Headroom

[Grae]

Hi all,
After learning much from spending time on this forum I decided that it was vital to join as part of the small trawler purchase learning process.
I have been unable to find a relevant thread so here goes!
We are really looking forward (in the Southern Hemisphere Spring/Summer) to buying one of :
a) Nordic Tug 32+
b) American Tug 34
c) Island Gypsy 32
We intend to sell our business, property and retire to liveaboard and cruise the northern east coast of 'North Island' of NZ.
None of these are available in New Zealand where the market is dominated by fast fishing launches. We therefore will be sourcing one of the above in the USA. Maybe Australia for the Island Gypsy. Our price level is circa US$150.000 to US$200.000.
If we like all the above boats equally the deciding factor may be comfortable, practical headroom, as I am 6ft 3 ins.
In the few online advertisements that mention headroom it is usually too low. One would think it one of the more important dimensions?
The Nordic Tug (which we have almost decided is "the one") is fine but can anyone confirm the headroom throughout, of the other two (year 2000 +)? When we come shopping we will want a few options and when experiencing the boats in reality we may change our opinion!
Any other info, opinions or recommendations would be welcome.
The research goes on.
Thanks for the useful information already obtained from the forum,
Grae and Barb.

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.

[siestakey]

Originally Posted by Grae

Hi all,
After learning much from spending time on this forum I decided that it was vital to join as part of the small trawler purchase learning process.
I have been unable to find a relevant thread so here goes!
We are really looking forward (in the Southern Hemisphere Spring/Summer) to buying one of :
a) Nordic Tug 32+
b) American Tug 34
c) Island Gypsy 32
We intend to sell our business, property and retire to liveaboard and cruise the northern east coast of 'North Island' of NZ.
None of these are available in New Zealand where the market is dominated by fast fishing launches. We therefore will be sourcing one of the above in the USA. Maybe Australia for the Island Gypsy. Our price level is circa US$150.000 to US$200.000.
If we like all the above boats equally the deciding factor may be comfortable, practical headroom, as I am 6ft 3 ins.
In the few online advertisements that mention headroom it is usually too low. One would think it one of the more important dimensions?
The Nordic Tug (which we have almost decided is "the one") is fine but can anyone confirm the headroom throughout, of the other two (year 2000 +)? When we come shopping we will want a few options and when experiencing the boats in reality we may change our opinion!
Any other info, opinions or recommendations would be welcome.
The research goes on.
Thanks for the useful information already obtained from the forum,
Grae and Barb.

A great old article hard to believe it is 10 years ago this is for the 42

Nordic Tugs 42 Flybridge | | PassageMaker

[Old deckhand]

We looked at the Nordic Tug 32 and the Transpacific Eagle 32 and bought the Eagle.

[koliver]

Alongside headroom, bunk length is also very important if you don't sleep in the foetal position.

[bayview]

indeed bunk size and overhead clearance to sit up are more important than looking like a tug.

[Wxx3]

Welcome aboard.

The bed size is probably more important, on headroom it depends on where the issue is, whether just a doorway or an entire cabin.

Having lived in old houses that had doorways of less than 6 feet, it's amazing how quickly one gets use to it.
ans now on the boat, there are a number of movements that I have learned I must duck if not to whack my head every time.

[Stout]

Grae: We looked at Nordic 32 as well as the American Tug 34. The Nordic 32 is a bit smaller in length & width vs. the AT34. Also, the rear cabin entrance on the NT32 has a hatch to open so you do not have to duck on entrance. The AT34 has a full size rear entrance door. We decided the AT34 fit our needs the best and found one we liked and shipped it to Oregon. They are more expensive than the NT32 though. I will be at our boat tomorrow & will try to remember to measure the ceiling height and bed length for you.

[Stout]

Grae: I remembered to measure the heights today of our AT-34:
Rear door: 5'-8" opening, top of door opening 6' from floor.
Galley ceiling: 6'-6'
Pilot house ceiling: 6'-8"
Berth ceiling: 6'-8"

[markpierce]

Get used to it!

[hollywood8118]

Grae
Interestingly enough, part of the reason we moved into trawlers was after looking at some of the motor launches we saw when we lived in New Zealand in the early 90s.
Some of these 40' ish boats would make the 1000 miletrip up to Fiji. As there are more boats in NZ per capata I would think there is a alternative closer to home without all the shipping costs and hassle.

If on the other hand you are looking for the look of a tug either the Nordic and American tugs are really cool low maintenance boats.

Happy boat hunting
Hollywood

[Grae]

Originally Posted by koliver

Alongside headroom, bunk length is also very important if you don't sleep in the foetal position.

I too do like to stretch out occasionally!

[Grae]

Originally Posted by hollywood8118

Grae
Interestingly enough, part of the reason we moved into trawlers was after looking at some of the motor launches we saw when we lived in New Zealand in the early 90s.
Some of these 40' ish boats would make the 1000 miletrip up to Fiji. As there are more boats in NZ per capata I would think there is a alternative closer to home without all the shipping costs and hassle.

If on the other hand you are looking for the look of a tug either the Nordic and American tugs are really cool low maintenance boats.

Happy boat hunting
Hollywood

The negative for us is the "40'ish". These boats are usually wooden with the associated maintenance penalty.
We may have the largest number of boats per capita but try finding anything in NZ with the keyword "trawler". The word trawler is associated with commercial fishing vessels.
We are looking for low maintenance 2003 plus without the game fishing emphasis. New trawler style boats are hard to find.
The nearest to what we are looking for (looks like a nice example) offered for sale here, is the Mainship 34 Trawler. This is for sale @ NZ $280000 (US$210000 roughly).Not so sure about the high windage of this model though (for coastal cruising)?

[Grae]

Originally Posted by kpoling

Grae: I remembered to measure the heights today of our AT-34:
Rear door: 5'-8" opening, top of door opening 6' from floor.
Galley ceiling: 6'-6'
Pilot house ceiling: 6'-8"
Berth ceiling: 6'-8"

Thanks alot for your trouble. Just what we needed to know.
That makes the AT-34 better (headroom wise) as the NT-32 is 6ft 4ins in the saloon which, at 1" clearance, may be marginal.

[Grae]

[QUOTE=Wxx3;304721]Welcome aboard.

The bed size is probably more important, on headroom it depends on where the issue is, whether just a doorway or an entire cabin.

Having lived in old houses that had doorways of less than 6 feet, it's amazing how quickly one gets use to it.
ans now on the boat, there are a number of movements that I have learned I must duck if not to whack my head every time.[/QUOTE

[Grae]

Having had several altercations with English pub beams and doorways I was hoping to avoid that with my own boat/residence!

[Northern Spy]

Grae, PM sent.

[Rsysol]

Grea,

I am 6' 7" and live on my 55' custom trawler. While headroom is very important to me, the issues I have found with living aboard concerns things like doorways, stairways, bunks (as many have stated) and general movements around the boat.

My boat has 7' headroom on the main deck and 6' 4" in the staterooms. I never hit my head in either area. Most of my scalp scrapers are from doorways and stairways along with some nasty corners in the ER.

All that said, in my opinion, getting dimensions for these boats may give you a general idea of the layout, but nothing beats getting on board and really moving about. I would suggest you do so while wearing a baseball cap as this seems to blind you from the low spots, giving you a better idea of the areas that will cause you pain!

[Grae]

I know exactly where you're coming from re the cap. The small amount of cushioning provided is more than negated by the vertical blinding effect of the peak!
The reason for keeping an open mind about the tug brand is that we know a final decision between Nordic and American (and individual examples of each) can't be made without hands-on experience (as you rightly point out) As this involves a trip from New Zealand to both coasts of the USA we need to have narrowed our choices and done much prior research. We have decided on approximate size and age. We also really like the tug configuration of three spaces, room for guests near the helm and the relatively low windage while retaining good headroom.
Thanks a lot for your input. We've had some great feed back.

[BruceK]

Grae, there is a 2008 Mainship for sale here at around 225K AUD, but they have a 380hp turbo Yanmar, lot of engine for 34ft, and to my eye the hull looks more towards planing than towards displacement/semi-displacement. There is also a Halvorsen 32, a little older, at around 205K, better choice imo. Not that you`d want to import, but it is a guide.