Saturday, April 5, 2008

Announcing.....Northwest 49

We have begun our 4th boat, a 50 foot (49' 10")version of the Northwest series. There will be 2 new interior layouts available. Hull #1 has chosen a single stateroom with a large king sized bed. A large master head with a smaller day head make up the forward lower level. The saloon, galley and pilothouse all remain the same as the 45. Here is hull 1 having the extension added.


For the first hull, we have cut the existing 45 hull and inserted a section. This section will be infused so it will be as strong as if it were all done in a single piece infusion.
Here is a picture looking forward. The forward engine room bulkhead can be seen. The cutout is where the stairs go down to go forward.


The new owners came down from British Columbia to visit and see the progress. They are having this boat very well equipped as they plan extensive coastal cruising from Alaska to Mexico. We will be installing a complete hydraulics package including stabilizers, bow thruster, windlass, and the Wesmar APU get home system. The clients have chosen a Cummins QSM11 with 670hp. We anticipate that the top speed should be 15 to 16 knots with this configuration. This will give them the speed they may need when negotiating the "narrows" that we have here in the Northwest. Currents run strong in these areas and the extra "umph" of power is comforting as it is an added safety factor. The good thing is that the new "common rail" engines, when run at lower rpms are just as efficient as a smaller engine would be. This gives the owner the best of both worlds; the speed of a fast trawler and the efficiency of a full displacement boat.
The engine was lowered into place to make sure that it did indeed fit. The transmission is tight, but no problems. As soon as I get some of the layout drawings complete, I will post them here and on our main website.

For those of you in Canada, we are planning on taking Nor'wester over to the Victoria Harbour Floating Boat Show.

Plan to come and see us. If you know you are going to be there, drop me a note at peter@nwtrawlers.com so we can keep an eye out for you.

For more information on the show visit their website at: www.bcmta.com/bcyba/04shows/vicboatshow/

TTFN