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Old 08-03-2016, 02:38 PM   #1
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Hello all,
My husband and I are looking to "move up" to a 30' or so size trawler from our current 26' semi-displacement hull boat. This means (for us) a fairly decent expenditure of $$. I am overwhelmed trying to search the forums for information to help get informed about the issues we need to consider when thinking about a boat we like-- a Willard Nomad 30. This particular boat has a draft of 5', not 3' as most Willards do (supposedly only two were built with the deeper draft). It has a Perkins diesel, I assume the original, mounted in the stern as opposed to the center part of the boat, and the engine has about 4600 hrs. on it. So, my first questions are: any idea why the engine is in the stern as opposed to more amidships? Is this a problem? Can that little Perkins handle the heavier boat? Is 4600 hrs. a problem? Should I be posting all this in a specific forum?
Thanks so much for your kind responses!
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Old 08-03-2016, 03:08 PM   #2
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5' draft and stern engine? Sounds like a Willard sailboat or at least the same hull as their sailboats. Is it a V-drive?

4600 hours on the engine is high but if maintained properly, it probably has another 4600 or so hours left. You don't mention the specific model Perkins but if it has 4600 hours on it, it can obviously handle the boat at displacement speeds of 6-7 knots.
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Old 08-03-2016, 03:22 PM   #3
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Hmmm- where is that "hide-under- the chair" icon when I need it? I don't know how to know if it is V drive-- although we looked at the engine, we didn't take pictures, and there are none online of the engine.
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Old 08-03-2016, 03:28 PM   #4
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Have a link to the boat listing?

Ted
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Old 08-03-2016, 03:33 PM   #5
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This should be it.
1977 Willard Voyager Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Although the listing states the draft is 3'6", on the Willard Boat site where it is also posted, the owner states the draft is 5', which the broker confirmed.
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Old 08-03-2016, 07:38 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by lilyb View Post
Hello all,
My husband and I are looking to "move up" to a 30' or so size trawler from our current 26' semi-displacement hull boat. This means (for us) a fairly decent expenditure of $$. I am overwhelmed trying to search the forums for information to help get informed about the issues we need to consider when thinking about a boat we like-- a Willard Nomad 30. This particular boat has a draft of 5', not 3' as most Willards do (supposedly only two were built with the deeper draft). It has a Perkins diesel, I assume the original, mounted in the stern as opposed to the center part of the boat, and the engine has about 4600 hrs. on it. So, my first questions are: any idea why the engine is in the stern as opposed to more amidships? Is this a problem? Can that little Perkins handle the heavier boat? Is 4600 hrs. a problem? Should I be posting all this in a specific forum?
Thanks so much for your kind responses!
Not sure why the engine is in the stern, probably doesn't matter. The engine weighs very little so it shouldn't be a trim issue. These boats were ballasted so engine placement would have been taken into consideration when it was ballasted. The engine (Perkins 4-107) has 50 HP and will likely push the boat to hull speed (6 knots) with less than half that HP. If you expect to go much faster, it won't have the HP, but then you will only push a displacement hull but so fast. Hard to guess future life expectancy of the engine without knowing how well it's been serviced over the Years.

Hope this helps some.

Ted
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Old 08-03-2016, 07:43 PM   #7
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Hello Ted,
Is there any way to know about the servicing? This boat was built in 1977, so has a very long history. I suppose the best thing is to have someone who knows the engine check it out.
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Old 08-03-2016, 08:22 PM   #8
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Welcome to the site! Were there any maintenance logs or records on board when you bought the boat? It is not an uncommon engine so you should be able to find someone (ask around the marina) who can look it over, give it a run, and give you an idea how it looks, and sounds, to them.
good luck
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Old 08-03-2016, 09:23 PM   #9
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Hello Ted,
Is there any way to know about the servicing? This boat was built in 1977, so has a very long history. I suppose the best thing is to have someone who knows the engine check it out.
Have you or your husband worked on a boat engine before? If you get to the point of having a survey done, you want to sea trial the boat and after running the engine have oil samples drawn from the engine and transmission for oil analysis. While oil samples won't help much with projecting life expectancy, they will throw up a red flag if there are major problems. After purchasing the boat, I would clean and inspect the heat exchanger, change the engine zincs, replace the raw water pump impeller, change engine and transmission oil, change antifreeze, inspect and probably replace all engine belts and hoses.

A 40 year old engine is a roll of the dice. Other than oil analysis and a good general servicing, there's not much else worth spending money on. If you start having problems, replacing the engine will likely be the best solution. Part of the equation will be based on how much cruising you plan to do. A few hundred miles a year would seem reasonable on that engine. A couple thousand miles a year, would have me saving money for a repower.

Ted
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Old 08-05-2016, 10:42 AM   #10
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Donsan, Ted and Steve,
These people have two big dogs that are going along on the boat.

If the dogs are laying on the seats where is one going to sit? If the dogs are on the cockpit sole where are you going to walk? I'm thinking a small motor home would be better or a sizable trailer and a Suburban. Dogs are designed to run.

Lots of our members have one big dog or smaller dogs. Is anyone reading this that has two big dogs? Input please.

My thoughts at this point are;
There are lots and lots of fun things to do in life so boating should'nt be cast in stone.
The 30 Willards are quite small .. for two big dogs. A 32' Grand Banks or some other boat w lots more space and little extra length to pay moorage for may be much better than a Willard. What other 32' FD boats are there? The GB and the CHB are closer to FD than the average trawler so fuel burn should be better.
A larger boat that has some of the characteristics of the Willard that they like may be something to look for and think about.
The GB 32 is huge compared to the W30. Double the fuel consumption but as we all know that may only increase the boating expense 2%.

I'd pass on the 5' keel and the V drive. Engine access must be ridiculous and the stuffing boxe under the oil pan dosn't appeal to me at all. haha but there's more space in the cabin for dogs and a big FB. How would a big dog get up there though. Then there's the dog and the dinghy problem. One's swinging room in an anchorage would be harder to find and at times would exclude anchorages. But I think these people have sailboat experience .. could have been swing keel though.

The above are some of my thoughts but I'd like to see someone respond w two big dogs on a small trawler. Several like Murray have one on a 30' boat .. but two?
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Old 08-05-2016, 11:11 AM   #11
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These people have two big dogs that are going along on the boat.
Say what? You apparently know something we don't.
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Old 08-05-2016, 02:39 PM   #12
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Donsan,
Eric (Nomad Willy) and I talked at length last night. One of the things that occurred to me in the middle of the night the night before was that the Willard we were looking at had side decks too narrow to allow our dogs to get to the bow, so we wouldn't ever be able to get them to the point where they could "go" while aboard-- a daunting project in any case I know. (Years ago, we never got our Springer to do it, meaning rowing ashore alot.) In talking with Eric, and getting confirmation that the Willard does roll a lot, I think that might be too much for the pups as well.... I appreciate the ideas of a couple of other boats we might look at-- we really don't want a super big boat. We want to cruise the Inside Passage in summer, be able to be away from marinas when we want, and have our dogs with us (and have cabin heat!!) I guess the Willard is just not the right choice for us.
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Old 08-05-2016, 04:05 PM   #13
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I am a former owner of the same vessel. The roll factor was a concern until I actually used the steadying sail it came with. We crossed the Strait of Georgia several times with the sail up, 3-5 ft beam seas and never tacked but continued on a straight course either to Nanaimo or Madera on the mainland. It felt like a comfortable rocking horse that rocked from bow to stern with the center being exactly at the fly ridge helm seat. We enjoyed the crossings but our friends in other boats had to tack a lot to cover the same distances. Engine access was actually very nice. The v-drive worked fine after we had it serviced and we installed a PSS drip less shaft seal and had no issues. The side walkaround is small. Very stable seaworthy boat! The interior is significantly larger than most other Willard models.

I would be more than happy to answer any question about this boat. It does have a deep keel, 4'11" and a HUGE rudder which made for easy slow speed maneuvering. The keel has about 18" of cast iron bolted on for ballast. I believe it is the same hull as the Willard Cutter sailboat which a Willard member recently took to Alaska and back.

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