I've intended on posting a note here since the end of January... but have been busy (just retired! Who knew you could retire and have no time?!) So, excuses aside - I thought I'd take a moment and finally comment about John's Helmsman 38 since the recent posting on this thread reminded me.
I attended the boat show in January along with one of my twin 8 Y.O. sons and spent a few minutes with John, met his lovely wife, and of course was introduced to Sailor Blue. John was obviously proud of his baby - and who better to represent a manufacturer than a happy owner? I introduced myself to John, and then since he had a couple other folks on board at that moment, I headed straight for the engine room. O.M.G. It is every bit the thing of beauty as I had envisioned. I was briefly overcome with ER Envy. Then I started poking around. Looking behind the outer beauty. You know... some sloppy glasswork. Poorly executed wiring. Paint overspray. Oil drips. Anything less than perfect. Nothing dammit. Nothing but wide open spaces surrounding the centerpiece work of art. Oh... and those battery banks are a thing of beauty as well. Well thought out equipment, and well executed installations. Sigh.
I decided to leave the temple and check out the rest of the boat. I love some nice wood joinery... and this boat has WOOD. Lots of it. In all the right places. Nicely crafted. Beautifully finished. And as I quickly discovered... the fit and finish of this craft is beautiful everywhere you look. At the risk of trying to sound like Boattest.com... I'll stop right there and say that I am not a surveyor, nor an old salt. But, I have seen a few boats in my day, and like most of you, I'll crawl around any boat they'll let me at the boat shows. I'm usually the guy you're tripping over in the cockpit because I've got my head and shoulders down in the lazarette. This company is scoring up there with what appears
in my eyes to be some pretty quality construction and a damn fine looking trawler.
In a nutshell - I was very impressed. We've all watched the detail and thought that John has put into spec'ing this vessel out... and it really works. I've previously commented on my belief in the KISS principle - and it is well executed. Kudos to John. Love that boat.
I don't know if John will put his into another show... but I hope he does. If any of you get a chance to go aboard his, or any other recent Helmsman boats... do so!
Going to check my lotto tickets tomorrow. In the meantime, I've called the detail guy to come and give my boat a nice compounding and polish. Trying to make up for this slightly guilty, unfaithful feeling I have.