Best quality/workmanship build trawler

Defender like as in those big RIBs so popular out there on the bay. Think the chase boats during the Americas Cup. They are great rough water boats. Not cheap, but pretty cool machines if one insists on boating in rough seas.

CMA: There are very few pleasure vessels out there under 49 ft. with a stand-up engine room. The over 43' Gulf Star is pretty good, Krogen 39, Selene and DeFeaver do a pretty good job in some models, a few custom builds, and the cavernous Great Harbour N-37 and N-47, maybe the odd Mathews or Nelson,....that's about all I can think of. This stiff old body dreams of a real stand-up ER someday.

Depending on how tall you are, Defever 44s have a near-stand-up engine room. They also have a huge, obstruction-free sundeck and flybridge--extensive usable space for a boat this size. They're also built like tanks and they easily fit into a 50-foot slip. Lots of boat for the money, but they do, as PHK notes, require attention to maintenance (which some of us actually don't mind).

Talk about thread drift!!! From quality built european boats to this... smh but going for it anyway.


All the hatches come up for direct access-that's standard. The hatch in the middle is custom, so you don't have to crawl back there through the "tunnel of knee pain".


490 Meridian in Alaska. I'm not seeing any other boats in the background. Don't make me post the photos of 4788s in Tracey's Arm, or down in front of the Sydney Opera House. :>)


Why most people don't ever do anything!


Ok, let's see if we can settle this argument you guys are having- now is it anchors or engine rooms, or US built versus foreign?


Fuel filters and fuel transfer valves

Engine room hatch in a 98 (all custom of course!) What is it, about 9' headroom? When you have to squat to work on something-it doesn't matter the headroom until you stand up. I ain't lying, it's tight down there- so I send in my Captain, who ironically is HUGE!

Sheeet! I thought that this thread was heading off into a single vs twin debate a dozen or so posts back. Maybe this post will get it back there since it has gone everywhere else so far. But no anchor discussion so far.

David

PK, lol, you've got some legit points there, and I'm sure you are constantly barraged with those customer struggles in your business, but I doubt that you're going to talk anyone out of the desire for a stand-up engine room, unrealistic though it may be. I'd be happier squatting in a stand-up engine room than I would squatting in a cramped crawl space.

pilothouse king said:

I wouldn't recommend ANY for going out to the Farallons!

Click to expand...

Really? Not even the DeFever? I think you'd get an argument from many that have ventured out that way (or anybody that's experienced any semi-rough, offshore conditions for that matter), including me.

Curious, other than the Defender, are there any other boats (under 55') that you think could possibly survive?

To CMA1992, don't be scared off of going offshore around here by these comments. You do need to be careful with which boat you choose and the conditions, but plenty do it.

Also, not all Nordhavn's have been built in Taiwan.

Owned both 4788 and Hatteras LRC

Cruised both up and down the west coast. If you are a week end warrior you will get a lot more actual use out of the 18knt 4788. In average summer conditions you can run from the Golden Gate to Monterrey in around 6 hrs. It will be a tie everything down and invert the dinning room table because that's how it will end up anyway trip. But the 4788 will do it safely. Farallons no problem usually. you can make day trips to Bodega Bay, cross the bar into Tomales bay and spend the weekend. The trip will be physical and wet. But you can do it on a weekend. The 4788 is a great delta boat, I mean you can actually run down to the bay and spend the weekend and be back Sunday afternoon. It's stable at anchor and fairly quiet. The 4788 has a great layout and reasonable fit and finish. The galley stove and frig are pretty much average production boat fare, as are the heads. It's a great boat if you can't afford the time to cruise at 6knts. It is not a 66,000lb Hatteras in the ocean or in living accommodations at the dock. If you have the time and patience the Hatteras is a much more rugged and comfortable boat. You have to realistic about how much your time means to you because it takes three times as long to cruise the Hatteras to the same places as the Bayliner 4788. I would say that most people will get more cruising done with the 4788 just on time restraints alone. You have to be honest with yourself and how you will actually cruise a boat. Remember custom boats have custom problems, one of the best features of the Bayliner is just the fact that there are so many of them.

djmarchand said:

Until you determine what the mission of your next boat will be, this thread will continue to wander all over the place. A Krogen Manatee fits one mission- coastal cruiser, displacement speed, high interior volume; a newer high hp Grand Banks fits another- getting there quick while looking yachty; and a Nordhavn fits a third mission- long distance blue water passagemaking (as well as snob appeal).

David

Click to expand...

That's not a direct answer to the question but it's the best response so far. If the boat isn't a good fit for the OP's wants and needs, it doesn't matter how well it's built, it will just sit at the dock and eventually have a "for sale" sign on it.

Buying a boat is a complicated decision with lots of compromises but the first thing that needs to be decided is "Why do I want to buy a boat?" And of course "How much money can I afford to buy, maintain and operate it?"

pilothouse king said:

That's because both were built in Taiwan. :lol:

Click to expand...

Nordhavns are built in Xiamen, China. I've been through the plant.

Marin said:

Nordhavns are built in Xiamen, China. I've been through the plant.

Click to expand...

Some of them. Most of them at this point. But the MS56, N64, N68, N72, and N76 are all built in Taiwan at the Ta Shing ship yard. And the 57 and 62 was built there as well. Maybe the 50 too.

South Cost ship yard is the one in Xiamen and they build the 40, 43, 47, 55, 60, 86, , 92, and 120. They also built all the 46s. South Coast was originally in Taiwan too, but moved to Xaimen sometime in the early 2000s.

Probably more than you want to know.....

Nsail said:

Really? Not even the DeFever? I think you'd get an argument from many that have ventured out that way (or anybody that's experienced any semi-rough, offshore conditions for that matter), including me.

Curious, other than the Defender, are there any other boats (under 55') that you think could possibly survive?

To CMA1992, don't be scared off of going offshore around here by these comments. You do need to be careful with which boat you choose and the conditions, but plenty do it.

Also, not all Nordhavn's have been built in Taiwan.

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure any boat would survive in benign seas,, but that doesn't make them the best tool for the job. If not having to wait for good conditions, I stand by Defender as the best for the job. I have promotional literature of a Bluewater being run back and forth across the potato patch in a strong ebb tide as their builders proof of their sea worthiness but I'm not going to recomend them either. But would you agree most all Norhavns have been built by Chinese? I say most just in case there's an errant Irishman camouflaged on the assembly line. y