The Vessel

The Vessel: The vessel is a Mainship 350 built in 1999.  She  is classified as a performance trawler meaning that she is able to get up on a plane when we need her too and travel comfortably and economically at trawler speeds otherwise.  A typical trawler maxes out at 8 knots unless there is a strong current helping the vessel along.  Our vessel is capable of 14 knots where the boat rests on a plane.

In later years the Mainship 350 became the Mainship 390 with no modifications that I am aware of other than the name change.  The boat itself has the swim platform built into the hull of the ship, so there is an added dilemma to the "how long is your boat" question. 

When measuring the length of a vessel folks either give the LOA (length over all) which includes the swim platform and anchor pulpit or the give the "usable-space" length which is typically some number of feet shorter in length.  The livable space on our vessel is 35', the LOA is 39', and since the swim platform is an integral part of the hull, the boat is documented with the coast guard at 37'.  I don't know whether to be amused, embarrassed, or annoyed when the captain goes into this lengthy explanation at every marina where we spend a night.  

The issue, as any boater knows, is that marinas charge "by the foot" for practically anything, so at $3 a foot for a slip rental, for example, it makes a big difference whether we are sailing a 35' or a 39' boat.  One would think we could get away with saying 35' since the vessel is named a "350", but if the slip we are given is designed for a maximum 35' length, we could end up sticking out past other vessels by a full 4 feet leaving us a vulnerable target for other boaters navigating into slips.  Clearly some of those folks are way better than others.  In the case of the not-so-talented boaters, it is best not to leave yourself open as their best target to crash into.  So, my husband, no matter how much I groan, leaves the decision to the personnel at each marina to decide just how long our boat really is.

CMOS is the name of our boat – actually Sea Moss – because my husband thought it would be a cute play on words.  My husband in an electrical engineer who designs computer chips.  CMOS stands for Complimentary-Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor which of course I can never remember and don't have a clue what it is even if I could remember.