After the First Season

A personal review of Stella Blue, our Mainship 400 Trawler

We are just beginning our second season with this boat. The Mainship 400 has served us very well over the first season.  We are just weekend cruisers at this point, but we have put 135 hours on the Yanmar 370, and over 100 hours on the genset thus far. We have made some very short trips, entertained huge parties, took a cruise to Nantucket with our kids and granddaughter.We have run the boat in a variety of sea conditions. In this article I will share what we learned and how the 400 performed. First let me say that I am not a marine surveyor or a professional captain, but just a sailor looking to transition to a cruising power boat. That said the following are just opinions and observations from a particular point of view. Also keep in mind that my boat is a very early production model (hull #6), and there have been numerous minor changes since.

To best understand where I am coming from, you need to understand what my expectation of this boat was. This is a production boat meant to be a comfortable, roomy, near shore trawler type cruiser. Most boats are compromises of speed, comfort, and efficiency, and it is up to the buyer to decide what compromises fit his need best. We enjoyed our 30 foot sailboat before buying this boat and were used to cruising at 5-6 knots. We wanted fuel efficiency of a displacement type boat, but didn't need a bluewater, long range cruiser. We needed a solidly constructed boat, with good creature comforts.. We wanted to take a few hours off our "on the water" cruising day, or add 20-30 miles a day to our daily cruising range if we needed to. We had no idea how well, the Mainship 400 would fit the bill for us.

The semi-displacement hull and 370 Yanmar, would give us more speed than we were looking for, but we were concerned with fuel economy. I have a seperate article devoted just to speed of this boat. A large engine would not be a huge detriment to fuel efficiency if the boat was operated at displacement speeds. There is a direct relationship between fuel burn and horsepower generated in diesel engines, and at lower power settings, necessary to move the boat at hull speed, fuel burn would be minimal. The biggest concern was under taxing the engine at 8 knots, which could result in engine problems from carbon build up and low speed glazing. We were careful to run the engine sufficiently loaded during the first 50 hours to help break-in the engine. The last 45 hours were operated at lower power settings between 1800-2000 rpms for the most part. The engine would still reach proper operating temperature and was sufficiently loaded to prevent low speed glazing. The notion that a diesel must be run hard to remain healthy seems to be an "old wives tale" when you consider all the cars and small trucks running diesels at very low power settings everyday. Tony Athens has published an article on the subject which can be found on the boatdiesel.com site.

Of course I am bias, but I think the 400 is a very handsome boat. The rounded window corners and cabin windshield angles lend a more traditional and "shippy" look than her predecessor. Most of the hardware is stainless steel and is of good quality for this class of boat and adds to her great looks. Petzold's canvas shop has done an incredible job with the flybridge enclosure. I have looked at many canvas jobs over the years and this ranks with the best of them. Mainship has done a great job in preserving the best of the 390 while making many improvements in this boat. By rearranging the galley to the starboard side they have successfully gotten rid of the list that some of the 390 owners complained about.

Getting Underway

Overall, we have been extremely satisfied with the Mainship 400. We try to run the boat every weekend throughout the summer. Sometimes we would only go out for and hour or two, but we tried to leave the dock at least once a week. I single handed the boat about a half a dozen times and found it very manageable around the dock with light winds. The 5 blade right handed wheel, backs to the boat to port. After backing out a bit, use a little forward thrust with rudder hard over to port, to get the stern back in line, without actually stopping rearward progress. The bow is easily controlled with the judicious use of the bow thruster. The thruster is very powerful and you can over thrust rather easily. There is a lot of windage up top, so if there was a good wind on either beam we would open the curtains on the bridge to make docking easier. I always ran the boat from the lower station when around the dock. Before leaving the dock, port side window blinds should be raised, rear curtain strapped to port side, and the starboard side sliding door open. This arrangement allows for excellent view of all sides of the boat. Lisa would generally be out in the cockpit tending to the stern line. After dropping the spring lines, I tend the bow line and get back through the side door to the thruster controls. Then the boat could be kept on the finger pier with the thruster, the stern  line would be released on my command, and start backing out. If I was single handing, I would follow the same routine, but would tend to the stern line myself, after setting the bow close to the pier with the thruster if the wind was blowing off the pier. (I would leave the rear door open to make getting back to the helm quicker.)

After leaving the dock, I would almost always run the boat from the flybridge. If there is any kind of a sea, it is a good idea to lay down the free standing dinette stools before heading up to the bridge. We have forgotten at times and had some dented furniture and floors after a good roll. The flybridge is just wonderful in calm seas. The engine is very quite up there at an 8 -9 knot cruise speed. It's not quite as quiet as sailing, but not far from it. I have lowered the upper helm seat about 3" to keep my feet firmly on the deck and make reaching the controls more comfortable. Steering from the upper helm has been a bone of contention between Mainship and some owners of the 400. At high power settings, the  prop wash from the 26" propeller, puts considerable pressure on the large rudder causing it to favor a turn to port. At no-wake speeds, there is no problem, but as speed increases, steering to starboard becomes increasingly more difficult. It becomes so difficult at high cruise speed, that it becomes impractical to steer manually from the flybridge. This is one problem in which I feel Mainship has not responded in a satisfactory manner. I had some conversation with Mainship on this subject in spring 2004, and they said engineering was looking into the problem but never heard any more from them. I have installed the Raymarine 8001 autopilot control in Stella Blue, which allows you to power steer using a dial knob. This is an adequate solution for me and I generally let the autopilot steer anyway. For the manner in which I use this boat, the steering problem is not a great issue, but for some others, it may be. At the lower helm, with greater mechanical advantage of the larger wheel, the problem is much less noticeable, and is not a factor.

Underway, I have found that about 1900 RPM's produces a very economical cruise speed of about 8 knots, in calm water. As the sea begins to build to 2-4 feet, we find the ride is more comfortable at about 2600 rpm to keep the boat pushing through the waves and reduce pitching motion. At settings over 2600 RPM, it helps to apply the trim tabs to some degree. This is in contrast to what 390 owners report on their boats, where the trim tabs seem to be of little value. At a high cruise of 3100 rpm, I find the correct application of trim tabs will add about .6 knots to cruise speed, and put the boat in a more favorable attitude. A half a knot my not be much, but it is free, so you may as well take advantage with the tabs.  When running at higher speeds, the prop torque becomes quite noticable and more starboard bow down trim is required to keep the boat on an even keel. There is a table of actual speeds at specifications.html. Keep in mind that these boats are marketed as trawlers. Some call them performance trawlers because they can cruise at higher than hull speed if need be, but if you are looking for a planing hull hull to run 15 knots and more, this is definitely not the boat for you. If you need the capability to run 13 knots occasionally, you may be able to do it, but, this is not an efficient machine at the higher end of its performance capability.

We ended the season by bring the boat to it's winter storage facility through some very rough water. It was blowing about 30 knots against a fast current. This made for some very steep seas over some of the reefs we crossed. We plowed though some very steep 8-10 waves, and my crew and I thought the boat handled very well for the conditions. Had I known that conditions were that bad I would have postponed the trip, but it was a good learning experience to see how she handled.

On The Hook

We enjoy hanging out in a quiet anchorage and will often take a mooring rather than a slip when cruising. Anchoring is a breeze with the Lewmar Concept 1 windlass. The windlass is very powerful and also has a capstan that can be used for a second anchor rode. The rode locker is plenty large to be sectioned off, which is a project for this winter. The chain will be lengthened so the nylon rode will never see the windlass in the everyday anchoring, as it will jam if not tended to from the forward controls. The nylon does not have enough weight to to make it completely reliable when retrieving the anchor. The anchor roller is tipped back just enough to keep the delta anchor from self launching, so I release the safety pin and move the anchor forward a couple of inches, before getting into a tight anchoring situation. Upon our first over-nighter, on the hook, we were quite surprised by the noise level of the waves against the hull. We had gotten used to the quiet of our sail boat on the hook, and were looking forward to more of the same. This is my biggest disappointment in this boat. The hull has a step that runs the length of the boat that is just about at  the waterline at the stern and slowly rises as in runs to the bow (same as the 390). In the area of the V-berth it is about 3-4 inches above the waterline. The effect of this step is to trap every wavelet that slaps against the boat and telegraphs an echo to the sleeping compartments. Being a sound sleeper, I manage to sleep through it, but if we are on the hook, my wife heads for the sofa to sleep. So if we are close to home port, and there will be any kind of a breeze in the evening, it's back to the dock to sleep. Next year, we will try ear plugs to see if that helps. I don't understand the design goal, but in my opinion this is a major design flaw in the way of user comfort. I notice this has been changed on the new 34 Trawler hull.

Entertaining on the 400 is a pleasure. When it comes to having friends over, this is an incredible boat. We have sat six at the dinette for dinner and board games.We have sat as many as 13 inside the enclosure on the flybridge for after dinner get together at the dock. With the enclosure on the bridge, there are two large spaces where the guys can do their thing and gals can do theirs with out talking over each other. The large space on the bridge is also great when the teens are over with their friends and need some space of their own. The layout of this boat is extremely well thought out to make the best use of the spaces. The only short coming I can see is the folding table on the flybridge. On Stella Blue the table is mounted to far forward and is not very practical for dining. It is difficult to get by to the helm, or the forward seats when the table is up. I see on the later production boats the table has been moved back some. In our situation, were the table does not see weather, we will be changing the table to a custom made, wood, pedestal mounted, fold over leaf type that will be much better suited to dining, charting, and entertaining. Other than the table, there is not a thing I would change in this layout.

Maintenance and Mechanical Systems

The engine is smoky on startup but runs clean after warming up and running at cruise. I don't think that this is abnormal, but the smoke is a nuisance around the dock. Upon hauling the boat, and going over some other concerns with my mechanic, he noticed how clean the exhaust pipe was, and made remark of it. The engine runs smoothly and has enough power to get the boat well above hull speed with a full load of fuel. We operate the boat in trawler (displacement) mode for the most part. The boats is very fuel efficient in this mode, which is about 8 knots at 1900 rpm. For more performance numbers see the bottom of the specifications page. The single engine makes maintenance chores very easy. There is ample room to move around both sides of the engine, and to get at all maintenance points.  The location of the oil exchanger system could have been better planned. It is a long reach to operate the switches and valves, but the system works great otherwise. Another problem is the location of the inlet strainer for the AC pump. It is mounted directly above the open electric motor for the pump. This will ruin the motor in short order if saltwater drips while maintaining the strainer. This has been fixed on newer boats. We spent the first couple of weeks chasing down water leaks from loose fittings in the plumbing system. It drove me nuts, hearing the water pump go on in the middle of the night for no reason.  I like the design and fittings used but they were mostly loose. There are no leaks now and we are happy with the plumbing system. There has been complaints from owners of the "Marine Air" air conditioning systems because of the high price of the digital controllers when they fail. We had one controller go bad in the first couple of months but it was replaced under warrantee.

Electrical and Generator

The design and layout of the electrical system is very good. The boat is wired for 50 amp 125/250 volt service. there are shore power connections on both ends of the boat and the switching system is simple to operate. When on shore power, all can be run without difficulty. When on the generator, care must be taken when using the galley electric stove and the electric grill on the bridge together at high settings. If the hotwater heater comes on at the same time, you will overload the 8kw generator. This is a rare situation and I feel the Kohler 8kw is just right for this boat. The electrical system on this boat uses a galvanic isolator, but the newer boats use an isolation transformer. I like the older system better because I can power the 120 volt system with an adapter plug to a standard 15 amp receptacle. This is handy for charging batteries when the boat is on the hard for the winter. The Promariner charging system seems to work real well. The batteries are not overcharged and seem to be well topped off using the analog meter. The small lamps in the distribution panels  do burn out rather quickly and are a pain to change. Making the panels a hinged affair would help.

Hardware

Mainship has greatly improved the windows in this boat. The 390 had many complaints of leaking or poor fitting windows. This boat is dry, the widows fit nicely, and the corners are rounded, which helps make for less stress, or stronger construction. The salon windows are sliders and the center windshield open out as well. They are all polished aluminum frames with a clear coat for protection. Newer boats use a silver painted window frame wich looks good also. The hatches are nice quality Bomars with sliding bug and sun screens. The portlights are stainless Bomars with screens. All the rails are welded 1 1/4 inch stainless steel. I have not pulled a screw to see if they are through bolted on the gunwhales yet. The rails on the flybridge are just screwed down with SS sheetmetal screws. I have one screw stripped out and leaking as the boat was delivered that way. The decks are cored with balsa, so there is potential for much damage from water intrusion with poorly bedded  and fastened hardware. There is one set of midship cleats mounted between the forward of midship. They are to far forward for springing the boat to a pier in docking maneuvers, so I'm mounting another set by the fuel fills. The cleats seem to be well fastened.

General Construction and Finish

Overall, I am quite pleased with Mainships approach and execution building this boat. It takes a good year or so to really give a boat a good looking over. I've have done my own electronics installations and mechanical refits and repairs. I have crawled into every nook and cranny, pulling wires, re-routing hoses, relocating pumps, and numerous other activities. I've been on several other 400's over the past year speaking to other owners. I have gotten to know this boat pretty well. The hull and stringer system seem to be of excellent construction. There is one situation, in the way the superstructure is joined to the hull that is very troublesome to me. There is a lack of tabbing and support at the rear corners of the cabin where it would rest on the aft bulkhead beneath. In my opinion, there is considerable swaying of the aft section of the flying bridge because of this. There is also gelcoat cracking in this area suggesting more flexing going on than should be. I have presented the problem to Mainship and received a less than satisfactory response. I an currently working on a system to reinforce this area myself, and I will post the final outcome of this situation, in this review at some future date. Another much smaller problem is the cockpit drains. Two of the three cockpit drains are fitted so the drain surface is about an eighth of an inch above the deck surface so that water collects on the deck. It looks like a big job to recess them properly so I think I will learn to live with the problem.The rest of the boat fiberglass work seems to be very good.

The interior is another matter, but I remind myself of the "value" approach to building a yacht. To have, very fine joinery, the cost of this yacht would have been beyond my reach, and I understand that. The joinery is functional but poorly fitted in some instances. Mainship did replace some of the drawer fronts that were just atrocious. I am still waiting for a cabinet door, that was cracked and poorly hung, for over a year since taking delivery. Stella Blue has a wood veneer cherry and holley floor, that has a much warmer look and feel than the laminate material used in the newer boats. It does damage much easier though, than the "bullet proof" laminate, and will require more maintenance in the long run. Overall, we are very happy with the functionality of the layout and construction and we can live with the fit and finish of the joinery.

Head & Shower

The head and shower/tub are one of this boat's strong points. It is roomy for a boat this size and has a great shower/tub with a bi-fold glass door. There is a convenient second door to the master stateroom for more privacy. Stella Blue has the Vacuflush head option, which we just love. The Vacuflush head uses less water to operate than a conventional head, and with the 40 gal. holding tank, there is plenty of capacity for family vacations. Because it uses fresh water, it does not generate odors like some other heads. We added a custom made medicine cabinet to provide a better mirror angle and more storage space. There is an overhead hatch and an opening portlight to provide great ventilation. With my prior boats, I always opted to use the shoreside facilities to keep moisture and maintenance to a minimum on the boat, but this facilities on this boat are so convenient and well ventilated, we almost always use the boat.

Galley

The galley layout works great at the dock but would be dangerous underway. There are no hand holds, or means to brace yourself, to do any food prep while underway, so we don't. Other than that, we are quite happy with the storage space and layout. The seperate dinette allows for people to be seated and out of the way of the cook. Mainship did a good job with the cabinets. There is ample storage for a boat a boat this size. We added an under cabinet wine glass rack and I am working on an undercabinet spice rack.

Stella Blue is all electric, so the generator must be started to do any cooking. Of course in a quiet anchorage the last thing you want to do is start the genset to make a cup of coffee in the morning, so we bought one of these portable propane burners that use the 1 lb cylinders for such occasions. We have the summer kitchen option which includes a Jenn-Air electric barbecue. A propane grill would have been preferable, but this boat was ordered by the dealer this way. The electric grill is greatly affected by a breeze, but will cook adequately if you use an upside down cake pan or cover to keep the wind out. I also find that the genset will allow the grill to heat up much better than with shore power. The small cold water sink included with this option should be a little bigger to be useful.  I make look at upgrading that sink in the future. The summer kitchen option also includes an ice cube maker that we used a lot over the summer. Again the ice cube maker is 120 volt AC only, so it is useful only at the dock or running the genset. The unit will make 20 lbs. of ice a day. The Nova Kool freezer/fridge does work remarkable well and the freezer space is adequate, but the fridge is really too small for anything beyond at weekend cruise. If we have a larger group for the weekend, or if we are going on an extended trip, we still use a cooler with ice in the cockpit to augment the refridgerator. We make enough ice with the icemaker to keep the cooler well iced. The trick is to make extra ice when you are on shorepower and store in the Nova Kool freezer for use when underway.

Storage

The storage space on this boat is incredible! There is storage space in the engine room, aft bilge compartment, under both the stairs to the flybridge and the stairs to the sleeping quarters, under the centerline berth and guest berths, under all the seating on the flybridge, in the summer kitchen cabinet, a deep locker on the transom, and then all the other lockers and cabinets. It is very easy to loose things on this boat. You just forget where you put them. there is too many spaces. We take alot of "stuff" we us and I figure I only use about half the storage space available. I just love it.

Decks & Mobility

The deep walkways and high rails give you a real sense of security as you move around the boat. You can get around this boat much easier than the 390 or 430, or most other boats for that matter. There is only the one step up to the bow section of the walkways and plenty of width to get all around. Going up and down from the flying bridge is a real treat. When entertaining at the dock, we use the stairs like you would a stair case at home. It is quite easy to move up and down with tray. When underway, much more attention is in order but the large steps and handrails make negotiating the stairs very comfortable. On the flying bridge ther is plenty of space on the aft deck to put out two or three chairs to enjoy the sun. If it's shade your looking for, just move your chairs down to the covered cockpit. The kids like to lay in the sun on the foredeck. No matter how you want to relax, this boat has a spot for you. 

All things considered, Lisa and I are confident we made the correct choice when picking the Mainship 400 Trawler as our retirement vehicle (when that time comes.) We hope to do the Great Loop in future years and we think this will be a great boat for that trip. In the mean time we are enjoying this boat more than we could have imagined. Sure, there are some issues with the boat, but I feel they are no more, nor worse, than we would have had with any new boat of this catagory. Mainship has done an extrordinary job with the concept and production of a boat that for us "fits like a glove".