Purchasing a defever 44 without stabilizers...Thoughts??

Hi Everyone,

New member, what a great site! I have learned so much reading your posts the last three months as my wife and i have looked for a trawler for our family to live aboard and cruise the waters of puget sound.

We are looking at a defever 44 that doesn't have stabilizers. Going to be cruising protected waters around seattle and eventually head up into the san juans and the strait of Georgia, bellingham, etc.

How would a defever 44 without stabilizers behave in these conditions?

I don't have any experience on a full displacement hull and would love to hear your thoughts. By the way, our five year old and our dog will be joining us. Little FYI...

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.

I can't speak form experience but most of the 44 and 49 Defevers I've seen, have paravanes. But then again where you want to go is pretty protected.

I think you'll be fine without stabilizers. Granted, we live onboard a semi-displacement without stabilization- we have had no problems in all our travels around the Puget Sound/Salish Sea areas. Also, our boat has mad multiple trips from Seattle to Southern California with the previous owner, all without drama.

Welcome!

Stabilizers or not, cruising in the Salish Sea region is dependent on weather, tides and currents. Most of the boats out there do not have stabilizers and cruise just fine even up to Alaska. Know your limits and enjoy your time aboard. The Defever will do just fine.

We have cruised here a bunch in a 25', 30' and now a 36' boat with no stabilizers. Planning and Patience payoff.

On a typical summer day with favorable weather you will be happy with the ride, turning into the passing boat wakes to minimize roll. Don't forget or you may have some broken dishes. Crossing the straits of Georgia or Juan de Fuca may take you longer as you may tack across to minimize roll from a beam sea, or even crossing from Seattle to Bainbridge. You and your passengers will get more enjoyment from a stabilized hull. And your boat will get more use year round. I recommend you get a stabilized DF or add them, and they are not cheap. That was my experience with my DF 46. I added active fin stabilizers and the difference in the ride is dramatic. No more broken dishes or Dramamine.

drb1025 said:

On a typical summer day with favorable weather you will be happy with the ride, turning into the passing boat wakes to minimize roll. Don't forget or you may have some broken dishes. Crossing the straits of Georgia or Juan de Fuca may take you longer as you may tack across to minimize roll from a beam sea, or even crossing from Seattle to Bainbridge. You and your passengers will get more enjoyment from a stabilized hull. And your boat will get more use year round. I recommend you get a stabilized DF or add them, and they are not cheap. That was my experience with my DF 46. I added active fin stabilizers and the difference in the ride is dramatic. No more broken dishes or Dramamine.

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What he said. IMHO keep looking for that right DF. They are out there, your future resale will benefit from stabilizers as well.

I would expect a Defever 44 to be priced at the low-end of the market range without stabilizers. While not a true full-displacement hull, it's close enough not to quibble about and will roll in any kind of beam or quartering sea. It's all a question of how much it bothers you or your passengers. With the stabilizers on, you'll be rock-steady in conditions that you'd otherwise be breaking dishes. If it were me, I'd negotiate hard, using the lack of stabilizers as an argument to lower the price (probably not the first time the owner will have heard it) and then put the savings toward some stabilizers. Good luck; they're great boats.

Thanks everyone. I figured they were valuable as most defevers I've seen have them. Yep...will deal accordingly. I did mention the dog and five year old...well there are also a few cats joining us. I guess we could turn it into a fun and ongoing game of "who pukes first". Cheers.

For San Juans you don't have to have them but a nice addition. For open ocean they become invaluable!

Not many boats are ready to be a live a board in the cold wet Puget sound winter. So make sure you talk to marinas and other live a board's be for you buy. Electrinics stabilize has little to do with live aboard. The majorit of first time live a boards do not make it thru the winter. There are very few year around live aboard. Just saying,

Also the significant other have the majority decision on the boat and marina as they have a better sense of what it takes to be a live aboard.

Brandon said:

I did mention the dog and five year old...well there are also a few cats joining us. I guess we could turn it into a fun and ongoing game of "who pukes first". Cheers.

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I would also upgrade the wash down pump.

Ka_sea_ta said:

I can't speak form experience but most of the 44 and 49 Defevers I've seen, have paravanes. But then again where you want to go is pretty protected.

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I have seen a good many Defever 44/49s and I have never seen them with paravanes. Maybe it is a regional thing or maybe you are using paravane and stabilizers synonymously??

To the OP, as everyone said, you should be fine. Great boat...enjoy it!! And welcome aboard!!

Baker said:

I have seen a good many Defever 44/49s and I have never seen them with paravanes. Maybe it is a regional thing or maybe you are using paravane and stabilizers synonymously??

To the OP, as everyone said, you should be fine. Great boat...enjoy it!! And welcome aboard!!

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I was looking at what I wrote and I was using Paravane as a stabilizer... And I think that is what a lot of the 49 defevers use at least they are the ones that standout as being stabilized... Where I screwed up was that 44 I mistaking took for a pilot house design...

Ka_sea_ta said:

I was looking at what I wrote and I was using Paravane as a stabilizer... And I think that is what a lot of the 49 defevers use at least they are the ones that standout as being stabilized... Where I screwed up was that 44 I mistaking took for a pilot house design...

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Phil Fill said:

Not many boats are ready to be a live a board in the cold wet Puget sound winter. So make sure you talk to marinas and other live a board's be for you buy. Electrinics stabilize has little to do with live aboard. The majorit of first time live a boards do not make it thru the winter. There are very few year around live aboard. Just saying,

Also the significant other have the majority decision on the boat and marina as they have a better sense of what it takes to be a live aboard.

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You mean it's not just the size of the engine room???

I have an old Passage Maker magazine from 2013, the year Art DeFever passed away which has an article on a couple of 49 footers. According to their owners, once their installed Naiad stabilizers were turned off, could not turn them back on fast enough.

Goldenstar38 said:

I have an old Passage Maker magazine from 2013, the year Art DeFever passed away which has an article on a couple of 49 footers. According to their owners, once their installed Naiad stabilizers were turned off, could not turn them back on fast enough.

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That is likely true of any stabilized boat. You don't know how good they are until you have them...and they are turned off!

Brandon said:

You mean it's not just the size of the engine room???

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For you the size of the engine room as that maybe where she banishs you to.

To be on the save side, I carpeted the engine room, install a heating system so I at least had some basic comforts.

So true

This is so true. We have a stabilized 2003 Ocean Alexander 456. This is a semi displacement hull. The difference in the ride between stabilized and unstabilized is night and day.

Gordon

Baker said:

That is likely true of any stabilized boat. You don't know how good they are until you have them...and they are turned off!

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Not having stabilizers on a boat that your interested in should not be a deal breaker. I agree they would be nice to have, provided you understand the maintenance required to keep them in operational condition. Like any other system on boats today, the more systems you have the more maintenance that is needed.
Just for the record, we are pricing out Stabilizers for our boat. During our trip up north this year, from Portland to Kitamat and now back down to Puget waiting for the right time to head back to Portland, we counted maybe 3-4 times in 150 days where the Stabilizers would have been nice to have. We do plan on Alaska next year traveling through Canada on many of the same routes we did this year.
We traveled with another Selene that has stabilizers and they do notice a somewhat smoother ride, but in following seas and or beam seas not so much.
Yes they are pricey, expect to spend 50k for them.
But in the real world, a bunch of boats we saw cruising did not have stabilizers and they still enjoyed the trip.
Good luck on your search, just remember, you can always have them installed later if you really want them.

The way I see it from a purchasing standpoint...it is kind of like desiring a house with a pool. If you want a pool, Buy the house with the pool ALREADY installed because it is extremely expensive to install it afterwards.