out farther than
the buoys in the bay near where you keep your boat. |
Harry
Aug 17
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| Maybe his *crowd* hangs out only at the local bath houses and private pools
on sunny days. ;-) |
Aug 17
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| We just have different views on what constitutes a nice beach, Harry. Yes,
North Beach, Ches. Beach, even Calvert Cliffs have 'beaches', in which one
can swim in dirty water. If you enjoy swimming in the Chesapeake, go for
it. But, one does not have to enjoy swimming in the local water to enjoy
boating in the local area, which is what you couldn't seem to understand.
-- ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** John |
JohnH
Aug 18
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| Ahh, you've taken water samples at Calvert Cliffs recently. What were
the results? And what were the results from there down to just about the
Pax River? How about Plum Point, Dares Beach? How about Calvert Beach
and Long Beach? Got the readings? |
Harry
Aug 18
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| Answered by email. No sense in adding more pollution to the group.
-- ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** John |
JohnH
Aug 18
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| One doesn't need readings to see dirty water. Calvert Beach is a fun place
to go searching for shark's teeth, but surely you've not done a lot of
swimming there? And if you have, that's OK. If you think that water cannot be enjoyed
without swimming in same, help yourself. -- ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** John |
JohnH
Aug 18
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| No, not a lot. If and when I swim in the Bay, it depends upon the
conditions, just the same as if and when I swim anywhere. Sometimes
there is a lot of tannin in the Bay, and that gives the water a tint.
It's harmless. On the other hand, when I swim or walk along some of
those ocean beaches you seem to love so much, I'm concerned about
stepping on an HIV-encrusted needle some drug addict left behind.
Oh...and the sharks. I saw two while wading at Virgina Beach last week.
Small ones, two to three footers, in knee-deep water. |
Harry
Aug 18
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| Good points. I only wish tannin was the bay's only problem. Join CBF and
see what some of the problems are.
-- ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** John |
JohnH
Aug 18
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| The target market for this boat isn't going to be the Mainship Pilot
crowd.
Our local Mainship dealer doesn't even stock the Pilot- or hasn't so
far. And if you want a Mainship PIlot from whichever dealer you're pricing
through, get it quick before he or she goes "poof". Never heard of a
new boat dealer adding *both* a bowthruster and radar for $10k during
commissioning. The 195 for a new boat makes sense in our regional market where boats
like this are common: (1983 26-foot Nordic Tug, priced in the 90's) http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/boatDetails.jsp?currency=USD&units=Feet¤cyid=100&boat_id=1566797&checked_boats=1566797&back=%2Fcore%2Flisting%2Fcache%2FsearchResults.jsp%3Fhmid%3D0%26sm%3D3%26enid%3D0%26luom%3D126%26currencyid%3D100%26toLength%3D28%26cit%3Dtrue%26fromLength%3D26%26ps%3D30%26ftid%3D0%26man%3DNordic%26slim%3Dquick%26is%3Dfalse&searchtype= I have no idea what the financial background of Alumatug is, how many
hulls it has on the water, etc. (The description of the boat as a
"prototype" should provide some indication, however). The purpose of
the post was to call attention to the existence of a new boat. I stand
by my opinion that compared to similar vessels offered for sale in our
regional market this new boat at $195,000 could be a noteworthy value.
This might not be the boat everybody would gravitate toward in
Maryland, but a lot of the boats you guys think are red hot back there
would draw some puzzled expressions in the Pacific NW. How good a boat is it? I don't know yet. But it is an interesting
addition to the overall market for this type of boat. |
Chuck
Aug 17
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| Common mistype, and it blows right past spell checkers. Their website
was put together by the same guys who build the boat. You can't have it both ways. Folks who want to say, "I'm so sick of
slick ad and marketing campaigns for boats" shouldn't then be overly
critical of grammar, punctuation,
and general style when the guys who actually built the boat sit down to
write up a description of it. You want your aluminum boat built by an
expert welder, or an English major? :-) (not to say one can't be both a careful writer and a welder, of course) |
Chuck
Aug 17
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| Values are values are values. I'm not comparing the two boats, feature
for feature, but I find it interesting you can buy a a brand new very
nice 30 footer with an established reputation as a decent coastal
cruiser for substantially less than this aluminum boat you are
discussing, a boat from a relatively unknown manufacturer. Aluminum boats are intriguing to me because they seemingly require
someone less exterior maintenance than 'glass boats. But they are also
far less expensive to manufacture in the smaller sizes. Mainship offers thrusters as options on its boats. The 30-footer would
not need a large one, 2 or 4 hp max, I would guess, and I would further
guess the price for it installed at the factory would be $3000 to $5000.
A radar more than adequate for a 30' boat would run $2500, and perhaps
another $500 max to install it. In fact, I was quoted $350 to install a
$2000 radarset on Yo Ho. The quote came from a marine electronics
specialist. I agree your "regional market" is unusual. I still don't understand why
people want to go pleasure boating in water that is too cold to swim in,
year-around. We have our cold weather boating months here - April to
mid-May, mid-October through early December, but even then our air temps
are reasonable, and while I wouldn't swim in water temps below 70F,
there are some around here who do. Right now, in the middle of August,
the ocean water temp around the Seattle area is 55F. Hypothermia. Here,
the water temp is a nice 80F. Swimming weather. How much is the heater on that alum boat? :>} |
Harry
Aug 17
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| Picnic and "lobster" boats are still struggling to catch on in
significant numbers in the Pacific NW. There's a 34-foot American Tug
(very fine boat, well made and they sell like hotcakes) on Yachtworld
right now that is 5 years old and priced at just under $300k. While this new 28-footer is smaller and aluminum boats don't command
the price of fiberglass, a savings of $100k and the availability of a
brand new boat at the price cannot fail to attract some attention from
people considering small cruising tugs. I'm a big believer in used boats as well, but I wouldn't rule out a
brand new boat for our "last" boat, something we talk about doing in
5-10 years if and when we ever decide to give up the joys of working.
(We would want to have more time available to use a boat if we were
going to up the ante by a significant amount). Boats should only be
bought with "throw away" money anyway, new or used, as they are
entirely a recreational expense and should never be considered a store
of value or an investment. On the other hand, you only actually come
face to face with depreciation when you sell.... :-) For boaters who get 2-foot itis every 36 months or just get bored and
want to trade boats as often as they buy a different car, used makes a
lot of sense. |
Chuck
Aug 17
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| Is that because boating is a mostly indoor sport up in your area?
Picnic and lobster boats have nice roomy cockpits for entertaining,
suntanning, lounging, fishing, et cetera. Even in New England, where I
grew up, you can enjoy an open boat. The water temp off the beach where
we lived in the summer is 73F today, warm enough for a swim. |
Harry
Aug 17
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| Ah, but that would be *southern* New England. Knock off another 10-15
degrees for northern New England. Swimming in northern New England is
only for the hardy. While I think of myself as hardy enough, I fear my
heart might not be. ;-) |
thunder
Aug 17
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|
When I was a kid and we visited the grandparents in Revere, I used to
swim in the ocean at Revere Beach and also at Nantasket Beach. Doubt I
would do it now. I do recall that about 10 years ago, I went for a swim
up at Bar Harbor, and the water temp was only about 60. Brrrrrrr. |
Harry
Aug 17
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| Yup, something about kids, they are different. How many times have you
seen a kid, blue lipped, shivering uncontrollably, obviously hypothermic,
telling their parents they aren't cold, and want to go back in the water?
When I was way younger, 60 degrees was refreshing. Now, I find it
literally bone chilling. |
thunder
Aug 17
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|
If you haven't noticed, there's a big difference in swimming at places like
Nantasket Beach when you're a kid and trying it when you aren't. I dove
off the boat a couple of times while fishing off of the Hull, Hingham area.
Catches your attention. Eisboch |
Eisboch
Aug 17
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| When I was a kid my parents took the family for a vacation. Dad's idea
of a vacation was to hook up the travel trailer and drive 14 hours a
day for the entire 4 weeks he had off. So we started in WV and drove
(almost all backroads) through the Dakotas and over to Oregon. We kids
were just as excited as hell to get to the Pacific Ocean and even
though the wind was a bit chilly my brother and me were adament that
we were going swimming in the ocean. We couldn't quite grasp why no
one was in the water and everyone was wearing fairly heavy jackets and
long pants. We rushed down the beach and ran full tilt into the water. Once we caught our breathe, we got the hell out of there and tried to
get our blood flowing again ;-) It was a great dissapointment to us that even though we traveled down
the coast all the way to San Francisco it never got warm enough to go
in the ocean. At SF dad turned left and drove back to WV through
Nevada and Utah. Entire 4 weeks we only stayed at two places for more
than one night and never more than 2 nights. I am now much more a "get
somewhere quick and stay" kinda vacation man. Oh yeah, on that road
trip dad had put an 8 track player in the car to supplement the AM
radio. We had two (count 'em - 2) tapes.... and you know there
weren't any AM stations in most of the midwest in 1968.... Dave Hall |
Dave
Aug 17
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|
Ouch. Great fun. Last time we were in the San Francisco area, I waded
into the Pacific at Point Reyes beach. I made sure I kept the water
level lower than the family jewels. |
Harry
Aug 17
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| Mom and dad never did own an automobile...so once a year my uncle would
show up on a Friday night to bundle mom and us (6 kids) for our annual
vacation in Cape Breton. Back then (mid to late '50s & early '60s the
main highways here were back roads.
My uncle could always be counted on to produce a stinky cigar and it was
just a matter of time before one of us got car sick. Once one of us
upchucked over the seat & floor, the rest of us would usually follow.
Sometimes he had an old pickup truck with a homemade bed cap of plywood
and old car seats inside to sit on. Those trips were only about 5 hours
but seemed to take forever. He got the biggest kick when someone
suggested he take along an old puke bucket wetted with turpentine.
For years he loved to tell how he cured us of road sickness by putting
that bucket under our noses whenever we got queasy. For some reason, we
didn't puke into the bucket. |
Don
Aug 17
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| Think that would work on a boat? Eisboch |
Eisboch
Aug 17
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| I should try it next time I get out into the rough stuff. |
Don
Aug 17
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| And that was on a *warm* day. We were in Bar Harbor all of last
August and never went in the water once. By the end of the month the
night time temperatures were down into the 40s, way too cold to be
living on a boat in my opinion. |
Wayne.B
Aug 17
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| I sure hope you're not doing a lot of your swimming up by Sandy Point! Of all the days I've spent on the bay, I can't think of more than a half
dozen where I've gotten my feet in the water. Lots of folks go boating,
fishing, whatever, without swimming at all. If I wanted to swim, I'd find a
nice clean swimming pool, with most of the fecal matter removed!
-- ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** John |
JohnH
Aug 17
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| You hang out in the wrong places. |
Harry
Aug 17
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| Indeed! Let's see Taking a dip in a heavily chlorinated and urine filled swimming pool and
looking at tall fences or neighbors houses vs. taking the boat out, finding
a nice sandy beach, having a picnic lunch and afternoon in/on the water with
the family and leisurely returning to the dock while watching a great sunset
on the water. Hmmmmm..... |
Aug 17
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| -- ***** Have a Gay Day, Jim! ***** John |
JohnH
Aug 17
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| Almost nobody willingly goes into the saltwater around here. It's cold
enough to kill you, and surprisingly fast. A few exceptions exist in
places where several hours of low tide exposure allow the underlying
mud to soak up enough solar heat to warm up the water just a bit when
the tide comes back in. Among the best reasons to live in the Pacific
NW one should *not* include extended periods of dry weather or ideal
saltwater swimming conditions. :-) |
Chuck
Aug 17
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| One of my brothers bought a beach house just north of Ilwaco. I spent a few
days there. The beach was nice, the area was nice, but the water was
frigid. Not like being at the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The Chesapeake Bay has no beaches like those along the Atlantic Coast,
which are mostly beautiful and warm. The bay is very polluted, and the one
big park (Sandy Point) where sand beaches have been made, was closed to
swimming a couple weeks ago for a high fecal count. Boating, fishing, picnicking, and just cruising are great on the Bay.
But...it's not a great place to swim.
-- ***** Have a Gay Day, Jim! ***** John |
JohnH
Aug 17
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| Must be one bodacious yacht, a 28-foot aluminum boat for $200,000, since
you can buy a brand new 30-foot Mainship Pilot II with a 315 hp diesel
for under $160,000, and if you add radar and a thruster, you're at
$170,000, and this from a name manufacturer with plenty of similar hulls
on the water. What's the financial background of Alumatug and how many
hulls has it on the water? |
Harry
Aug 17
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| YachtWorld has a 2003 Mainship Pilot II with 220hrs on it that is very
nicely equipped, including bowthruster. Sold for 135k or less. At 220
hours, the engine is still in it's break in period. If I ever get another boat, it won't be new. I'll let somebody else pay for
all the electronics and options.
The original owner never gets that cost back. http://tinyurl.com/em4n4 Eisboch |
Eisboch
Aug 17
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| The Pilot II's are very nice casual cruising boats. I wouldn't live on
one, but for weekend or weeklong trips, it seems more than adequate.
$200,000 for a 28' aluminum "tugboat" seems a perfect match for one of
those $160,000 dryland boat stacked parking spots in SW Florida. |
Harry
Aug 17
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| http://www.bowboatworks.com/boats Nice looking boat. |
Bert
Aug 17
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| Today we sea trailed the Alumatug in puget sound. She preformed awesome. We
are now giving personal sea trails for those interested in purchasing one. What's a sea "trail"? |
ACP
Aug 17
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