Hi KokopelliTim.
My apologies to being slow in responding, I have been chasing a health issue which is now, hopefully, resolved
My deepest thanks once again, to Jaquesm and Sortie who were both generous to a fault in letting me tour and investigate their wonderful boats.
I am still quite pleased with the Prairie 29. My wife and I hope to become Loopers, and this is a fine couples boat, for couples who like each other enough to spend time in a relatively small space. We also would like to be able to cruise the keys, and maybe hop across to the Bahamas, and the Prairie seems to be more than enough boat for this.
Caveat: all of my comments below are those of a person of with moderate sailing experience, little power cruising experience, and who is a complete newbie to the Prairie. My knowledge of the boat comes from two, 2 hour onboard inspections and lots of internet research. I would welcome all Prairie 29 owners to comment on this thread – my responses here are of the first time buyer looking, but I lack the day to day experience that comes with ownership.
PRO’s:
Fuel efficiency has to rank as one of its biggest pluses – with a cruising speed of 6 - 6.5 knots I have gotten owner reports of burn rates of .75 - 1.25 gallons an hour. But the top speed is perhaps 8 knots (depends on which engine it has in it), so don’t count on going anywhere fast, this is a slow and steady, enjoy the journey boat.
The prairie is built like a tank, with a solid glass hull and plywood cored deck. The construction seemed robust throughout. There is very little exterior wood requiring maintenance.
The side decks are remarkably wide for a 29-foot boat, with high gunwales and good handholds – this is worth its weight in gold in any kind of sea, especially for those of us who are on the south side of 60.
The interior is laid out so cleverly that it provides exceptional livability in a small space. One of my main concerns is that in smaller boats, the designers keep trimming inches from the V-berth. Not so with the Prairie. I laid my 6’1” frame on the berth and found it remarkably wide with lots of extra space at the head and feet. There is also adequate headroom throughout.
Although the head does not have a separate shower, the space is large, and the two boats I saw had shower fixtures in the space with enough room for a big guy like me to turn around in while showering. I would also seriously consider adding an outdoor shower to the cockpit area.
The huge ports let in a very pleasant amount of light, making the salon a great place to be. There is plenty of space in the galley and the settees.
The engine space is large and on both boats, I saw was very well laid out. Access to everything was pretty-good-to-excellent. (Said from the standpoint of a sailor).
The flybridge is much easier to access than I had assumed for a boat this small a boat, and what the cockpit lacks for space is more than made up for topside where, there is room for a small table and seating for 4.
The view from the flybridge is awesome. The space is comfortable and well laid out. No doubt that weather permitting this is where I would be while underway.
FYI: Other boats we have considered are
Nimble Wanderer 32 (great fuel efficiency newer, hard to find, wasted space in the layout)
The Fairchild Scout 30 (great fuel efficiency, lovely, updated design from the 1930’s - I am a sucker for the classics – but probably a bit tender for open water)
Grand Banks 32 (lots of them available, very robust, moderate fuel efficiency, expensive and ohmygod all that teak to take care of!).
Cons:
My list of cons is small and these facts rate fairly low on my priority list:
Many of these boats have had their interiors customized extensively and bothboats I saw had a refrigerator located just aft of the interior pilot station. This left a rather cramped space for the captain to sit while steering the vessel from the lower helm, and I think this should be thought of, for us larger types, as a mostly standing steering station.
A couple could put a small table in the cockpit and sit there, but the space is rather small. The cockpit is also rather deep and stepping into it from dockside is a big step. You can do it more easily just forward of the cockpit, but I would seriously consider adding a transom door for improved access.
Like all trawlers, the Prairie will roll some in a beam sea, and the short waterline will lead to hobby-horsing in certain types of chop. Both owners said they had experienced both effects but not to any serious degree, owing to care in choosing weather windows for open water.
Lastly, I would say that these boats are over 30 years old. Both boats I saw were in great shape, in Sortie’s case, it was thru his own exhaustive efforts to bring back a boat that had not had adequate maintenance for several years. These boats “have great bones” and for the handyman, might make a good candidate for a project boat, but I would recommend that anyone looking at a Prairie have a professional survey done.
That’s it. Thanks again to Sortie and Jaquesm – hope to see you all out on the water!
As long as your polite.LOL. Be delighted to show you the SUE Marie. I think you will find the design to be ideal for your needs. Live in Merritt Island, right next to Port Canaveral The boat is kept at Harbortown Marina. We are about 45 min from Orlando.Have no major plans that week.
