boats not made in China?

kind of a silly doesn't really matter daydreamer's question here....

I've been daydreaming over boats such as some by Selene and Nordhavn in the roughly in the say 43 ft to 55 ft range
both made in China for the most part as I understand it...well I understand Nordhavn makes some of their line in Turkey too....


What are some equivalent/similar brands not built in China?

mostly coastal cruising for a couple, but would love the ability to cross to Europe from the East coast of the US.

I've wondered this myself. Kadey Krogens are built in Taiwan and some of the Nordhavns are made in Taiwan. Certainly the vast majority are made in China.
Washington state has a few good builders of coastal cruisers.

And your concern is?

Where do you want your boat to be built?

both american and nordic tugs are built in washington.

Flatswing said:

And your concern is?

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My concern would be not buying a boat being built in a communist country if there are alternatives, and apparently there are.

Comodave said:

Where do you want your boat to be built?

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Preferably in the US or Canada. Washington and BC have some great boats built there.

Bill V said:

My concern would be not buying a boat being built in a communist country if there are alternatives, and apparently there are.

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Typed out on a tablet or PC made in that same country you seem so afraid of.
Look out, they are tracking your every word

Simi 60 said:

Typed out on a tablet or PC made in that same country you seem so afraid of.
Look out, they are tracking your every word

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First off, I am not afraid of them and that was never a consideration. Why support a country that historically has been very cruel to their own people. Remember I spoke of "alternatives" and there are, both in boats and tablets/PC's.

Well... They are not passagemakers like the Kady or Nordhavn's you mentioned but...

The Bayliner Coastal Cruisers were all made in America, and I think the Hatteras LRC series is also an American Made boat.

Bravo for trying to employ your fellow Americans!

The Euros do a great job on steel boats which are understood there.

As steel is not popular in the US perhaps you could find a Euro built boat sat a discount.

Beware tho, the Euro electrical system is a different 240V from US standards.

op here....

magna 6882 said:

both american and nordic tugs are built in washington.

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thanks. Love that..... but my understanding is that these aren't really in that same "passagemaker" class of boat.... do I have that wrong? I'll take a closer look at those for sure!

Personally I'm not dreaming about hardcore frequent ocean crossings but I'm curious about options for that sort of 'capable' boat.
There are elements in their designs that just seem nice even if not crossing oceans

FF said:

The Euros do a great job on steel boats which are understood there.
As steel is not popular in the US perhaps you could find a Euro built boat sat a discount.
Beware tho, the Euro electrical system is a different 240V from US standards.

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I've read quite a few mentions of "dutch steel" and similar in my time here on this forum. Are there particular brands or makers....or are they all one-off custom boats built by general shipyards?

I wonder about the shipyards on gulf coast of the US, I understand there are some in the NE of the US too.... surely there's some boat yards in Europe, Canada, even Mexico......etc....

Sabre and Back Cove are made in Maine but their engine choices are cummins and Volvo, so pick Cummins. Their engines are assembled in NC with blocks from Brazil.

stubones99 said:

Sabre and Back Cove are made in Maine but their engine choices are cummins and Volvo, so pick Cummins. Their engines are assembled in NC with blocks from Brazil.

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thanks
I just googled their web pages.... look like very nice boats for sure, at least on the surface...BUT every photo on their home pages show boats up on plane

So are volvo marine engines not good?

I've read good things about Northern Marine but I guess it depends on what year and ownership? Someone can answer that. Also what about Taiwan and Hong Kong pre communist China? Fleming comes to mind. Where is Outer Reef and Hampton built?

They made a Trawler style boat some time ago, and they look nice. The Sabres are top of the market in my mind for production boats, fast as in high twenties to over 30 knot cruise, but kind of small inside. I did step in the 66 at Palm Beach which was large inside but it is priced at 2.9mm or so. Big fast downeastern with pods, and joystick docking. America craftsman, just beautiful.

skyhawk said:

thanks
I just googled their web pages.... look like very nice boats for sure, at least on the surface...BUT every photo on their home pages show boats up on plane

So are volvo marine engines not good?

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Volvo has a good reputation in heavy equipment and OTR trucks, but on the marine side, they have one warehouse in the US, and everything has to ship out of there, and the parts prices are high, if the parts are available. A dock neighbor gave up and re-engined his boat because it was on the hard waiting on parts most of the time. He said at least he gets to use it with the different engines, and the older Volvo engines ran some of the time.

Finding a volvo service center is rare. Sure, mechanics may work on them, but they're not volvo trained, which means you pay their rates while they figure it out. I hear that in other parts of the world, it is different, but I don't live there.

Even if you get a new boat with Volvo engines, someday, it will be older, and someone will have to fight the battle getting spare parts...

Speaking of sabre, if you look at YachtWorld sabre, you'll see quite a few Volvo powered boats available. If you watch boats being listed and then sold, you'll see most of them are Cummins powered... A Cummins powered sabre don't last long, compared to the Volvo glut on the market.

While my experiences are not personal, and who knows if it is "current", I saw my friend experience unending pain with his volvo engines and no problems with cummins. This was 15+ years ago, and I still won't go see a volvo powered boat. They wanted to show me the latest Palm Beach boats, and I saw the "powered by Volvo" floor mat and declined.

Others on TF will swear by Volvo engines, but a few TF'ers swear at them. The last thing I wanted to do is find out first hand that the volvo service issues are still a thing.

Adopo said:

They made a Trawler style boat some time ago, and they look nice. The Sabres are top of the market in my mind for production boats, fast as in high twenties to over 30 knot cruise, but kind of small inside. I did step in the 66 at Palm Beach which was large inside but it is priced at 2.9mm or so. Big fast downeastern with pods, and joystick docking. America craftsman, just beautiful.

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Boats that go 30 knots are not trawlers.
That was established over 10 yrs ago on TF.

Many such boats are here on TF and the owners mostly operate them like they were trawlers. But they may try to outrun weather (that is un-trawler-like) but mostly they operate like trawlers. But they are not.

I can add that the Sabre is better looking than most trawlers.

Billy V wrote;
“Why support a country that historically has been very cruel to their own people.”

Because your notion that your shopping habits will change their evil ways is false.
We cherish our freedom but seem to think others shouldn’t have it.
But the notion that if we cease to do business w China such that they have extreme monetary difficulties we may modify their behavior. Not likely.
And China should have the freedoms we do ... or is that just for us?

The reason we’re having this conversation is that China is manufacturing b-zillion products cheaper than we are and the’re not talking about a minimum wage. But wages in their country is not our business. It’s their country. Unless you think we should have freedom and they should not.

Skyhawk,
While they make great boats for coastal cruising, neither Nordic nor American Tugs are considered "off shore" or "passagemaking" boats. They are very capable of "hopping" down a coast in "open water" as long as careful, prudent, passage planning is used taking into account weather and the distances involved. They have an approximate 800 mile range with an approx. 1/3 reserve fuel (varies by model). Many of these Tugs have transited the Panama Canal after going down the west coast from the PNW and exploring further.
However, if you want to cross the Atlantic, I would suggest it is possible with one of these Tugs, just have it transported over and then use it once over there.

Bill V said:

Why support a country that historically has been very cruel to their own people,

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What, like how the native Americans were treated ?
Slavery?
Various human experiments?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Une...h were performed,consent of the test subjects.


Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks.

Simi 60 said:

What, like how the native Americans were treated ?
Slavery?
Various human experiments?

Unethical human experimentation in the United States - Wikipedia.


Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks.

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Watch this, it explains perfectly what you said.

Where are the FloridaBayCoasters/Benford ships being laid?

Simi 60 said:

What, like how the native Americans were treated ?
Slavery?
Various human experiments?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unethical_human_experimentation_in_the_United_States#:~:text=Numerous%20experiments%20which%20were%20performed,consent%20of%20the%20test%20subjects.


Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks.

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Except for human experiments, officially, our government does not support slavery or mistreatment of AmerIndians. On the private level, however..........


Re: Non-Chinese boats, if you can afford a new build, you could buy plans for a George Buehler Diesel Duck 462 in steel, take them to a reputable non-Chinese builder, and pay not much more than building in China, possibly less than $1million.

Simi 60 said:

What, like how the native Americans were treated ?
Slavery?
Various human experiments?

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks.

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https://www.britannica.com/topic/Australian-Aboriginal

You are so right. Careful with your "rock".

Bill V said:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Australian-Aboriginal

You are so right. Careful with your "rock".

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Yep, but I'm not the one throwing them

Oh come on, can we just avoid gratuitous political and social commentary and condemnation and simply discuss boat origins? We all make judgments and have our preferences on where to spend our money, and we each have a right to do so without being insulted. The OP asks a relatively simple question and the thread almost instantly goes into lobbing shots about national evils.

kthoennes said:

Oh come on, can we just avoid gratuitous political and social commentary and condemnation and simply discuss boat origins? We all make judgments and have our preferences on where to spend our money, and we each have a right to do so without being insulted. The OP asks a relatively simple question and the thread almost instantly goes into lobbing shots about national evils.

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This thread is heading into one that will be removed if it continues on the course. We need to keep the politics off TF. If you want to keep it open then stop with the politics, please.

And stop with the hypocrisy.