Great Loop

[GBB]

Thanks. I'll check out their website to see if they have anything going on near me. I appreciate the help.


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[svgiacomo]

Consider the Pilgrim 40 built by Ted Gozzard in 80's. Classic looks, excellent livability for 2 with plenty of room. Fuel efficient and reliable with lots of storage this boat is a great option. I have one available if you're interested.

[GBB]

Thanks. I just looked up the pilgrim 40 on yacht world. I love that look. Looks like a perfect loop boat. Would it take me to the Bahamas if I wanted to go?


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[Dr. Strangelove]

I did Charleston to Annapolis with a buddy that owned an Endevour 41 powercat as replacement crew for his wife and kids who had mutinied and jumped ship. We had a blast. Don't miss Tangier Island if you get a chance to stop there.

[svgiacomo]

While I have yet to visit the Bahamas in mine, I understand that several of these boats have crossed and cruised the islands with at least one making the trip yearly from her summer home in NY state to her winter home in Hope Town.

Pilgrim Trawler Yachts - PILGRIM Trawlers is an excellent source of information on these boats.

[donradcliffe]

We did the Loop on a borrowed Grand Banks 42. It was bigger than the boat we were planning to buy, but the price was right. We wanted 2 staterooms so we could comfortably have 2 guests on board, and that fixed the minimum size at about 35 ft. Fuel burn on the 42 was 2 mpg at 8 knots, 2.5 at 7k, but that included generator use.

A third crew is a real help on the sections with locks, especially those where you have to hang onto a bow line and a stern line. With two, it takes a bit of running back and forth and the driver has to hang on to a line and drive too.

I think the Ranger tugs are nice boats, but overpriced for their size. We also looked at getting a Gemini Cat and dropping the mast, but I was turned off by the drive leg.

The AGLCA is also a good source for buying boats which have finished their loop.

[laika]

Just my .02, but any boat up for the great loop could also be up for the bahamas. Just wait for the wx windows that you feel are sufficiently conservative. Might take a bit more patience, but really no different than a hop offshore on the coast.

Best wishes in the search.

[AnsleyS]

I would suggest that you look at examples of the five basic designs of trawlers. You may find that you have a strong preference for one design over the others and that decision makes the research into boat builders easier. We found that the sundeck trawlers have better live aboard space than the other designs.

My other suggestions are to stick to a single engine to protect the prop from crab pots and groundings and to look for a twin stateroom boat for guests. The loop is a long adventure and it is a lot more fun if you can invite others to join you for a week or two. Everyone needs their private space and no one should have to live in the main saloon or the pilot house.

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[GBB]

Thank you. Great advice.


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[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by AnsleyS

I would suggest that you look at examples of the five basic designs of trawlers.

OK, I'll bite. What are the five basic designs of trawlers?

I got #1, "Sundeck," from the content of your post, and that's apparently what I have. It's sort of misnomer; we like it because it allows us more interior living space that's NOT in the sun.

So I suppose #2 would be "Cockpit". It offers a great place to relax, entertain and/or fish when the weather's good. Just not great enough for me to give up all that interior space.

I'm drawing a blank on the other 3 designs.

[AnsleyS]

Although we usually sail our 39 foot Camper Nicholson center cockpit ketch recently we have been cruising with friends who just made the jump from sail to power. As they were looking at selling their 38 foot Krogan shallow draft cutter and finding the trawler that they could use for the Great Loop Adventure, we learned a lot about trawlers.

It seems that trawlers fall into five basic designs. The Sedan Type trawler comes from putting a deck on a boat and building a cabin on it. There is usually a below deck cabin in the bow and a small open aft deck. A fly bridge can be added to the top of the cabin. This type of trawler maximizes the living area in the main salon and the aft deck.

Sedan








The European Sedan trawler is made by making the fly bridge deck more substantial to increase the available deck space. The second deck goes out to the rail on either side and aft to the stern to make the first deck covered and possible enclosed with added canvas and plastic. The second deck can be used for dinghy and gear or as deck space.


European Sedan




Trunk trawlers have a lower stern sleeping cabin and a cabin forward as well, in the larger models. They lose part of the main salon space to the aft stateroom but they usually have two staterooms which is good for guests or kids.

Trunk Trawler






The raised pilot house trawler has the pilot house a few steps above the main salon with the sleeping cabins forward. The pilot house becomes more of a living area in this model and the sleeping cabin or cabins are forward.



Raised Pilot House







The sundeck trawler encloses the area above the aft sleeping cabin into a covered deck which allows the enclosure of the fly bridge and the sun deck. There are sleeping cabins both forward and aft down a few steps from the main salon.


Sun Deck








The selection of the trawler which will best suit your goals should include a tour of a couple of vessels from each of the five designs so that you can see how the space is used and how the designer thought that you would use those spaces.

My friend ending up buying a sun deck boat and I thought that low forward deck would be wasted but two kayaks, four bicycles, six fenders and a gangway seem to fill that space as well.


Cheers


Ansley Sawyer
SV Pacem


currently

MV Snow Goose

[tkeithlu]

I'm not enamored of the small trawler designs for off shore, and have been burned big time by NOAA off shore predictions that read 2-3 ft waves and 20 knot winds, a combination that doesn't exist. I built my own because the ones I could afford had serious compromises of hull shape to get more internal space, limiting ultimate stability, large flimsy windows that would not take a broach, and bunches of underwater seacocks that you would never get to in time if you popped one. Even the early 46 ft Nordhavens had 27 seacocks. I guess I'm saying that if you want to both travel the ditch and pop over to West End, be damned careful with the weather. Or, consider a motorsailer with bunches of stability. You see lots of them in the Bahamas, but not very many small trawlers.

[CaptTom]

Thanks, those classifications make sense. At least as much as anything I've ever come up with. Especially since most of them don't really have the hull design of "real" trawlers anyway.

Speaking of which, mine is called a "Coastal Cruiser" by the manufacturer, which I think is pretty accurate. It's clearly made primarily for the ditch and the loop, with a nod to some offshore capabilities if needed.

[tkeithlu]

Let me throw in another Bahamas comment. I love the Bahamas, but... If you are crossing at 7.5 knots, it's an overnight trip if you want to leave and arrive in daylight. Aside from keeping watches with just two of you, you'll need both radar and an AIS transponder (not just a receiver). You must be prepared to dodge both freighters and an amazing number of cruise ships - I've had four on the screen at a single time. Remember that 7.5 knots can become 3.5 knots in the center of the Gulf Stream.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by GBB

Thanks. I just looked up the pilgrim 40 on yacht world. I love that look. Looks like a perfect loop boat. Would it take me to the Bahamas if I wanted to go?


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We had friends we met on the loop with a Pilgrim 40. Nice option.