Looking at a Trawler Cat

[XBoater]

Hi all,

Been following for a long time from afar, now thinking to get back into life on the water after years of working and RVing. Its time to remove the "X" from XBoater.

I have always appreciated power cats for the space, maneuverability and efficiency. I sold my 36' Carver a few decades ago and told myself when I get back into boat life it would be on a cat, particularly a 34' PDQ. But in looking at and going on a couple I fear my 20 year older body is not looking to climb over my DW or visa versa at night anymore.

The second choice was the Endeavour 40 (original PH). I have been on one and find it much more comfortable. I know there were not many made and they only come up on a very limited basis so starting the search. I've heard as low as only 10 of the 40' PH. I have used my limited search abilities here to find more, but alas very little pops up.

I would appreciate any comments of first hand knowledge of the 40' or the other Endeavour models. I am looking to, of course, Loop in the boat as well as the Bahamas and the boat looks very capable of those destinations. I am also looking longer window at perhaps venturing west through the canal and up the west coast to Seattle and maybe even beyond.

Thanks,

R.

 

[Hippocampus]

Look at mainecats as well. Seem good boats.

 

[healhustler]

It would be difficult to beat the Endeavour 36, 38, 40, 44 and 48 for cube space, and the Sky Lounge versions of the 40 and 48 may as well be condos on keels. Live-ability with guests aboard is unparalleled in my opinion. Completely separate staterooms and heads with huge showers are a trademark of the brand. You couldn’t find nicer folks to deal with than the Vincent’s.

But the spaciousness of these vessels provoke owners to load them up with “stuff”, and while they are capacious, they are not equally tolerant of weight. Every ounce you put into those boats is a tax on its efficiency. One of the catamarans most important assets is it’s economy, and that suffers a great deal when it’s too deep in the water. I’ve had a 40 sky lounge go by me on the Okeechobee Waterway at 8 kn or so throwing a bigger wake than a Sportfisher. That’s not efficiency. I’ve also had a 44 go by me at about the same speed with an almost imperceptible wake. The Sky Lounge models are the ultimate liveaboard per ft, but they are heavy. Don’t expect them to perform like lighter weight, buoyant examples with higher bridgedecks and you’ll be OK.

The PDQ 34 and 41 remain the most efficient production cruising cats made, in my opinion. They are very sensitive to weight (as all cats are), but they started out with a super efficient hull design and stayed faithful to it when integrating a mindfull cruising environment. If I wasn’t heavy and stiff, I’d have a 34. If I had more money, I’d have the 41.

If you’re looking at these boats, another candidate may be the Fontain Pajot Maryland 37. Simple two stateroom - two head design with good econimy & efficiency. Mechanicals are a bit tight but price range is right there with Endeavour 36. The later model 40 is also pretty lightweight & efficient but pricing is more like an Endeavour 40 Sky Lounge and is no where near the living space.

Lots of Leopard 37’s came off charter programs and are fairly affordable. These are simple but efficient designs but again, less spacious. Get aboard one, great entertainment area up top but galley and staterooms are a bit stark. Good luck.

 

[FF]

If a multihull is slender enough any claims for efficiency are at the high end of their operating range.
This takes a hull L/B ratio of at least 6-1.

At slow speeds the added wetted surface from the slender hulls costs extra fuel.

If it is kept very light for safety reasons the huge volume might make up for any extra fuel burn.

 

[Irish Rover]

I have a FP Greenland 34. It is super economic. I generally motor on just one engine when cruising doing 7Kn @ 2,200 RPM and burning on average 3.75 litres per hour so less than 1 gph. There is huge space for a 34' boat both internally and externally. Access to the engines is via the cockpit and is reasonable. Negatives. They didn't come with a generator and retro fitting is a bit of bodge and ditto for a deep freeze. Fresh water capacity at 200 litres is also poor. For those of us getting on a bit getting in and out of the bunks is not that easy especially if you need to get out to pee a couple of times each night. I recently looked at a Leopard 39PC. It's a lovely boat but the bunks are even higher than my Greenland and the engines are located under the bunks which makes access more than a little awkward for routine checks.

 

[OldDan1943]

Some folks are just not comfortable below deck.

 

[Irish Rover]

Some folks are just not comfortable below deck.

Ouch

 

[XBoater]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I had looked at the FP 37 its in the running but not as well equipped for long-term anchoring out. The Endeavour 40 has the walkaround master queen berth. The PDQ 41 also did, but more money and I think only 6 produced so even harder to find.

I am aware of the Cat vs weight issue. This is a big reason I am looking at the original pilothouse 40 and not the Skylounge with it's 9000lb in added structure. Also though I haven't been abound a Skylounge version the added upper weight seems to me would make it less stable than the 40 PH. Now if just looking to live on the water, the room of the Skylounge 40, 48 and 50 is amazing.

I found a test report on an Endeavour 44 and there was almost a 30% difference in fuel use between empty weight at delivery and cruise loaded weight. The hull efficiency was also dramatically affected in terms of RPM/Speed. Looking to balance for slow speed efficiency with burst speed if needed. That will be half the fun.

Also the Endeavour 40' has capacity of 600g fuel and 150g water, great for non-stop cruising but that's almost 3 tons. To compare, the PDQ 34 fully loaded is about 35% of that, she is a cheetah.

 

[OldDan1943]

When married, I toured a PDQ34. During the walk through, I turned around while in the galley, my then-wife's eyes were big as bucket bottom. She was totally uncomfortable so we left.
I thought the PDQ34 was a great boat but the wife.....
I feel bad the PDQ went out of business. I do hope someone bought the molds and have them tucked away for future production.
On the 34, the in-hull space was not designed for socializing. It was cooking, head and sleeping. All socializing was done in the 'pilot house.' The berthing area could be modified a bit but, that is a personal observation. Remember all boat can and will be modified for the owners' comfort.

 

[darkside]

I looked at plenty of designs but nothing quite appealed so we decided to build. We wanted dual helm seats, walk around master, a decent guest cabin and plenty of cockpit space for fishing and diving.
One key issue with shaft drive powercats is engine access, particularly to the front of the engine. Engines under bunks is a non starter for us so we ended up with two heads and showers with access to the front of the engines through the rear shower bulkhead.
We wanted good fuel range but also 18 to 20kn cruise if required. This is the fuel burn of a sistership, I'll be happy if we match this.

 

[SteveandZoila]

Suprising Fuel economy

I have been looking at Cats since I saw this boat 2 years ago. Performance range so different than mono hulls. I think they could be great trawlers. more to come. This is Fountain Pajot 37' Test Results

RPM MPH Knots GPH MPG NMPG STAT. MILE NM dBa 600 3.9 3.3 0.4 9.6 8.4 2737 2380.3 59 1000 5.4 4.7 0.7 8.2 7.2 2341 2035.5 61 1250 6.8 5.9 1.1 6.4 5.6 1828 1589.8 64 1500 7.1 6.2 1.6 4.6 4 1303 1132.8 66 1750 8.1 7 2.5 3.2 2.8 916 796.3 66 2000 9.2 8 3.8 2.4 2.1 694 603.4 72 2200 9.4 8.2 4.9 1.9 1.7 551 479.3 74 2400 10 8.7 6.4 1.6 1.4 448 389.5 75 2600 10.6 9.2 7.9 1.3 1.2 382 332.4 78 2800 11.7 10.1 10 1.2 1 333 289.6 78 3000 15.4 13.3 11 1.4 1.2 399 346.7 80 3200 18.3 15.9 11.8 1.6 1.4 443 385.2 81 3400 20.6 17.9 13.9 1.5 1.3 423 367.8 83 3600 21.5 18.7 16.2 1.3 1.2 377 328.2 85 3800 22.8 19.8 19.1 1.2 1 339 294.6 87 4050 24.8 21.5 25 1 0.9 282 244.8 87
View the test results in metric units

 

[SteveandZoila]

Sorry

Chart didn't post correct, Hard to read!!!!

 

[mcarthur]

I did little study on fuel economy on cruising powercats .(must remember to bring it uptodate! )

Another option for the OP is the older Lagoon 43's - some models have the rear bed that, while not walkaround is at least accessible from either side. They're quite good boats I believe overall.

Those Roger Hill boats are amazingly well designed for efficiency, if that's a major criteria. Herley are also doing some nice boats and ideas in NZ.

 

[XBoater]

Thank you,

It seems to have posted well enough. Very informative as you can really see the max hull displacement speed and the motors overpowering and pushing up on plane.

The Endeavour 44 was similiar as too hull speed, but must have bigger engines as the fuel burn was double.