The OEM 42 is a versatile offshore boat

The OEM 42 is a downeast-style lobster boat with the elbow room of a Cape Islander. She's wide at the transom, has modest flare, distinctive tumblehome, and the kind of tuck and keel designed for offshore waters.

While traditional cape Island/Novi boats have a top speed of about 15 knots, the OEM 42 recently launched by Otis Enterprises Marine Corp. (O.E.M.) of Searsport, Maine, will make 22.2 knots.

Keith Otis, president of O.E.M., which owns the mold for the 42, believes he's made the almost-perfect marriage of motor to boat. The Catarina, his newest 42, rides parallel to her waterline at low speeds, maneuvers easily at all throttle settings and is very responsive, Otis says.

He's all smiles now that sea trials are over, and the Catarina successfully pegged the police radar gun at 25 m.p.h. four times in a row with fully loaded fuel tanks.

The Catarina is the first OEM 42 to have a 3406TA Caterpillar installed. The six-cylinder diesel is turbocharged and aftercooled and runs 540 h.p. at 2,100 r.p.m. She swings a four-bladed, 36" x 36" wheel on a 2 ½" stainless steel shaft with a gear ratio of 2.5:1.

Previous models have been set up with different engines - most with 8-71 GMs, one with the 3208TA Cat and one with a big six-cylinder Cummins. Though all the boats run well, Otis is particularly happy with the Catarina's performance, partly because the big Cat has the highest horsepower rating installed thus far and partly because of the boat's power curve.

Three fiberglass tanks hold 500 gals. of diesel fuel. Two of the tanks are port and starboard of the rudder box, and one is amidships, just aft of the engine. A 100-gal. freshwater tank is located under the foc'sle floor.

Steering is double-ram hydraulic by Downeast Marine Engineering (DME), accessible through a Bomar hatch forward of the 17,000-lb.-capacity fish hold for access to the gear box and fuel cocks.

The Catarina's owner, Lorenco Fernandes, plans to work both Northern and Southern waters. The boat has a split wheelhouse with an extended canopy. Helms are starboard, situated one behind the other rather than side to.

The galley is against the after bulkhead, and there's a sliding window panel in the wheelhouse that's large enough for the helmsman to climb through. Forward three steps are four bunks and a head, as well as a hanging locker and counter space.

The engine room is open and uncluttered, and a mechanic can reach the Caterpillar from almost any angle. Access is through any one of several hatches in the pilothouse floor or though the forward Bomar on the work deck. The hydraulic fluid reservoir is mounted to port against the after side of the main bulkhead. Batteries and fuel filter are to port also, and the air filter and 2" hydraulically driven Pacer washdown pump is to starboard.

Fernandes will use the vessel for lobstering and longlining. Though he has not completed his inventory of gear and electronics, he had Otis install a 14" hydraulic pot hauler by DME, an Autohelm autopilot and a rack atop the wheelhouse from Nautilus Marine engineering of Tremont, Maine, also the manufacturer of all the deck hardware.

Otis prefers to build with core, though he works directly to owner specifications. In the Catarina's case, the hull is solid glass. All structural members are of pressure treated lumber, and the work deck is alternate layers of 1/4" mahogany plywood, 1/4" glass, ½" core and a top layer of 1/4" glass with 1,400 lbs. of resin. Bulkheads are ½" plywood with 1/8" glass on each side. The house, trunk, forward deck and washboards are molded, shoe fit and cored.

Article originally published in National Fisherman, February 1989