Combination Boat Joins Oregon Fleet

“Don’t make me out to be anything special,” cautioned Mike Pettis over the phone, “I’m just a working man.”

The challenges of winter waters off the west coast of Oregon, not to mention the care required to stay in the fishing business, are well known. So it will be hard not to feel some admiration for a man who is adding yet another boat to his fishing fleet. Pettis has an extensive history as a long-liner (halibut and black cod) as well as a crab fisherman. “The new boat will fish crab and shrimp,” he said, “I’ll run it for the first bit and I haven’t fished shrimp before so I will have some learning to do.”

To be named Patriot, the new 67 by 25-foot boat will provide a good platform for both the pot fishery and the twin-rigged trawl fishery. The bulbous bow will give a little advantage on fuel consumption but will also help reduce pitching when working up wind to recover crab pots. The boat will tow a 90-foot shrimp trawl from each out-rigger.  A Tier 2 compliant a 600 hp Cummins QSK19-M main engine at 1800 RPM will provide the towing power for the twin trawls. This is a completely revamped version of the ever-popular KTA19-liter engine that has powered the West Coast fishing fleet for decades. Pettis explained that all of the boats in his fleet are Cummins powered. The main engine turns an open 70x56-inch four-blade propeller on a five-inch shaft through a TwinDisc MG5170 gear with 6:1 reduction.
 

A pair of auxiliaries will each power hydraulic pumps and 65 kW generators. In addition there will be a single 20 kW hotel set. Catches will be stowed in two holds with a total of 2,951 cubic feet capacity. The front hold will have capacity for 65-70,000 pounds of live crab with circulating seawater fed by an 8x6 Berkeley pump. The rear hold will take 20-25,000 pounds of live crab in rear hold with circulating seawater fed by a 5x4 Berkley pump. Pettis expects that the boat will carry about 50 tons of shrimp. The versatile vessel is also to be fitted with a 30 ton RSW system for tendering or to freeze albacore.

For maximum days at sea, tankage will be provided for 10,436 US gallons of fuel and 1,204 gallons of water. Vessel design was provided by Tullio Celano of Crescere Marine Engineering, Inc, of Columbia City, Oregon. Celano explains that the boat meets the 46CFR Subchapter S stability criteria in all load conditions. The Patriot is being built at Giddings Boat Works also in Charleston Oregon with plans for delivery in the early spring of 2013.