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Old 02-16-2019, 08:04 AM   #21
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Trailer boating is far far less expensive than having a boat in the water at a marina. Not even close as far as on going costs. (I could write a very long post of the financial differences.) It is also healthier for the boat. (The water is a much harsher environment than on the hard) If one has greater limitations on cash, trailer boating is a way of still having the on the water boating experience.

Going the other direction, one could take the boating experience to a different level and say, why pay for a slip at a marina? Really? That is such a waste of time, "The further you have to travel" you know it is a .... Driving back and forth to the marina. Pony up to a water front lot and slip your yacht at home! And your boat is there for you within steps. Now that is what should be done.

Trailer boating is different. It isn't better or worse. It isn't right or wrong. It is different. Boating on any level is being on the water. Especially if one is not full time on the water. Unless one is full time it all is part time boating experience that can be had by different people on different levels. And no matter how that is accomplished it is all good. It just may look different. Not right not wrong just different.

As to trailerable versus moored there is a limitation based on size for trailerable. But given the same size vessel the biggest difference is cost
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Old 02-16-2019, 09:14 AM   #22
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There is a third option not mentioned. I call this "Movable." In fact, some boats calling themselves trailerable are truly Movable. These are boats that can be moved on very large trailers with permits but still at reasonable costs as they clear bridges fine. They allow you to just periodically reset your cruising grounds. It allows for much more boat than trailerable, but doesn't limit you to one cruising ground or a very long trip by water to where you want to cruise next.
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Old 02-16-2019, 09:45 AM   #23
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^^^Or overwide in the US. ^^^
Trailerables that are greater than 102" wide (8 1/2") or are considered over the width of federal towing limits. 102" wide and less do not require permits to tow on federal roads. (Individual states and local areas do have their own rules) Greater than that requires a permit. the type of permit and restrictions on towing are based on how over wide the trailer is when towing. (There are several different categories of over wide) However I know a friend that tows a 9 foot wide go fast boat and doesn't get permits because most cops don't know it exceeds the limit based on width. What's six inches, right?

Then there is the height consideration as mentioned above.
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Old 02-16-2019, 11:27 AM   #24
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So after some discussion we have decided to go the trailered route for a couple of years before getting a slipped boat.

We both like the Albin 25 and the Nimble Kodiak.

We like the 22 C-dory but not sure about the porta-potie location. One of us will typically get up to "go" during the night and it looks like you would have to unmake the bed to get to the porta-potie on the 22 C- Dory.

Also, like the layout of the gas 24ft Bayliner Hardtops but not sure about the range or if I like the fuel usage numbers.

I realize that this is moving up/down the "two more feetitis" slope but here is a great looking Albin 27 for sale in Beaufort, NC for $12,500 which sounds like a bargain given all of the recent work done: Pamlico Classified Ads on TownDock.net | Oriental NC News


Might be tough to trailer though.



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Old 02-16-2019, 10:47 PM   #25
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I realize that this is moving up/down the "two more feetitis" slope but here is a great looking Albin 27 for sale in Beaufort, NC for $12,500 which sounds like a bargain given all of the recent work done: Pamlico Classified Ads on TownDock.net | Oriental NC News


Might be tough to trailer though.

David
I originally was considering a Albin 27 before I got my C-Dory. While the Albin 27 is theoretically trailerable, it is rare to find one that comes with a trailer. Yes, you can get a trailer made or configured, but the Albin is not as portable as the C-dory or as the 27' length might imply.

Some people object to the separation of the cabin and the berth (sort of like the Seapiper only in reverse) except that the head is in the main cabin.

With the normal engine, the Albin travels at about 6-7 knots. If you get the uprated engine or a refit, it'll do about 10.
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Old 02-16-2019, 11:24 PM   #26
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Originally Posted by IronZebra View Post
So after some discussion we have decided to go the trailered route for a couple of years before getting a slipped boat.

We both like the Albin 25 and the Nimble Kodiak.

We like the 22 C-dory but not sure about the porta-potie location. One of us will typically get up to "go" during the night and it looks like you would have to unmake the bed to get to the porta-potie on the 22 C- Dory.

Also, like the layout of the gas 24ft Bayliner Hardtops but not sure about the range or if I like the fuel usage numbers.
We had a 22 C-Dory and the porta pottie. The head itself was great, no stink, and easy to empty anywhere. The downfall was the “shuffle” for bed at night. Gear and porta pottie came out of the v-berth, so we could go in. The head went where the dinette table is, so it could be used overnight. The shuffle went the other way in the morning. This got old.

The C-Dory is also a calm water boat, or a very slow boat. Once we got to rougher water, we switched to a deep V boat.

The C-Dory 25 is more spacious and, as mentioned, has the enclosed head. If you can deal with the limitations of the hull (not much deadrise), it is a great boat. As they have no inner-liner, they are lighter which means easier to tow and easier on gas. I would want the porta pottie in the 25’s head as you can empty it anywhere. A holding tank in a trailer boat is a pain, unless you have very handy dump or pump options.

I have always been fond of the Bayliner Discovery line. I think there is a tremendous capability and comfort there, and the price is right. A little more speed of the Discovery increases the option value quite a bit. Enclose the aft deck, and you have a great screened/shaded outdoor-ish space. Plenty of room on the top for a dinghy, radar, solar, etc. Nice galley and head, and a dinette where you can see outside while you sit there. I don’t think you will want to beat up a Discovery offshore like a Seasport or Pursuit, but a super boat for reasonable conditions.

I would be happy to discuss further if desired.
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Old 02-17-2019, 02:10 PM   #27
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Thanks for all the information and observations. We like the option, for now, of being able to trailer to lakes, rivers, Gulf, and Pacific Northwest. Also, being able to get some more experience on a smaller boat that we can hopefully get close to a zero financial round trip when ready to move up.

We currently live the high desert in New Mexico and also have a retirement house near Pickwick Lake. Until we retire in 2021, we can play on Navajo Lake and Elephant Butte on the weekends and summer trailer cruise to Lake Powell and Pickwick. We currently have a 22 ft sailboat that we weekend on at Elephant Butte Lake.

Our house at Pickwick is walking distance to the state line boat ramp across from Aqua Harbor Marina on the Tennessee River. One interesting observation when we were there last summer, there are a number covered storage areas right at the lake for trailered and "Movable" boats. The storage area business was continuously launching and retrieving boats for the owners with tractors. We saw the big green tractor bring all sizes of boats, from small to huge. Boat owners did not need any tow vehicles, just show up and the storage business did the rest.

If any one in interested in being our neighbor there is a cabin for sale on our street.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...73_rect/15_zm/
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Old 02-17-2019, 02:29 PM   #28
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NICE!!

A couple of years behind you in retirement. And have looked at that area (Pickwick and just a little further South) as far as a place to retire. For the price of Real Estate seems cheap there. (Compared to Phoenix) And as far as I know the cost of living is less there as well. I like the idea of living on or very close to the Great Loop. And moving there would be a choice for us to be on the loop in a yacht that is capable of doing the loop and some distance from the mainland like Bahamas. However buying Real Estate on the Gulf Coast, close to named events, seems to be a definite issues of wrecking the whole day. And I have an allergy to white stuff falling from the sky. Hense further North isn't a consideration.

As to marinas storing and moving boats from the hard to the water. That has been a thing for a few decades. It maximizes the use of water by keeping boats out of the water as much as possible when they are not being used. As long as the marina provides swift service, like you call ahead and by the time you arrive the boat is waiting for you to cast off. Works well in an organized marina with smaller boats up to the legal limit for towing and a little larger.
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Old 02-17-2019, 05:54 PM   #29
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For a trailable cruiser, I really like the Bayliner 246/266 Discovery. It is a lot of boat in a 26' trailable package. I would recommend a 3/4 truck to pull it, however.

My own list of possible boats includes a Grady White 208/228, Bayliner 246/266, Tiara 3100/3300 Open, and a Carver 356. Obviously, I don't know how or where we would use the boat when I retire in less than 3 years. The GW or Bayliner would make great trailable boats with each one having strengths on how the boat would be used, the Carver would be a fantastic Condo on the bay that would be at home on the parts of the Great Loop that we would like to explore, while the Tiara (an express cruiser) is a 'movable boat' that with a height of just over 11' and a beam of 12' (12'3" beam for the 3300) could be fairly easily professionally hauled.

Having a boat that could easily be hauled, would give us the option of cruising from the Chesapeake Bay, to the Erie Canal, to the Trent Severn Waterway, through the Georgian Bay, down to Chicago, putting the boat on a truck and hauling it back to the Chesapeake Bay or even down to Florida.

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Old 02-17-2019, 06:03 PM   #30
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I know you're not looking for suggestions, but I'll make one anyway, since you mention the Salish Sea -- you might be from the Puget Sound area. I just posted a classified ad on the trawler forum about our Nimble Wanderer, which at 32' is right in the middle of your range. She also can be towed behind a Ford 250 -- I brought her across the country that way in 2007.

If you can't find the ad, just go to our website, www.barquinho.net. Or you can go up to Port Townsend and see her at Boat Haven, up on the hard -- she just got new bottom paint.

Good luck with your search. If versatility is your goal, Barquinho might be the answer.
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Old 02-17-2019, 06:29 PM   #31
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The C-Dory is also a calm water boat, or a very slow boat. Once we got to rougher water, we switched to a deep V boat.
If you need to do 20-30 knots in 3-4 foot chop, the CD is not the right boat for you. But I might describe the C-Dory ride a little differently.

Our CD22 (quite light for its size, and very little transom deadrise) would handle most water well, but it was challenged by a short steep chop. If we kept going at typical cruise speed of 16-18 knots it would tend to rattle our teeth. We would slow to ~13 knots, and the ride would smooth out considerably. This works even better in the CD25, as it is a lot heavier.

When waves were really big, our CD handled them really well. We've had ours in 20-25 footers off the west coast of Chichagof Island in SE Alaska. Slowed to 9-10 knots, and it never took any green water over the bow. It's a seaworthy design.

And there are tradeoffs - being so light, the CD22 is remarkably easy to tow, and gets great fuel economy.
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Old 02-18-2019, 01:59 PM   #32
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Trailerable vs homeport

I’ve done both. While you didn’t ask for boat suggestions, I’m going to Mention 3. For trailerable, the C Dory 25 or the Ranger 25 will allow you to cruise San Diego, Puget Sound, Lake Powell, the Fl Keys and the Outer Banks all in one year if you have the time and so choose. Also, you will be able to buy a newer boat in this size which means less refit, rebuild and replace. Maintenance is cheaper as are transient slips and you can follow good weather which means you can boat year round. Also, nothing says you can’t have a home port and keep the boat in the water for easy access and then trailer to other locations when you want to. A 25 foot boat is also easy to single hand on days that you want to take her out by yourself. Finally, when you aren’t going to use the boat for awhile, you put it on the trailer and store it at your house for free or a dry storage lot for very little. A trailerable boat is typically easier to sell than a larger trawler. Currently we have a C Dory 22 and a Grand Banks 36 which is home ported about 400 miles away. Very roomy and comfortable but when we use it is controlled by the weather and we are pretty much locked into a finite cruising area because of time.
The advice I always give is “be very honest with yourself about how you will really be using the boat and buy the boat that best fits that type of use”. If speed is important to you, go trailerable.
Good luck!
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Old 02-18-2019, 02:40 PM   #33
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We have done the "trailer-kept express cruiser experience" for the last 13 years and had a blast. It was so much fun that it made us realize we want to live on a boat, so we recently purchased a 44 foot Tollycraft for that purpose. I'm pretty confident that we will love having a slipped boat too, but I have no experience with it yet.



I think getting a trailer boat and a decent tow vehicle would be a great way to get into the lifestyle and would be pretty easy to sell if you decided to go in another direction and giving it a go.



I STRONGLY recommend getting a diesel-powered 3/4 ton or 1 ton truck if you plan to tow a pocket cruiser. I towed mine with a gas SUV (1/2 ton based) and later a 3/4 ton diesel. While both got the job done, the diesel does it effortlessly and gave us great peace of mind.


Our trailer-kept boat cruises at 30 knots with ease. Since our cruises were always limited by the amount of vacation time we had, it was often nice to be able to make great time between ports. 110 nautical mile days, while also spending a few hours checking out different ports were the norm for us and we got to enjoy a ton of boating in fantastic places without having to spend a lot of money and time. We also got to enjoy places that you simply cannot reach without a trailer boat.
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Old 02-18-2019, 03:22 PM   #34
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I STRONGLY recommend getting a diesel-powered 3/4 ton or 1 ton truck if you plan to tow a pocket cruiser. I towed mine with a gas SUV (1/2 ton based) and later a 3/4 ton diesel. While both got the job done, the diesel does it effortlessly and gave us great peace of mind.
I definitely agree that one needs to have an adequate tow vehicle. A tow vehicle needs to have both adequate payload and towing capacity. Sometimes with 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton trucks, folks overlook the payload capacity and just focus on trailering capacities.

Much like diesel vs gas debates in boats, one could also have the same debate in tow vehicles. Personally, in a new 3/4 ton truck, I would probably go with gas, something like a 6.4L Ram 2500. Reason for this would be the purchase price difference in a gas vs diesel truck. Moving up into the 1 ton truck, I would likely be looking at diesel. Personal choice for either, especially as one's use and needs might vary from another persons.

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Old 02-18-2019, 03:58 PM   #35
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Given the high cost of pump diesel vs gas, about $.75 in my area, I would go with gas. Get a decent sized V8. The Ram 6.4L would be fine.


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Old 02-18-2019, 05:11 PM   #36
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Without taking a side in the decision, there are two excellent books by Jim and Lisa Favors about trailering a pocket trawler. In one of them they write about their Great Loop trip. They trailer a Ranger 27. I have read both books and suspect that anyone considering the cruising lifestyle would enjoy both.

They are:

Upside of Downsizing to a Trailerable Trawler (TRAILER TRAWLER LIFE Book 1)
and
When the Water Calls... We Follow

The links are:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 02-18-2019, 05:44 PM   #37
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I definitely agree that one needs to have an adequate tow vehicle. A tow vehicle needs to have both adequate payload and towing capacity. Sometimes with 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton trucks, folks overlook the payload capacity and just focus on trailering capacities.

Much like diesel vs gas debates in boats, one could also have the same debate in tow vehicles. Personally, in a new 3/4 ton truck, I would probably go with gas, something like a 6.4L Ram 2500. Reason for this would be the purchase price difference in a gas vs diesel truck. Moving up into the 1 ton truck, I would likely be looking at diesel. Personal choice for either, especially as one's use and needs might vary from another persons.

Jim

Thanks, I currently have a F350 with a 6.4L V10 that I use to pull my hot air balloon trailer. Thinking that will cover my trailering needs for whatever boat we choose.
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Old 02-18-2019, 07:33 PM   #38
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Here comes that jerk again with the houseboat.

We are trailerable, sleep 7, have full galley w/ 4 burner stove, full sized oven, double sink, fridge, microwave, generator - air conditioning, stand up hot water shower, gravity head w/ 30 gal holding tank, small chest freezer - and can make over 25 mph. We've been to Powell twice from SC, down to the Keys, up to The St Lawrence River at NY and to many lakes this side of the Mississippi. We've used her as a camper on the road and at campgrounds for weeks at a time. We've been on the water for a week with 4 adults, two kids and a dog without using a marina or needing supplies.
https://72land-n-sea.blogspot.com/20...well-2015.html
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Old 02-18-2019, 11:01 PM   #39
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Here comes that jerk again with the houseboat.

We are trailerable, sleep 7, have full galley w/ 4 burner stove, full sized oven, double sink, fridge, microwave, generator - air conditioning, stand up hot water shower, gravity head w/ 30 gal holding tank, small chest freezer - and can make over 25 mph. We've been to Powell twice from SC, down to the Keys, up to The St Lawrence River at NY and to many lakes this side of the Mississippi. We've used her as a camper on the road and at campgrounds for weeks at a time. We've been on the water for a week with 4 adults, two kids and a dog without using a marina or needing supplies.
https://72land-n-sea.blogspot.com/20...well-2015.html
Too bad they don't make these anymore. Although a new one would probably cost a couple of hundred grand these days.
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Old 02-19-2019, 10:39 AM   #40
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I never thought I'd want another trailer boat, until Sunday when I saw the Rosborough 246 at the boat show. Maybe a little tight for sleeping two (my wife is accustomed to king size bed at home) but I wouldn't mind sleeping on the settee. This boat is well built enough to go coastal cruising, yet small enough to haul over the road to get far away and then cruise around. And efficient with a Honda 150 outboard. And built right here in NH!! It may be just the ticket when we go to summers in NH and winters in NC. This may be the only boat I would ever consider buying brand new, because 1) they hold their value and 2) very few used ones on the market.
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