Boat search for the Loop

All,

Brand new to the forum, but looking for a boat that would work on the loop.

We have some personal requirements, but sure there are a ton of things we have not thought of.

Some of the goals:
Probably get somewhere in the 32 to 38 ft range. Like small for ease of docking, tight areas, and costs, but big enough for reasonable comfort for two.
Would like to consider a semi planing hull to get some speed when wanted, but not at the cost of sacrificing much low end speed economy for range.
Would like to occasionally handle 4 of us for a few days, but bulk of the time will be 2.
Would like to have a dingy, and possibly take with a windsurfer.
Of course AC, gen and plenty of water and fuel is a must.
I'd probably sell the boat when the trip is done especially if it wouldn't fit on my 20K lift with a 12 ft beam limit, but who knows.

The mid 30s Grand Banks look pretty good, but at my current level, have little clue.

What are some options that I'd want to look at?

Current experience is with cruisers and operate a 280 Sundancer for now.

We have a 38 bayliner. Is a great boat for the loop and will top out at 17 knots. Has prop pockets so little draft. Boat is well put together and there is plenty of info about them. Seems prices have gone up a tad recently, but can be had for a decent price.

There is a topic named "Boat Search 101" at the top of the general discussion forum that will help you out.

High Wire said:

There is a topic named "Boat Search 101" at the top of the general discussion forum that will help you out.

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High,

That's a good source, will look it over. Thx.

Budget?

I know of a few 36 Monks and 36 GBs that have been bought for the Loop and sold when done with the trip. The 36 Monks seem to do well with purchase and resale after the Loop.

BobH said:

Budget?

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This. You could spend $30k to $3M. Need some idea of a range.


David

Seevee said:

What are some options that I'd want to look at?



Current experience is with cruisers and operate a 280 Sundancer for now.

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Answer this question and the rest should be self explanatory. Why not use your 280 Sundancer? You already own it.

Wife and I have contemplated using a 330 Sundancer to do the same trip.

If you're serious check out www.flyinlowsale.com

timjet said:

If you're serious check out www.flyinlowsale.com

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That's a great looking boat, and a great deal for someone.


David

timjet said:

If you're serious check out www.flyinlowsale.com

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I swear you and John Baker are two peas in a pod. Same boat. Same name. Same occupation. What else do you two share?

Thanks for all the replies....

Budget is in the $50 to $100K range.

My 280 Sundancer is way too small and inefficient. Great boat for the inter coastal here, short trips of ~100 miles or so. Lacks storage, fuel, water, range. However, for it's current mission it's absolutely great, and very reasonable.

I want a few creature comforts and ability to go a 300 miles or better and get great gas mileage that a trawler will give. Plus the room, storage and area for a second two folks for a few days. While one can do the loop with a cruiser, seems like a lot is at slow speeds where a diesel trawler would excel in economy and comfort. I had a 310 Formula which was VERY comfortable, but at 1 nm per gallon, it wasn't the boat either.

The www.flyinlowsale.com looks really interesting. After this storm I need to look at it, as it's right in my neighborhood.

I've read through the Boat Search 101, a lot of good points, but feel like I'm a bit past that and want to start nailing down the boats that fit the bill.

Would LOVE to heard from folks that have done the loop in 30 to 40 ft boats and hear their comments as to what they liked and didn't like about their boat and if they did it again, what would they do different for a boat.

Thanks again for all the great replies.

CPseudonym said:

I swear you and John Baker are two peas in a pod. Same boat. Same name. Same occupation. What else do you two share?

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John had the name first. When we bought the boat my wife 'saw it some where else and said that's the right name for this boat.

Yes same occupation but I retired last year. I loved my job and would still be at it if the FAA would let me.

I also loved this boat. It turned out to be the perfect boat for us. It took us a couple of years to chase off all the gremlins but it's perfect for a couple. We brought it back home from the Chessie last winter but if it were entirely up to me we'd still be on it somewhere up in Canada.

I priced it right to sell without a broker. It's a firm price and yes I believe it will be a good deal for someone.

SeeVee-

I think that a significant consideration when looking for a "loop boat," is your cruising style. Marina to marina, tying up to docks every night is a lot different than anchoring out most of the time. IF you are considering docking most nights, side decks and fore/aft access are much less of an issue. IF you plan on anchoring out a lot, or picking up mooring buoys regularly, good, easy, safe side/foredeck access is a major benefit. This could be provided by either wide side decks and/or access from pilot house doors. Another consideration is managing all of the locks. Again, easy bow/stern access is needed to manage lines. Everyone seems to work out a solution, regardless of boat style, but we had very wide side decks on our PDQ powercat that were safe and comfortable to use under all conditions, and we really appreciated the wide decks going through about 200 locks last summer.

dvd said:

SeeVee-

I think that a significant consideration when looking for a "loop boat," is your cruising style. Marina to marina, tying up to docks every night is a lot different than anchoring out most of the time. IF you are considering docking most nights, side decks and fore/aft access are much less of an issue. IF you plan on anchoring out a lot, or picking up mooring buoys regularly, good, easy, safe side/foredeck access is a major benefit. This could be provided by either wide side decks and/or access from pilot house doors. Another consideration is managing all of the locks. Again, easy bow/stern access is needed to manage lines. Everyone seems to work out a solution, regardless of boat style, but we had very wide side decks on our PDQ powercat that were safe and comfortable to use under all conditions, and we really appreciated the wide decks going through about 200 locks last summer.

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DVD,

We are mostly hang on the hook guys, but enjoy taking a dingy in for dinner or roaming around... and occasionally at a marina for the conveniences. Personally, I don't like restaurants... my worst meal on the boat it always better than the best meal at a restaurant, plus no waiting, no BS and no surprises. But the Admiral likes it occasionally.

Good thoughts, thanks.

Seevee said:

Probably get somewhere in the 32 to 38 ft range. Like small for ease of docking, tight areas, and costs, but big enough for reasonable comfort for two.
Would like to consider a semi planing hull to get some speed when wanted, but not at the cost of sacrificing much low end speed economy for range.
Would like to occasionally handle 4 of us for a few days, but bulk of the time will be 2.
Would like to have a dingy, and possibly take with a windsurfer.
Of course AC, gen and plenty of water and fuel is a must.

Click to expand...

You're asking for some things there that will push you toward the upper end of your size range, if not above.

Sleeping 4, Dingy, possible windsurfer, AC, gen, plenty of water and fuel are all things that require space.

As to semi planing and speed without sacrificing much low end economy is a matter of defining much. You can still get good economy but you're not going to get the levels of economy that some trawler owners brag about.

You also have to ask what speed after running a Sundancer you can live with. You talk about most of the loop being run at slow speeds. Well, outside of the canals (Erie, Hudson, Oswego), that's by choice and based on boats that can't run fast. We've cruised from 15 knots to 28 knots and outside of canals with speed limits we've never run at 6 or 7 knots.

You'll have to look a good bit and examine different boats before you decide where to compromise. Bayliner's and Mainship's are popular in the size ranges you talk about. Grand Banks in your price range are going to be close to 40 years old and most of those need a good bit of work at that point. Meanwhile the Carver pointed out is less than half that age.

Speed of course is a personal desire and depends on the boat. One thing I will say that experience has taught me is that once you get use to planning speeds, it's hard to go back.
I get 1 mpg at planning speeds, pretty typical of boats my size. I get 2 mpg at displacement speeds, displacement hulls do better.

With fuel at $2/gal, I find cruising at displacement speeds all day hard to do.

Go to the "Great Loop Association" website and you'll see that a huge variety of size and type of boats have made the trip. There are many "one and done" boats for sale from past loopers. Good luck

Paul

Quit searching and look here. It is even in your back yard.

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s9/98-carver-355-twin-diesel-sale-27962.html#post475673

Yes, speed is probably a personal thing. Even with our Sundancer, which cruises very nice at 30kts, over half of the time we're cruising slow. It's an "inter coastal" boat and there's just a lot of no wake zones. Doesn't bother us, and the Admiral prefers slow, and at the helm, she's in charge.

With a Loop trip, we'd like the option of speed. I'd suspect, from what I read, that there will be times to put some miles behind to spend more time at other places. This would not be any kind of a race for us, but we stay pretty active with other things, so their will be a "sort" of schedule.

Scheduling, we will avoid being where it's cold, so no winter traveling much north of the southern US, and that looks like about 2500 to 3000 miles worth when I would avoid the 4 winter months. Absolutely no snow routes. That should be plenty of time without rushing at all.

Another option (and we probably will) is to leave the boat for a while (a few weeks to maybe a season), and do other thing to return later to continue. Would suspect there's some good options for this.

If money is not considered the Great Harbor F 37 tricked out with thrusters, electronics, solar and so forth. Low for bridges, shallow draft, very comfortable, easy on fuel, maneuverable. Kinda slow but the great loop should be slow.

Mule said:

If money is not considered the Great Harbor F 37 tricked out with thrusters, electronics, solar and so forth. Low for bridges, shallow draft, very comfortable, easy on fuel, maneuverable. Kinda slow but the great loop should be slow.

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I had a slip neighbor with a Great Harbor 37 once. Just no outdoor living at all on that thing. Seemed like a floating cargo container box to me. But all said above is true. Comfortable and seaworthy. I need a flybridge myself. That's why there are so many boats to choose from. To each, their own!


David

Can't get much better than a 36 Albin. Especially if you can fine one with the 210 Cummins in it.

IF its just for the loop, and not a lifestyle , most any IO of 23 ft and up will do just fine for a couple.

With some effort you can have a ZERO round trip, sell the boat $5,000 - $7500 for what you paid for it.

The loop is very enjoyable , but a snooz for most any boat.

Mule said:

If money is not considered the Great Harbor F 37 tricked out with thrusters, electronics, solar and so forth. Low for bridges, shallow draft, very comfortable, easy on fuel, maneuverable. Kinda slow but the great loop should be slow.

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Looks like a nice boat but money is always a consideration, no matter how much one has. Budget for this boat is probably in the 50 to 100K. Can go more for something special.

I would probably lean toward a popular boat that had a lot of appeal if the goal ended up to sell it after the trip. Especially if it didn't fit on my lift which is limited to 20,000 lbs and 12 ft beam.

fireant4040 said:

Can't get much better than a 36 Albin. Especially if you can fine one with the 210 Cummins in it.

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Fireant,

Albin looks interesting. Looking at a few, no swim platform. Is that normal? A swim platform and open back end cockpit are high on the list of qualities.

I've kinda put the motor yachts on the back burner just because most just don't have much outdoor living space, where we really like to spend time.

Seevee said:

Looks like a nice boat but money is always a consideration, no matter how much one has. Budget for this boat is probably in the 50 to 100K. Can go more for something special.

I would probably lean toward a popular boat that had a lot of appeal if the goal ended up to sell it after the trip. Especially if it didn't fit on my lift which is limited to 20,000 lbs and 12 ft beam.

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I see the tail wagging the dog. Are you saying if you had a boat you liked, you'd get rid of the boat rather than the lift?

In another few years, one of the better choices for the loop will be Beneteau Swift Trawlers. Right now they're all still too new to fit in your price range. One of the first exposures US boaters had to them was the 34' doing the loop.

The Greatest Loop By Beneteau

Now clearly that was just done for show, not for pleasure, as they did it in 71 days. Regardless, it was a great publicity stunt.

BandB said:

I see the tail wagging the dog. Are you saying if you had a boat you liked, you'd get rid of the boat rather than the lift?

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Lift is staying. I've re built it three times every time I got a bigger boat. I could re build it again, but to get much more would require just about starting over. Besides a boat so big that wouldn't fit on the lift would be too big for my local needs. I don't want a big boat for up and down the inter coastal and west coast.

BandB said:

In another few years, one of the better choices for the loop will be Beneteau Swift Trawlers. Right now they're all still too new to fit in your price range. One of the first exposures US boaters had to them was the 34' doing the loop.

The Greatest Loop By Beneteau

Now clearly that was just done for show, not for pleasure, as they did it in 71 days. Regardless, it was a great publicity stunt.

Click to expand...

BandB

You're right, what a NICE boat! Very few on the market, suspect this is a really new model, and yes, more than I wish to spend at this time.

Question for you: Would the mast on a boat like this normally be such that it could swing down for clearance?