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Old 08-09-2013, 08:43 PM   #28
brian eiland
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City: St Augustine, FL
Vessel Name: RunningTide
Vessel Model: 37 Louisiane catamaran
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 930
Great Harbor Trawlers & Florida Bay Coasters

Quote:
Originally Posted by Animal View Post
I guess I'd lean towards someone with 30k miles under the keel in one (Joe Pica) rather than someone who "knows a guy". My guess is Ken would be more than happy to provide you with other GH owners who could share their experience.
Well here is another owner of a GH47 first hand experience (from another forum)
Quote:
Originally Posted by timb7734 View Post
The boat above is named East Passage and has made many trips from Maine to the Bahamas. My boat has been to the Bahamas six times and from Savannah to Punta Gorda.

Yea, if you won't to cross oceans, even I would get a different boat with more draft. Where do you want to cruise? Rolls a lot less than any round bilge Chinese Grand Banks knock off, and less than the 36 GB I had before.

Every boat is a compromise, just be aware of blowhard armchair naval architects.

p.s. I also own a Florida Bay Coaster and keep it in Northern Lake Huron.

Thanks for posting that first hand account Timb.

When I first saw a pics of the Florida Bay Coasters, my immediate reaction was 'how top heavy' they appeared,...and how they must be prone to rolling excessively. Likewise when I saw the GH model of the Great Harbor Trawler designs I thought the same. And particularly since both are built on very shallow draft hulls.

I believe the Fla Bay Coasters do not make as much of an attempt to keep their superstructures very lt-weight, but rather utilize steel even in these superstructures?

Great Harbor on the other hand makes use of lighter weight materials to construct their superstructures.....NideCore
About Great Harbor Trawlers : Design Discussions : Space Age Core
Quote:
While we have been discussing cores used in hulls, there is a new synthetic non-rotting polypropylene core that looks like honeycomb and is making huge inroads in boat construction. It is used everywhere but mostly above the waterline. This core has some great benefits and represents the best bang for the buck in the way of a core in areas that are not highly stressed such as decks, cabin sides, and roofs
.....another NidaCore reference again. on their website

I thought that somewhere else on their website there was more reference to the advantages of keeping weight out of the structures of the vessel above the waterline, PARTICULARLY at greater heights, but I did not find it. However here is an interesting point of view on stability of these style vessels.
Form Stability vs. Ballast and Stabilizers

Most folks should realize that keeping weight out of the topsides, or building ever-higher topsides should all contribute to less rolling motion
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