31 TE--- F/V Murrelet

[Murrelet]

Just some additions I've made to my 2000 31' Tournament Express.
I purchased this boat in California last spring-- 2009. I use it for my sport fishing business in Southeast Alaska.

The boat had an electric capstan for anchor hauling, it was seized so I installed a hydraulic system for an anchor winch and crab hauler. The hydraulic system runs off of the port motor, I had to have an aluminum double sheave made to the specs in the Yanmar shop manual. It turns a vickers pump and electric pitts clutch via twin vee belts. The system runs great and powers a stainless steel JK Fabrication anchor winch is mounted on the bow behind the two deck hatches and anchor pulpit. The anchor winch has 70 fathoms of 1/2 samson and ten fathoms of chain. I use a 30 lb sea-hook anchor when charter fishing and 35 lb forfjord style when cruising.

The only heating on the boat was the bus heater that runs off of the stbd cooling system, this is OK when cruising, but gets a little chilly at night. So I installed an Espar D-4 diesel forced air heater. I installed the heater on port side next to the rod storage. The heater ducting runs down and thru the bulkhead and comes out under the aft bunk to a vent just above the floor. The espar keeps the cabin at a constant temp during the winter on low and more importantly keeps the humidity low and mildew out. When cruising around I'll turn it on just before anchoring for the night, keeps the cabin cozy and warm.

The first season I used a laptop running Nobeltec for navigation purposes. I set it on one of the boards that cover the foc'sle entry. This worked OK but not great as I was always having to get out of the captains seat if I wanted to click on something. This year I changed all that. It had a raytheon navigation plotter in the dash, the charts that are on it are not detailed enough for what I do, I took it out and installed a Xenarc car PC. The tower sits inside the dash and is hooked up to a 12v power supply. I had to cut the hole in the dash bigger for a 10" touch screen and make a flush mount. The PC only runs Nobeltec and is hooked to a Raytheon DGPS antenna. I've been very happy with this system, it's directly in front of me to the right of the steering wheel, and I can click on things with my finger or a stylus pointer. If I need to type I use the on-screen keyboard in the accessibility menu in windows XP. It takes a little time to get used to clicking on things when it is rough out, but I've gotten the hang of it now.

I really enjoy working on my boat, keeping it tuned up, and making additions to it. I do all the work myself. There's a certain satisfaction I find in installing new systems.
Ryan Martin

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[Carl]

Would love to see some pictures! Where do you fish out of?

[DougSea]

Hey Ryan,

Sounds like quite the vessel! Would love to see some pictures of your navigation setup. Which touch screen did you use? One of the "marine" units?

Also intrigued by your hydraulic system, would love to see some pics of that as well!

[Murrelet]

I fish out of and live in Port Alexander, Alaska.
The touch screen is a 10.2 Inch TFT LCD Touch Screen from Xenarc.com. It's not water proof but fairly durable. Besides if i had that much water inside the cabin I have other things to worry about!
For me hydraulics are the way to go. When charter fishing I might pull my anchor from 300' 4 or 5 times a day while halibut fishing and I pull shrimp and crab pots with the pot puller from 600' feet. There is the higher cost of installation, but once the system is installed it is very durable and lasts a long time. Just change the belts once a year, change the filter and top off the hydraulic fluid...... it's good to go. I'll try to get some pics of it but it's right against the bulkhead and hard to get a shot of..