From the Original 1953 Brochure
From the Original 1953 Brochure
The Empress
A 1953 Matthews
Double Cabin Flying Bridge Model
Length: 41" Beam: 11' 10"
General Description and History:
The Empress was built in Port Clinton, Ohio, and launched in December of 1952. She was delivered to San Francisco to Dr. Stuart Way and his wife Pattie, the proud new owners. She was originally named the Pattie-Stuart.
Thanks to the Matthews Boat Owners Association (MBOA), we have copies of all the sales documents and communications between the broker and the buyers and the factory, factory pictures and the original color brochure. We also have a relatively complete history of ownership
One of the interesting documents we have is the Bill of Sale:
This document shows that the sales price of this boat, in 1952, was $33,329.38. The broker paid $26,727.44 for the boat. The sales commission evidently was an astounding $6601.94. That was a lot of money for a commission in 1952. And thirty three thousand was a lot of money to pay for a boat. In 1952 one could buy a half dozen houses for that tidy sum.
Only two "Double Cabin Flying Bridge" (DCFB) models were built in the 1953. She was the flagship of the fleet, the largest and most expensive Matthews at the time. Last we heard, the other 1953 DCFB resides on the East Coast and was once featured in Yachting Magazine.
Matthews constructed their boats with the finest materials available at the time. The hull is carvel planked Honduras mahogany with white oak ribs and clear fir stringers. The keel is white oak. The cabin is largely made from solid Honduras mahogany and marine grade plywood. The decks are canvas over plywood.
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She went through several owners in California, then in the in the early 70's the boat was renamed the Empress and soon moved up to Puget Sound, where it has lived ever since. She went through several owners before we purchased the boat in 1991. She has been moored on Lake Union in Seattle ever since. One previous owner had the boat for about 15 years.
Originally the Empress was powered by Chrysler Royal Special strait 8s. It was repowered in 1964 with Chrysler M-413 280 HP V-8s. We put over 15,000 miles of cruising on those Chryslers. But they finally wore out. Therefore, we repowered in 2004 with 250 HP Cummins 6BTA diesel engines.
It was a huge project to convert the Empress from gas to diesel power, especially because I did almost all the work myself, but I must say we are delighted with the results. We are particularly happy with the cruising efficiency. We are now getting about three miles to the gallon vs. about one mile per gallon for the gas engines. Plus diesel marine fuel is a little cheaper than gas. Also, the generator and new electrical system work just great.
Converting a boat from gas to diesel is no small task and would have been prohibitively expensive had we not used "previously owned" diesels engines and generator. We were lucky to find some good, rebuilt Cummins 6B engines and a used generator for a reasonable price. To these we added new transmissions, new shafts, new propellers, new fuel lines and filters, new control cables and wiring, and more.
While we were at it, we almost completely rewired the Empress to ABYC standards. Most all the old wiring was removed and replaced. (The rewiring was a huge project in itself.) New A/C and D/C circuit breaker panels were installed. An Ample Power Energy monitor was installed to enable the energy usage and reserves to be closely monitored. A Prosine 2000/100 amp inverter charger and control panel were also installed. To support this, a new house battery bank and new battery cables, fuses and switches were installed.
Both alternators feed into the house bank, controlled by an Ample Power Next Step regulator, with a combined capacity of 130 amps. The main engine starting battery is charged by an automatic cross charging relay and the generator battery is charged by the generator when operating. These starting batteries also can be charged as needed by a 30 amp Pro Mariner.
We also replaced the 40 year old Kohler gas powered generator with a diesel generator. (But hey, it was still running and is about to be installed in a 50's vintage Hunter.) We were able to locate a good, used diesel generator, an Onan 8KW MDKD on eBay and purchased it from an outfit in Florida. It only had about 850 hours on it, was in excellent condition, and has worked out very well for us. We tend to run it for an hour or so each morning and evening. It has enough power so we can turn everything on without worrying about overloading it.
The lower station instrument panel was also completely redone with new classic looking gauges set into new varnished mahogany. The upper instrument panel had been redone about ten years ago, but the tachometers were changed to diesel compatible units.
These diesel engines offer seemingly effortless power. She idles at over 5 knots, and the tremendous responsiveness while maneuvering is fantastic, although it took some getting used to. Those big 22" by 24" props move a lot of water when coupled to those diesels. They accelerate the boat very rapidly to its maximum speed of 20 knots at 2650 RPM. That is 23 miles per hour! It is quite a thrill, believe you me. (Anybody for water skiing?) We are also able to cruise up to 18 knots at 2400 RPM if we really need to. It is nice to be able to go fast if needed. But, we usually cruise at a much more stately speed of 8 knots, which is at about 1300 RPM. Max. cruise with gas engines was about 14 knots at 3000 RPM, while guzzling more than twice the petrol. It never ceases to amaze me how nice and smooth the Matthews hull is at speed, and how well it planes even though the hull is quite rounded. In certain sea conditions she rides a lot more comfortably at higher speed.
In addition to this recent massive repower project, the Empress has had a considerable amount of attention since we bought it. The repower project alone required some 2500 hours of work. But prior to that, I put in several thousand hours on various projects. Probably the largest of which was the complete rebuilding of the cockpit in the mid 90's.
More specifics:
The "Empress" has a double cabin layout. She is currently set up to sleep 4, or 6 in a pinch. She has two heads, one with a shower, a galley, the main salon and two sleeping cabins.
The main salon is at the center of the boat. The engine room is below the main salon. The salon includes: the lower steering station, a couch with a coffee table, a delightful Dickinson Newport heater and the original Matthews drop-leaf dining table. From the salon, you can also go up and aft to the bridge where there is a fully instrumented second steering station.
Forward and down a few steps is the galley, a head, and the forward stateroom with two bunks and a hanging locker.
Aft and down from the salon is the master stateroom and a head with a shower stall. The master stateroom includes a hanging locker, a built in dresser, and two berths. One of these berths has been enlarged to nearly double bed size. From the master stateroom, a door opens to the fishing cockpit at the stern.
While cruising, we spend most of our time on the bridge, only retreating to the salon when the weather is uncomfortable on the bridge. A bimini top provides sun and rain shade on the bridge if desired. But we really appreciate having the inside steering station in inclement weather.
And while cruising, engine hot water heaters fore and aft provide ample heat. While at anchor, the Dickenson Newport provides ample heat to the salon, but it doesn't function properly while cruising of in strong gusty winds. We supplement this with electric heat when necessary by running the generator of connecting to shore power.
Also while cruising, the autopilot and other electronics make life easy. We installed the Cetrek autopilot about ten years ago, and it has proved to be a one of our favorite upgrades. We also installed a Simrad radar and a differential GPS around the same time. All these electronics are integrated through a laptop computer with Visual Navigation Suite. We also have three depth finders on board, although one if them is the original spinning flasher type sounder, and it still works, but it can't see down much more than 50 feet. We have a Standard digital sounder at the lower station that feeds depth data to the laptop. It also keeps a running total of our distance traveled. On the bridge, we have a Lowrance fishfinder.
And about the round antenna. It is a Radio Direction Finder antenna. The RDF was installed in the early fifties. At that time it was the pinnacle of navigation technology. Unfortunately it is not presently functional. I hope to remedy that someday. But is is a bit unusual, and it draws lots of questions.
While at anchor, an unusual Matthews features that we enjoy is that every window, door, hatch and port light is screened to keep out the bugs.
She also has an attractive fiberglass sailing dinghy provides an easy way to shore. It is a Ranger, or Ranger knock-off, we are not sure. The dinghy is only wind or oar powered, no motor. But she is a fast and efficient row. The dinghy recently had nearly all its wood replaced. The gunnel had broken in several places, due to the manner in which it is stored on the swim step, sitting on it�s side. Well, the repairs came out quite good, and it has been given a new lease on life.
We have been honored to have had the opportunity to maintain this grand old lady in the manner to which she is accustomed. We hope we can keep at it.
Last edited on: 12/10/05
