Introducing Phoenix Hunter

Phoenix Hunter opposite Britannia Shipyard in Steveston BC, showing off her salty lines and passive stabilizer poles for use in rough seas.

Phoenix Hunter is a 42’ Kadey Krogen Pilothouse Trawler, built in Taiwan in 1985.  She is Hull number 90, and is what is termed a “Walk-around” as you can walk around her on the side decks.  On the “Wide-body” the Saloon cabin extends across to the port side of the vessel to make the Saloon over a foot wider. On these models, there is no side-deck on the port side, making docking on that side a more difficult.  She has what is termed a "cored hull" with a foam core sandwiched between two layer of fiberglass layup.  Length on deck is 42’4”, length at waterline is 39’2”, length overall is 45’ and width is 15’6”. 

Example of Teak side-decks (Port Side) on a KK42 "Walk-around" Sister Vessel

When built she had teak side and fore decks laid on top of fiberglass with a plywood core laid on another layer of fiberglass. The installation of these teak decks was problematic on older models as water often leaked into the plywood, passing along the screws from the teak, through the first fiberglass layer and into the plywood core.  On Phoenix Hunter, the previous owner discovered the leaking decks which had caused the black iron fuel tanks to rust and begin to fail.  He cut out the old tanks (one on each side) and replaced them with 4 new aluminum tanks (two each side).  The teak decks on the side and foredecks were removed, the holes filled with epoxy, faired and painted with “awlgrip” and a non-skid surface.  This went quite well but the surveyors (and Murray) pointed out there were some hairline cracks at 2 fuel fillers and where the anchor chain and former windlass foot switches were located.  Repair of these will be done later this coming spring (2014) but there is no evidence of water invasion at this time.  We do intend to replace the teak in the cockpit as well in the spring as this area is still vulnerable to water penetration when water rushes into the cockpit in heavy seas. 

Pilothouse Helm on Phoenix Hunter. Our first trip together on Phoenix Hunter, traveling past Sandheads Light Station off the Fraser River.  

Kadey Krogen 42's have a much more spacious pilothouse than the Nordhavn, North Pacific Trawler, Pacific Trawler and the Nordic Tug of similar length.  The floor of the pilothouse is 4' deep and 11' wide door to door. The watch-berth is large and can comfortably seat 4-5 adults and transforms into a double-wide berth for sleeping.The helm in the pilothouse in Phoenix Hunter was rebuilt by the previous owner to a more modern upright style allowing easy monitoring of instruments. Similarly, the saloon, the cockpit and the staterooms are very spacious.  

Helm Chair and watch berth on Phoenix Hunter...all leather!

The Saloon of Phoenix Hunter, looking aft. We have a 3 seater flexsteel sofa hide-a-bed and two arm chairs
 

Kadey Krogen 42's have a spacious galley with side-by-side Sub-Zero AC fridge and freezer units as standard features.  These are energy hogs and severely tax the house battery bank. The previous owner replaced these on Phoenix Hunter with Novacool DC units and also installed a Force 10 LPG 3 burner stove and oven.  

Phoenix Hunter's Galley with the previous owner's decor.  We're quite fond of the cobalt blue tile.

Phoenix Hunter has two state rooms and two heads.  The master stateroom has an offset queen berth, a feature that we quite like as it allows a second head and more floor space compared to the centre-line queen berth layouts on some KK42's.  The Guest (Jenny's) stateroom has a settee that can be made into a berth as well as a pullman berth.

Jenny's Stateroom!

Master Stateroom.  Former owner's decor

 When I started to look at KK 42's I discovered some of them had passive stabilizer systems with "Poles" and paravanes that can be towed through the water.  These stabilize the roll of the boat and make passage much more comfortable in rough "beam" seas. Krogens have a round chine, full displacement hull.  I discovered (more on that later) that these boats roll "like a tortoise on its back" (an expression I invented by the way).  We've only had to use them once and they worked really well and made a heck of a difference.  The nice thing about these, as opposed to active stabilizers is they don't cause drag when you aren't using them as the towed fish are out of the water. Also, there is little maintenance and they are much cheaper to install.