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| Peter Whiting was coming back from Princess Louisa facing heavy sea spray and cold rain with a long haul ahead. During those hours he thought, "This really wouldn't be so bad with inside steering." Thus was the birth of the Tayana 48 Pilothouse. Peter worked with Tayana to modify a Bob Perry design to better fit the cruiser who still wants to cruise but may be considering (gasp) a trawler at this stage of life. Not to say this boat wouldn't be attractive to everyone, but with electric winches, roller furling and inside steering, they've lessened a lot of the physical challenges. With Peter and Steve Luther of Northwest Yachts, and Nancy Very of 48° North, we headed out from Cap Sante Marina on a spectacular sunny day in March. Even with a stiff wind from the south, the boat was easy to maneuver in the marina with the Vetus boat thruster, and we headed to Guemes Channel to put the boat through her paces. The electric Lewmar 44 on the cabin top raised the main slowly, but at the touch of a button; the large jib rolled off the Furlex furler and off we went. Of course the Perry designed hull moved well and easily handled the 15-20 kt winds. We could have shortened sail but, what the heck, it's a test. She settled in nicely and with a smaller headsail would be quite comfortable. Her performance was solid and befitted a fully outfitted cruising boat of 48 feet and we topped 10 kts on a broad reach. Everything was in easy reach with the electric Lewmar 54 primaries making easy work of the jib. The cockpit is spacious and quite raised. The cockpit was a bit shallow, and the seat backs could have been a bit higher, but cushions should take care of that. Visibility was good over the cabin top, nice in a pilothouse boat. Down below, the very large windows (not really ports) and the light golden teak interior keep the cabin and galley very bright with natural light. The settee and horseshoe dinette place you at window level so you can enjoy the view while eating or socializing. The inside steering station is also at that level giving excellent visibility forward, if you don't have the fenders tied on the mast pulpits in front of the windows like we did. Live and learn. We easily docked the boat from the inside station. Beneath the floor is the Yanmar 100 hp diesel, providing plenty of power. Power for all the electrics is augmented by the Northern Lights 6 kw genset. There's also room to really get around the engine for maintenance. You go down two steps to the galley which features Corianne counter tops, oven, microwave and a nice refrigeration setup. Instead of three cabins like the Deck Salon model, this boat has two, one fore and aft. This means there's room for cabinets, storage, yes, a vanity, and bathrooms with separate showers. One thing about the Tayana 48 Pilothouse was that, whether up top or down below, there is always a hand hold nearby; i.e. down the center of the cabin ceiling. Lots of boats go for cavernous without thinking of the real world where hanging on is oft times very necessary. Actually, I think a "real world" boat is a good description of the Tayana 48 Pilothouse. All "electric living" make easy operation for a couple, with very nice accommodations for two more. I think we need to do another test, maybe to Ketchikan. For more info visit http://www.northwestyachts.com ... continue to page two |