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Once we'd done a proper tie-up, I became an almost instant fan of the 48's engine room, accessed via a cockpit hatch and a short stairway. Headroom is approximately 4'7", and there are four large, vibration-resistant fluorescent lights overhead that illuminated every nook and cranny. Service points on the mains were easy to get at, either from the centerline walkway or the diamond-plate-surfaced outboard crawlspaces. The look of careful craftsmanship was pervasive. Noteworthy details included a crisp, easy-to-keep-clean inner liner, a veritable arsenal of 8D gel-cell batteries in two robust, lidded fiberglass boxes (I counted four starters and four service batteries); safety-conscious, hinged, diamond-plate aluminum panels over the exposed portion of the stainless steel propeller shafts; and lots of mainstream ancillaries (like Racor fuel-water separators and Shurflo salt- and freshwater pumps) bulkhead-mounted on King Starboard panels.
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For the most part, the 48's interior was as satisfying as her machinery spaces. The layout's fairly conventional. On the main deck there's a window-encompassed saloon with opposed L-shape lounges forward and a U-shape galley in the aft corner to starboard. Below decks there's an island-berth-equipped VIP forward, an island-berth-equipped master aft and to port, a guest cabin opposite the master with bunks, and two nearly identical heads with separate shower stalls, one accessible from both the guest and the VIP staterooms and the other accessible from the master exclusively. The level of finish was high everywhere, and ventilation and light clearly had been a priority for the 48's designers.
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Of course an open foredeck is an option, but our test boat had an optional Steelhead crane, as well an Avon RIB, cradle and tiedowns. |
There were a couple of things I didn't like. Both heads have bowl-shape glass sinks. While they boost counterspace and have a certain visual appeal, they have no place onboard a floating conveyance that can yaw, roll, and/or pitch. Not unless some designer's able to come up with aesthetically pleasing baffles or swash plates. The second problem arises from the cabinetry that stands in for the optional lower helm station in the saloon—it ain't foolin' nobody. Maritimo should replace it with a proper locker that would more completely mask the alternative usage.
Eilliot and I concluded our day by winching aboard an optional 12-foot Avon RIB via an optional Steelhead WD1000 crane with a control box on a long electrical cord. Once we'd accomplished this with less fanfare than it takes to polish a ship's bell, I changed my mind about the efficacy of keeping dinghies strapped in cradles on foredecks. Yeah, I know—there are issues, like what happens if the dink breaks loose in big seas and smashes a windshield panel? But for cruisers with steering stations aloft and near-coastal travel plans, the virtues of the setup are undeniable. Why encumber your swim platform with a tender if you don't have to? And why haul the thing all the way up to the boat deck when the foredeck will do?
"Cruise-friendly," I opined as Elliot and I secured the last of the Avon's tie-downs. And indeed, the phrase seems to work pretty well for the Maritimo 48, not least of all thanks to an enclosed flying bridge that is part steering station, part gathering place, and part grand and lofty observatory.
For more information on Maritimo USA, including contact information, click here.
SPOTLIGHT ON: ZF Remote Control
The big question I had concerning this ZF handheld engine/thruster control just prior to docking the Maritimo 48 was how sensitive and responsive the knobs (for engines) and toggles (for thrusters) were going to be. With plenty of torque in the basement and a comparatively deep 2:1 gear ratio, the 48 tends to react rather quickly to a seemingly instantaneous bump of a shift lever. Leave an engine in gear too long, and you get more movement than you want.
So while we were still 50 or 60 feet off the dock, I attempted to subtly bump the starboard engine into gear using the knob on the side of the remote. Click went the knob as I rotated it forward, spinning the starboard prop ahead a few powerful revolutions; the 48 moved slightly and controllably. Click click went the knob as I rotated it back to neutral and then aft, spinning the starboard prop astern a few powerful revolutions—and again, the 48 moved slightly and controllably.
Hmm. I drew the boat's centerline parallel with the dock using the Side-Power bow thruster, then started to walk her to starboard using occasional bumps from the mains, first astern on the port engine, then ahead on the starboard while bringing the bow along with the thruster. The time-honored technique worked slicker than a wet plank. Had I been alone, I could have tied the 48 up quite easily while simultaneously keeping her pressed against the dock.—B.P.
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This article originally appeared in the November 2007
issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
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