Nimble Nomad Trawler

[Nimble1]

First post.
Our little trawler is a Nimble Nomad trawler,a Ted Brewer design built in 1990. She was hull* #1 and they ended up building about 132 or so before the builder passed away.
It is 24'-7" long with a 8'-6" beam and weighs in at around 4000 lbs. With its 2' draft and Honda outboard, she is perfect for coastal cruising in SW Fla's skinny water.
We bought her in 94 and now keep her on a lift here on Pine Island. If you are going to be in the area., let us know and maybe we can help with local knowledge.

 

[Codger2]

That's a beautiful little boat!

 

[Nimble1]

Thanks..being small, we really have to be careful packing for a trip but we have it pretty well organized.
We are usually the smallest boat in a marina but we always get lots of comments. The shot of the helm shows the front hatch setup, hatchboards are setup like a sailboat and the top is a dutch-door that swings out.

 

[Forkliftt]

Thomas,
That is a great looking ship. Have you been able to track down other Nimble owners?

 

[El Sea]

There's one advertised in the local paper here in St Petersburg. If I was setting on a 44' I would gladly look into it.


El Sea/L.C.

Suckin Sludge & Havin a Gas

 

[Baker]

Very very cool!!!

 

[Nimble1]

Thanks for all the nice comments about our little trawler. I was very surprised and pleased when I first looked at the forum and saw that there was a section for trailer-able trawlers. Obviously a bigger boat would be nice but we love the Nimble and it will probably be with us for a while.
And there is a pretty active Yahoo Nimble group that I belong to and visit often. There actually appear to be more in the northern areas than in the south, there's even one it Sitka Alaska!

Tom

 

[Bentsailor]

Hi Tom

We also are new Nomad owners ..*bought Fort Pierce Nov 09 and trailered to Barrie Ontario, Canada in April 2010.


Its a tropical in great shape with Auto Pilot and Bow Thruster along with a complete kit of safety hardware etc.**The boat is a 2001 with low hours and kept on a lift in season , garaged in the off season.


Have put 22 hrs on the boat so far spending a few nights out on our local Lake Couchiching on the Trent Canal system.


Looking to tour the Trent Canal system this year, Georgian Bay's 30,000 islands, the North Channel and the Rideau Canal in the next few years.


Many trawlers passing through here every day but still love our little boat .. sure beats living in a tent!


Jeff and Barb

 

[FF]

How cramped is the Fwd bunk?

Looked at an Offshore 25 yesterday and my bride ,all 5 ft of her, could not stretch out on one side of the "double".

IS this a plaining boat , will it run 25+K with* proper power?

-- Edited by FF on Monday 28th of June 2010 04:51:18 AM

 

[Bentsailor]

Hi

Boat is displacement hull ... 22' W/L translates into 6.3 knts ... we have achieved 7 m/hr at 4 krpm and are pushing it .. *6.3 at comfortable 2.5 krpm .. 0.5 to 0.75 gph fuel consumption.


I'm 6 ft and my better half 5'4" we can easily sleep in dinette double on all but the stickiest nights .. then I'm banished to the starboard day berth ... both 6'4" limits.


We also have expanded accommodations with the addition of one piece of plywood to convert to queen size for sleeping .. rear of cabin is then entirely sleeping.


We plan to use self inflating camp mattresses (thermarest) instead of provided extra cushions as all extra cushions must find storage during the day .. not a small task on a 25' boat.


My wife wanted a boat with full head facility and this one gives all the privacy she has hoped for c/w h/c shower, and dry sink.


Boat has front and rear cockpits for enjoying the great outdoors as well as cabin top for the sun*worshippers.


All this and a review and video can be seen on*http://www.nimbleboat.net/boats.asp along other Nimble offerings.


We love the boat so far ... the 16" draught and double cockpit makes for safe/easy travel in uncharted waters.


Boat listings can be seen*http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/cache/searchResults.jsp?slim=quick&sm=3&luom=126&currencyid=100&searchtype=searchbar&Ntk=boatsEN&Ntt=nimble+nomad


Also check old listing showing cockpit and custom roof rack arragement. at*http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/photoGallery.jsp?ro=2&slim=quicknull&r=2049578&checked_boats=2049578&rs=yachtworld.com&boat_id=2049578&back=/core/boats/1994/Nimble-Nomad-2049578/Niceville/FL/United-States&boat_id=2049578
Enjoy!

 

[Bentsailor]

Hi Again

If you are into 25' .. should also check out the Rosborough 254 at*http://www.rosboroughboats.com/index.html


Barb & Jeff

 

[Suzeh]

Jeff and Barb. Awesome boat. Keep us posted. I'm interested to hear how the boat handles Georgian Bay. We're in Penetang and thinking about downsizing from a sailboat to a trawler. This boat looks like it would be great for gunk-holing around the islands of Georgian Bay.

 

[Bentsailor]

Hi Suzeh

Have been on Coch in 25 knts with good fetch .. 3-4 ft sea in all directions .... seems fine up and down bound .. but not much fun on the beam ends ... have to wait things out on GB in the big stuff .. but "Whats The Hurry".


Will be taking a few days .. Sunday to Wednesday on the Trent section from Coch to Sparrow Lake ... staying in Sparrow a night or two depending on what we find. * First multi-day shake down. *Looking forward to some quiet anchorages.


Hay .. if your in the area .. look us up .. can show you the boat up close.


Jeff and Barb

 

[Nimble1]

Hi Jeff & Barb,
I know you wiill love your boat..we do. Just got back from an overnighter at a local marina about 10 miles away. Had a great time and this being August in Fla. ran the A/C all night...LOL
I am curious about the bow thruster you mentioned. Love to see a pic of it.
We also do the board across the bunks for a nice nights sleep. Also..what is your hull#?
Have you seen the Nimble Boat Group on Yahoo Groups? Take a look..although some folks have not been able to sign up recently. Let me know if you have trouble.

Pic of "Sweet Pea" at Salty Sam's Marina in Ft.Myers Beach.

Tom & Sharon


-- Edited by Nimble1 on Saturday 7th of August 2010 01:14:04 PM

 

[Bentsailor]

Hi Tom & Sharon

Great to hear from you guys ... we are new Nimble Nomad owners as you know and would love to hear more about the boats in use.


We have had a few overnighters since last post with almost 60 hours running so far. *Love it, love it!!


The thruster is a Vetus 110NM 25 KFG, 12 volt, with access through the anchor locker deck hatch in the forward cockpit. *It is powered through a second battery switch with heavier cable direct to the thruster from the batteries. *Works well although can blow bubbles if you have extra people aboard sitting aft. It came with the boat and not sure whether it is that useful on such a small boat.


Our boat also came with a Raytheon Sportpilot which may also be overdoing it for lake/canal cruising. *It does its level best to maintain a heading although has a tough time with about 30 degree steering backlash (helm adjustment versus motor response). Not sure how or if it is possible to adjust this out of the cable steering system.


We also have a H/C pressurized water system but again since we are not yet live -aboards, the water in the system tends to go skunky. *We are fresh water boaters and make our drinking water daily using an MSR camp carbon ceramic filter pump and go for a dunk rather than use the shower in the head.



Our hull number is 101. *We are the second owners.


We have been toying with the idea of coming south this winter and plying the St. John River and would love to here about some of your favorite cruising hangouts.


Barb & Jeff

 

[Nimble1]

Wow..thats a serious thruster! There are times when I would love one but can do with out the complication, We do not have H/C water either..just a pressure water system with a shower unit in the bow.
We did have a autopilot and loved it but it failed last year and since its so old, parts are no longer available for it. Too bad as I loved it. Our steering is hydraulic so it worked pretty well, but in narrow confines like a canal or narrow river it probably would not work well.
Our boat came with a marine head and holding tank but since we don't usually stay at marinas with pumpouts, I changed it over to a porti-potti and have been very pleased with it. We can usually go 4 or 5 days with out having to empty, if I use the bucket during the day...LOL
If you get to Fla, our area is perhaps the best in Fla for cruising in a Nomad. Lots of protected water with plenty of gunkholeing spots and great spots to anchor.


-- Edited by Nimble1 on Tuesday 10th of August 2010 07:23:07 AM

 

[Skiprboatman]

Just found this site. Looks like a couple of good Nomad owners here. I have owned a '97 Nomad Special for three years and have made many mods. You can see a few of these on youtube>movieolaman>boomer or in the December issue of Soundings magazine. I am attaching a couple of pics showing some of the things I have done. The pic of boat with stack & gen cover is a photoshop rendering of the gen cover that the Nimble factory is making for me. It should be available to all by the first of the year. *jim palmer > bigangel@bellsouth.net

 

[Skiprboatman]

That is a 1500 btu heater under the helm station seat. Also, I have never been able to find the forum on yahoo. Can someone direct me to it?

jim

 

[Bentsailor]

Hi Jim

Nice work ... looks like you can still raise your motor with the new cover .. love the heater hidey hole .. and the gen set cover gives the boat a ...dare I say .. Rangerish profile.*

Just heading back from the south into the teeth of a major blow in our area*.. but I think I'vs seen your video at least a dozen times and shown it to all our friends.* Your the primary reason we have a Nimble ... great inspiration to us all.*

Will get into some serious discussion when I am off the road .. if you have the time too.

Jeff*

 

[Skiprboatman]

Here are some pics of the seat & footlocker installed. The*kick-space heater under the helm seat works really great.

 

[Bentsailor]

Hi Jim

Been thinking about a way to use this space ... you've done a great job there .. what details on heater make ??

Jeff

 

[Skiprboatman]

It is a Marley QTS1500T. I got it on-line for about $150. Be careful with your deminsions because it is a tight fit.

jim

 

[Nimble1]

Made a few improvements to "Sweet Pea" in the last few weeks. Will post some pics tomorrow. One of them was a nice little LED light to light up the bow area and beyond. More than once I have had to do some anchor work at night with no lighting and decided to fix it.
More to come.

 

[Nimble1]

Finally got the pics of my improvements to post. The light for the bow really puts out some nice light and will help in nighttime anchoring issues.
The redo for the dash top turned out nice considering it only cost me $10..LOL The original dash top was of course teak plywood but had been modified a number of times over the years so I decided to redo it again. I think it turned out nice...a nice solid piece of teak would have looked better but would have cost quite a bit more!

 

[Nomad Willy]

Thomas,
I think it looks great. Clear finished wood often needs other surfaces and colors.
I'm Ga Ga over your windows. If I keep my Willard I may buy some for Willy but they are very expensive. So I'll be jealous for now.

 

[Bob-O]

Tom...
Check your inbox. I sent you a PM.

Bill

 

[Nimble1]

Just a pic

A pic from our favorite marina, Legacy Harbour Marina in Ft.Myers FL.
And I wanted to post a pic of my new cup/beer/wineglass holders too..LOL

 

[NCBrewers]

A pic from our favorite marina, Legacy Harbour Marina in Ft.Myers FL.
And I wanted to post a pic of my new cup/beer/wineglass holders too..LOL

Thanks for posting the pic. As a newbie, I'm very interested in finding out some good marinas in FL and north up the ICW. perhaps there's a thread on this?

 

[Rob_L]

Jeff,

My wife and I recently purchased a Nimble Vagagond (hull #5). This is the 20' version of the Ted Brewer hull with a foredeck, v-berth, and pilot house. Other features, such has the stern, transom, hull shape, freeboard, cockpit coaming, etc., are pretty much identical to the Nomad. I have seen your boarding ladder in several of your photos and noticed it has longer stand-offs than anything I've been able to find. Can you tell me what brand it is, its length, and where you purchased it? We do our swimming in pools, but several of the places we like to launch do not have courtesy docks parallel to the launch ramp (30 or 40 years ago, I could have hauled myself up into the cockpit without a ladder - as I did many times on sailboats - but certainly NOT these days!).

Thanks,

Rob

 

[loafs and fishes]

First post

I have just become an owner of a Nimble Nomad. She's a '94 tropical. I have yet to take delivery of her and am anxiously awaiting her arrival. I first became aware of these boats from an article in, I believe it was, Passagemaker, but I could be wrong. It was many years ago and I remember thinking, "What cool little boats". Now circumstance allows me to get one. I'm hoping to have her ready for a trip to the Erie Canal in the fall.