Some very nice people in Seattle are introducing a boat at next week's Lake
Union show. I was invited aboard today, and it seems well turned out and
conceived. These folks are becoming well known for importing brokerage yachts
from Hong Kong, Australia, etc.....(and if you don't mind a long distance
purchase and the freight expense, there seem to be a few eye-poppin' deals
available).

The Bruckmann Blue Star 36.6 Express Cruiser is the first Blue Star boat ever
delivered to the Pacific Coast. 26 of the smaller 29.9's and 6 of the 36.6 have
been delivered on the east coast since the trademark was estabished, just under
18 months ago.

Unlike the E Coast boats, the boats sold out west will all have a bulkhead
between the helm and the cockpit. Lines are similar to the lobster boat or
"picnic boat" genre, with a higher than expected cabin top above the bridge
deck. There is no "day boat" claustrophobia, as there are large windows and
generous headroom.

LOA is 36'6", beam is 13'2", displacement is 18,000 pounds. With twin 370HP
Yanmar turbo diesels, the boat is supposed to be capable of 35 knots. I'll be
doing an actual test on the boat in October.

The Bruckmann family name is closely associated with high quality yacht
construction. CEO Mark Bruckmann's father founded C&C sailboats.
At just over 400 "boat bucks", the Bruckmann Blue Star isn't a bargain-basement
special, but the quick, cursory exam I gave the boat today suggests that there
is
indeed some serious integrity and content to help justify the price.

With the higher cabin top, aft bridgedeck bulkhead, and light open interior
compartments the Bruckmann is different from stereotypical vessels of generally
similar style. It will be ineresting to see how the public reacts to this boat
at next week's show, but I suspect they may have a winner.

There's probably a photo at www.IMMservice.com

That's a very pretty boat (to me).

Too bad the pic of it underway is when it's sucking the flag backwards, must
be a big vacuum. Wonder if you're getting a diesel smell in the cockpit?

I love the steps up to the side decks, the walkaround looks easy to
accomplish. The layout looks perfect for the way we seem to do boating,
living mostly in the cockpit area.

I have a few questions for you if you get the chance:

It appears as if there is no mid cabin, if not what is under that huge
cockpit?

Can the "open air" galley be closed up and remain functional? Does that make
it hard to get down the companionway?

No genset, heat or air?

Would love to read a review of this for drooling purposes.

I have a few questions for you if you get the chance:

It appears as if there is no mid cabin, if not what is under that huge
cockpit?


A lazarette, and access to the stuffing boxes. Three teak hatches form the
majority of the deck in the cockpit, so access is excellent. This is one of the
areas I always check when first looking at a boat. You can get a quick but
usually accurate first impression of the integrity of materials chosen and the
professionalism (or not) of the build crew. Bruckmann looks pretty good.


Can the "open air" galley be closed up and remain functional? Does that make
it hard to get down the companionway?


The boat in Seattle is laid out with the galley forward and below the
bridgedeck.
Some of it extends under the foredeck.
Many of the windows in the superstructure
are designed to be easily removed or opened almost entirely, and this could be
what the literature means if it refers to an "open air" galley- an opening well
above the galley work level. There is not likely to be much wind blowing
through the galley, even uderway, but I can't say for sure until
I get a chance to take a run in the boat.
Probably in October.

No genset, heat or air?


We have some very deluxe boats in the NW without air conditioning. But most
boats have heat. Because we don't have a pressing need for AC, we typically use
diesel forced air or hydronic heat and our boats don't have the monster gen
sets routinely found on the E coast. With a propane galley stove, a good
battery bank,
an inverter, and a willingness to remember that it's a boat, (not a hotel),
it's not extremely unusual to boat in the NW without a genset of any kind.

Would love to read a review of this for drooling purposes.

We have some very deluxe boats in the NW without air conditioning. But
most
boats have heat. Because we don't have a pressing need for AC, we
typically use
diesel forced air or hydronic heat and our boats don't have the monster
gen
sets routinely found on the E coast. With a propane galley stove, a good
battery bank,
an inverter, and a willingness to remember that it's a boat, (not a
hotel),
it's not extremely unusual to boat in the NW without a genset of any kind.

Ahh. I noticed the gel cells and the propane in the specs. I was going to
mention that the battery banks looked quite thorough and well thought out. I
was envious.

From what I see I'm only seeing propane on the houseboats out here where the
tanks can be stored on top of the house or otherwise outside somewhere.
Everyone I know has electric stoves. Would love to have propane on my boat
but a huge concern with the heavy gas, maybe I just have to learn more but
it gives me the willys.

Again out here it seems AC is the bigger thing if you're looking for
installed upgrades. A space heater seems to do the trick if it's cool but to
get the edge off a 35 degree Celsius night a blast of AC is the right
prescription.

Maybe it's an East/West coast thing.

Maybe it's an East/West coast thing.

It is!

Some of our local builders actually have models that they refer to, often just
internally, as the E Coast or W Coast package.

The E Coast packages accent AC, so they typically use reverse cycle heating and
cooling and need big AC generators.

The W Coast boats almost never use AC, at least not north of some point in CA,
and
it's not uncommon to see new boats selling for $1mm or more around here without
any AC at all.

The E Coast packages accent AC, so they typically use reverse cycle
heating and
cooling and need big AC generators.

Well now there's something I would never have known, isn't that interesting.

Now are the West coast people from tougher stock or are they not getting
those muggy mid/high 30s nights? (I think that's around 95F).

Do you know if there are any other typical differences between West and East
coast boats?

On 07 Sep 2003 03:19:44 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:
it's not uncommon to see new boats selling for $1mm or more around here without
any AC at all.
==================

Hard to believe. How do you run the jacuzzi? Seriously, what about
hot water heating?

Personally I've sort of gotten use to the "all electric boat" concept.
No more stocking up on stove fuel and running out, either in the
middle of dinner, or in the middle of nowhere. It does put a premium
on genset reliability however. Even with a big battery bank and
inverter I need a serious recharge every day or two, way more than the
alternators can provide. Hopefully our next boat will have two
gensets for redundancy, or at least a VERY large alternator on one
engine for backup charging.