28 March 3, 1998

Seven Boats for Seven Alaska Fishermen

Something must be right for Cordova Bay and Cook Inletgillnetters these days, with seven of them laying out somethingin the neighbourhood of $120,000 each for new 32X12.6-foot boats.Built by All American Marine in Ferndale Washington, the boats,featuring twin Cummins 6BTA 315 hp engines driving Hamilton 273jets, skim across the waters at better than 36-knots. With a full20 foot working deck forward these boats have the drum mounted onrails so that it can be adjusted fore and aft. At least one ofthe boats has been built with a modified gunnel arrangement downthe port side of the cabin affording the operator the option ofsetting the net over the stern. This is quite common on BristolBay boats which are generally a little wider, with a 14-foot beamand swivelling drums, says All American's engine installer ZacBattle.

While they are all built to a standard design, each boat iscustomized to meet owner's specifications as well. One boat hasan overhead compartment for radio phones, another has specialwindows and a third has trim tabs. "The boat doesn't need them toget up on the step," says Battle, "But they give the operatormore options when running at slower speeds or when loaded. Forexample the hydraulic tabs, which add about $3000 to the cost ofthe boat, will allow the boat to plane on an even keel even at 15knots."

Space under the self bailing work area is utilized for afresh water tank/collision bulkhead forward, as well as avoid/storage space. Three fish holds down each side are augmentedby two more amidships with the aft one extending under the cabinto give a total packing capacity around 9,000 pounds. Accessedthrough a hatch in the cabin, the 7'10"X46" engine compartmenthas ample room for the two engines with crawl space around. "It'stight, but we don't expect them to be working on these engines onthe grounds," explains Battle. "We have used other engines but weare recommending Cummins to our customers. I really like that thehydraulics can be installed with a direct gear drive off theengine to deliver more predictable power in less space than youget with a belt drive. The Cummins also have a better power toweight ratio and the charge that I get out of these boats istheir speed."

The seven Alaskans who will take delivery of these sevenaluminum brides are: Pip Fillingham, Cory Blake, Dave Rutof, HankCarlson, Carl Burton from Cordova and Emmit Heidmann, and GeneSvetc from Cook Inlet.

For further information contact:

Patrick Pitsch
Owner, All American Marine
Ferndale Washington, U.S.A.
Phone: 360 398-1263 Fax: 360-647-3342

Scott Graff
Cummins Northwest, Inc.
Seattle, WA
Phone: 206 510-9573 Fax: 206 545-7374

For photos of three of the boats ready for launching contact:

Alan Haig-Brown
by e-mail: haigbrow@istar.ca

copies mailed to:

Pacific Fishing, FedEx March 3
Baird Australia, March 9
World Fishing, Say, March 9

500-476, 475-451, 450-426, 425-401, 400-376
375-351, 375-351, 350-326, 325-301, 300-276, 275-251, 250-226, 225-201
200-176, 175-151, 150-126, 125-101, 100-76, 75-51, 50-26, 25-0