Great Harbour N37 Young America at our dock yesterday

Young America was at our dock yesterday and Fred was nice enough to give me a tour . Nice boat . This was my first time on one .

Mule.....I'm telling ya. I've been dreaming of that engine room ever since I saw my first N-37. I've heard and read a lot of critique about the design but the only reason I don't have one is the $$$. Compromise, of course. So is mine.

healhustler said:

Mule.....I'm telling ya. I've been dreaming of that engine room ever since I saw my first N-37. I've heard and read a lot of critique about the design but the only reason I don't have one is the $$$. Compromise, of course. So is mine.

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Lots of storage everywhere. The beam is almost 16 ft . The engine room is nice . After I left him I went over an put a new water pump on my genny under the back deck.All I could think about was that engine room .

They were traveling with an n47 . I didn't even ask to see that one . Very rare that you see 2 of these in one day on the TN. River

Mule: The N-37 is a reasonable boat. The N-47 is a snob boat.....just take a look at that nose! I'm a "reasonable" type guy, but I'd love to be a snob.

Interestingly, Young America is the only N37 we ever built with just one stateroom. She has a dinette where the second stateroom would normally go. Fred & Linda are really nice folks. Which N47 was with them? Sea Dream?

ERIC

I met them at the marina late last year when they were on their way back down the river from Minneapolis. Very nice couple who were nice enough to invite me aboard for a look at their boat, I was also very impressed with the engine room actually the whole boat. What's their destination this year?

Eric I'm sorry I didn't look at the n47 . The n37 is not within my reach much less the 47 . But l was dreaming when I got what I have .
I really like everything about the n37 .

Ron I think they were bound for PA .

Mule: The 47 is just like the 37, just more. If I were building one, I'd just add the 10 ft. to the bosons locker with a sound-proof door to the ER. That would be my Man Cave, off limits to women.

Unfortunately, Larry, the only reason we could afford the tooling on the N47 is because it is EXACTLY the same hull as the GH47 (different bulkhead placement, obviously) and pretty much the same deck as the N37 (other than we stretched ten feet right in front of the pilothouse and raised the pilothouse sole one foot.) Same pilothouse tooling too. Still, the bosun's locker is huge and has stand-up headroom. In fact, the boat in my avatar, Spoonbill, was the company captained charter boat from 2009 through 2013. I was the captain - put almost all 2400 hours on her. She was equipped with three queen-size guest staterooms, two full guest heads AND oversize queen and full head in the bosun's locker for crew (me)! I loved that boat.

Also, Pack Mule, it might be rare to see two Great Harbours on the TN River, but it was quite the sight when we had a 13 GH convoy traveling around the Florida "Mini-Loop" in 2007!

kraftee said:

She was equipped with three queen-size guest staterooms, two full guest heads AND oversize queen and full head in the bosun's locker for crew (me)! I loved that boat.

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Geeze! I thought I was joking when I said I wanted a man-cave in the boson's locker. It sounds like you already had one. I don't suppose you had any pics of that little feature?

Tell it true, Eric. The nearly 16 ft. beam must have worked even better for the 47 than it did for the 37, no? What about in rougher seas, N-37 vs. N-47?

Larry. As you would expect, the longer the hull, TYPICALLY, the better the ride. It's a hull-length versus wavelength thing. The 37 will tend to "hobbyhorse" in certain conditions where the 47 will not. I can tell you this: I have been in all kinds of sea conditions in Great Harbours. When you are delivering a boat, you don't have the luxury of being a "weather chicken" that you have when cruising. God's big cosmic joke on me is that I have always had a terrible motion sickness problem - and my family has ALWAYS been into boating (I still have my first CG Auxiliary Boating Course Certificate - I was 10.) The motion of a Great Harbour does not get me sick and I, like Ken Fickett and Joe Pica, have a LOT of sea miles in these boats. What better OBJECTIVE measure is there than that?

In the meantime, I will try to find some pics of the crew quarters aboard Spoonbill...

ERIC

Eric,
Please, Please, Please direct me to those pictures.
We have been emailing some with Ken about the N47 since the GH is NO Longer available for we do NOT want used !! We are thinking of making it a 1 stateroom boat with a sleeper couch in the office / work out room ! I truly was blessed to hear of the head in the bolsons locker....Reading my mail ! ;}

Any way I may lose a few things with the smaller pilot house \ saloon which is more then a fair trade off considering Ken told me he had a 16 foot bay boat on the knose of a N47 ( big grin there ) and the 6 foot head room in the engine room and bolsons locker is a dream come true !!

Thanks again for this wonderful thread and here is a picture inwhich speaks for it self.
Have a great week end
Jim

Hi Jim,

I have attached a couple pictures of the 16' Hell's Bay that we had on Spoonbill's bow for the 2009 Miami Boat Show. This should give you a pretty good idea of the space up there! Alas, though, I have pored through the hundreds of Spoonbill pictures on my computer from my four Bahamas charter seasons as her captain and believe it or not, I do not have a single picture of the Crew Quarters in the Bosun Locker. So, I have attached a couple of exterior views of her from the stern. You will notice the dark rectangle on the bottom, port corner of the deckhouse. That is the window/escape hatch for this space. It lets LOTS of light and air into the Crew Quarters and I kept it open quite often at night. This hatch is about 48" x 20" as I recall. Plenty big to go in and out of. There is another small portlight in the head area on the starboard side of the deckhouse

To try to give you a better idea of the layout of the Crew Quarters, I have attached a couple N47 floorplans. On the bottom one, you can see the engine room space (which, by the way, has SEVEN feet of headroom - not six.) You can also see the Bosun Locker directly aft of the engine room. The space is a bit more than 5' fore/aft and varies from about 15'8" to 14' in overall width. The stairs which come down from the saloon are shown on this graphic also. You can see that they are offset to starboard. Headroom at the base of the steps is probably about 5' 6" and EVERYTHING to the port of those steps in the Bosun Locker (roughly half the space) becomes a huge, oversize, VERY comfortable, queen-size berth (about 62" x 88"). There is also quite a lot of storage under this berth. Most of the berth has approx. 40-46" of headroom over it - plenty enough to sit upright on it or crawl around to make the bed. I probably slept almost 200 nights on this bed, very happily and comfortably. The saloon air conditioning is routed into the space.

On the starboard side of the steps is the head/storage area. Plenty of room for a standard Vacuflush head against the forward bulkhead. Outboard of the head is a nice vanity with sink. There is also a shower curtain separating the spaces and allowing for a handheld shower. However, I rarely used the shower as I was mostly in the Bahamas - so just showered on the aft deck. Behind the vanity area is a pretty substantial storage area that I generally used for cases of soda, beer, wine, etc. for the charters.

Ken and I had lots of ideas for cabinets, closets, etc. in the Crew Quarters - especially above the berth, but we just never got around to it - the boat was always working! You might contact Ken and see if he will prevail upon Spoonbill's current owner to take a few photos.

Hope that helps you in your quest to build an N47!

ERIC

Eric: Are there any GH charters happening anymore?

Larry: Right now all three of the Great Harbour charter boats have been sold. Not sure if Ken intends to build another anytime soon. I do know that they just began construction on a sold N37. So THAT is very good news...

Eric,
Thank You for the pictures and yes it helps out much. The added hatch is pretty cool because I was wondering if you could get plenty of fresh air in there. Sounds like a good place to make a work out space with head and work bench / storage.

Hey is there any way you can post the inside dimentions of the pilot house from the aft wall unto the back side of the captains chair. ( saloon area ) and the width. Some pictures make it look as if it would be do'able but I have watched several video's and it makes my neighbors garden shed look like a mantion. Dont need much room for watching a movie or two but I dont want to feel trapped either.
I also noticed on some 47's the aft deck looks pretty big like 5 foot by beam but on some it tends to look like a foot or two by beam.....

Now then on another topic.......
What is the future of Great Harbor and Trawler making..........Seem's as if it is in the first stages of fading out. I mean NO more GH's.......charter boats sold...... web site NOT updated to match companies plans...........Kind of gives one a leary feeling.....
Thanks Eric for all your help and input
Have a wonderful week
Jim

First of all, let me make it clear that I am not employed by Mirage Manufacturing/Great Harbour Trawlers any longer. Ken Fickett and I are still very good friends, but I have moved on to become Director of Sales & Marketing for a worldwide truck accessories manufacturer in South Florida. So, I can’t really speak in any detail to the current situation at Mirage. However, I can give you a bit of explanation about what happened and why there has not been much apparent movement in the Great Harbour brand over the past few years.

As the recession deepened in about 2009, Americans were no longer able to pull HUGE chunks of equity out of their homes, cash-in their 401Ks and retire at 50 anymore. Consequently, Great Harbour's niche "retire-sell-everything-move-aboard-and-sail-into-the-sunset-on-our-new-displacement-trawler" market more or less completely dried up. Employees were laid off, buildings were idled, advertising was discontinued, and molds were put away. However, unlike a lot of boat manufacturers, who went broke during the recession, Mirage OWNED all their buildings, molds, boats, etc. outright and consequently, with no huge debt to service, were able to stay solvent. Plus, Ken is nothing if not a survivor - having been in business building boats in the same location for almost 45 years. So the core group of remaining employees continued by doing repairs and refits on Great Harbours, Mirages, and pretty much anything made of fiberglass. And all the while, Ken continued to design and build new sportfish boats, bay boats, and skiffs.

I spoke to the plant manager the other day and he told me that they had just begun laying up a brand new N37 for a new customer. And that is very good news indeed for the Great Harbour brand. So, in answer to your question about the future of the company, I will just say that, knowing what I know about Ken Fickett and Mirage Manufacturing, if I was in the market for a new displacement trawler, I would have NO hesitation ordering a new Great Harbour from them!

As far as dimensions, changes, etc., I am going to defer those questions to Ken. Give him a call. He'll be happy to supply you with those figures. I will say that I don't think anyone ever felt "trapped" in the big, airy saloon of a Great Harbour N-Series. Also, contrary to how it might appear to you, every N-Series boat made (21 N37s and 6 N47s) has EXACTLY the same dimensions of saloon and cockpit. I will also caution you that there are also some very real obstructions to simply "redesigning" the interior of the boat with "workout rooms", "offices" and the like. It is a boat - not an open warehouse. There are multiple considerations of mold dimensions, steps, placement of air conditioners, storage, deck support, etc. Ken builds a "semi-custom" boat, it's true; However, it isn't a blank canvas. Fair warning, okay?

If you are serious about a Great Harbour, I STRONGLY suggest you plan a trip down to Gainesville to visit with Ken, see the new boat in progress and discuss your wants and needs. It will definitely clear up any remaining questions you might have.

Cheers! ERIC

Jim: Thanks for asking those questions about the apparent positioning of GH and their future. The new N-37 build is some positive news indeed. I've had the privilege of being aboard all the GH models, and upon arrival in Green Cove Springs, I was sure that the GH-series was what fitted the needs of my Admiral and I the best. After Eric's tour, it was evident that for us, the jewel was really the N-series. For sure, the GH-series had more living space, but when you see that engine room and cavernous bosons locker of the N-series, it solves so many other issues of cruising and living aboard that a dedicated salon does not. The N-series pilothouse is big, full of light, and cube--wise is probably about the same as my Manatee salon. The drop-down TV over the helm area was ideal for our kind of salon usage, which is kicking back on the couch or settee for a movie. In structure and layout, the boat is what we want for HOW we use a boat. There's at least one former Manatee owner who is now in a GH, which kind-of confirms the preferences for space and economy. The real plus is that my Admiral would have another stateroom in which to make her shoe closet!

If they have the molds, tooling and buildings, can't imagine not building another GH if some one is willing to pluck down the dollars.

I am not a fan of the N boats. Mainly on the basis of personal preference of overall appearance. Others will differ regarding the look. Many a naval architect would be capable of improvement. But on an analysis of the features of the N47 that I can determine from the pictures and drawings this appears to be a very practical and well thought out boat by my standards.

The N47 reminds me of a Dutch Barge, and that's not a bad thing.

Fish Catcher Jim said:

Eric,
Please, Please, Please direct me to those pictures.
We have been emailing some with Ken about the N47 since the GH is NO Longer available for we do NOT want used !! We are thinking of making it a 1 stateroom boat with a sleeper couch in the office / work out room ! I truly was blessed to hear of the head in the bolsons locker....Reading my mail ! ;}

Any way I may lose a few things with the smaller pilot house \ saloon which is more then a fair trade off considering Ken told me he had a 16 foot bay boat on the knose of a N47 ( big grin there ) and the 6 foot head room in the engine room and bolsons locker is a dream come true !!

Thanks again for this wonderful thread and here is a picture inwhich speaks for it self.
Have a great week end
Jim

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We need to get Ken building Ns and GHs again! Although I love being one of the 55 that own a Great Harbour, building more boats would give others the ability to own and experience a truly great boat!

Eric,
Thanks again for the information and your time.
I do understand that I can not just start redesigning an N any ol which way I desire. I know of those who chose to turn a stateroom into a office and storage. I have seen on other boats inwhich have a larger bolsons locker place the washer and dryer in there. As far as a work out room, this can be any room and does not take a lot of changes. Just a space to use a small excersise bike and an easy hide total gym or something. No big deal.

Have a great weeek Eric and thanks again
Jim

Larry,
Thanks for the encouragment and information.
Have a great week
Jim

Hey Eric,
Got a quick question if you arte still watching thisd thread. Do all N's havbe that window/hatch that you pointed out to me in the lower port side ?
Thanks Jim.......might be going used on an N...Very tempted here.

Here is a better picture of the stern and the lower port side window on the N47 you mentioned.




And look how big the flybridge is:



And the "Protected Props are great!



We chartered an N37 and a N47 both for a week from Ken (both now sold) before we bought our GH47 (Ken was the Broker) and the N and GH layouts both have a lot to features to like! The boat are SOLID, go ahead and beat on the walls...no flimsy plywood.... just a sore fist!

Norm

No Jim, That was the only boat built with a crew quarters or any kind of window/ventilation in that area.

Norm and Eric,
We said!
Loving our GH47.

Norm,
Thanks for the awesome pictures. Looks like there is still lots of room on the flybridge even with a tender up there. Cool Beans !!
Thanks again
Jim