With respect to the engines: There were three reasons for the dual engines, ranked here in terms of how important I considered them:
1) Better tight quarters maneuverability. There are some captains who can put any boat anywhere, in any conditions, with a single engine and no thrusters. This isn't me. I'm not bad, but I'm far from being a "professional." Any extra help I can get, I want. We have twin engines, and both bow and stern thrusters, and I would make the decision again, just based on this topic alone.
2) With twin engines, I have two engines, each of which is capable of running the boat, at full speed, as far as I want to go. With a wing engine, you do have "get home" capability. With twins I have both "get home" and "get there".
3) By having two identical engines, I have fewer spares to carry. I could even scavenge one engine if needed to get parts for the other.
With respect to variable pitch props:
I did some study, and decided I wanted them, but then didn't have the nerve to ask Nordhavn to do them. They really didn't have room in their production schedule to tackle a new boat. I was talking them into doing the 68. We were also asking them to do things they had never done before in several areas (like the hot tub, and the custom ceilings). I decided that we were doing enough pioneering, and it was time to just build the boat.
-Ken W
| Williams, Ken |
2007-12-13 19:17:11
|