Some Basic Facts About DIX-SEPT

• Manufacturer: Pacific Asian Enterprises (PAE), makers of Nordhavn motor vessels
• Hull type: full displacement
• Hull material: fiberglass
• Number of berths: 6 (3 doubles)
• Number of heads (bathrooms): 2 ½ (1 in master cabin, 1 in guest cabin, ½ in pilothouse cabin).
• LOA (length over all): 60+ feet
• LWL (length at the water line): 50’ 1”
• Beam (maximum width): 18’
• Draft (water line to lowest point of boat underwater): 7’
• Weight loaded: approx 115,000 pounds (just under 60 tons)
• Engine: John Deere, 330 hp
• Auxiliary engine: Lugger, 70 hp
• Propeller diameter: 40”
• Fuel capacity: 2250 US gallons total in five tanks
• Fuel burn rate: This is important. Dix-Sept’s “sweet spot”, where she seems to get the best mileage, seems to be right around 1800 rpms. Below 1800 rpms Dix-Sept will actually get poorer mileage than at 1800 rpms. Above 1800 rpms and Dix-Sept transforms from a boat into a voracious money pit. At about 2200 rpms Dix-Sept is getting less than half the mileage she gets at 1800 rpms. And the speed difference is tiny compared to the fuel comsumption.
• Freshwater capacity: 600 gallons
• Watermaking ability: Approximately 500 gallons per day from salt water to fresh water
• Life raft capacity: 6 people Note: life raft has the highest possible rating – offshore duty
• Dinghy capacity: 3-4 people depending on weight

Nautical Terms

• Nautical mile: 1.15 statute (what we use commonly) miles. In other words, a nautical mile is a longer distance than the miles you think of on land, by 15%.
• Knots: nautical miles per hour. Speed on the water is measured in knots.
• Underway: not tied up (to a slip or dock), moored, or anchored
• RPMs: revolutions per minute. When underway RPMs determine fuel burn.
• Draft: the amount of boat below the water. DIX-SEPT has a draft of 7’.
• Helmsman: the person actually at the controls of the boat at any given time. The driver.
• Standing Watch: being at the helm. The watch-stander, or helmsman, keeps track of radar, the chartplotter and course, all the instruments, and many otherthings. Just about everyone aboard will “stand watch” at some time or another. The watch-stander can call upon the skipper anytime necessary. Until a watch-stander is comfortable, their main job is to “Wake me up if this, this or this happens”. It’s lots of fun, actually.
• Anchor Watch: a special kind of watch, where the boat is anchored, but in close quarters with other boats or above a bottom where the anchor has a poor hold. You are just making sure the boat doesn’t move. If it does move you wake the troops.
• Full Displacement Hull: a boat that does not “come up on plane”. In other words, what you see of the boat when the boat is sitting stopped in the water is what you see when you are at maximum speed.
• Bow: the front of the boat
• Stern: the back of the boat
• Forward: anything in the direction of the bow from any given point of reference on the boat
• Aft: anything in the direction of the stern from any given point of reference on the boat
• Pilothouse: the “inside” control center of the boat. Seats about 5-6 comfortably.
• Flybridge: the “outside” control center of the boat. One control center is used at any time. Seats about 6 comfortably.
• Control pods: “outside” control consoles, strategically placed but minimally equipped (usually just a power level [forward, neutral, reverse + speed] plus bow and stern thrusters) – for docking when very tight control is necessary
• Cockpit: the outside area on the main level at the stern of the boat. Not like in airplanes.
• Boat deck: where the dinghy and crane sits. Couple of steps down from and aft of flybridge.
• Portugese Bridge: protected outside area in front of the pilothouse windows
• Windlass: the equipment that brings up the anchor and chain
• Bimini: the sun cover over the flybridge
• Bowsprit: the extended nose from the bow. Chains, and anchors, lower from here.
• Salon: the living room and dining room. Seats about 8 comfortably.
• Galley: the kitchen
• Head toilet: Generally refers to the entire bathroom.
• Port: left side of the boat if you are facing forward, the opposite if you are facing backward. In other words the port is always the same side of the boat no matter which way you or the boat are facing.
• Starboard: right side of the boat if you are facing forward. Same concept as for “port”.
• Rudder: the rudder steers the boat with electronic commands from a control center
• Wing engine: aka “get home engine”, aka auxiliary engine – used if main engine fails
• Bow Thruster: 10+ hp motor mounted sideways in bow, in a built-in tunnel to move bow left or right. Used almost exclusively for close quarters maneuvering and docking.
• Stern Thruster: 10+ hp motor mounted sideways in stern, in a built in tunnel to move stern left or right. Used almost exclusively for close quarters maneuvering and docking.
• Lazarette: area under cockpit holds rudder controls, other equip and room for supplies
• Sole: floor
• Brightwork: any stainless steel on the outside of the boat
• Depth Gauge: we draft 7’ – it’s really important that the water be at least that deep !!
• Going Aground: being in less than 7’ of water. Even if there is little or no damage – tow fees could be many thousands of dollars.
• Anchoring: staying in place using the boat’s own chain and anchor
• The Hook: the anchor
• Mooring: staying in place by attaching to a mooring buoy which is attached by heavy chain to a very heavy weight (sometimes several tons) on the water’s bottom
• Tying Up: staying in place by occupying a slip in a marina or at a dock
• Dinghy: aka “tender”. A small rigid inflatable boat (RIB) used to get to shore and back
• Dink: a dinghy (or dingy)
• PFDs: personal flotation devices (life jackets)
• MOB: man overboard
• MOB: alarm a small device worn around the wrist or ankle that sounds an alarm on the boat if it goes overboard (presumably along with whomever is wearing it)
• Transom: the wall between the cockpit and the swim platform

Calculating the Theoretical Max Speed of a
Full Displacement Boat (Like Dix-Sept)

The maximum speed, in knots, in still water with no current either helping move the boat or slowing the boat down, of a full displacement hull boat, which includes DIX-SEPT, is determined by a formula. It is pure physics. Like gravity. The formula is 1.34 x the square root of the length of the vessel at the waterline (LWL). The boat’s length at the waterline is very important. That is why cruise ships, with lengths of several hundred, even close to a thousand feet, can have maximum speeds significantly above that of DIX-SEPT. As you read on you will realize why even these monster ships DON’T try to cruise at their maximum speeds, but instead cruise at much slower speeds. As a matter of fact, they don’t even have engines capable of cruising at their theoretical maximum speeds. Although their engines are monsters they are still made to push the ship at only about half of its theoretical maximum.

Since DIX-SEPT is 50’ (actually 50’ 1”) at the waterline, and the square root of 50 is ~7.1, then the formula is:

1.34 x 7.1 = 9.5 nautical miles per hour (10.9 statute mph). HOWEVER, THIS IS THE MAXIMUM THEORETICAL SPEED AND WOULD REQUIRE KEEPING THE “PEDAL TO THE METAL”.

DIX-SEPT’s engine can achieve this maximum, however, it will use every horsepower she’s got to do so, and will burn an awful lot of fuel. This is her “maximum possible speed”.

Her “cruising speed” uses a speed/length ratio of about 1.0 – 1.1 instead of 1.34. This is her most efficient speed range. After about 4,000 miles at sea we have figured Dix-Sept seems to be most efficient at 1800 rpms which is about 7.6 knots and a speed/length ratio of about 1.07.

It is possible to exceed the maximum theoretical speed, but only by installing a huge engine, one with a HP rating of many, many times what DIX-SEPT has – AND THEN THE MAXIMUM SPEED WOULD ONLY BE ANOTHER 1-2 nm/hour, because at this point you are simply using HP to overcome physics, like using the space shuttle instead of an airplane to get from Florida to say, Rome. That is why cruise ships cannot go as fast as a navy ship of the same length. The cruise ship just does not have the same horsepower “under the hood”. It could have, if the builders wanted to, but it would be hugely expensive. The navy on the other hand just has Congress raise our taxes.

Life Jackets (PFDs)

DIX-SEPT has at least 8 adult size Class I life jackets on board. Class I lifejackets are the type you would find on a cruise ship, if you have ever been through a muster drill. DIX-SEPT also has at least 4 child size Class I life jackets on board. We do NOT have infant size life jackets aboard.

Additionally, we have at least 4 adult size Class III automatically inflatable vests on board. These are very comfortable to wear, you will hardly notice you have one on. They lay flat around your neck and chest, kind of like scarf draped around your neck. Whenever someone is on watch at night they must wear one of these. They do not come in children’s sizes.

If you are bringing an infant or toddler onboard please be sure to bring a life jacket. And it must be a Class I lifejacket, not some glorified toy. They are NOT expensive.

If you are coming aboard for a day trip where there will be more people than life jackets, please plan on bringing one. We must have a life jacket for each person on the boat, by law – and it is a law that is very strictly enforced.