Anyone ever own or know anything about Harbor Master yachts?

Just wondering, not much info out there on these boats. Wondering how sea worthy they are. Seems like pretty much a inland river boat but that hull design makes me wounder how it would handle some light chop.

Used 2001 Harbor Master 520 Pilothouse Motor Yacht, Louisville, Ky - 40207 - BoatTrader.com

Dang, 1/4mm$? You could buy a real boat for that amount of money. I have no real idea if it’s seaworthiness, but note that they called it “Harbor” master. Not even “Lake” master. Or “Bay”.

Greetings,
Mr. r. I think your observation is valid that she is a calm water vessel. Nicely set up for lakes or canals. Seaworthy is a very vague term IMO. EVERY vessel can be considered seaworthy up to a point and that point varies with each vessel. Horses for courses.
A couple of observations...The dent in the bulkhead, from the toilet seat, makes me wonder what the bulkhead covering is and how prone it is to impact damage?
If you're going to watch the "big game" you'd have to do it from the dinette because you can't see the TV from 1/2 of the sofa.
NOT my kind of boat for a number of reasons (gas, I/O, stove in a bad spot-anything on the top of the stove will be flung off in a beam sea) but she looks nice.

RW

Check out their website. You'll see they have been in business for 30+ years making houseboats for the rivers and lakes of the US interior. Hundreds if not thousands made during the past nearly 4 decades. All the comforts of home if you're in shallow water locations and big waves not likely.

Houseboats rule once on big inland waters in the US. The money goes into the comfort factor items, with hull made for lighter duty. And boy are today's houseboats made with comfort factor items! Stopped in at Shushwap in southern BC last month. Prime houseboat manufacturing and use lakes and lovely country to boot.

Looks like a great boat for exploring the inland rivers. Especially in convoy with friends.

Harbor Master and Gibson have been the two 800lb gorillas of the houseboat market for 40+ years. I wouldn't hesitate to buy either brand, with all the usual caveats, if inland cruising. The Harbor Master in particular would be a great choice as a fair weather coastal cruiser for the gulf or east coast ICW.

Be a fine loop boat and probably Bahamas if you take the right windows.

There are two of this sort of boat in our marina. Both are about 50' long. One has a back porch at swim platform height and a sliding door opening into the boat that is barely a foot off the water. Both are used on Barnegat Bay on dulcet days.

Not my cuppa' tea.

Thanks all, this boat brand in particular is one we were looking at, not this exact boat. (The one I’m looking at has low hour twin Cummins for power)

I’m a full displacement trawler guy all the way but when ones wife is not as enthused with the small confines of ones own trawler, one has to look at alternatives to keeps ones wife and self out on the water, enjoying the lifestyle ...thus the nature of my post.

Drake said:

Looks like a great boat for exploring the inland rivers. Especially in convoy with friends.

Click to expand...

I don’t know this boat but it dosn’t look much different than a North Pacific extended. It looks like most of the comments above are made w/o knowing the important parts of the equation like disp, deadrise, rudders ect. She probably will pound some (or more) and w/o a keel will be lacking in directional stability but may boats considered trawlers do that too. If she was 12’ shorter she wouldn’t be much different than a lot of trawlers. And of course she could be quite light and flat on the bottom. Too many unknowns for judgment.
I’d like to see what Tad has to say (if anything) or and see seroius specs and pics of the Harbor Master’s hull.

52 feet and 32000 pounds is a lot of boat. Just the sheer size of it is going to give you some seaworthiness. What kind of cruising are you hoping to do with it ? How schedule driven will you be ?? How often and how close is your Defever 41 pushed to its limits ? Maybe you don't need as much seaworthiness as you need "sheworthiness".

The boat that you'll use more is the better boat even if you have to use it in a different way.

As far as seaworthiness, being able to travel to Maine for the summer from the Tennessee waterways. As long as you have the time to wait for weather, no problem?

Greetings,
Mr. r. As you and others noted, she is a vessel most suitable for sheltered waters or calm weather. You surely can, IMO, run to Maine in this boat with the caveat of waiting for the weather. Pretty well the only problem I can see is if you happen to get caught in bad weather or rough seas. THEN you may have much larger problems than what is safe.

Harbor Master makes a good solid boat. I lived aboard my MM 47 houseboat for 7 years while chasing work up and down the Tennessee River. A friend has one similar to this Coastal Cruiser. It handles very well with twin 454 gas; gets about 1.25 statute mpg at about 10 mph. Backs well. Draft is <4 feet. Handling can get a bit exciting in a strong cross wind. Comfortable, well appointed interior. It's OK for rivers and the probably ICW, but risky going out and around.

Like Firefly, the gas motors is what would keep it off my list but if the OP found one with Cummins diesel power, that would surely make it more appealing...

It would do well in the protected waters of San Francisco estuary where I boat, assuming it can withstand steep five-foot waves not uncommon here (as in westward winds countering counter-ebb tide in eastern Suisun Bay.)

Bucking a big headsea would be savage w the helm so far fwd.

Thanks all for your input, here is the actual boat I was referring to...

2007 Harbor Master Coastal 520 Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Draft, 3ft
Beam, 14ft
Height, 22ft

Here's our USCG in action. The boat looks like one of those low-low freeboard things we've been posting about: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCG/bulletins/1c1b0c6

Low LOW freeboard!