TowBoatUS Mission Bay is the newest addition to the largest fleet in Southern California.
A year ago we tasked ourselves with finding the best possible response vessel to service Mission Bay.
After taking data from over 10s of thousands of tows into Mission Bay over the years we made a list of required characteristics our new boat would need. With a good Idea of what we were looking for we set off to find our Response vessel. The search proved to be more difficult than we expected. In fact, we could not find what we wanted without compromising our required list. Exhausted and frustrated we went back to the drawing board. When we were done we decided we would take the old Vessel Assist Mission Bay out of retirement and completely rebuild her. We would ultimately build a boat from scratch.
So we took our 1980 24, P’Squared (originally built for the Life Guards)
Our first stage was already started years ago when we removed the inboard Cummins Diesel. We when all in from there tearing the wheelhouse, decks, tanks, wires, and running gear off the boat. We then stripped the boat down to bare fiberglass. When Done all we had was a bare hull and stringers.
Next we glassed in the old thru hull, Bow Thruster, Strut, Rudder, and Shaft holes.
We went inside the hull and reinforced the entire hull.
Our Dream Boat Needed to be a Diesel Powered Inboard Outdrive vessel. The diesel gives us the power and reliability we need for one of the busiest small harbors in the country. We wanted an out drive for the tight quarter maneuverability, shallow water capabilities you can’t get with an inboard, and the awesome backup power you can’t get with outboards.
Extended fuel range was achieved my matching a Yanmar 315HP motor to a 250-gallon custom centerline fuel tank built by American Tanks. During the summer months’ hundreds of boats fish off Lajolla. Our goal is to have a vessel that has the range to service multiple boaters without the need to re fuel and when the boaters need to go North She will have the legs to make the run.
We reinforced the forward engine room bulkhead to help support the custom tow post. We added a large forward watertight storage locker to hold Salvage gears and equipment, covered with a 30”x30” Freeman storm hatch.
We fiber glassed in ¾” Marine grade plywood with 3 layers of heavy duty woven matt built up into the gunnel walls for additional strength. Before glassing we injected 26 gallons of 2 part closed cell foam under the decks to further strengthen to hull and for buoyancy making the vessel virtually unsinkable.
We reinforced the cap rail to support the extreme forces during side tying operations.
As with our Custom Boat RHIVs we installed a Wheelhouse from Pacific Pilot House. This house is a ¾ house with full walk around that covered another requirement we had.
We added a Simrad HSS12 with Sounder, Radar, Auto Pilot and AIS. The Power switch panel was a custom design we created and was built by BlueSea360.com. We decided to stick with what works best for communications installing 2 standard VHF radios.
Below deck is a 7000 Gallon per hour (GPH) De watering pump that runs off the Motor (PTO) complemented with a 4000 (GPH) 12-volt Pump and an 8000gph 12 Volt pump that run of 12-volt power ports strategically located in the front and back of the vessel.
The pains of labor were well worth it as we completed our Final project and Launched her for the first time. After loading her up with fuel and completing a final punch list of safety we headed out for sea trials. Our required top speed of 28 knots was easily topped. Fully loaded with two crew on board we achieved a 34 knots with a set of test props. With new Yanmar Duo props she should turn 36-38 knots with ease.
Our Final Shakedown is under way this week and actual commissioning into the rotation will happen on May 6th. TowBoatUS Mission Bay will be moored 24/7/365 in mission Bay, ready to service boaters whenever needed.