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No Tony there is a/or should be a valve on the bottom that has a valve for draining the water. After a day on the water you open it till the next time you use it.

goatram wrote:No Tony there is a/or should be a valve on the bottom that has a valve for draining the water. After a day on the water you open it till the next time you use it.

OK - thanks John. Hopefully it will all become clearer when I actually get to see the boat. Engines and rigging now being fitted; all being well I shall be in Portland for water-testing end of next week. Currently trying to establish the right paperwork to re-import my existing NR boat to the USA for trade-in with the dealer. Apparently I have 'no status' in the USA - how about a customer in these strained economic times?

That's the boat I was surfing the web for when I found this site absolutely awesome! The lines on a North River OS are sweet I have been out on a 26 the ride was awesome and the fit and finish is top notch.

Is that traction tape, rubberized coating, or gray Rhino liner on the gunnels? I had the dealer Rhino 2 of my boats and it has worked great I can slam shrimp and crab traps on it all day long with out messing up the paint. I dig the thought of no paint are you going to do any Shark Hide or go for the saltwater patina?

208tahuyatony wrote:That's the boat I was surfing the web for when I found this site absolutely awesome! The lines on a North River OS are sweet I have been out on a 26 the ride was awesome and the fit and finish is top notch.

Is that traction tape, rubberized coating, or gray Rhino liner on the gunnels? I had the dealer Rhino 2 of my boats and it has worked great I can slam shrimp and crab traps on it all day long with out messing up the paint. I dig the thought of no paint are you going to do any Shark Hide or go for the saltwater patina?

Rhino-type liner on the gunnels. I am hoping to achieve a saltwater patina.

BCTony,

I got some leanin to do.... Got my order in for a 2015 North River 25' Offshore. The 24 OS had to grow a foot to make room for EPA mandated changes to fuel storage.

Can you give us an update on your boat? Any more changes?

Are those stubby square mounts on the stern for rear facing downriggers?

Did you take your anchor to the factory to have them custom fashion a suitable hold down?

I'm trying to summon the courage to skip the paint too... Can we get a pick of your new saltwater patina??

Thanks,
Kurt

Nicely done... You can be very proud of her. Have you named her? I certainly like the all aluminum look.

No name yet. She won't be born for another 5 months so I got some time.

My boat needed to go back to the Dealer and North River for some warranty work - Dealer to adjust twin engines originally fitted at slightly different heights (!) and North River for water leaking deck into bilge, leaking steering hydraulics and leaking fuel tank. While at North River I decided to take the opportunity to deal with some items I wish I had thought of in the first place:- a cover for the electronics panel, an anchor retainer and higher wrap-around style bow rails.

While I am very pleased with my boat and become more pleased the more I use it, I still am plagued with some issues. The steering hydraulics still leak a little and North River has sent a spare fitting. I am still getting water in the bilge - I think through the Freeman hatch. Both items will be looked at by my local marine shop the next time for service. This is irritating the boat has leaked these fluids from delivery! The biggest issue I have is nothing to do with the boat build but with a 'not performing to hype' CHIRP sonar system.

Oh and to answer some earlier questions:-

Are those stubby square mounts on the stern for rear facing downriggers?
Yes.

Did you take your anchor to the factory to have them custom fashion a suitable hold down?
Yes. I had thought to have a winch system fitted but this would have involved strengthening the anchor locker cover and required additional battery power etc. I thought as to how often I anchor - like never - and decided on this system using a cradle and half-inch stainless steel pin to hold the anchor securely in position yet still ready for action.

Nicely done... You can be very proud of her. Have you named her? I certainly like the all aluminum look.
Hoochie Koo II

Great looking setup Tony. I'm sure you will eventually exercise all the gremlins.

Mike

Napa Mike wrote:Great looking setup Tony. I'm sure you will eventually exercise all the gremlins.

Mike

Thank you - but I guess you mean 'exorcise'

Hi
I've been following this thread for quite some time. Can you give us some updates? What ever happened with the hydraulic leak? I'm curious to see some close ups of the salt water patina. If you could do it all over again would you paint more or paint less of the boat? What else? What surprised you? What is performing better than expected?
I learn a lot from AAB and this is an opportunity for me to find out how a brand new boat is holding up and what you would do different.
Thanks

Justin

Thank you for the interest. Well I am very, very pleased with my boat. The issues I have had have been frustrating and would not have been so long standing if I were located closer to the dealer and/or North River. Or, be more competent or confident in fixing these issues myself! The hydraulic leaks to the steering system have now almost been completely resolved – at one time it was pissing fluid from the front helm, rear helm and at the steering cylinder. There remains a slight leak at the steering cylinder from a warped bleed fitting. North River have sent a replacement part and authorised labour for fitting by a local marine shop which is to be completed shortly. The other main issue had been water ingress into the bilge. Having had the plastic deck hatches that cover access to the side fish-box valves changed for welded-in hatches with screw down lid, I am now not getting any deck water into the bilge. However, I am still getting water into the bilge; not a lot and much less than before but still some. I think this is getting in through the ‘Freeman’ deck hatch on the engine pod. I say ‘I think’ because if I use the boat I always end with some water in the bilge. If I vacuum out all the water and the boat remains unused in its moorage, the bilge remains dry unless it rains when I get a little but generally not as much as when I am out at sea fishing with water running across the engine pod for much of the time. There is a possibility that water is entering the bilge through either or both of the thru-hull transducers installed – perhaps when under pressure when motoring up on plane. I think it is likely the case that the Freeman hatch requires adjustment; it has already been adjusted twice which has resulted in less water in the bilge – it seems that these hatches have a breaking-in period before the seals open and spread to seal properly. This is speculation on my part because I have no previous experience.

As to what I would or would not do again. Well I am very pleased with unpainted appearance. As readers will know from another post I managed to stain the aluminium through over-zealous use of Saltaway and the stains are still there but seem to be fading as the whole boat dulls down. I now just wash the boat down from time to time with freshwater.

The boat has some sprayed-on foam installed in its construction. But I do not know completely how much. There is some in forward cabin part of the hull as well as along the sides underneath the deck. Now that deck water ingress has been resolved, none of this is now getting wet. There is no foam visible in the engine pod but I do not know if there is any foam underneath the gas tank or under the main fish hold centre deck. If I were instructing build again I would specify no foam whatsoever.

Main engine power is Twin Yamaha F200’s Inline 4. There was comment that this might be over-powering, but I think not. The boat is lively and responsive in the same way as a sports coupe, which I like. With a full tank (120 galleons) and three on board it will be up on plane at just over 3000rpm from where I can sink some trim tab and throttle back to about 2800rpm doing around 24mph and burning a modest 9gph combined. WOT is 5800rpm’ish with about 45-48mph depending and 40gph! Most times I cruise at around 4000rpm’ish at about 32-35mph depending and aim for 2mpg and sometimes a little more.

Now that I now know how to operate them - I am very happy with the ‘National’ air-ride seats supplied by AA Boats sponsor Pacific Powertrain.

Also very happy in general with the electronics package installed. This was Simrad NSS12, NSS8, 4G Radar, AP12 Autopilot the only downside being the BSM-2 Chirp Sonar which still has not lived up to advertised promises and/or expectations. One thing I would not do again is bore two times 4” holes in my hull to accommodate transducers without knowing for certain they would work as required. (Having said that it my belief that it is not the Airmar SS175C-LH transducers that are the problem, rather the BSM-2/3 software and insufficient testing with these transducers before product launch, but, having two 4” holes in my hull has restricted my options to resolve).

Overall I am very happy with my boat and if starting over there is not a huge amount I would change.

Great to hear! Hoping to one day purchase a brand new aluminum boat myself. Down here in Santa Cruz, I'm about 8 hours south of the closest manufacturers in Oregon. Having to return a boat to the factory for warranty repairs would not be an easy task for me. Also, I'm not a big fan of "managing and coordinating" a boat manufacturer to pay a middleman/contractor to perform warranty repairs. For my situation, I don't have a solution but then again, I have plenty of time to observe and learn from forums such as this one.
Thank you.

Nice to get to watch the build. Glad that it has all turned out to be a success!

WZ

Finally my boat gets what it should have had at the beginning - bottom pampering from Chaps!

White!!! So it is all zinc!

pjay9 wrote:White!!! So it is all zinc!

That is the first coat of epoxy barrier - I think.

First coat of bottom paint.

02/09/2016 Correction - third epoxy coat.

Its actually the third coat of epoxy. Please tell me you wanted black anti-foul on the bottom Tony 'cause that's what it is this morning!

(the 1st pic is the bottom after sandblasting, 2nd pic is first coat of epoxy, 3rd pic is third coat of epoxy)

Chaps wrote:Its actually the third coat of epoxy. Please tell me you wanted black anti-foul on the bottom Tony 'cause that's what it is this morning!

(the 1st pic is the bottom after sandblasting, 2nd pic is first coat of epoxy, 3rd pic is third coat of epoxy)

Do not worry - black and everything looks to be just what I wanted!

Chaps, resolving my inferences from reading the thread.

The hull is blasted below the waterline boot? Full white metal blast and accompanying anchor pattern?
Is there an etch and/or allodyne chemical bonding scheme (convert Alum. Oxide to Chrome Oxide) that goes under the primer?
Then a primer compatible with the next 3 (THREE ?) coats of epoxy barrier coats before a bottom paint?

That's what I get, with questions shown, from this topic's posts.

Not trying to pry out any trade secrets, just summarizing- that's some serious work and wanted to be clear.

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK

Hi Kevin, sure, its blast to white metal which gives a profile then epoxy, I thin the first coat a bit so that it soaks into the roughened surface. Etching, converting, etc. not necessary on a freshly blasted substrate. Most yards and dealers will attempt to achieve adhesion with chemical treatments but there really is no substitute for a sandblasted surface and three coats of epoxy. If a boat comes in with pitting and other corrosion issues I will first apply a strontium chromate epoxy (water thin stuff) after a particularly aggressive blast to soak-in and subdue activity that is going on beyond the reach of the blast.

Well BCTony finally has his boat back after it spent a bunch of time in Oregon receiving his latest round of mods and some warranty work at the factory. The boat was brought to me Tuesday of this week on a transport for the full enchilada bottom paint job and we pulled some long hours to have it ready to go home to Vancouver BC today, Saturday. I must say that his decision to go bare boat (no topside paint) when he had it built has worked out well in my opinion as it just looks good and he's never going to have issues with paint failure.

I received the highest compliment one can hope for in the glamorous world of bottom painting when Tony asked me today if, after seeing the boat, I had sprayed the paint onto the hull. No, I assured him, it just looks that way, smooth and glossy is achievable with a roller!

But as you can see in the pics below all was good until the moment he was presented with the bill for the services. As they say in the boatyards, "no cash . . . no splash" so he had no choice but to fork over copious amounts of his almost worthless Canadian dollars before I sent him on his way from Kingston for his long cruise back to Canuckistan. Thanks Tony, really enjoyed working on your North River!

Well I can report Chaps did a first class job for me with a super quick turnaround.

I am very pleased with the job and as to shock-horror on presentation of the bill, Chaps invoice was exactly as estimated. Mind you I had sent him a message the previous afternoon as to the nature of ‘Hell-Fire’ that might ensue if it were not – but I will leave Chaps to elaborate. Seriously though I thought a very fair price even for an impoverished and now double-wammied Brit in Canuckistan!

My trip back to Vancouver by sea over 140 miles fortunately met with favourable conditions. The screenshot is the Trip Intel page from my Simrad Evo2. I lost the best part of an hour going into Blaine and White Rock for Border formalities and of course the MFD was not turned off immediately that I arrived at my marina. The stated time of commencement is not correct I don’t know why as I have the offset to UTC correctly set and local time reads correctly everywhere else. Average fuel economy comes from the engine's flow meters and looks about correct as I did open-up for parts of the journey.