I was in the Gibsons' 'Marina, B.C., last week having one of those
conversations with a fellow trawler owner along the lines of, "I
replaced my twin CAV secondary filters on my Ford  Lehman with a
Detroit Diesel spin on" when the topic of stablizers for trawlers came
up.  It turns out my neighbour, who frequently takes his boat to the
waters off the west coast of Vancouver Island, has had non-active
stablizers glassed on to the hull of his 40' trawler (apparently active
stabilizers for shorter boats  (less than 45' ?) are not very
effective).  He found the ride was greatly improved and his boat
handled the beam seas in the Straight of Georgia with aplomb.  I was
talking to a convert!
Peering into the waters of the marina at side of his hull, the
stablizers looked rather like the keel of a sailing boat. I gather he
had them designed by Bray Yacht Design (www.brayyachtdesign.bc.ca).

I wondered if anyone else on the list had been tempted to add 'new
stabilizer body parts' to their trawlers?

Mike Roberts
'Trewyn'  35' Northern Trawler
West Vancouver, BC

One point on which your friend is dead wrong. My 1985 Willard trawler with
1985 Naiad stabilizers work perfectly (knock on wood.) Here's the crux of
the problem, IMHO. Slow moving boats require bigger stabilizers than fast
movers. Bigger stabilizers cost more and in some cases you are forced to
make a big financial jump or try to get by with a smaller model and hope.

I think that too many people opt for the less expensive model. Of course,
one can hope that not all manufacturers have gaps in their model lines, but
this is what I have learned, The first owner of my boat was a rich surgeon
who went first class - mostly.

Ron Rogers

<I wondered if anyone else on the list had been tempted to add 'new
stabilizer body parts' to their trawlers?>

Last November I went through a 'stabilizer' exercise on this list. If you
look in the archive the thread was under 'Stabilizers', 'Gyro Gale
Stabilizers', 'Stabilizers - appropriate technology', 'Passive Stabilizers -
a Modest Proposal', 'stabalizers', 'Stabilizers, Wimps, Stress', 'bilge
keels, plates, Plated keels', bat wings', and several other less related
headings. This shows why it can be difficult to use the archive ... the
subject tends to change and be modified.

The general gist was that I was looking for a way to roll stabilize my
boat - a 52 foot converted wood  seiner (trawler, in some parts of the
world). I had decided that flopper-stoppers didn't suit me, mainly because I
didn't want to alter the outward appearance of the boat. I also wasn't happy
about the idea of going outside to work the poles and paravanes when the
weather turned to *****.

I considered active stabilizers, but in the end the prospect of tearing the
boat apart to strengthen the hull and install the active fins and their
associated machinery was trumped by the enthusiasm I heard from people who
had installed various types of 'new stabilizer body parts'. Some favored
chine keels and other additions, but the most popular one in this part of
the world seemed to be the 'batwing stabilizer'. I was especially convinced
by the enthusiasm shown by the owner of a fishboat who regularly goes out
beyond the Queen Charlotte Islands, and who said that once the batwings were
installed, the crew stopped bothering with the flopperstoppers.

So we sought out the batwing guru and this Spring we hauled the boat in
Vancouver and the 'batwings' were fabricated and installed. Made of 5/8"
steel plate, they are roughly twelve feet long and thirteen feet side to
side. Welded to 5/8" X 8" angle which is through-bolted to the keel, with
approx. 5/8" X 16" struts welded near the outer edges and angled up to the
turn of the bilge where they are welded to 6"X26" plates which bolt through
to others on the inside of the frames. The leading edge is swept back at
about a thirty degree angle and the surfaces have a slight dihedral, mainly
to clear the ways when hauling the boat. All this is attached about 2/3 of
the way back from the bow.

The good news is that my best hopes for roll reduction have been more than
met. We crossed the Strait of Georgia a couple of times earlier this month
when the conditions were bordering on my limits, and I estimate that roll
was reduced by at least 75 percent. This in conditions where previously we
would have been standing on the wheelhouse doors. The price was probably
less than ten percent of the cost of active stabilization, with excellent
results, -- and no moving parts.

Terry
Tamarack