who has the best trawler???

What is the best trawler to do the loop, two people normally but sometimes four. Not a true live aboard. A week or two on board, Rating comfort first , ease of maintenance second, and maybe resale next.. economy also a consideration.

I'd suggest you start searching threads and start reading a lot!!! Which came first the chicken or the egg?

There is no "best", just the "best for you."

You say one to two weeks on board. That isn't typical for the loop.

What is your experience? Are you ok with 10 knots as a maximum speed or do you feel the need to go faster sometimes? Kids? Grandkids? Pets aboard?

Trawler isn't even a well defined word. It's derivation was actually from fishing.

So, starting with some givens. Height must be under 19'1" to do the loop. That's the only bridge with no alternate route. Other routes that do have alternates only accommodate 15' or so.

Draft. Less is better. Some would say you want to be under 4'. I think 5' is acceptable. Some have as much as 6' but that is problematic in some areas. Anything more and I'd say definitely not a good boat for the loop.

Single or twin engines. We're fans of twins but single is definitely less costly to both operate and maintain and more than acceptable for the loop.

Now beyond that I'd say don't let the word Trawler influence you or a specific type boat, go for the one that meets your needs and you find most attractive. There are some none trawlers that make great loop boats such as Hatteras.

How many levels? I personally would want a bridge. It increases your usable space so without lengthening your boat. It is such a good place to spend time while underway and to see everything. Otherwise you're at a helm station and stuck inside.

Galley up or down? To us, galley up is a requirement. Otherwise while one is at the helm and the other preparing a meal you're separated.

Gas or Diesel? Absolutely Diesel for durability and maintenance costs.

Now length? There is cost with every foot in terms of docking and each additional foot adds to handling issues. But, I'd go for as much length as I could afford up to 50'. It's still a small area. You need the size for a nice galley, for storage, for comfortable living. Our loop boat is going to be 60' and that's on the upper end. Most would set 50' as max.

Based on your needs larger and fewer staterooms. Two is a good number both with nice sized baths. Decent stall showers, not "wet" (attachment in bath but no separate area). Full size refrigerator/freezer.

Good engine room space and storage area for spares.

Make sure the boat has easy means of getting around the full perimeter. Nice side decks and good rails. You do a lot of locking and docking.

I would definitely want a davit and space for a tender. That's where a flybridge and larger boat comes in handy. If not there at least on a stern platform. So much can be enjoyed on a tender or dinghy.

Easy to dock. I like thrusters especially on a single engine.

Do you like to fish? If so see how the cockpit seems to be set up to allow it.

Now we're to builders. Grand Banks may be the most used of all loop boats. Also Kadey Krogen. There are some great Hatteras boats in the size range but the cost of operating is more. Albin is popular. Boats like Princess and Sunseeker aren't trawlers or traditional loop boats but they can work well if you fit them within the dimensions. Many loopers use Sea Rays although they are more a sport boat. Carver is very popular, especially older ones. There are recent entries like the Beneteau Swift Trawler designed very much for the loop but the quality is questionable. Boats like Bering are very different being steel hulls, but excellent boats. I just see steel more for expeditions than looping.

I would look at boats and features before brands. Do as many boat shows as you can. Get a feel.

Excellent response IMHO.
Also, welcome aboard.

OD

Greetings,
I do.

One that you like and the one that never leaves you stranded.

northwind II said:

What is the best trawler to do the loop, two people normally but sometimes four. Not a true live aboard. A week or two on board, Rating comfort first , ease of maintenance second, and maybe resale next.. economy also a consideration.

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A 30' SeaRay would work well and give you the advantage of speed when you need it. We owned one for several years and with its 200 gallons of fuel storage genset, AC and full camper top you can stay aboard for weeks on end.

The speed advantage opens up all sorts of summertime fun on the Great Lakes which a slow trawler could not possibly do in one short summer. When you find yourself time short you can rack store it at many of the heated facilities that abound along your cruising route.

This comes from a guy who has boated on the rivers, lakes and salt water in question and currently owns a big slow trawler. There are probably a dozen of them for sale stored indoors right now. Fix them anywhere and trailer if you care to avoid some boring stuff.

sunchaser said:

Fix them anywhere and trailer if you care to avoid some boring stuff.

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That's our thought in having a custom trailer built for our Owens. A very small tweak or two and this boat will fulfill all of our desires for cruising North Americas interior lake and river systems.

Once a trailer is sourced there are plenty of small transport services available to re-locate the boat anywhere we desire to cruise at reasonable cost.

sunchaser said:

trailer if you care to avoid some boring stuff.

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Wifey B: Boring stuff? The water is never boring. How dare you even suggest such a sacrilegious thing....shame shame shame....hehe

Marine Trader 34. Everything you need and nothing more.

A couple of excellent posts. You should take into account that the loop is 6000 miles and numerous locks and likely many marinas.

Fuel economy may or may not be important to you but the difference between 2000 gallons of fuel and 6000 gallons is significant.

Also with the locks and docking think of the access from the pilot house for locking and docking.

If you go with a single engine make sure you have a bow thruster. Also give good weight to be able to launch and stow the dinghy easily.

Bay Pelican said:

Fuel economy may or may not be important to you but the difference between 2000 gallons of fuel and 6000 gallons is significant. .

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So what vessel gets 2000 and what 6000 gallons assigned to it?

northwind II said:

What is the best trawler to do the loop, two people normally but sometimes four. Not a true live aboard. A week or two on board, Rating comfort first , ease of maintenance second, and maybe resale next.. economy also a consideration.

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THIS ONE!!!

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s9/skinny-dippin-sale-35-senator-sundeck-13584.html

:lol:

CPseudonym said:

That's our thought in having a custom trailer built for our Owens. A very small tweak or two and this boat will fulfill all of our desires for cruising North Americas interior lake and river systems.

Once a trailer is sourced there are plenty of small transport services available to re-locate the boat anywhere we desire to cruise at reasonable cost.

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Very accurate Craig but sniff, it does away with the slow trawler concept. One need go no further than the marinas around St Louis, Louisville, Nashville, Toronto or Charlevoix to find the popular vessels of choice for the inland lakes and rivers. Hint, they are not displacement speed vessels.

sunchaser said:

Very accurate Craig but sniff, it does away with the slow trawler concept. One need go no further than the marinas around St Louis, Louisville, Nashville, Toronto or Charlevoix to find the popular vessels of choice for the inland lakes and rivers. Hint, they are not displacement speed vessels.

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Egg - zact - ly 100% correct sir

We just do not like the exterior aesthetics of the Sea Ray so are willing to modify our current planing hulls interior for the task. I can also clear any bridge with 10' or more clearance without an opening allowing me to take full advantage of my speed if we desire.

In deference to my displacement hull purist friends though, I hereby pinky swear that we will slow to six knots when in a scenic(non boring) section of waterway.

Go to trawlerfest - soon and near you. Go on every boat. Write down your likes and dislikes. Ask the captains or brokers a million questions. Look at the mechanicals and the comforts. You can see about a hundred boats.

2014 Trawler Fest – Lake Park, FL | PassageMaker

Come back and ask the question again, grasshopper.

Ben said:

Go to trawlerfest - soon and near you. Go on every boat. Write down your likes and dislikes. Ask the captains or brokers a million questions. Look at the mechanicals and the comforts. You can see about a hundred boats.

2014 Trawler Fest – Lake Park, FL | PassageMaker

Come back and ask the question again, grasshopper.

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For the OP, go to the inland water boat shows too for a completely different view of water travel.

Great info above. I didn't get any impression of your budget, even though "resale" was one of your criteria. My Admiral and I began looking for a loop boat about 6 years ago while living in Berlin. We wanted shallow draft, single diesel, large rudder, full-displacement for max economy, separate shower, bow thruster, enclosed fly-bridge or raised pilothouse, twin anchors on pulpit, windlass, A/C-heat, high storage capacity, 40 ft. or under length overall, under 15 ft. height with mast down, non-depreciating vessel (or as close to it as we could get), decent machinery spaces, full keel, generator and space for solar, large tankage, range over 1000 mi., minimum outside maintenance, swim platform, layout principally designed for two, fiberglass hull, space for two reclining chairs, good visibility from helm, easy to single hand, quiet.

Budget was under 200K
Here were the final candidates.

Pilgrim 40 1 stateroom, 1 head
Krogen Manatee 36 1 stateroom, 1 head
Willard 40 1 or 2 stateroom, 1 or two head
Willard 36 1 stateroom, 1 head
Hatteras 42 LRC 2 stateroom, 2 head
Endeavour 36 Trawler Cat 3 stateroom, 1 head
PDQ 34 Trawler Cat 2 stateroom, 1 head
Fontaine Pajot 37 Trawler Cat 2 stateroom, 2 head

All these boats had compromises in various things, but met most of the criteria. The additional plus of the catamarans were that they could cruise in the teens, still with decent economy. The downside was that they were bringing more money. If guests are frequent, of course, two heads are polite, and they usually come with two staterooms.

If I was a limber, smaller guy, I'd probably go with the PDQ and pay the extra money. But I'm big and stiff, so the mono-hulls were a bit better for me. Of course, there are other great loop boats out there that I liked even more, but not for under 200.

Looking at "Skinny Dippin" above, I think that is also a very good candidate and exceptional value. Nice layout.

One more thing. If you need space to yourself, consider that all the boats I have listed are good for having multiple "separate" areas by which to enjoy the water. Assuming that you want to be next to your 1st mate every minute could often clash with what she has in mind. For each of you to have a space to be private might be something you'd want to discuss now instead of later.

A Willard 30 would do this loop w 1000 gallons.

Would a 3.5' draft work?

Then if you want less fuel burn and less draft an Albin 25'. The Albin has good resale value so buy one, do the loop and sell .. probably no cost other than maintenance. That's cheap and they burn .5 to .8 gph so you could loop for less than $3000 for boat and fuel. Providing you're good at buying and selling. Small quarters though.

We didn't know. It's as simple as that. So we went to boat shows. We were entranced by a Morgan Marek sailboat that had been lived on in the Caribbean for 8 years. Our old dock-masters former boat prior to his moving to land. This boat was a beautiful two cabin, solar powered, with water maker boat. Ultimately I came back to the familiar, power.

My admiral had a lot to do with it because she and I appreciated the interior space of the trawler, with many looks, we liked the two-cabin layout of the sundeck. We liked the master for us and a separate forward cabin for our girls and guests. Ironically, I our boat, the forward berth is more spacious than our rectangular full size master berth. This I would change, being six foot tall. Sometimes my feet dangle or I whack the side night stand when I roll over. Ouch! Also, we like labs. The swimming kind, not the science location. A sopping wet 80-pound lab is a beast to haul up sundeck stairs, so this we might change.

I like a single engine because it's more economical. Set the throttle and cruise all day on minimal fuel. Twins might get you more speed and a feeling of security but the single is simple, mechanic just works on the one motor. Twins are fun for docking too, so it was not a clear and easy choice.

Biggest question to answer - how will you use the boat 90% of the time? Sure, 10% you may have lots of guests or do something unusual, but who cares. Think of the 90%. If you have family or friends that will visit, how many will there be, and where will they sleep? Will you cruise all day or just anchor out 5 miles from your slip? Are you comfortable in small engine rooms or do you need a walk-in (crouch-in)? Do you fish a lot?

The sundeck is not so easy to fish from. Not so easy to swim from. So our next may consider a Europa, given our fishing, swimming, and large dog affections...

Still, love that big master.

Wow... Thanks for all the interest... Band B lots of smart questions. Great... thank you. Ben.. will do about lake park this month. Will you be there ? . and the second post is another great question. Healhustler... I think you've been there before.. so this advice is of great value.
Manyboats.... my friend says she won't row...lazy bitch...I love that boat.

Alormaeia, going to research that the Marine 34 right now. Bay Pelican ... will you accept a passenger..? And you are very correct... 2000 and 6000 are very different.

sunchaser said:

For the OP, go to the inland water boat shows too for a completely different view of water travel.

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Hey for me, I am curious about the differences. Any boat shows you'd recommend east of the Mississippi?

northwind II said:

Alormaeia, going to research that the Marine 34 right now. Bay Pelican ... will you accept a passenger..? And you are very correct... 2000 and 6000 are very different.

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Marine Trader 34?

If so, google "trawler beach house". Chuck used to post on here, but pretty much he and his wife live aboard and take great pictures of cabin and mechanical work on their Marine Trader 34 as they write boating publications. Their blog is extensive! Lots of mechanical tips with photos. They've taken that boat deep into the Bahamas, my dream destination of the future.

Whatever you do and whatever boat you get, don't just move in and do the loop right away. Take a couple of years (yes, years) to learn all aspects of cruising. Learn how to anchor, dock, and handle the things that will go wrong. Take your time and become a full part of the cruising community. Do the things your wife wants to do - driving hard along the inland rivers with commercial traffic all around probably isn't on her list.

There are way too many people who jump onto their new-to-them boat, do the loop, and immediate sell it because they didn't really know how to operate the boat and it ended up scaring them or they found that moving so hard over the 5,000 miles wasn't for them. That's the biggest shame because doing the loop is not the slow, comfortable, and livelong pleasure of the cruising lifestyle. It's more often than not a "bucket list" checkoff item when done right away - it ends up costing much more than anticipated followed by the sale of the boat at a reduced price.

Go up and down the coastline a few times. Head off to the Bahamas and the Keys a few times. After that, you'd be ready to tackle the long loop if it still interested you.

ActiveCaptain said:

Whatever you do and whatever boat you get, don't just move in and do the loop right away. Take a couple of years (yes, years) to learn all aspects of cruising. Learn how to anchor, dock, and handle the things that will go wrong. Take your time and become a full part of the cruising community. Do the things your wife wants to do - driving hard along the inland rivers with commercial traffic all around probably isn't on her list.

There are way too many people who jump onto their new-to-them boat, do the loop, and immediate sell it because they didn't really know how to operate the boat and it ended up scaring them or they found that moving so hard over the 5,000 miles wasn't for them. That's the biggest shame because doing the loop is not the slow, comfortable, and livelong pleasure of the cruising lifestyle. It's more often than not a "bucket list" checkoff item when done right away - it ends up costing much more than anticipated followed by the sale of the boat at a reduced price.

Go up and down the coastline a few times. Head off to the Bahamas and the Keys a few times. After that, you'd be ready to tackle the long loop if it still interested you.

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That's the best advice one can get about this. I will add that you also must have intimate knowledge of the workings of one's boat. Things break always at the wrong time. You need to know what to do.

For two weeks? I'd rent a boat!