TomCat

I'm looking forward to meeting you Mike. We made it to Friday Harbor last year, which is where Patrick and Kim took us out in their 25 Cruiser. We loved it and were about ready to purchase one when we began looking at the TomCat. It doesn't look like we'll make it to Friday Harbor this year, but maybe Bellingham. Perhaps we will meet there. It will be fun to share local memories. Art and Shirley Nordtvedt were "Uncle Art" and "Aunt Shirley" to me growing up. We were next door neighbors in the summers on Lummi Island. My dad was among those who left the shipyard with Art to start Uniflite in 1957.
I do hope to see our boat in production, at least once just before the hull and deck are joined. We'll see how all that goes; I could hang out there all day every day, but will stay away mostly so as not to be a pest. In the meantime, we still have our 22 Cobalt open bow for this summer, and will have the new boat (with heat and a head) in time for fall and winter.
John
 
Wow, John, what a great story about Uncle Art and Aunt Shirley! As a kid growing up in Bellingham who thought about boats 24/7 (and still does!), Art was like a mythical figure of legendary status, even back when Uniflites were still in production. So when I finally met him in 2004, I was a bit star struck, to say the least. You must have some great stories to share, and I'd love to hear them during the Bellingham CBGT if you are able to make it! I just found the photos mentioned earlier and added them to my album, here and here (I remember Shirley was there too, but apparently she wasn't in the photos as I had thought)
 
Thanks Mike, really fun to see these pictures of Art. I enjoyed all your pics. You've covered a lot of area in quite a lot of boats! I liked your Arima; I've always liked their lines. I knew Juichi (spelling?) Arima, though he didn't know me, when I worked at Fiberform in Spokane for a brief time. He was their design consultant when I was there.
John
 
John T, Nice set up for the TomCat. Only thing I would consider would be changing out the head for an "AirHead" or other composting toilet system. Not holding tank, macerator and plumbing to deal with. Just a thought.

Great to have a new Brat on the peninsula.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Congradulations, John T!
It's a great boat, you're going to love it.
Don't sweat the accessories, that can all be changed later. All it takes is money.
No bimini top?
You may find that AIS is an easy way to hail your radar targets by name or by MMSI directly, and it's become quite affordable esp receive-only ($220 for some black boxes).
The Armstong type 'dive ladder' IS deployable from the water...when you get ready to get underway, you climb up the ladder, pull it out of it's mount on the bracket, stick it back in 'upside down' (ie sticking up in the air off the bracket). It makes me feel better to secure it with a bungey so it can't 'jump out' with a big wave, but that's silly. Anybody in the water can undo the bungey and deploy the dive ladder without assistance to reboard. In emergenies owners have sat on the lower unit and used the cowl-mounted tilt switch to swing them up. A ladder that a MOB can deploy without assistance makes more sense.
The ski pylon is unique. Stay out of the quite impressive rooster tail a 255 can produce.
Happy Boating!
John
 
John,
Congratulations on your Tom Cat! Can't wait to see her, what a great choice!
Great memories of our time in Friday Harbor last year, what with the orcas out when we showed you our boat.
Bimini and full enclosure for the cockpit would be our suggestion for those longer times out and about.
Patrick and Kim
 
Harvey, I hadn't even thought of a composting head. Thanks for the suggestion.
Spent some time reading up on them today. They have some compelling arguments in their favor. I'll keep researching. I'd love to hear from anyone who has one and what they do and don't like about it.
John T
 
Thanks Patrick. You and Kim were great hosts! Re canvas, I suspect we will eventually want a bimini, maybe a full enclosure. Thought we'd use it for while and see.

John,
You got me thinking about ladders. I, too, have used the outboard for getting out of the water. It works in a pinch, but is a little harder, especially when shivering from cold. The reason I decided on a pullout swim ladder was because I thought the dive ladder had to be stowed when not in use, thus making it unavailable in a MOB situation when there's no one else aboard to help. But do I understand you to be saying that it's actually easily deployable by reaching up from in the water?
John T
 
John T":3fcq6zl1 said:
John,
You got me thinking about ladders. I, too, have used the outboard for getting out of the water. It works in a pinch, but is a little harder, especially when shivering from cold. The reason I decided on a pullout swim ladder was because I thought the dive ladder had to be stowed when not in use, thus making it unavailable in a MOB situation when there's no one else aboard to help. But do I understand you to be saying that it's actually easily deployable by reaching up from in the water?
John T
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I also store the dive ladder inverted but without a bungee, and yes it can be easily deployed from the water. I also see that Armstrong now offers a swing option that makes it even easier to deploy and prevents damage if you forget to retract it, not to mention it can't fall off,
 
John T,
The Armstrong mounting slot is not a 'reach' from the water, it's a matter of inches. The wide sturdy steps would be easier for a hypothermic MOB than any typical under-platform swim ladder. Pics in my album. The 3-step model is perfect for thigh-deep beaches (you do need the hand railings, which we had to add, the only TC255 I've ever seen that didn't have them from the builder). Also, you can add an Armstong PLM mount to the bow and run the bow up on a sand beach, using the same dive ladder (but you have to duck under or straddle over the bow rail). I haven't added this yet, but it's on the list. Someday you may encounter a sand beach. Commonly used technique around here for boaters who don't own an anchor or are too lazy to use one or don't know how to. I bet you'll come around.

I can't imagine not having at least a bimini top for rain and sun (we have more of the latter than you). With an 18 inch wide connector section secured to the roof with RV slider cord track, the rest can be un-zipped and entire frame folded back to the rear. You never need to remove the frame, but I do secure it with 75# rated Ancor cable ties to the railing supports for a rock solid no-rattle ride when trailering or rough seas. Remove Sunbrella (now a 10 minute operation for us) for trailering or sustained winds over 65 MPH. Ours has weathered many a severe thunderstorm in the marina. Fisherpersons don't like the frame in the way.

Search the site for Thom Schulke's C-Otter Air Head project. They anchor out a lot. We wouldn't want the trouble of emptying the pee container. We find West Exterminator at double the rec'd dose works even in 95 degree weather with Kanberra's Tea Tree oil deoderizer in the head.
Plan on replacing the Jabsco 18095 series macerator pump kit every year or at most 2. The gaskets are paper.
Happy Boating!
John
 
John T":3rsspszs said:
Harvey, I hadn't even thought of a composting head. Thanks for the suggestion.
Spent some time reading up on them today. They have some compelling arguments in their favor. I'll keep researching. I'd love to hear from anyone who has one and what they do and don't like about it.
John T
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HI John,

If you are following the "Daydream Great Loop" you know about Pat and Patty. They have had one for several years. I know there are others on the Brat site that do as well. Lots of discussion on them here if you go to the Search button and use "Air Head" or "Composting toilet" in the various forms you will find plenty of good info and discussion.

Weigh less messing around :wink:

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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I had the Armstrong swing ladder for a few years but there were a few issues. I had to attach weights to the bottom rung to keep it in the water. It floats otherwise. With the Armstrong swing bracket the ladder angle was too much for the weight of us and scuba gear. I was constantly drilling new holes in the bracket and ladder to make attachment points.
I finally relented and swapped it out for a four step Armstrong ladder. It's easier to climb but you have to be extra cautious about bring it back in before you take off. I bent a bracket once doing this.
Garelick makes a hinged breakaway bracket that would solve this issue. I haven't tried it yet but if I ever forget the ladder again I will not hesitate to get one.
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Thank you to everyone for your input re the specs for our new boat. As a result, and after considerable research, we made two changes today to our order:
1.) We ordered an Airhead composting head.
2.) We went back to the dive ladder (instead of the slide out swim ladder with which we had replaced it), and added a bracket at the bow. I was really happy to learn about this from several of you, as I preferred the dive ladder in the first place. I just (mis)understood that it couldn't be deployed from in the water or mounted on the bow. NMI now uses the Garelick ladder rather than Armstrong. I'm not sure about quality, but will find out.
John T
 
Hey John
If you decide to get a bimini or complete camper enclosure later you can order it from King canvas in Seattle. They used to make it for C-Dory and have the templates. I am not sure if they still do. I got a complete enclosure last year from them and they were pretty easy to deal with. If you don't want to use it all the time or find it in the way for fishing you have several options to store it against the bulk head out of the way.
We use our TC for cruising and find the enclosed space our main living area except to sleep.
The new TC's are great and have some nice updates, your are going to really enjoy it. Looking forward to seeing you out on the water.
mike
 
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