Finally Saw an N37

Yesterday I finally had a chance to see a Great Harbour N37 in the water. What a great trawler! (And no I am not on Ken Fickett's payroll, LOL) I cannot get over the space in the engine room and the bosun's locker. So the choice is made - now the debate is new vs. used. Lots to think about.

Yup...a live-a-board boat designed to get to the upper Amazon and back has some pretty cool potential.

MurrayM said:

Yup...a live-a-board boat designed to get to the upper Amazon and back has some pretty cool potential.

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Hey....I'd sure like the luxury of being in conflict over a new or used N-37.

There was a little used 2006 or 2007 N37 for sale in the San Francisco area at what looked like an excellent price but unfortunately it sold earlier this year. The other for sale N37's are on the east coast and are priced substantially higher and have been on the market for at least a year. The N37 or N47 is on top my dream list and dreaming is a very poor acquisition strategy.

DONSAN - do you remember what the asking price on that west coast N37 was?

Believe it was $295k.

Thank you very much.

David
They are currently building a N37 with an expected delivery first part of July. I am going down next Friday to tour the facility and take a look at the one being built. I decided several months ago on the N37 and am leaning to new rather than used. They seem to hold their value so even the used ones are big money.

If you can, take pictures of the factory tour and post them up here. I think a lot of us are interested in the Great Harbour boats, and many more are interested in construction techniques, in general.

I love those boats but wonder if they would consider bigger engines on a new build. At least enough to achieve an 8 kt cruise speed. 6.5 kts to me seems painfully slow and difficult at times to fight a current flowing against you at 4 kts or more.

I fell in love with the design the first time I saw one, which was only recently.

The price tag is too steep for me, but the build looks awesome!

All the best with your search.

OD

Why don't you give Ken Fickett a call and ask him if there are other possibilities on the West Coast. True, the GH's have big asking prices and they appear to hold their value well, but I don't know what buyers are actually paying for the ones that sell. Some of them hang around for quite a while, although the N-series seems to move much better than the GH.

My wife and I spent half a day at the Mirage factory 2 weeks ago. I was VERY impressed by their construction techniques. The Great Harbours are serious boats, and in my opinion they are worth the serious price tag. I found Ken Fickett to be a very straightforward guy - he will not give you a sales pitch, but will tell you what he thinks in plain language. I liked him and his wife Becky, and I love the N-37.

David Rive said:

Yesterday I finally had a chance to see a Great Harbour N37 in the water. What a great trawler! (And no I am not on Ken Fickett's payroll, LOL) I cannot get over the space in the engine room and the bosun's locker. So the choice is made - now the debate is new vs. used. Lots to think about.

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I think there is one sitting here, Ocean Marine Yacht Center Portsmouth VA., for sale. I could pass you the phone number on the for sale sign if your interested?

Capt. Bill - yes I would appreciate that. There are three N37s listed for sale on Yachtworld, but none of them are in Portsmouth, so I am very curious. Thanks.

I take another look at it tomorrow and see if there is a number on the for sale sign I think I saw on it.

If you go to ghtacruising.com, there are used Great Harbour yachts for sale by owner and some of them are not listed in Yachtworld. N37 Relax is listed at Portsmouth VA. No price is given. It is a 2002 model and might be the first N37. There is a name and number to call. GHTA is the Great Harbor Trawler Association which acts as the owners group.

David, there's an N37 on the hard at Worton Creek on the upper Chesapeake, immediately behind my boat. It just arrived and I'm sorry I don't have the name or whether it's on the market. I'll ask and let you know. (BTW, I'm originally from Brantford and have family in Toronto.)

Here you go. 757-424-3206

Capt Bill - thanks. I will call them.

Angus - if you find out that one is on the market, please let me know. Regards, eh.

David Rive said:

Capt Bill - thanks. I will call them.

Angus - if you find out that one is on the market, please let me know. Regards, eh.

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The owner is from Ohio and the boat is there for cutlass bearings. The staff will ask when they see him if it's on the market . . . and that's aboot all I can tell you at this point.

Not sure, since I have been out of it for over a year and a half now, but "Relax" is most probably the original, red-hulled N37, "Semper Fi", that went to Cuba and Bermuda on its own bottom. That boat was sold, painted navy blue, and was renamed "Walkabout". It was sold again, painted dark green, and renamed "All Ours". Based on the mast design, railings, and a few other cues, it looks to have been painted and renamed yet again!

BTW, that question about putting larger engines in and getting 8 knots? Keep in mind that the waterline length of a Great Harbour 37 - like all true displacement hulls defines the top speed and also the ideal cruising speed. Its 56 hp 4JH3 Yanmars will easily push it right up to hull speed (about 8.16 knots, as I recall.) However, the boat and engines are really comfortable at 80% throttle - which (with no current and clean bottom) typically yields a little over 7 knots. Same is true of the later 54hp 4JH4 Yanmars. In fact, some of the early GH37s got 3-cylinder 39hp Yanmars. These boats cruise right along at about the same speed as the 4-cylinders. It can be argued that twin 56hp engines are probably TOO MUCH motor for that hull!

I think you'll find that Ken will counter your suggestion for larger motors with a large dose of real-world knowledge, logic, and facts.

BTW, the longer waterline and 75hp Yanmars in the N47s allow them to cruise comfortably at 8 knots (though most choose to go a little slower.)

ERIC

Kraftee, 2004 GH47 East Passage came on the market recently. Among other things, the Yachtworld listing indicates it was re-powered with Yanmar 75HP engines which provides a cruising speed of 8 knots at 2300RPM.

Did the factory build of 2004 GH47s come with 56HP Yanmars? I was wondering if the re-power was to gain speed or was necessary for other reasons.

East Passage is a beautiful one-owner GH47 that has been cruised extensively by her very knowledgeable liveaboard owners. They have also constantly upgraded the systems aboard the boat to keep her absolutely state-of-the-art. (Alright, I know. I sound like I am still writing ad copy for brokerage boats. But I have to tell anyone who is in the market for a non-flybridge GH47 - this is THE nicest one ever built.)

One of her most problematic systems, however, have been the original 71hp Westerbeke main engines with hydraulic transmissions. Ask anyone with a ten-year-old Westerbeke - parts and service are a nightmare. Six weeks to get an exhaust riser? So, the owners recently opted to repower with the excellent 75hp Yanmars that power most of the rest of the 47' Great Harbour fleet.

A bonus of the Yanmars is that they were able to get rid of the power-sucking hydraulic trannies on the Westerbekes. So, the cruise speed jumped by almost a full knot!

ERIC

As a side note, the owner of one of the earlier GH47s was told by an "expert" that his boat would be much faster if he bumped the horsepower. So he had the 75 hp Yanmars pulled and replaced with 100 hp Yanmars. His fuel economy suffered, but he gained almost a tenth of a knot...

kraftee said:

One of her most problematic systems, however, have been the original 71hp Westerbeke main engines with hydraulic transmissions. Ask anyone with a ten-year-old Westerbeke - parts and service are a nightmare. Six weeks to get an exhaust riser? So, the owners recently opted to repower with the excellent 75hp Yanmars that power most of the rest of the 47' Great Harbour fleet.

A bonus of the Yanmars is that they were able to get rid of the power-sucking hydraulic trannies on the Westerbekes. So, the cruise speed jumped by almost a full knot!

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Thanks for info on East Passage!

hmason said:

I love those boats but wonder if they would consider bigger engines on a new build. At least enough to achieve an 8 kt cruise speed. 6.5 kts to me seems painfully slow and difficult at times to fight a current flowing against you at 4 kts or more.

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We run 6.15 knots most all the time. At times we get knocked down slower bucking tides but never slower than 2 to 3 knots. And eventually we were running with the tide. We don't increase throttle ti "maintain" a normal cruise speed. We just go slower when bucking current. If you have to "fight" for speed you better stay w your fast boat. Truth be known though I'd rather run 12 knots.

Kraftee,
When I had my BW rebuilt the mechanic installed a oil pump gear that was at least 1/3 the width of the standard pump gear that had 200hp engines in mind. So I loose very little power w the small gear and my 40hp engine dosn't overload anything.

Manyboats, I wasn't actually intending to badmouth hydraulic transmissions - although they do sap a bit of power. My main point was in explaining East Passage's owner's frustration with parts availability for his Westerbekes. He lost that exhaust elbow at the very beginning of a deep Bahamas cruise (in Andros, I believe) and felt they could not continue without both engines. So they headed back to Green Cove Springs on the one engine to await parts. That was pretty much the breaking point for him. He felt that with a lot of cruising to out of the way places, he would just be much better off with the ubiquitous Yanmars - for parts AND service opportunities.

While I was living in Germany, I spent a couple of weeks cruising the pristine canals, rivers and lakes of the old GDR (East Germany). Also got to know the owner of LeBoat while living in Berlin. We rented one of his new canal trawlers, equipped with 85 HP Nanni (Kabota) engines and Peachment (UK) hydraulic drives. For the canals it was a great combo. You could pull the throttle right through from full forward to full reverse without issue, but it was a power sucker. For a get-home, I always imagined I'd just bolt on one of those hydraulic motors and use a PTO off a genset to power the thing, but with the power loss, I'm not sure how much you'd end up with at the prop. The Nanni-Peachment system was great for rentals on canals, especially with all the abuse those boats get, but for long distance cruising, naw.

Kraftee,
I didn't think you were badmouthing hydraulic gears. The smooth shifting and quietness is well worth it for me. I have nothing negative to say about my BW and w my boat the extra weight that low just adds to the concrete ballast. Would have completely different thoughts on a light boat though.

Yes choosing the marineizer can be important. When I repowered I was on my way to our new home in SE Alaska and picked a Klassen engine. Great rep and they have been servicing the fishing fleet up north since at least the early 70s. And I was able to arrange for an off engine seawater pump .. Jabsco. Impellers availible in any SE AK town .. even at NAPA stores. Never needed anything but last week I bought a trans oil cooler. And several times oil filters. Another plus on the Klassen is a steel exhaust manifold .. no aluminum.