Nimble Kodiak- anybody have experience with them?

[MBWhite]

Has anyone spent much time sailing or motoring on one of these?


I live on a river, OK a mile and a half from it but a shoal draft motorsailor is about the most useful design for where I live. I like the pilothouse idea as sometimes the bugs can be pretty bad and it would provide a bit of protection from those. These apparently come with either an inboard or an outboard in a well. Price would have to be quite favorable for me to choose the latter, I'd prefer one with a diesel.

A couple years off, but I've discussed with my kids about taking a boat down the Mississippi to New Orleans, then having our truck and trailer there and trailering the boat to Ft Lauderdale or somewhere, relaunching and spend a week or two in the Bahamas, sail back to the truck, load up and be home in 16 hours. Just started up a new biz, so realistically will be a couple of years in the future but never too soon to scope out options. Not planning to do any sort of serious coastal or offshore with whatever I get either.

Anyway, just wondering how one of these might be for 3-4 people for a few weeks at a time.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Howdy!

I wish I had one.

I like the looks and size of the Nimble Kodiak AND I like the pilothouse design for several reasons. Unfortunately, I have not yet sailed on one so I cannot give you first hand experience with them. But, I have admired them for being a small or "pocket cruiser" sailboat. I also like their finish and styling and minimal draft. The Kodiak and Arctic are two of my favorites to see for small pocket cruisers that can be trailered. The shoal draft would be useful in many places.

As for your question about long trips with 3 or 4 people aboard, I think that depends on whether you and the others are comfortable with minimal privacy and close quarters. Smaller spaces on small boats tend to cause more friction with bumping elbows and lack of privacy, but even large boats can be too small if the shipmates are not a good fit.

You have probably read about them already, but for those who don't already recognize this boat I will provide some info I found interesting.

The most informative "review" I have found is really a very good one with details I did not find elsewhere in descriptions. For example it mentions that the cockpit is comfortable for sitting AND for stretching out. Here is the review I liked:
Nimble Kodiak Sailboat Review | Cruising World

Here is another review by a respected sailor: Nimble Kodiak

Here are a few photos to illustrate:

[tbodine88]

I have been looking at these for a couple of years.


It seems from looking around the interior it would be cozy for two people. There is a bench behind the pilot's seat which might allow a small person to sleep.


I prefer the versions with out boards which leave a lot of storage space under the cockpit on the stern. I saw one with a Yanmar 3ym20. which sat underneath the ladder from the cockpit to the pilot house. It seemed to me the maintenance would be difficult on this engine since the bulkhead was in the way for anything on the side of the engine, checking the transmission fluid or changing it would be hard.



On the boat I toured the smell of diesel was overpowering. I remember the smell in my Ericson 32 wasn't nearly as bad, but my memory of those times are colored by the pleasant locations in the Caribbean.



in 2018 I toured some boats, most of them have sold by now. Here is my story
Looking around at Nimble Kodiak Motor Sailors