Mooring comfort, Grand Banks vs Nordic Tug

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Have you considered chartering a NT 32 to try it out and see if there is enough difference for you to switch?
 
Nordic Tug vs Grand Banks

I have a friend with a GB 36 while I have a NT 32, mine's a 2000 model. I find that the lack of walk around decks is a minimal inconvenience; we have doors on both sides of the pilothouse and I can single hand docking maneuvers from the helm. My friend drives his from the flybridge most of the time, but when it gets rolly he gets sick. I like the lower windage of the NT in general. I also went from a vintage Tartan 27 sailboat to the Nordic. I went from lots of exterior teak to zero exterior teak (except for the stern flagstaff) I wouldn't have a boat anymore with exterior teak- I can be boating or goofing off or doing about anything while my GB buddies are worrying about nicks and scuffs on the teak. The NT is a great boat. Is it in general less rolly than a comparable GB? I can't say, except to say that I've had it in pretty rough stuff (on Lake Erie) and it is a very capable and comfortable boat in all but the worst. Others are bothered by the bow slap, but I'm not so much, I guess I grew accustomed to halyard slap on the sailboat and I chalk it up to one of those noises a boat makes that lulls one to sleep. Having run around with my buddy on the GB, and other similar trawlers, I'd pick the NT again. The only thing I need to make my joy complete is a Kahlenberg tugboat whistle, but I need to save up my pennies for that.....
 
As a few others have mentioned, the issue is not the boat but the mooring location. I also trawler in Narragansett Bay. Newport is along the West Passage so gets all the big ship traffic and most of the sport fisherman boats leaving big wakes. For a more peaceful mooring or Anchorage check out Dutch Harbor, Potters Cove (the one off Prudence Island, not Jamestown) or best of all, the Sakonnet River. Even Mt Hope Bay will have considerably less wake than Newport. Bristol has little issue with wake but can be choppy in late afternoon SW breeze which dies by six or so.
 
I got a thorough chewing out by a friend's wife in an NT32 for coming into the anchorage a "little" hot. 24' Bayliner dropping off wake coming into the anchorage cleared the counters in their 32. I thought they had an enough larger boat to not be bothered by the wake off a 4000 lb planing hull, wrong...

He describes NT32 motion as "a snappy roll".
 
With my own hard chined, somewhat snappy rolling boat, I've found that boat size and even wake height isn't necessarily a good predictor for how bad a wake will feel at anchor. Some wakes are just of the right period and steepness to produce a nasty roll, while others can look worse, but be felt much less.
 
Not strictly comparable but I used to know a fellow who had a 36' GB and went to a 32 Nordic. He rued the day because the Nordic rolled far more and was snappier. I realize the GB was a 36, longer and heavier, but the characteristic of the roll was harsher.
The Nordic suited his needs in other ways but not the extra roll.

I think the idea of chartering/renting a 32 Nordic makes sense before plunging into a change of boats.
 
I owned a Nordic Tug 32 for 8 years in Southern CA. Lots of big swells. It was a 2008. I love the boat for many reasons. It looked great, relatively easy to maintain (no exterior teak), not much windage, handled predictably, easy to singe handle, nice interior space, handled the weather well. It was the Range Rover of boats. The big surprise for me was the wave slap. Wow!! Nobody told me about that. A small dinghy would go buy and it sounded like someone was spanking the hull. I'm not a light sleeper, and I eventually got used to it (sort of). The narrow side decks didn't bother me. I'd rather have the saloon space. It did roll in the swells or wakes of other boats. If the wake was timed to the natural frequency of the boat, it really rocked for a short while. I considered flopper stoppers, but never installed them. The NT is a good boat, but I'm not sure it will solve the rolling problem. I'd look for a different mooring spot.
 
Rolly

Tommy Kaye said:
Hi Everyone,

I have owned a Grand Banks 32 woodie (1971!) for the past 16 years. It's been a great boat but we're in our 70's now and spend 80% of our time aboard just hanging out on the mooring, taking in the ever changing scenery in Narragansett Bay RI (Newport area). We use it as our little summer cottage on the water, but these boats are notoriously rolly and with heavy shipping traffic passing a quarter mile away we tend to get slammed with some serious wakes that have us hanging on for dear life at least a couple of times in the course of a weekend. We're getting too old for this so I'm looking at the Nordic Tugs 32. I love the layout of these boats as they appear to be more roomy than the GBs, not to mention that we would welcome having the creature comforts that come with a much newer boat (looking at 2000ish vintage NTs). It would change our boating lives for the better in many ways, but still, mooring comfort is high on the list.
I understand that hull design is a major factor in stability. I do believe there are differences in the two boats we're talking about here. Our GB32 is, without any doubt, the rolliest boat in our mooring field, hands down!
We would like also to do more local cruising than we currently do with the old woodie. I'm a bit nervous about going too far from home with a 50 year old boat. I've got health issues and getting stuck or floating adrift in a dead boat scares me more than it did a few years ago.

Considering the above, will we be happier with the Nordic Tugs 32 than the GB32?

Looking forward to your comments,

Tom K.
PYEWACKET
Jamestown, RI
Click to expand...

Trawlers, tugs, motor yachts, sailboats, et al are rolly while anchored or moored. Everything is. Trawlers and tugs are rolly, underway. I find Nordic tugs very small inside. I feel more elbow room on a GG 32 than I do a Nordic Tug of much larger LOA.
My opinion, based upon everything you are saying is “keep your boat, find a really nice marina with a restaurant/bar in a nice area and use your boat as a floating condo. Take it out on nice days, and sit in the saloon, reading a good book on rainy days. Overall, it will be less expensive and less stressful than selling your boat then going through the issues of buying a new boat and you keep the boat you have. BTW, as you know, a GB 32 is a pretty nice boat.
If you really want to move up, buy a GB 36.
 
Last edited:
mvweebles said:
Hey Mark. I totally understand this is personal preference. I just want to chime in that I would take a full-width salon over walk-around decks in a heartbeat. PH doors give great access forward. A few steps through the salon is a small price to pay given the greatly enhanced living space.

Again, different strokes. Just wanted to provide a counter opinion. There is no right choice here, just what compromise to endure.

Peter
Click to expand...

Not living on my boat, I prefer a horizontal step from the pilothouse to the 360-degree deck verses passing through a salon/saloon and transiting stairs.
 
Tom, I don't see where you mentioned if your current GB is twin or single. The center of gravity on a single engine boat (it seems that's the only option with NT whereas GB offered either) with it's weight on the centerline vs a twin with the weight farther outboard is an influencing factor regarding stability at anchor. If yours is a twin and the NT a single, there might ne a notable difference. Also, the GB has more weight aloft with it's bridge. Maybe you could play with ballast, i.e. move stored stuff on the bridge to below, or try keeping less fuel in your tanks if they're located outboard, all maybe helping to stabilize the boat at anchor. Just a thought and cheaper than a new boat.
 
Tom makes good points. I like the one about changing locations. Look for a protected harbor somewhere. If you are one danger of being thrown down by traffic a quarter of a mile away, in my opinion, you are in the wrong place. Also think of your boat like a car or anything mechanical. When it gets old and inefficient , change it. Cheers
 
As mentioned before, we spend a lot of time in Newport. Everybody rolls if anywhere near the main channel in Newport or across the east passage in Jamestown. Lots of pleasure craft, large yachts, and commercial traffic. The only option is a protected anchorage. Or a condominium on the hard.
 
You are going to roll a lot if you are hanging off a mortgage or at anchor on a 32 foot boat if there are passing wakes no matter what the boat design.
 
2003 Nordic Tug

I would encourage you to buy a 32' Nordic made in 2003 or after. They made a major update to the boat in 2003. Systems are much better engineered.

Bow slap at anchor is an issue. We have learned to live with it. They do not like beam seas as someone mentioned. That said, we love our Nordic 32.
 
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