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Having parked the 52 with enough swashbuckling flair to star in my own movie, I followed up by bounding down the molded stairway from the bridge. Thunk! The sound my deck shoes made hitting the cockpit sole was indicative of another thing I liked about the 52: unified construction. Not only are her interior floors and cockpit sole cored with rigidizing end-grain Baltek balsa two inches thick, they're also glassed into the hull and superstructure/deck molding. Combine such integration with stringers and transversals of pressure-treated ply overlaid with three layers of 2415 glass mat in the accommodation area and five layers in way of the machinery spaces, and you've got yourself a vessel that, as we say in the South, don't rattle when shook!
Usina and I spent a few hours touring the Ovation 52's interior. It was laid out conventionally, with galley, dinette, and saloon on the main deck and three staterooms and two heads below. While the former area was roomy, it was the latter that really showcased the arrangement's expansiveness. The VIP at the bow is huge, with a split head and a queen berth. The master aft is, of course, bigger, also with an en suite head and queen berth. And the port-side guest? Even it is large, with yet a third queen that could be folded outboard to reveal a step-down compartment for an optional washer and dryer. Mattresses are comfy pillow-top innersprings from Gioia Sails. And the cherry joinery throughout was impeccable.
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We finished up in the machinery spaces, entering via a cockpit hatch. "Heckuva boat—the engineering down here's just as impressive as the fit and finish upstairs," I told Usina while appreciatively eyeing the rubberized decking, the solid, welded-aluminum access ladder (with rubber treads), the easy-to-get-at array of shelved Schedule 31 Lifeline batteries, and the three clean-as-a-whistle engine installations abaft the ladder. Order and craftsmanship were evident everywhere.
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The joystick (above engine control) works well right- and left-handed. |
"Yeah," concurred Usina, "this project's let the folks at Silverton show their stuff, even show off a little."
"It's good for the soul sometimes," I added. "Showin' off a little."
For more information on Ovation Yachts, including contact information, click here.
SPOTLIGHT ON: Lifeline Batteries
The assemblage of Lifeline Schedule 31 batteries onboard our test boat is indicative of a high level of quality. Unlike many other types of batteries, whether flooded-cell (lead/acid), gel cell, or modern AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat), no-maintenance Lifelines offer recombinant gas technology (which nixes emission of dangerous hydrogen by processing it internally during charging) and special interlocking cases assembled by hand and sealed with epoxy resin. As a result, not only are Lifelines comparatively long-lived and unaffected by the fast charging that often causes gel cell failure, they don't leak when inverted, cannot be damaged by immersion in water, and can even be installed in any position as long as they're properly supported. Moreover, thanks to their construction, Lifelines are said to be more resistant to damage from vibration and shock than other types of batteries.—B.P.
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This article originally appeared in the February 2008
issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
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