Fantastically manoeuvrable
CRAY BOAT
Paul Reinkes has been operating Mistique II
out of Kaikoura for almost a year now and he
really is, very happy with his new cray boat.
W
hen he and wife Fay wanted to
upgrade their current boat they asked
Q-West Boatbuilders of Whanganui
who had constructed the original
Mistique, a traditional 12m monohull with shaft drive,
to build their new design for a 14m cray boat from
Teknicraft. The new design included HamiltonJet's
blueArrow waterjet propulsion system for operational
manoeuvrability, and two metres of extra length to
provide more deck space, and more space in the saloon
for creature comforts.
Q-West built Mistique II's hull of marine grade alloy
plate. The hull follows on from a traditional monohull planing form, with a deep forefoot to give wave
penetration and a soft entry before flattening out, as
the load-carrying form travels aft and out to the chines.
Extra strength was built in to cope with life as a heavy
boat that is hauled daily onto a trailer, with up to four
bins of quality rock lobster and/or cray pots on her deck,
and of course for that occasional close encounter with
rocks off the Kaikoura coast.
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NZ WORKBOAT REVIEW 2013
Paul found there was a learning curve to operating
Mistique II, in moving from a conventional shaft drive to
jet propulsion, but now he has nailed it he is more than
pleased with the huge improvement in manoeuvrability
and seakeeping ability of the new boat. He's also
enjoying the extra length that gives him the capacity to
carry more gear and provides more creature comforts
while out working.
The move to jet propulsion has provided improvements
in safety and general worry for Paul. Not having a shaft
and propeller hanging down below the boat means that
encounters with the myriad rocks around the Kaikoura
shoreline are less likely to do damage unless you actually
stand on them, and the stronger hull means again, there
is less to worry about when it does happen.
Revising our original description of Paul's new boat in
case you missed it, there is a small boarding platform aft
that protects the waterjets below, and doubles as a handy
place to get down on if the jet units do become fouled
by weed or a pot line.To port is a small gated door in the
transom to give access to the deck.
The aft deck is a quite expansive space capable of
stowing up to 50 pots depending on size, when potting
out or picking up at the end of the season. Paul can
carry up to four insulated polyethylene Dolab bins
to store the day's catch of live crays, and he uses four
deck hoses run off the waterjets or a 2in Jabsco pump
