New build or used duck?

There are not that many Ducks out there and they really do draw attention due to their unique design. Over the years I have had many many inquires from people who are interested in buying one specifically as an alternative to the very established Selene, Krogen and Nordhavn brands. Many of the Duck owners have a saying "if you have seen one duck, you have seen one Duck". That translates to that they are all very different. The basic George Buehler hull design is the same but depending on where it was built, the owner's knowledge and experience in equipping and maintaining it and when it was built, the differences can be night and day. I wrote a long article to help answer these questions. Something to do during these long quarantine days . Lots of nice Duck pictures. Please check it out - mvmobyduck.com. Under "recent posts".

Beautiful, but Red?

pete

I'm not very Duck savvy other than they're salty as hell and ocean-capable. I was on a Duck in Wrangell Alaska, tied up next to us. The owners are Dave and Dorthy Nagle...I don't recall the Duck's name. Anyway, Dave had delivered several Ducks from China to Australia and had some harrowing tales of weather and a few bandido wannabe's en route. The boat was very comfortable and as in your picture above, the salon is really "down"...indicative of the deep draft. It feels like it would go the distance in big water.

Hi Jeff, it's good to read your post. I visited you on Moby Duck a few years back.
I'm still looking for my next boat as retirement is getting nearer.
I hope I can find a Duck as nice as yours. Thanks again for letting me see her up close.

Ken E. said:

I'm not very Duck savvy other than they're salty as hell and ocean-capable. I was on a Duck in Wrangell Alaska, tied up next to us. The owners are Dave and Dorthy Nagle...I don't recall the Duck's name. Anyway, Dave had delivered several Ducks from China to Australia and had some harrowing tales of weather and a few bandido wannabe's en route. The boat was very comfortable and as in your picture above, the salon is really "down"...indicative of the deep draft. It feels like it would go the distance in big water.

Click to expand...

That Is the "David Ellis"

Ken E. said:

I was on a Duck in Wrangell Alaska, tied up next to us. The owners are Dave and Dorthy Nagle...I don't recall the Duck's name. Anyway, Dave had delivered several Ducks from China to Australia and had some harrowing tales of weather and a few bandido wannabe's en route.

Click to expand...

I met Dave & Dorothy at a Trawler Fest around 2002. Dave was looking forward to retiring from Sonoma County Sheriff's dept and caught the boating bug. Both nice people - Dave crewed for me on a couple deliveries up the coast. I lost track of them shortly after they took delivery of their boat in China - they floated around Philippines for a while as I recall.

I'd be remiss if I didn't highlight that had TrawlerForum been around and had Dave done his nose-poking here instead of Trawler Fest, he would be subjected to dozens of self-proclaimed old salts who would tell him his dream is too grand, he should work his way up the ladder of experience. When he stepped aboard as crew for me for a 5-day run north from Dana Point, his experience was limited to small patrol boats. He was good crew and had good stories to while away the night watch.

The Nagle's are one of the examples I think of when I hear Newbies want to know if their dream is feasible. It is. It's a tougher road than starting when you're young, but when you start in your 50's or 60's, you have to skip a few bases. Dave and Dorothy did fine.

BTW - as I recall, "David Ellis" was the first names of each of Dave's and Dorothy's fathers. It's a good name for a boat.

If anyone bumps into them, tell them I said hello - last I saw them was dinner at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco around 2004.

Peter

New or used Duck? I guess that all depends upon how much time you want to wait for a new boat or if you find a used boat that will fit you mission.