10-12 knot cruise trawler 26-32'?

[ForceMultiplier]

3 years??! Lmao. You're patient!

Nah, not patient - it just takes me a long time to make a decision.

 

[mvRusalka]

Your question kind of shows you need to work through some things, both realistic hull speeds as well as there being a whopper of a difference between 26 and 32 foot boats, those are not two ends of one size range but two different size ranges entirely. With length comes increased hull speed and beam, making a few feet longer, much bigger.

But hey, you have to start somewhere and I appreciate how you are trying to whittle this down.

Take a look at a 26 Tolly. It’s a big boat in a small size. They are more planing boats, but can be run slower. Lots of amazingly kept specimens, today going for a song, many have been repowered with some nice engine packages.

My wife and I are on our 2nd season with a well kept older 26' Tolly. We run the boat out of the Tacoma area and just got back from a week in the San Juan islands. This is our first boat, and so far it does everything we need and nothing we don't. Let me know if you have any questions about these, I think they are a bit more thin on the ground outside of the PNW, but they are great boats.

 

[dhays]

My wife and I are on our 2nd season with a well kept older 26' Tolly. We run the boat out of the Tacoma area and just got back from a week in the San Juan islands. This is our first boat, and so far it does everything we need and nothing we don't. Let me know if you have any questions about these, I think they are a bit more thin on the ground outside of the PNW, but they are great boats.

Welcome.

Yeah, Tollys are great boats and well known around here. Not so much on the East coast from what I understand. I’ve never owned one but the speed range of the Tolly does seem to be what the OP is looking for.

Perfect time to go to the San Juans as it isn’t too crowded yet.

 

[Benthic2]

Does this count as a fly bridge ?

 

[ben2go]

Does this count as a fly bridge ?

 

[ForceMultiplier]

Does this count as a fly bridge ?

Yeah, but it's not a trawler, so let's keep looking.

 

[OldDan1943]

Does this count as a fly bridge ?

Looks like a tuna tower.

 

[ForceMultiplier]

Looks like a tuna tower.

Yep, I'll have to agree.

 

[Benthic2]

...but its got the latest technology ?? Steering by voice command !!

 

[OldDan1943]

...but its got the latest technology ?? Steering by voice command !!

Standing on a ladder in a boat and no PFD..... Hello Darwin.....

 

[MRRiley]

Oh come on.

He's got at least two, maybe three rungs before it even gets sporty and even then he's surrounded by water.

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[South of Heaven]

I thought it was photo shopped? Its actually real?? Haaaha

 

[Mrwesson]

Mainship 34 with a turbo perkins 180hp+ will get you @ a 10 knot cruise. Mine tops out about 10 knots with the 165 perkins.

Know it's over 32'.

Once looked at a F26 Trojan with a single 318 Crusader that would meet you specs and actually was reasonably fuel efficient. It was also tiny inside and woeful in rough seas. I could have done the loop in it alone but even myself and a dog would be cramped. It also didn't have a flybridge.

They make a F30 with a single 318 that would mostly meet your criteria(Express/no flybridge) but are hard to find with the single 318.

 

[jeffnick]

There's better options than a (cramped) Sundancer. I've seen over 20 mph with mine, and at trawler speeds up to 3 mpg. Plus you can trailer it to wherever you want to launch, and keep it in your back yard otherwise. Ours makes a great guest house for visitors here at home.
https://72land-n-sea.blogspot.com/2017/01/land-n-sea-houseboat-information.html

 

[ForceMultiplier]

There's better options than a (cramped) Sundancer. I've seen over 20 mph with mine, and at trawler speeds up to 3 mpg. Plus you can trailer it to wherever you want to launch, and keep it in your back yard otherwise. Ours makes a great guest house for visitors here at home.
https://72land-n-sea.blogspot.com/2017/01/land-n-sea-houseboat-information.html

Jeff, where can you even find one of those things?

 

[Bryant]

Camano

Camano Troll 31. Ranger Tugs 27, 29, 31. Mainship 30.

 

[jeffnick]

Jeff, where can you even find one of those things?

There were only 251 made. They come up for sale every now and then. Check here, there's one for sale in TX at $2,500.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TrailerableHousteboats/


A buddy down the road bought one a year and a half ago. Here's the story.
https://72land-n-sea.blogspot.com/2017/08/land-and-sea-rescue.html


You should see his today after 1.5 years of restoration.

Here's the story on mine.
https://72land-n-sea.blogspot.com/2012/09/houseboat-2000-miles-to-lake-powell.html


We did own a 35' trawler for a spell. It was locked in a slip and a lot of responsibility. These houseboats are all of the comfort with none of the worry.

 

[Seevee]

Since we put the prop cage on 8kts is about it. Can do 9 or 10 but then pushing a big bow wave and consuming much more fuel.


Before the cage we could get 12kts at WOT, still pushing a big bow wave,but 8-9 was still the sweet spot.


Planing? Nah.

Dwhatty,


What's the prop cage?

 

[Seevee]

As mentioned earlier, SeaRay Sundancer models are well worth looking at. We had 3 over the years, logging thousands of miles. Our favorite was a 300 DA which was trailerable. Worth thinking about for hurricane country.

I can comment about the Sundancer, have owned two and just sold one. They are great boats, easy to handle and some have a lot of nice features but will more than likely cost you more operate than some of the other slower diesel powered boats.



Just sold my 280 Sundancer, superb layout, twin for easy handling, walk thru windshield. They are fairly easy to buy and sell as they are very popular. But I could argue not really a good retirement boat unless you have a good mechanic on retainer. ANY IO will cost a LOT more to operate than a diesel, but they will out maneuver and out run the diesel.


However, I could argue to buy a popular boat now, to really figure out what you really want for retirement. Spend the next three years getting ideas and learning what features you need and dont need or want. But, get a popular one that will sell easily when the time comes. My Sundancer sold in two weeks, but it was cherry. If you need more info, PM me.


====
Bryant's suggestion of the Camano Troll 31. Ranger Tugs 27, 29, 31. Mainship 30, is great, but I'd bet you wont find a Ranger with a flybridge even close to your price but they are a real quality boat.


It's hard to get the flybridge and the performance you want in much smaller than 31 feet. And for that speed you will want to be up on plane, and you'll then be going faster. The 10 to 12 knot cruise speed just doesn't equate for that size boat. You might as well be going 18 to 20 on the same fuel.


However, I'm paying attention to this forum, as when (or if) I downside, my requirements would be similar.

 

[CEC]

My advice is also whatever you decide on buy it now and in 3 years you will be ready to go

 

[garycasey]

Speed costs money

Are there any trawlers or "semi-trawler" style boats in the 26-32' range that have a 9+ knot cruising speed? With a flybridge/command bridge.

It just happens that I have just done some speed testing on my Nordic Tugs 32 with a 210-hp Cummins. Yes, you can cruise at 12kts or more if you like. I used a combination of test data to arrive at my conclusions. First, the most "effective" cruise speed is 7.8 knots, which can be obtained at 1300 rpm. This is the "sweet spot" at or just below the calculated hull speed. The drag then has a hump and from there on up it seems that the boat gradually rises out of the water - it doesn't suddenly plane. This is what I would expect from a "semi-planning" hull design. The boat gets to your magic 9kts at 1600 rpm, but is still going faster at 2200 rpm, where I stopped testing. At 2200 I was doing 13.8kts. But here is the cost: At 7.8 kts the miles per gallon is about 4. At 13.8 kts it is 1.84. A lot noisier, but it will definitely do it. Unfortunately, your target speed of 9kts is in the valley of hull efficiency curve, but it is still getting 3.67mpg. So the short answer is, sure you can cruise that fast, but the racer's question is, "Speed costs money; how fast do you want to go?"

 

[dwhatty]

Dwhatty,


What's the prop cage?

This a prop cage. Highly desirous in Maine waters due to lobster trap buoys.

 

[garycasey]

Flybridge?

Flybridge? I forgot to mention that I've heard of an aftermarket (or factory? I'm not sure) flybridge that almost looks like the boat was made for it.

 

[rgano]

Mr. Force, you have been given a lot of good information here, and I do not disagree with any of it, but let me give you just a slightly different perspective. I owned a 42 foot Grand banks going all over the place at an easy 8-knot cruise for a lot of years burning an average 3.25 gallons per hour on two Lehman 120 engines. I rarely used the flybridge underway. It turns out that unless you have a very light colored bimini, I gets HOT up there in summer sun as the heat a dark cover collects radiates right down onto your noggin, especially when you stand up. Getting up and down from there was not especially convenient either on that boat, and NOBODY was allowed up there or even outside the skin of the ship at night during coastal passages. Hey, and the refrigerator with all of its delicacies was below right next to the lower helm. A flying bridge adds cost as well as maintenance issues.

Sooo, when I got tired of 8 knots and all the maintenance of a big boat kept in a wet slip and wanted a diesel boat I could spend the night on at anchor in air conditioned comfort, a marine surveyor I know said I needed this Mainship 30 Pilot II Rum Runner. They come with and without the hardtop and with or without the generator installation.

A few specs to consider: Yanmar diesel 315 six-cylinder or 240 four-cylinder engine
Boat weight 11K pounds for soft top, 12K for hardtop
Fuel 150 gallons; water 40 gal
Genny: 3.5KW Nextgen

Hull speed, something you should learn about, is about 8 MPH (3-plus gallons per hour fuel use), and the boat will rapidly climb the hill thereafter until about 14 MPH where is drops the bow through, but not dramatically because it is a semi-planing hull. Any speed in between has the nose in the air with reduced visibility ahead and hard use of the engine trying to climb. My personal preference is to run the at around 15 MPH at 8.4 gallons per hour per my Floscan where the engine is at about 80% power (diesels, especially turbo-powered ones like mine) like this.

While it is out of the length of boat range you specified, the Mainship 34 Pilot has a hull speed about one MPH higher and can be had with twin engines.

 

[ForceMultiplier]

I'm really liking the looks of those trailerable houseboats.

In addition, I believe I'm going to have to settle for a trailerable cruiser/trawler/houseboat of whatever flavor I decide.
I've already got a 22' center console Tolman Skiff that I use all over the North Carolina coast, from 1-foot deep water up in the heads of creeks off the Neuse and Roanoke rivers to 30 miles offshore of Cape Lookout. So, I know a little bit about what I want - I've just got to figure out how to get it.
I may have to build me a Great Alaskan from Glacier Boats (kinda like a giant Tolman skiff) and set it up for cruising.
Those trailerable houseboats are really looking appealing right now, though.

 

[South of Heaven]

I briefly entertained the thought of buying a houseboat. You can get a 40 to 50 foot boat for a fraction of what a "normal" boat would cost!

My biggest gripe is the freeboard. That crap wont fly in my neck of the woods. I think for river and inland waters they are quite a viable option though. Cool boats.

 

[JLD]

There's better options than a (cramped) Sundancer. I've seen over 20 mph with mine, and at trawler speeds up to 3 mpg. Plus you can trailer it to wherever you want to launch, and keep it in your back yard otherwise. Ours makes a great guest house for visitors here at home.
https://72land-n-sea.blogspot.com/2017/01/land-n-sea-houseboat-information.html

Maybe I missed the requirement for the OP's boat in this thread to be trailerable, but while your comment above may be true for a Sundancer 260, I don't agree that it is for a larger Sundancer.

Your boat is a pretty neat little boat, and I could see how it would be a great trailerable boat for use on large lakes, while affording one the option to trailer to different boating areas.

Not sure, though, if this is a boat that I would want to take offshore. A Sundancer 320, however, with its 11 1/2 foot beam, and 21 degree dead rise is a nice combination for coastal cruising in nice weather. Also, while I think sterndrives (I/O's) are a good fit for some boats, if I planned to keep a boat is saltwater, sterndrives would not be my choice.

As I noted is an earlier post, there is no one best boat for everyone. A boater needs to really think, and be realistic, on how they will use the boat they plan on buying. This will influence the choices of newer/older, sterndrives/inboards, diesel/gas, trailerable/non-trailerable, go fast/go slow, cruiser/trawler/houseboat/other, flybridge/no flybridge, inland/coastal, freshwater/saltwater, etc., etc., etc.

Jim

 

[ForceMultiplier]

If money wasn't an issue I would fill up a small marina with boats of all sorts.

 

[OldDan1943]

Deadrise, deadrise, deadrise......
https://www.boatingmag.com/all-aboard-boats-whats-deal-deadrise/
and I still don't understand it.

 

[evansrr]

Camano 31

My Camano has the Volvo D4 210 HP electronic engine from 2004. Most came with the 200HP TAMD 41, For my boat the EVC gives a fairly accurate real time view of fuel burn and in favorable conditions with trim tabs at about 3/4 down it does between 8-9 knots at 3.25 GPH. 10 knots is is 5.5 to 6 GPH. 12 knots is 9-10 GPH. WOT is 16 knots at 3600 RPM. Fuel burn shows as about 12 GPH. The boat will cruise nicely at 10-12 knots but wide open is a little squirrely and I rarely ever do that other than to see what RPMs it can reach for a few minutes. I have had the boat for going on 6 years and I have put over 700 hours on the engine have cruised between between Philadelphia and Myrtle Beach and many of the tributaries in between. It’s a great boat for a couple and with the fly bridge it is roomy yet economical.