Everything you need in 29 feet ! (Dutch Steel)

At the Amsterdam Boatshow "Hiswa" Vri-Jon Yachts is nominated with their first steel pocket cruiser 29 OK.

Amazing what they realized on 29 foot:

Separate shower & toilet
A France Bed in the bow
Bow-thruster
Victron Charger/Inverter
Dieselheater, Waterheater
Depthgauge
55 hp Volvo Penta 4 cylinder engine

Link: Vri-Jon Yachts presents the new 29 OK!

let the pics speak...

That island berth in a 29'er speaks to me

Looked good till the Green engine was noticed.

FF said:

Looked good till the Green engine was noticed.

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Now, now... some of us love our Volvo diesels!

This is a sharp looking trawler! I visited their site and was also impressed with the Vri-Jon Classic 44.

FF said:

Looked good till the Green engine was noticed.

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Which was designed by Perkins (owned by Caterpillar), built by IHI Shibaura in Matsumoto, Japan and painted various colors by Caterpillar, Case New Holland, Manitou, and Northern Lights for various compact industrial equipment. Oh, yeah, and Volvo Penta.

Northern Spy said:

Which was designed by Perkins (owned by Caterpillar), built by IHI Shibaura in Matsumoto, Japan and painted various colors by Caterpillar, Case New Holland, Manitou, and Northern Lights for various compact industrial equipment. Oh, yeah, and Volvo Penta.

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Not to turn this into a Volvos are great thread, but mine has been super reliable, very easy to work on, and rock solid. Yes, parts are expensive but there are no complaints on my end. I'd definitely repower with a Volvo in the future.

I had a Sea Tow captain stop by my boat to look at it and he had many compliments; but when I mentioned the Volvo he jokingly said "all was great until you mentioned Volvo". Maybe I got lucky... (knock on wood and stroke my rabbits foot several times)

I checked out their site, hoping to find a photo of the separate shower/head, but nothing yet. Very nice boat, nice ideas, built-in swim platform done very nicely. Three wipers, decent cockpit. Walkways must be foot width only. Wish my engine room looked that clean and unobstructed. Thanks for not making it a fly-bridge.

Fantastic fitout for a boat of that size, I like it! but wondered about the shower/head as well.

I like it. A great canal cruiser.

healhustler said:

I checked out their site, hoping to find a photo of the separate shower/head, but nothing yet. Very nice boat, nice ideas, built-in swim platform done very nicely. Three wipers, decent cockpit. Walkways must be foot width only. Wish my engine room looked that clean and unobstructed. Thanks for not making it a fly-bridge.

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Service on demand..

and she has a "Walk-Trough" transome..

Don,
CANAL CRUISER!
Why a canal cruiser?
I hope you're not implying one needs a 40' boat to venture out of rivers.

Love your post again Spy. Green .... pick your color?

The boat looks WONDERFUL except for the fwd visibility.

Moonstruck said:

I like it. A great canal cruiser.

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Of course!

Ditto on the "greenies." I have two and would never by another boat with Volvos due to Volvo's failure to support engines that are no longer in production, not to mention that their parts cost triple those of CAT or Cummins. The boat itself is quite impressive considering it's size.

ancora said:

Ditto on the "greenies." I have two and would never by another boat with Volvos due to Volvo's failure to support engines that are no longer in production, not to mention that their parts cost triple those of CAT or Cummins. The boat itself is quite impressive considering it's size.

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I really don't understand the discussion about the engine???? I am sure if you want to buy one with an E-Motor they put an E-Motor there, if you want a Ford Lehman they most probably ask you; where the hack we buy one for you, but we do.

My post was not about engines but about the change in design ideas, smaller - more creative with limited space, this all pushed by the world wide economic situation.

Quote: My post was not about engines but about the change in design ideas, smaller - more creative with limited space, this all pushed by the world wide economic situation.

Reiziger, I agree, too often the thread wanders afield, even when the wandering is interesting. Engines are a subject of unlimited debate. Your intent is to raise interest in what manufactures are doing to accommodate the most in the smallest package. Below is a site depicting our boat which I mention as the accomadations are very similar and brings forth many completmentry comments on how a small trawler has all of these spacious concepts in such a small package. The boat in the advertisement is not ours, one we were considering, but is very close in discription. The fact that a 1978 model has the same theams and interior layout including the engine.
The improvement in wiring system is outstanding. To, I am going to jump on the shower pole system. I can use that over the hanging wand currently in use.
Enjoy the thread, thanks for sharing.
Al-Ketchikan (Bridge to Nowhere) Alaska

1978 Marben Flybridge Trawler Pilothouse Pocket Cruiser Title

manyboats said:

Don,
CANAL CRUISER!
Why a canal cruiser?
I hope you're not implying one needs a 40' boat to venture out of rivers.

Love your post again Spy. Green .... pick your color?

The boat looks WONDERFUL except for the fwd visibility.

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It is a great boat, Eric. I said a great canal cruiser because its heavy construction, and low profile fits the requirements for cruising the many Dutch. Belgian, and French canals. No doubt many will be used for that. It was not to infer that it would not be fit for other types of cruising. It could very well.

Moonstruck said:

It is a great boat, Eric. I said a great canal cruiser because its heavy construction, and low profile fits the requirements for cruising the many Dutch. Belgian, and French canals. No doubt many will be used for that. It was not to infer that it would not be fit for other types of cruising. It could very well.

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and NO Fly-Bridge, must give this little ship an extreme low CG (read seaworthiness)

OK Good Don and I really love the low profile. Everybody knows what I think of FBs. But if I had good one on a great boat I probably would'nt take it off. A FB like an Eagle 32. But my Willard 30 FB would definitely go. Fortunately a PO took it off.

The Vri-jon may not be heavy construction Don but one would assume a steel boat would be. There was a quite popular 26' steel cruiser in the early 50s called a (are ya ready?) Steelcraft. Haven't seen even a rusty one for a long time.

Re the low profile of the Vri-jon. I think it would fit in here on the Pacific West Coast w a swoopier sheer and less freeboard. Then it would seem even lower yet. May not be a good idea to cut-r-down though because valuable space within may go w the chop job. But the sheer line needs something. Those that buy or build tall boats just can't afford long and lean.

Reiziger said:

and NO Fly-Bridge, must give this little ship an extreme low CG (read seaworthiness)

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Not necessarily and a low center of gravity can cause uncomfortable motion...looking at pics and determining seaworthiness is a huge mistake.

Dutchman: That head and separate shower are really something. Do you know the layout, like if they are across from each other, port and starboard? It's hard to imagine that there's much space left for storage. Thanks for finding those photos.

The Volvo is a good engine, but kind-of like American Diesel (Bob Smith) did for Lehmans, the old Volvo owners need something other than Volvo to supply parts.

psneeld said:

Not necessarily and a low center of gravity can cause uncomfortable motion...looking at pics and determining seaworthiness is a huge mistake.

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Comfort is not the same as seaworthiness. I prefer this little vessel for a North Sea rite well over a lot of Plastic Trawlers with a parked RV on the deck-house.

The majority of the Mega Yachts are build in Steel (hull/Alu superstructure) and in The Netherlands.

I know that in the US steel yachts are something "not done" but try to look beyond your scope.

Reiziger said:

Comfort is not the same as seaworthiness. I prefer this little vessel for a North Sea rite well over a lot of Plastic Trawlers with a parked RV on the deck-house.

The majority of the Mega Yachts are build in Steel (hull/Alu superstructure) and in The Netherlands.

I know that in the US steel yachts are something "not done" but try to look beyond your scope.

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If you are too beat up to continue watch with a sharp mind...you will care about comfort as much as seaworthiness...You can kill yourself from bad decisions after a rough day in an intracoastal waterway if you are all beatup from a stiff motion boat.

I'm not saying that floating condos are seaworthy...but just looking at a picture in NO WAY can one know ANYTHING about it's stability...that's all I'm saying in addition to too much stability can be a bad thing.....

Just like some here think they can determine speed and efficiency from a picture and have been proven wrong countless times...

My "scope" is not easily discerned from a few internet posts...guessing seems to be a big pastime around here...

Reiziger wrote;
"I know that in the US steel yachts are something "not done" but try to look beyond your scope."
Your view that we should look over the fence is well taken. There are wonderful boats in this world that are quite unlike what we are accustomed to and we tend to dismiss them without much thought. Here is a good example

http://www.ybw.com/fileBank/PDF/23558_bottar35_mby_2_00.pdf

Make a special note of the FB design. Never seen one like that on US shores but I personally would prefer it to most of what I've seen. Looking overseas is a good way to get thinking out of the box.

manyboats said:

http://www.ybw.com/fileBank/PDF/23558_bottar35_mby_2_00.pdf

Make a special note of the FB design. Never seen one like that on US shores but I personally would prefer it to most of what I've seen. Looking overseas is a good way to get thinking out of the box.

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Eric, check out this Midnight Lace designed by Tom Fexas. Now there was a guy who could think outside the box. Notice the bridge in particular.

1985 Midnight Lace 44 Express Rumrunner Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Well now, wait a minute. I guess a fly-bridge version could be tastefully done, but for the important cockpit space taken by the ladder. Of course, it could be done in a hatch-like cutout similar to a Prarie 29.

Don what a bunch of nice lines. Those bow riding cockpits were not "out of the box" in the past.

I'm surprised the FB dosn't look half bad. This boat is full of great details like the big scuppers and the exhaust in the rub rail.

manyboats said:

Don what a bunch of nice lines. Those bow riding cockpits were not "out of the box" in the past.

I'm surprised the FB dosn't look half bad. This boat is full of great details like the big scuppers and the exhaust in the rub rail.

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Fexas designed it in the "spirit" of the old New York commuter boats. Long and lean with easy planing surfaces the hull allowed good speeds with surprisingly low power. It's no wonder the bow cockpit caused you to harken back to that era. It was meant to.

Moonstruck said:

Eric, check out this Midnight Lace designed by Tom Fexas. Now there was a guy who could think outside the box. Notice the bridge in particular.

1985 Midnight Lace 44 Express Rumrunner Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

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Powderhorn sheer. Ugh.