Boat for general cruising and great loop

[OldDan1943]

Consider a Great Harbour although few are available. Their beam is 15'11" with a full peninsula normal queen berth hard chined unsinkable 48,000lb boat in an USCG LOA of 37'drafting 3' in fresh water making them behave similar to a cat albeit a monohull displacement boat with unbelievable room. It is heavy and slow (8knts) as it is an efficient displacement speed only boat. Remember that to go fast in a big boat you will need big engines crammed into a small engine space. The N-37 Great Harbour has a walk in stand up (for me) engine room with two small Yanmars and great easy access to all systems. Huge all fiberglass tanks lot's of capacity. It is a well behaved boat in sea state that I cruised for 44,000 miles 3 great loops and most of the entire western rivers.

I have always admired the GHs but, I am more than content with my AT.
I think if my AT had an ER and sea chest like the GH I would spend a lot of time in there.

 

[Rufus]

You might add deck configuration/layout to your list of considerations. We found the sun deck with cockpit to be ideal regarding overall space utilization. The sun deck and easily accessible flybridge layout is ideal for both outdoors cruising and dockside activities. The cockpit at the rear is perfect for access to floating docks, storage, and dinghy access. Might move the overall length up a bit, but they’re around at decent prices. The Tolly 44, Ocean Alexander 42-46 series, and I believe Nova are examples.

 

[Group9]

A friend's 52 power cat (horizon) burns 38 gph at 18 kts. 7 gph at 8 kts so has flexibility. 28 foot air draft so between bridges and no wake zones, not sure he averages more thank 9-10 kts, maybe less unless he goes outside.

The missing link in OP post is budget. There are a lot of monohull boats in the 40 foot range with island queen berths that have twins and capable of 15 kts.

Cats are stable at anchor of course. Not everyone likes their ride underway with chop. Stabilization isn't needed for Loop and Bahamas. Nice, but not needed.

28 foot air draft ain't gonna cut it on the Great Loop!

 

[jbinbi]

Have gotten away from the FP powercat 40 and looking at the following boats at around 40' that can do more than displacement speeds

1. Greenline 39/40. Not sure I care about the electric mode, but cool that you can do 6kts for 3-4 hrs without using fuel, then do another 5 hours charging batteries. Also , coming from a sailboat where I had tremendous solar and moved to Li batteries, these guys get that. Not sure of build quality and the company, have heard from one owner who said they have a premier reputation in Europe.

2. Bene swift trawler 41/44. Not sure the diff yet, but lots of used 44s, seems to be a good boat. Didn't want to go above 40ish though.

3. Tugs. AT and NT. Was surprised how pricey they are though. Want to be in 35+ range, though not much larger than 40.

Greenline and Bene ST both use much less fuel at 10kts than mainship/GB.

 

[ScottC]

[FONT=&quot]

Have gotten away from the FP powercat 40 and looking at the following boats at around 40' that can do more than displacement speeds

1. Greenline 39/40. Not sure I care about the electric mode, but cool that you can do 6kts for 3-4 hrs without using fuel, then do another 5 hours charging batteries. Also , coming from a sailboat where I had tremendous solar and moved to Li batteries, these guys get that. Not sure of build quality and the company, have heard from one owner who said they have a premier reputation in Europe.
Greenline and Bene ST both use much less fuel at 10kts than mainship/GB.

[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Hi jbinbi,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I think the GL40 could be a nice loop boat. It has a lot more room on it than a GL39, though it is a significantly older design. Nice, sheltered working decks on either side of the main cabin.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I want to draw your attention to one potentially important thing about the GL39. I took a demo run on one a little over a year ago and concluded that, while nice enough, it would not be very lock-friendly if you ever had to use the port side. This is because the main cabin is an "offset" configuration. Nice, low & protected wide deck on the Starboard side and almost no deck on the port side. When walking around the port deck, one must lean away from the cabin top. This would not be possible in a lock (or, at the very least, it would be very dangerous). See pix below. These pics may be a bit confusing, at first, due to the reflections. They are taken from the aft of the GL39, looking forward on the port side. You can see the bow of my GL33 in the reflection in the glass doors, as we were moored immediately behind.
[/FONT]

 

[OldDan1943]

3. Tugs. AT and NT. Was surprised how pricey they are though. Want to be in 35+ range, though not much larger than 40.

These days, stated boat lengths can be deceiving. Builder now consider the platform in the length. I dont know of anyone willing to stay on that aft platform. You want useable, interior length. That pretty much means a walk through so you can actually see the space.

You are looking in the used boat market? I don't know which coast and city you are looking.
I can only address the AT but, I suspect the comments hold true for the NT.
The AT is well design, complete, single engine boat. It has a shallow draft and a reasonable air draft. The AT would make an ideal loop and near shore boat. I am reasonable sure you can get to the Bahamas even on a not perfect day.
I suspect you have compared fuel and water loading and found them to be comparable. If you question FW capacity, realize there are water makers to be had if you want.
Perhaps it is time to visit both the AT and NT. Ideally, you will find an owner of each design willing to at least let you walk their boats, look around, discussing the good and not so good features of each design. If you have a 'other', bring her along too.
We realize you will add things to the boat, to increase your own comfort.
Once you decide the "mission" you hope to accomplish, then one or two staterooms.
Everything else can be negotiable and buildable once you settle on and buy "the boat of your dreams."
These are just the opinions of one person.

 

[jbinbi]

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Hi jbinbi,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I think the GL40 could be a nice loop boat. It has a lot more room on it than a GL39, though it is a significantly older design. Nice, sheltered working decks on either side of the main cabin.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I want to draw your attention to one potentially important thing about the GL39. I took a demo run on one a little over a year ago and concluded that, while nice enough, it would not be very lock-friendly if you ever had to use the port side. This is because the main cabin is an "offset" configuration. Nice, low & protected wide deck on the Starboard side and almost no deck on the port side. When walking around the port deck, one must lean away from the cabin top. This would not be possible in a lock (or, at the very least, it would be very dangerous). See pix below. These pics may be a bit confusing, at first, due to the reflections. They are taken from the aft of the GL39, looking forward on the port side. You can see the bow of my GL33 in the reflection in the glass doors, as we were moored immediately behind.
[/FONT]

Wow. Thanks for that info. I have yet to see a GL, unfortunately the dealer is in FL and I am up north right now and won't fly.

Just curious, the 40 is the older boat, but more room. I think the beam is 1.5' wider. Do you know if that portside deck is that small. That is a huge issue.

Also as a GL owner, what are your impressions of the make, quality, etc? If you had a boat before, how did it compare. And do you have the hybrid and use it?

 

[ScottC]

[FONT=&quot]

Just curious, the 40 is the older boat, but more room. I think the beam is 1.5' wider. Do you know if that portside deck is that small. That is a huge issue.

[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I'm going to break my response up into a couple of posts.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]No need to be worried over the decks on the GL40. Even the decks on my GL33 are much nicer to work with than on the GL39. We've probably done close to 1500 locks with our GL33 and don't find the deck arrangement lacking in any way for this. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It’s difficult to see in the pictures, but the headroom under the roof on the walkways on my GL33 is 6’ 4”. On the GL40, I’ve read that it’s about 6’8”.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I've posted some pictures below to illustrate my point.[/FONT]
1) My GL33 Starboard deck
2) My GL33 Port deck (note cat sleeping in the shadow to get a “size” perspective)
3) GL40 Deck Layout
4) GL40 Starboard deck (port deck is the same)
5) GL40 Starboard deck

 

[ScottC]

Also as a GL owner, what are your impressions of the make, quality, etc? If you had a boat before, how did it compare. And do you have the hybrid and use it?

You might be interested in reading a post I made in November of last year on a TF thread where somebody was looking for feedback on a GL33. I’ve never operated a GL40, but would imagine it to be more capable in heavy weather than the GL33, even though both of these models are technically CE Category B. Bahamas would certainly be no problem for a GL40.
https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s14/greenline-33-anyone-took-offshore-ride-46494.html#post816694

Regarding my thoughts on hybrid boating with my GL33, you might find my TF posts in this thread interesting. Be sure to read the entire thread. https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s3/left-turn-clide-going-hybrid-50144-2.html

If I were in North America, in your shoes, and seriously considering hybrid, I would take a look at any 2015 or later GL40’s before considering a new one. You might see some 2012-2014 models attractively priced, but if you go for these, you will be missing out on some electric propulsion and hybrid system refinements that are found in the 2015+ models (i.e. there is risk you would have to spend some significant repair/upgrade $$$ in the hybrid part if you go for the early models).

Also, if you get to the point where you're going to have a marine survey on a pre-owned hybrid GL40, it would be cheap insurance to spend a few hundred $ extra on a battery expert to come assess the health of the two 48v propulsion batteries. And I mean an in-depth assessment. Each cell, BMS, cell balancing, load test, recharge performance, etc.) These batteries should be good for 10 years, but if they’ve been abused in any way, their lifespan will be shortened. I had to replace my single 48v battery after 9 years and it was 17,000€.

In summary, I think hybrid boating is a very personal choice. I happen to like it a lot. I have occasionally thought about moving up and if I did, it would be to a GL40, not a GL39. I think Greenline quality is appropriate for its price points in Europe. Greenline’s focus is on light-weight, but strong construction for efficiency. The GL33 & GL40 are semi-displacement and are only “quasi-trawlers” in my opinion. They're quite different animals from the Nordhavns, the Kady-Krogans, the Grand Alaskans and the like that you often read about in this forum. I suspect these are built like “tanks” and can withstand almost anything...but admit I have no direct experience with them.

Finally, if you haven’t seen it already, there’s a BoatTest.com video with Cap’n. Steve reviewing the GL40: