new Prairie 29 owner

[PrairieJack]

Just wanted to put my name in the Prairie forum list.

Jack

 

[Baker]

There ya go Jack. I owned a Prairie 29 for 6 years and lived aboard for almost 5 of that(29-55...the last P29 made). I know as I go along in my boating life I will look back on the Prairie Dog as one of the best boats I have ever owned. If you have any questions I may be able to help so PM me if you need. Take care and welcome to the forum.

 

[capnwil]

Way to go Jack (living aboard). Welcome aboard sailor (I'm a former swab jockey also). Looking forward to your input.

Best regards,

 

[flagold]

We too, love our Prairie. Not only is it exceptionally roomy for the size, but the shallow draft has allowed us to go many places we otherwise wouldn't.

A few videos of our Prairie (a series of cruising):

Mischief:

Mischief V:

Mischief IX: Jensen Beach to St. Lucie Lock:

Mischief XVI: Sarasota to John's Pass:

all the videos:

http://www.youtube.com/flagold

Happy cruising!

 

[Daddyo]

Capnwill,
My former boat was a '85 Albin 27 sport cruiser. Great fun!

 

[farmerbill]

Hi Jack, I'm also a new Prairie 29 owner, and maybe you can help me.* I purchased the boat in the water in*Florida this winter and now I'm getting quotes to have it shipped up to the Hudson River.* Do you know how high it is from the bottom of the keel to the top of the flybridge, not including the bimini ?*Over 13'4" is a problem.* Enjoy your new boat!!my wife and I are inn love with ours, just the right size for the two of us.* If I can be of anny help to you please let me know..
Bill

 

[PrairieJack]

farmerbill

I have now lived on Trixsea for almost 3 years, love it.* It's a great little boat.
.The air draft on my Prairie is 12' from keel to top of wind screen, and weights about 15,000 lbs.* Enjoy your Prairie.* Any more questions Just ask

jacklohman@msn.com

Jack

 

[farmerbill]

Jack
Thanks for the information. My wife and I fell in love with

 

[farmerbill]

Jack,
I'm a better boater than computer user. My wife and I fell i love with the Prairie as soon as we saw it and took it out for the sea trial. Again thanks for the info and I'm sure I'll be back to ask more questions as we settle into it when it arrives up here on the Hudson River. Take care and happy boating.
Bill

 

[sailormike]

There is a whole group of prairie trawlers owners. We are owner of Prairie 29 #50 i will find the link to the group and post it

 

[straycat]

Loved you site and the video clips. *We too just bought a Prairie 29 and she sits in Baltimore waiting for us to bring her home to North Port, FL... not too far from you. *I have not even heard the engine run, but my husband went out with the broker and the gentleman who inspected the boat. *We love her for her size and are former sailors with boats ranging from 21' to 42' and extensive cruising. *Now we are looking forward to more gunk-holing etc in Lemon Bay and the West coast of Florida.I wondered if you could answer a few questions for me? *How much "rolling" do you experience with your boat. *Do you have propane and where is your tank located? *Do you find the boat cool enough without AC?
Our boat has had many upgrades and really does not "need" any additions excluding those that we all add to make the boat "ours". *Thanks for any info you may have! *Donna Cass

 

[PrairieJack]

I just got back from the Bahamas the first of July, and the crossing from West End Bahamas to West Palm I had 2 to 3 footers on the beam and she does roll a bit but was still not too bad. I have propane and the tank is mounted under the ladder to the bridge, held with bungy cord to wall under port cockpit aft window. I have a/c but only used it when I was at the dock. I have a Breeze Booster for the forward hatch which brings the air in. As long as there is a breeze at anchor it's quite comfortable. Are you members of MTOA? If not go to our website and check us out, a great bunch of people. Call me before you get to Ft Myers on your way home to North Port.

Jack
239-272-8608

 

[straycat]

Thanks for the info Jack. *We will make certain to call you on our return trip. *Just now, our propane is located in the upper helm area on the port side .... not sure we want to keep it there... pros and cons... Your location was one we had considered, and perhaps can fit it there, but we have a mount for the outboard to the left of the ladder.

Slo Poke came with custom stainless dingy davits and motor hoist... *Our boat was refitted extensively ..hull#51 made in June of 1980. *I am not sure just how many were made. *We had looked at 2 other boats which were not nearly as nice as our boat. *I also noticed that there were several salon layouts. *How is your boat configured? *We have a new dinette table but need to do something about the seating.


Our only delay in returning to Florida is my husbands departure to make a delivery of a 100' scalopper for research, to the Sea of Cortez through the Panama Canal from New Bedford, MA, with his brother who is a ships captain. *It will be a 30 day trip and I will return before he comes back to Slo Poke to ready her for our voyage home. * Pleas send any recommendations you may have for her and I will get on that site if we have not already joined. *Donna Cass

 

[Baker]

Donna, the Prairie 29 will roll quite a bit. It has a lot to do with her hard chines and also being somewhat top heavy. Comfort underway also has a lot to do with the roll period of the weather you are in. Obviously, if it is more like an ocean swell, it is no big deal since the period of the swell will be long. But as you get into shallower, the roll period starts to match the roll period of the boat and things can get pretty snappy. This is true with any hard chine boat. Anyway, we did a lot of cruising in Galveston Bay which has mostly a uniform depth of about 10 feet which gives you short steep chop and can get uncomfortable when it is directly on the beam.

There were 55 P29s made. We owned #55 and it still resides here in the Houston area. There were two different exterior configurations as well as interior configurations. I don't know what hull number differentiated the two. On the later models, the flybridge lines were a little different as well as the fact that all windows were Glass and not plastic....including flybridge glass. Also on the latter models there is a cover over the cockpit. The interior on the later models had a galley forward and to port with really nothing "built in" other than the galley module. The older models had a U-shaped galley forward and to port with a settee/dinette aft and to port. I kinda liked the older ones but had never really seen one in person. Ours was the newer more open version which had the advantage of being....more open....but with reall no place to sit unless you provide your own furniture....

I'll be here all week....lol!

 

[Baker]

I do think the cockpit overhang and the more angular glass windows give the boat a more substantial look. *The P29 is a BIG little boat!!!!

 

[straycat]

One of the things we liked about our boat was the cockpit being covered by the extension of the upper helm. *We also have a galley that runs along the Port side of the boat with a little bit of room for a small dinette aft. *There is a table..a nice one that folds into thirds and a "seat" *that we will make more permanent in time. *We did see the older style u-shaped galley and disliked it as it had an overhead cupboard that cut the view and made her seem small and cramped.The former owner furnished the boat with a leather (?) love seat which is too low, but comfortable and a small 3 drawer storage unit behind the helm and works as an end table for the sofa.


The berth is the largest we have ever had in any boat we have owned, including the one in our 42 aft centerline Endeavour.


Previous owner also installed a new top loading fridge that is well insulated has a decent freezer. All in all we love her... just need to get to know her and her systems as she becomes ours.!!!!!!

 

[Sortie]

While we have not closed on our boat yet, we are looking fwd to getting her set up. I have delivered a 29 prarie, from maine to SE mass. Impressive little sea boat. Johnis right they roll, but nothing that is scary. Excellent in a following sea and a head sea. Easy to dock predictable handling. Ours has the U shape galley, which is what we wanted. She has a dinette and sentee on the stdb side. The ac unit is in the setee.

I believe this is hull # 8 built in 1978. Much younger then me. Does anyone know the height of the bridge from the keel or waterline.?

Thanks for the information.

John

 

[PrairieJack]

My hull is #37 built in 79, has the u shaped galley on port side and built-in settee with stowage under and table . I added a cockpit cover of stainless 1" tube with blue sunbrella. I did look at one 29 that had a sliding door next to the lower helm for access to deck. Aft of my Lowes refrig I have an outdoor recliner (I an 68!) and a book shelf under the aft stbd window. The TV is mounted above the refer.
The air draft of my 29 is 12' from keel to top of windscreen, 15' to top of bimini, and 20' to top of Air Breeze generator. I am a full time livaboard for 3 years now. I love my Prairie 29.
I'll take some pics and post them on facebook in the next few days, will let all know here.

Jack

 

[straycat]

What is an "air breeze " generator?

 

[Peter B]

straycat wrote:

What is an "air breeze " generator?

One of these........
No...not her, tho she can be a bit windy, especialy at night...or in the company of other members of the same sex.* It's the thing above, on the pole.....


*


-- Edited by Peter B on Thursday 19th of August 2010 06:33:46 AM

 

[straycat]

Got it! *We *had *a wind generator on our Endeavour 42 and*also she was quiet above deck,*we felt we were taking off at night in our berth. *The vibration came down the supports and was magnified by the distance it traveled! *Donna

 

[flagold]

straycat wrote:

Loved you site and the video clips. *We too just bought a Prairie 29 and she sits in Baltimore waiting for us to bring her home to North Port, FL... not too far from you. *I have not even heard the engine run, but my husband went out with the broker and the gentleman who inspected the boat. *We love her for her size and are former sailors with boats ranging from 21' to 42' and extensive cruising. *Now we are looking forward to more gunk-holing etc in Lemon Bay and the West coast of Florida.
I wondered if you could answer a few questions for me? *How much "rolling" do you experience with your boat. *Do you have propane and where is your tank located? *Do you find the boat cool enough without AC?
Our boat has had many upgrades and really does not "need" any additions excluding those that we all add to make the boat "ours". *Thanks for any info you may have! *Donna Cass

*

Sorry for a late reply (we have been out West). *Our propane tank is stored as yours, upper helm to port. *2 bottles. *I have Lupus, so we use the AC quite a bit, but without that malady it would be fine. *We installed a 8000 btu "regular" room ac that we use most of the time (easy install) as it runs on 1 2000 Honda (on the roof) while the 16,000 btu onboard ac takes 2 Hondas to start. *Roll is as stated in the other posts and doubtless you're familiar with it by now. *Great boats - we're still glad we bought ours and the adventures continue, hopefully for many more years.

*

 

[straycat]

Good to hear from you. We watched a lot of your U-Tube posts and enjoyed them. Sorry to hear about the lupus. It can be nasty. You seem to be in control. Thanks for the tips. We may go the Honda route or with a quiet air cooled diesel, but that last is big.
The 8000 seems to be big enough for the volume of the cabin and berth. What's your experience with the house unit? Be well Rick & Donna

 

[straycat]

Donna here.... we looked at a 29 that the owner had installed a window ac in the port aft window and to be honest, it looked awful.. well that was par for the boat anyway! *My question is where do you place the ac unit? *Our boat has a window ac unit that the former owner installed on a temp basis, in the lower half of the salon door and had a canvas closure made that installed around and above the ac unit . *It did the job, but is a pain to enter and exit the salon. *We also travel with two cats. *While we are at anchor this is no problem, however at a dock they are curious and want to wander the docks smelling along the way. *They are quite adept at escaping the salon and my fear is they will figure out how to escape through the spaced snaps on the canvas.We also have a new hatch in the salon, behind the upper helm station. *We are looking into the type of AC unit that is roof mounted as in a *motor home. *Physical size of the unit matters. * *All of these plans are in the future. *We have yet to leave on the boat ..she still sits in Baltimore and we are in Massachsetts .. we have no experience on the movement of the boat. * *I hope Rick leaves this week on a 30 delivery trip to the Sea of Cortez. *Then the real experience behins. *For now , I just dream!

 

[PrairieJack]

Some time in the past one of the owners did add a RV roof A/C to Trixsea over the lower helm station.* When I bought Trixsea there was just a covered hole.* I added a large reversible fan in that spot.* As for the A/C I would look at what Matt did to install
AC on his Prairie.* He used a portable unit mounted under the aft port window.* You can see the installation in one of his first videos.*

Jack

 

[straycat]

Thanks for the info, Prairie Jack. We are lucky in that the prior owner installed a hatch behind the seats on the FB, so if we can find the right size, the install should be easy. Straycat

 

[Sortie]

My experience with the RV type AC installed on the Bridge is that it takes a large amount of valuable walking space out of your bridge area. The units work good, just the bulk of the unit sticking up in the middle of the bridge deck.

The unit installed by Matt on Mischef makes a lot of sense to me.

John


-- Edited by Sortie on Sunday 29th of August 2010 09:48:25 AM

 

[sailormike]

You will love your Prairie trawler. We are the Owners of the Miss Dot Dee Hull #50. Are you guys members of the Prairie Trawler owners assoication if not let me know and I will send you the information. I have done almost a total refit* of the vessel to include a new custom water tank that is on its way here. As for the AC question it all depends on how much your gonna use the boat and how your gonna use it. If You are going to live aboard and have a spot in the engine room as does ours I would put in a marine revearse cycle system. It will cool in the summer heat in the winter and will not take up the space like a system that it portable will. It also is wonderful when you have to spend time workign in the bilge as I just take the air vent line off and instant AC down there. I work on RV's as well and the RV A/C's are not designed for a salt water environment. These systems are big and bulky and the ventign inside the cabin would be difficult but could be done. Hope this helps out.


-- Edited by sailormike on Sunday 12th of September 2010 11:23:56 AM

-- Edited by sailormike on Sunday 12th of September 2010 11:24:25 AM

-- Edited by sailormike on Sunday 12th of September 2010 11:41:47 AM

 

[Sortie]

Sailormike, Very nice set up. We just completed the survey of our PPrairie 29. She is presently named Miss Money and is hull #8. We purchased her from the orginial and only owners. She does have a marince ac/ reverse system and a koller gen. I agree with your comments re: RV air, they are not acompartiable fit to a salt water enviroment.

Your engine room set up is awesome, I am about to begin a three-four month upgrade of the boats systems. The biggest drawback to the boat is she has sat for almost five years with no use.

We are not members of the Prairie Trawlwer owners association but are very much interested, would appreciate the information.

John

 

[straycat]

Donna here as Rick the Captain in en-route to the Panama Canal on a delivery. *I know he will catch up with all the postings when he returns. *He would agree with me that your engine room is awesome! *Loved the plumbing of the hot and cold water lines! *I will assume that the "pipes" themselves come in those colors and you did not alter them ! *As of yet, we do not have AC or a generator and welcome all thoughts regarding those. *We like to anchor out most of the time and AC would be used for hot nights. *We don't need heat as we have a radiant propane heater already neatly installed. *We live on the West Coast of Florida, but plan more extensive cruising in the US. *Have done the Bahamas in a sailboat and the East Coast numerous times, also in sailboats. *Your exterior closure increases your living area too. *Did you put in the transom door too? That is one feature we would like to add also. *All in all a great retrofit!