Om Sweet Om

About the Boat

Om Sweet Om was built in Taiwan in 1980. Originally christened 'Wolf Pack', she was customized by the original owners who lived aboard for over 20 years. We found her sitting in a boat yard in Annapolis in September 2003. She is unusual for a boat her size in that she has only two cabins: the main cabin and the forward stateroom. Most boats in this size range have an additional stateroom, usually located to the rear of the main cabin or salon. Not having that extra cabin provides a good deal more space in both cabins and it was this feature that finally sold us on the boat.

BASICS

She is of a style known as 'trawler', so called because of a rather superficial resemblance to fishing trawlers. While there are some recreational trawlers that have more features in common with their fishing ancestors, ours has very little. She has a semi-displacement hull, meaning that the designer thought she should be able to go faster than the hull speed, something we try to avoid doing. The boat weighs about 13 tons and has a draft (depth) of five feet. The coast guard documentation shows that she is 38.3 feet long which, rounding up makes her 39 feet. Then there is the swim platform on the stern which adds another two feet. We hang the dinghy off the swim platform when underway adding yet another two feet. So the boat is somewhere between 38 and 43 feet, depending on who's asking. We tell the marinas - who charge by the foot - that she's 39 feet. She is 13.5 feet wide and has usable walkways around both sides of the main cabin. With the antennas up we can just sneak under a 25 foot bridge; taking them down provides another three feet of clearance. There's a story in how we figured this out, but it's still a bit painful to recount.

LAYOUT

The main cabin has an 'L' shaped settee around the table to port (left side, as you walk in). The table folds out and provides seating for six. The table can be lowered to the level of the settee to provide a double bed.

Opposite the settee is a sofa which, when the rear cushions are removed, makes a very comfortable single bed. There is a director's chair that floats around the table and provides additional seating. The door in the rear of the cabin opens into the cockpit.

 

 

Forward of the sofa is a cabinet and forward of that is the refrigerator. The refrigerator runs off both 12 volt and 120 volt power and has a reasonable size freezer compartment. Forward of the settee is another cabinet with three large and two small drawers.

The galley is at the forward end of the main cabin on the port side, complete with a double sink and a three burner propane stove and oven. The lower helm station is on the starboard (right) side opposite the galley. A sliding door leads to the side deck from the helm. Between the galley and the helm is the companionway (stairs) which leads down to the forward cabin.

 

To port in the lower cabin is the queen size bed.

Opposite the bed is the door to the head with a sink, marine sanitation device (toilet) and tub/shower stall. These facilities get little use when we are tied up in a marina but are, of course, be the only ones available at anchor. Waste water goes straight overboard, but the head empties into a small holding tank that must then be emptied at sea or pumped out ashore.

 

 

 

Forward of the head is the desk with drarwes on the side and storage underneath. The forward end of the cabin is filled with lots of storage space and a small seat. There are two hanging lockers with drawers under one and storage under the seating. There are also two very large drawers under the bed.

 

 

ON DECK

The aft deck, or cockpit, is primarily a utility space: boarding area, workshop and temporary storage space. Under it is the lazarette, a wonderful 13 by 4 foot space that serves as our basement. There is a ladder from the cockpit to the upper deck, and side walkways which lead to the bow.

The upper deck, or flying bridge, is partitioned into two areas. An 'L' shaped settee separates the open aft portion from the forward section. A couple of comfortable chairs have been added for relaxing in the aft section. The forward section is enclosed on three sides by canvas and isinglass - a clear plastic - and is centered around the helm station. The captain's and mate's chairs have the prime locations; the settee surrounds them on two sides and has a table for charts and eating.

SYSTEMS

Om Sweet Om is powered by two 120 horsepower diesel engines (Ford Lehman). The engines move the boat at a little over 8 knots under normal conditions and about 12 knots at full power. Fuel consumption is about 5 gallons per hour when running at 8 knots and jumps quickly when running faster. Those who did the math will see that this means we get about 1.6 nautical miles per gallon, somewhat similar to a large SUV, right? It also means we only travel about 60 miles a day in the winter when daylight is scarce. We can carry about 600 gallons of diesel fuel, giving us a range of about 800 miles.

The boat has an auxiliary 4 kWH generator providing us with 30 amps of power which we use for running heaters and the toaster oven as well as recharging batteries. There are seven batteries. Three are used just to start the engines: one for each engine. Two are used as the primary batteries and run all of the 12 volt lights and appliances. A separate set of two batteries is used with an inverter to power computers and audio equipment when the generator is not running. All of these items live in the engine room located under the main cabin and accessed through hatches in the cabin floor.

Water is stored in two 150 gallon tanks located on either side of the engines, just forward of the fuel storage tanks. When we are docked this will last us two or three weeks and the tanks are easily refilled. There is a 40 gallon-per-day water maker that will be used when we are anchored out in the islands or clean waters in the northeast. A small hot water heater can heat water when the generator is running or from the main engines if we are traveling. Heat, which we have needed much more than we hoped, is provided by two small electric space heaters.

OSO Tender

OSO Tender is our dinghy, a 10 foot Livingston catamaran with a shiny new 9.8 HP Tohatsu engine. We haven't had much of a chance to use it yet but are looking forward to exploring in the Bahamas. We carry it sideways attached to our swim platform when we are on the move.

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