On Board with Mark Corke

Favorite Boat number 5 - Grand Banks 32

The fifth installment in an (very) occasional series on boats which interest me. I've always loved the look and style of the Grand Banks Trawlers especially the models with the larger rear cockpit.  With the present 43 classic starting at 1.5 million of thereabouts this is beyod the reach of many but one of the older smaller 32's could be just the ticket and a boat that I like a lot.

 

The Grand Banks 32 was in production for more than 25 years. When the last one was splashed in 1996 861 of the venerable little cruisers had been built. Initially built of wood production changed to fiberglass in the mid 70's reputedly without the factory telling consumers and dealers. In fact little changed over the production run of the boats and from a distance it is hard to tell a well cared for wooden example from a later fiberglass boat. Power comes from a single six cylinder naturally aspirated Ford Lehman engine of either 120 or 135 hp which gives a stately cruising speed in the 8 knot range. Although no race horse the displacement hull is sea kindly and will keep going in conditions that will have other boats heading for home. Fuel consumption at cruising speed is a miserly two and half gallons per hour so it is possible to cruise all day without breaking the bank. Make no mistake this a is a heavy boat with a displacement of 17000 pounds. A solid lay up and quality construction means that the 32 like the other boats in the Grand Banks line up retain their prices and you can expect to pay around $100,000 for a late 80's model.

Grand Banks are not without their problems however and the Achilles heels with these boat is mostly centered around the fuel tanks with leaking tanks a common topic of conversation amongst owners. Many have been replaced by now but a boat with the original tanks may require tank replacement at some time which can be a costly and difficult job.

 

The layout for of the vessel is seaman like and thoughtful. Rather than extend the salon out to the sides of the hull the 32 has large proper walk around decks, high secure handrail and easy access to the foredeck where you will find a short bowsprit with room for not one but two anchors. Early boats had the galley toward the aft of the salon but this was soon changed to move the galley forward along the port side. There is ample worktop space, hot and cold water, a deep stainless sink, an under counter fridge and a large oven and cook top; propane is stored under the seat on the fly bridge where any leaks are vented safely over the side. The lower helm is to starboard of the galley and has good all around visibility thanks to a plethora of windows. Aft of the helm and galley is the main seating area with settees to port and starboard and a sole mounted drop leaf table for dining. Talking of the sole this is one of the first things that you notice on coming through the aft door from the cockpit. Burmese teak is used for the parquet flooring in the salon and forward Vee berth and oozes quality as does the joinery throughout the boat. Teak is everywhere and at times it is hard forget that this is a fiberglass boat, doors and drawers on Seaglass still close with a reassuring click just as they surely did 25 years ago when the boat was first constructed.

The sleeping cabin is forward down 3 steps from the salon and with an infill in place the bed is huge. The heads compartment is to starboard and includes an electric toilet vanity and with the use of a curtain a decent sized shower that drains through a teak grating into a sump.

 

Hinge up and lift out panels in the salon sole give good access to the main engine, batteries and other mechanical parts. Having a single engine on the center line makes for decent access for servicing and other routine work. A 12 gallon water heater is off to one side and holding tank on the other. Tucked under the side decks are the twin 125 gallon fuel tanks and aft on Seaglass at least is the 5KW Kohler generator and twin 8D batteries.

 

The fly bridge is accessed via a teak ladder on the port side of the cockpit which like the rest of the deck is overlaid with teak. There are a couple of back to back seats with room for 6. A mast set on a hinging bracket makes a good place to mount antennas and radar and the boom can be used to lift the dinghy into the water or to set a steadying sail to keep the boat head to wind in an anchorage.

 

Grand Banks practically defined the market and invented the word trawler for the recreational boater. With their distinctive clipped shear and handsome looks the Grand Banks 32 still looks as fresh today as it did 40 years ago.

 

LOA 32' Beam 11'6” draft 3'9”

Displacement 17,000

Fuel 250 galls

Water 110

Seasons Greetings

 

Best wishes of the season to all On Board readers. Let's look forward to a properous, happy and healthy New Year with plenty of boating thrown in.

Choosing a marine battery charger

 

 

 

Back in the day on board electrical requirements were modest but as boats have become more complex their need for reliable electrical systems have increased. When I stated cruising my outboard was started by pulling on a cord, there were no navigational instruments that required electricity to function, the boat had one dome light in the cabin and a tricolor navigational light was about all that I had. Things have moved on and electricity is needed to start the engines, power up the myriad electronics and light up the cabin interior, in fact without electricity most boats are dead in the water.

Batteries are an essential part of the boat's equipment and they need to be kept properly charged. There are several ways of charging batteries but many boaters have an on board battery charger that operates from the mains when the boat is plugged in at the dock. This is a good approach and means that the batteries should be in tip top condition and fully charged when you arrive for a day on the water. To keep the batteries charged one might be tempted to nip down to the local auto parts store and pick up a cheap battery charger but this could be a big mistake. Auto store battery chargers, the type with a plug on one end and a couple of crocodile clips to connect onto the battery posts at the other are of what is known as the ferroresonant type. They are simple affairs hence the cheap price and work by putting out a large charge which diminishes as the battery comes up to charge. These chargers work great for a very occasional charge of a partially flat battery but continued use day after day will almost certainly lead to premature failure of the battery aboard your boat because unlike a more sophisticated charger the output is virtually unregulated from a cheap auto store it is possible to boil off the electrolyte from lead acid batteries.

Marine batteries are often of one of three different types, conventional flooded lead acid, like those on your car, GEL where the electrolyte is a jelly like substance and thus cannot spill and finally AGM which stands for absorbed glass mat; the electrolyte is suspended in a glass mat between the plates allowing the batteries to be mounted in any position even on their side if desired. The point of all this is that each of these different types of batteries have slightly different charging requirements which cannot be met by the cheap auto store battery chargers. For optimum charging efficiency a three step charging process is needed; bulk absorption and float which a good marine battery charger offers. Assuming that a battery is heavily discharged the charger will go into the bulk phase where a large amount of amps are input into the battery to restore the majority of it's lost capacity. As the capacity of the battery starts to reach about 90% of fully charged the charger will go into the absorption mode, this is because putting the last 10% or so of charge back into a battery is the hardest; the charger will put out less current and the micro processors in the charger monitor the battery and vary the output until the battery reaches full charge at which pint the charger will go into float mode ensuring that the battery does not self discharge and will remain completely charged almost indefinitely until the owner next turns up at the boat and unplugs the shore power cord to head off out for a cruise. Many chargers also have temperature sensors and as such will vary the output of the charger dependent on the ambient temperature as the cooler the battery the more readily it can tolerate a higher rate of charge. Marine battery chargers are intended to be permanently installed and connected to the batteries inside the boat, they must also be wired in correctly and although you can do this yourself is best left to marine electrician unless you are confident of your abilities. The picture at the top shows a couple of marine chargers from Charles industries which are excellent products and can be programmed to charge all types of marine batteries.

Incidentally if your boat is not equipped with a volt meter on the electrical panel you can still check the state of charge with a cheap digital meter from an electronic store. With meter set to volts and the probes touching the battery terminals read the voltage. A fully charged battery will read about 12.75 volts, a battery that is showing 12.5 is approximately half discharged and contrary to what you might think a battery that reads 12 volts is in fact flat. Incidentally readings should be taken on the battery with the charger turned off and the battery allowed to 'rest' for at least 30 minutes.

Feel the Breeze

 

Go into almost any marina and you can spot the liveaboards by the bikes tied to the gauard rails, the extra fuel cans on deck and the general detritus but nothing says serious sailor as much as solar panels and wind generators. I've had boats with both in the past and when properly sized and correctly wired they do a marvelous job at running the fridge and keeping the batteries charged. However some boats do not lend themselves to mounting solar panels and wind generators either because  there is nowhere suitable to permanently mount such appendages or even for the aesthetic reasons of spoiling the lines of the boat.

Windpax is a small enterprize which has been raising money through a kickstarter programme to manufacture market and a range of collapsible vertical wind turbines. The website is a little skant right now but it seems that they are developing three units initially of differing sizes. The middle size is called the Breeze and has a stated output of 100 watts and folds up to a compact 22 by 5 inches.  Although they are not shipping units yet they can be preordered at what seems like a very reasonable $285 with an additional $40 for a clamp on bracket. There is a no mention of boating on the site but I do think that they have an untapped market and whilst the turbine may not charge a huge battery bank I do think the Breeze could be a good choice for a small pocket cruiser with modest power consumption.