New "trailerable" trawler

RobMcClain

Member
Joined
May 21, 2012
Messages
357
Reaction score
0
C Dory Year
2006
C Dory Model
23 Venture
Vessel Name
Freedom
I just read a post about a new aluminum trailerable boat on the AGLCA forum. It is 33' long, has an 8' beam for trailering, and is powered by an outboard. It weighs about 7000 pounds. It will be interesting to see how their trials go. I'm glad to see new ideas coming out but I'll stay with our Venture.

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/ ... rsmidwest&
 
They've used some 1920's lines for this boat. Very old fashioned, but nice. VERY expensive, quarter million dollars and a single outboard. So, price point is a major problem except for a few. It is pushing into the wealthy class of folks and a bit out of the mainstream of upper middle class who might buy the rangers. Very complicated and expensive to build, so that defines their need to be so expensive. But, I like it and if I had an extra 250 grand around for a twin, I'd be very interested. I wish them luck.
 
For than kind of money and this is just my opinion I would rather buy a used 32'Nortic Tug in that price range. Not trailerable but they do hold their value well and they are beautiful trawlers.
D.D.
 
My take on a trailerable 33' x 8' trawler:
(read maybe 12kts WOT) The reason for the trailer is so you can go somewhere.

Moreover, the narrow beam of 8' means willi-wobble rolling - a particular problem for some trawlers which can be softened somewhat by stabilizers. No thanks for this size vessel.

If the 33' appeals to those with mega '4 footitis', for which you pay mega '$$$', stick with your C-Dory that actually planes and travel to your destination at 3 - 4 times the hull speed of a trawler, check into your hotel at the end, get a seat at the bar and a shoreside dinner and be dollars ahead.

Aye.
 
If dollars ahead was my true objective I would never have bought a boat :D
D.D.
 
Substitute "have a smile on your face" for "be dollars ahead" in my previous post.

And, you're right. Dollars aren't everything. They just seem to be the best thing
to throw into a boat.

Aye.
 
Foggy":2qst44w7 said:
Substitute "have a smile on your face" for "be dollars ahead" in my previous post.

And, you're right. Dollars aren't everything. They just seem to be the best thing
to throw into a boat.

Aye.
No - the best thing to throw into a boat is happy people (although most are happier if they're allowed to simply step in) :lol: After that, the next best things are dependent on the people but for my money it's fish and good food and drink.

The money just makes it possible to throw those other things into the boat.
 
Money is one thing.
Materials are something else.
Aluminum hull boats are different than glass/cored hull boats. Ever ride in a
"tin can" on the water? OK, not a true comparison but you get the drift. It's
different in sound and feel than a glass/cored hull.

Then there's a potential galvanic problem some claim is worked out.

Oh, how about thermal conductivity for all you cold water cold weather boaters?
Better get twin Wallas stove/heaters...

Sorry, not an apples-to-apples comparison to C-Dory. It's a different critter.

Aye.
 
We spend up to a month or more living on our boat. One thing that I think makes people want a larger boat is the ability to have more storage. We want to sleep everything has to be taken out of the bunk. Want to cruise everything in the bunk. I'm sure the 26' C-Dory's have more storage than ours but not like a bigger trawler. We use our truck for over flow items. But even in the Florida Keys long pants and jackets come in handy. Having a kitchen that you can really cook in was something my wife noticed. I like living in tiny town but I can certainly see why some folks would be drawn to a bigger boat even if it means traveling at displacement speeds. Traveling along on plane is great but it's not without it's cost. Non ethanol gas in Florida this winter was 5.00 dollars a gallon or more. Some trawlers get the same or better mpg than we do.
D.D.
 
Having big cruising plans in a small boat, what are your realistic expectations for provisioning?

I'm not sure I have to spell this one out.

Aye.
 
Foggy":1ibvp0n4 said:
Having big cruising plans in a small boat, what are your realistic expectations for provisioning?

I'm not sure I have to spell this one out.

Aye.
Many possible cruising plans allow one to stop at intermediate marinas with good access to food and water. For example, one can do the inside passage from Seattle to Alaska and never be more than a day or two away from food and water. The bigger issue with storage (which I think Will was getting at) is all those things that are handy but not readily available at marina. In particular, changes of clothes and/or linens take up a lot of space on a small boat. Bill and El cruised extensively and for long periods of time in a 22CD. But I believe they only had 3 changes of clothes total and they laundered them fairly frequently.
 
3 changes of clothes total and they laundered them fairly frequently.

Oh, I am certain they did. El and Bill have literally thousands of friends, so surely it was quite frequent.[/quote]
 
I'm assuming the provisioning question was real so here goes. The biggest issue in provisioning for extended (month or more) cruising that we've observed has to do with water. For some the 20 gallon capacity lasts just 3-5 days. For those with a shower capacity it is even more of an issue. We can get by for nearly two weeks on that amount. So I'd figure water usage and sources early in the planning. The tank can easily be refilled at almost any marina. If you are concerned about purity it is easy to rig an inline filter to the fill hose at the marina. As for food, for a trip that long we usually carry the cold things in a moderately large good quality cooler in the cockpit. It has a padded cover we use as a cockpit seat. Ice can be an issue, we always use block, and we've never had a problem restocking. Depending on the weather ice seems to last up to a week. We use a kids suction squirt gun to pull water out of the cooler so we don't have to lift it up to drain. We are careful to put thing like butter and cheese in double ziploc bags. we take things out of extraneous packaging, don't carry a full box of cereal when we will only use part, etc. We make up frozen meal items ahead of time and try to design meals with very few leftovers, none if possible. Fresh greens for salads need to be used in the first week. Depending on where we are cruising we buy greens at local farmer's markets. For dry and canned foods we carry most in one or two smaller sturdy plastic bins in the cockpit. Again we strip extraneous packaging off. For cans we label the top in magic marker so we don't have to root around. For milk we buy the European style super pasteurized quarts that keep for weeks unrefrigerated. You can find them at most bigger grocery stores and widely in Canada. Chips and snacks fit under the dinette table against the wall. For clothing we recognize that we are on a small boat. All of our clothes fit under the port forward seat (we don't have a refrigerator). We plan clothes that are soft and rollable. We are more into comfort than style but still try to be dressed well enough for any restaurant we can afford. Dirty clothes go in a laundry bag under the table or in front of the helm.Shoes take a lot of space and take some planning. We try to hit a grocery about every ten days or so but can last for more than two weeks if necessary. Ironically one of the biggest challenges is trash and garbage, another reason to minimize packaging.
 
Don't get me wrong we are happy with our boat. it depends SOMEWHAT on who you travel with. My wife goes along with most everything. Telling her that three changes of clothes are the limit would be like telling Ernest Hemingway it was last call. We trailered our boat to the Florida Keys for the month of February. While docked in Key West a 32' Nordic Tug docked right behind us. Pictures of it in our album Keys 2014. I grabbed some lines for them when they pulled into their slip. We talked and they eventually asked us aboard. Coming from our quarters in tiny town (our boat) that 32' Nordic Tug was spacious and had lots of storage. Nothing was laying about. Coming directly from our situation to see that, was sensory overload. Now it weighs 8 tons, goes about 8 mph, and the couple man had just turned 70 had left Maine in September and made it to Key West by mid February. They will work their way back north and be home in May. As much as I loved that boat It's not for me and I know it. I looked at the prices of used ones and they seem to run from 129k to 219k and up. I really don't want to have that much money tied up in a boat that I can't trailer. But boy that 32" Nordic Tug sure looked nice.
D.D.
 
As for provisioning, which I see is the proper mingling of journey and supplies based on needs/wants and experience. Like selecting a boat, provisioning is sort of a personal matter. Minimalist to extravagant, our tastes vary. Simply stated, I would not want you to provision for me for any specific journey as the reverse is also true.

Kind of slid away from aluminum hulls. More like the C-Dory design than the 33' x 8' aluminum craft originally posted, maybe one of the two below aluminum hulled crafts, in various sizes, would be more to one's liking.

http://www.hewescraft.com/files/9113/71 ... plorer.pdf

or

http://www.wooldridgeboats.com/catalog/ ... pilothouse

Aye.
 
Will-C":2rq8mv60 said:
For than kind of money and this is just my opinion I would rather buy a used 32'Nortic Tug in that price range. Not trailerable but they do hold their value well and they are beautiful trawlers.
D.D.

Agree 100%. Or even a smaller one that IS trailerable.
 
Back
Top