| Princess V42 Charlie 2 of Fowey
Finally we found a really good Princess V42S, 'Southern Comfort of Poole', and we've changed her name to 'Charlie 2 of Fowey' | We wanted a Sunseeker Superhawk 48 but after an abortive survey in Holland where longtitudinal cracks were found along 10' of the hull on both sides, then a rough Norwegian Superhawk 48, we started the search all over again. Our surveyor Anthony Byrd, was fabulous, super-critical and realistic. He told us that if we wanted a good hull with low risk of failure, it had to be a Princess V42 or Fairline 40. We think Fairline 40's aren't quite as pretty as Princess V42S. I haven't discovered the difference between a V42 and a V42S |
So the search started. Another abortive V42 survey up north on a hull with a 1 x 2m patch of osmosis, lots of trips to the South Coast to look at tarted up tatty 3 year old boats, then we found 'Southern Comfort' in a private ad on the internet.
The survey was excellent, just loads of neglect items to be fixed, and the transaction was complete. History 2 owners from new, and the last owner was so helpful and open about everything. A pleasure to deal with. She was already Part 1 registered so we kept it up. Dreadful problems getting all the documents for the registry. Be warned make sure they are good and intact before handing over the money to the last owner. Condition Good, very good, but suffered a year's neglect. Hull and topsides desparately needed cutting back and polishing, inside needed cleaning and engines and outdrives needed servicing and minor repairs. Antifouling must be 3 years old, so all that's cleaned off and reprimed and coated with new. New canopy fitted from Flexicovers, the OE makers in Poole who were brilliant. Like all V42's the dashboard lacquer finish hates water and is delaminating, so that's to be replaced yet. The monochrome radar and chart plotter combination as fitted originally are replaced with Raymarine C80 display, new radar and AIS transponder. You can now follow us on john-ambler.com. AIS is fabulous! We are based in Haslar, Gosport.
We discovered SeaLift2 in the Medina at Cowes and lifted her in minutes, changed anodes, cleaned off a year's underwater debris, all helped by a great and incredibly helpful operator called Ralf. Two hours lift out was £150. Highly recommended. So simple, includes Saturdays and Sundays. Our Cruising Ground We will be cruising the South Coast of England, the Solent, Guernsey and Normandy, looking forward to a long 2010 season with the help of a little global warming. | |  After a bit of aggressive compounding and a machine polish in August 2008, (then again in September 2009) with fabulous new 3M marine products
| | The Princess V42's 2+2 berth is good for us, we are a family of 3 and Charlie age 19 often brings her friends and can live separately in their own bedroom |
Techy stuff   
| the basics:- - Built in 2002
- Eberspacher D5 warm air heating replaced in 2009
- Twin Volvo KAD44 260HP Diesels
- Duoprop 290 outdrives with S/S props. The outdrive failed after 430 hours and an impeccable Volvo service history
- DSC Icom 600 series VHF
- Seatalk Radar and combined C80 Chartplotter,
- AIS CB200 transponder
- GPS EPIRB
- Autopilot and Bowthruster
- Air floor 2.8m Dinghy with 10HP Mercury 2T outboard
- Tonneau and Camper Hood
- Cream Nappa Leather upholstery
FUEL CONSUMPTION Increasingly important now. Wow, compared with the latest tests of pod mounted drives this KAD44 and 290's is a star. The 42 Sealines are claiming over 90 litres an hour! Awful! Our overall average (275 hours) is 56 litres per hour At our 28 knot cruising speed we achieve a consistent 68 litres per hour, repeatedly measured over long France and Channel Island trips Buy the fuel in Lymington Yacht Marina. The cheapest consistently we can find if you take advantage of the 300 litre price break. Rumour has it there's a further 5% off if you are a Lifeboat member. I'll find out next week! |
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Blue Hull and the ravages of UV On acquisition, the blue hull was completely matt at the back, loads of S coast sun had taken it's toll. So we compounded her, and after 6 months she was just as matt. Now we've used 3M Marine Imperial Compound and 3M Marine polish with Scotchgard. The coming 3 months will tell, but all the tech blurb says it will stay shiny and dark. | |