Cruising in the Pacific Northwest

[cslvan]

Hi

Although having spent a number of years Captain on Great Lakes Freighters, I am new to motor trawlers and currently looking at 3 or 4 of the more recognized names. I am looking at boats of about 40' in length. We live in Washington State, however I am looking at a couple of Kadey Krogens on the East Coast. I had some advice from a trawler enthusiast about the suitability of a Krogen for the Northwest and wondered if anyone else had similar experiences and perhaps advice....

The realistic cruising speed in flat water with no wind or opposing current is around 7-7.5 knots. Add some wind and chop and you can lose a knot of speed easily. Now add opposing current and you can easily find your over the ground speed to be less than 4 knots. Many people who we have talked to over the years find the slow speed to be a real drawback, unless you are crossing oceans and need the range.· For a comfortable ride underway, especially in our waters, stabilizers are essential. Krogens have very round bottoms and as such, roll a great deal. Stabilizers help while underway but Krogens still roll a lot while at anchor or the dock (if not in protected waters)

[Laidback]

Welcome to the forum, In addition to the KKs do you have other favorites ? The Nordhavens for example. Sea Horse Marine's trawlers much faster. Most do well with para-vanes to stablize underway. While at anchor flopper stoppers work very well

[cslvan]

I am pretty open to anything at the moment - but hung up on value retention so have tended towards Kadey Krogen, Nordhaven and Selene, though not entirely sure that this is the best choice. Is Sea Horse Marine the Diesel Duck boat? I am pretty sure we won't be doing any passage making as I have done plenty of ocean passages and they get (in my opinion) pretty old, pretty fast.

From the boats, I have seen, many try to cram too much into too little and it comes out a little bit with me feeling like I am in a rabbits warren. I am quite concerned about fuel efficiency. My colleague is suggesting a semi displacement hull as opposed to a full displacement hull? Any thoughts on this?

Thanks

David

[DeepFrz]

Many full displacement boats operate in the west coast with no problems. Of course tide and current planning are key to successful operation.

My suggestion is to take your time, attend one or more of the trawler fests and check out a wide range of boats until you find one that speaks to you.

Here are some url's to blogs of boats that have traveled extensively in the PNW/BC/Alaska areas.

Ken's Blog: Passagemaking with a Nordhavn...
Home: Seabird Seabird Voyage This web page is...
m/v WILD BLUE Cruising Blog
M/V Discovery

Good luck.

[cslvan]

Thanks so much and I will review the blogs. I know there are a number of full displacement boats cruising on the coast but they don't seem very vocal on the disadvantages of the full displacement hull. I do have some concerns about comfort for my family and although I am pretty akin to vessel movement; am cognisant that it can be pretty uncomfortable for alot of people. I do see that many employ hydraulic stabalizers to offest the tendency to roll in a seaway.

On ships we just have permanently installed bilge keels to dampen the motion. The downside it that inevitably we have to repair of replace at most drydocks because if you touch bottom around loading docks these are the first to damage as they sit below deeper than the keel. Are you aware of trawlers that have bilge keels?

Thanks

[Herewegoagain]

I started by looking at the Nordhavens and KKrogens. after a lot of thought and discussion I decided on a semi displacement hull. I am currently in SF Bay and do not plan on long passages however I do plan on spending as much time as I can in the NW after a year of getting familiar with the boat. I cruise at 8 - 9 knots and can do 18 when necessary but I don't like the fuel dock that much. There are a number of well built semi displacement makes that I would consider, if I was going to spend a lot of time offshore up north or in Alaska I would consider a Northwest Trawler if there were more used ones at a good price. Northwest Trawlers - Modern Coastal Cruising
I believe there is a trawler event in Anacortes in late May. Good luck with your search.

[cslvan]

Thanks for the advice. Actually I am drawn towards these trawlers and spoke to one of the owners who has been very helpful as well as knowledgeable. They are definitely an interesting alternative and in fact Northwest was the one who suggested that I might not be completely satisfied with a full displacement hull because of need to sometimes have a bit more power given the currents and extreme tidal fluctuations in this area. At this point in time, however, the Northwest's are really a stretch financially and as you rightly point out there are no used ones out there. I have kind of resigned myself to a compromise for the interim.

[gardnersf]

How about a Krogen Express? Semi displacement, well built.

[Mark424]

Originally Posted by cslvan

For a comfortable ride underway, especially in our waters, stabilizers are essential. Krogens have very round bottoms and as such, roll a great deal. Stabilizers help while underway but Krogens still roll a lot while at anchor or the dock (if not in protected waters)

The boats you are talking about KK, Nordy, Selene are designed for long range and have made many design choices (and added costs) for range and durability for passagemaking.

There are lots of great options for PNW cruising. The Navigators are a good value, as well as the DeFevers, older Ocean Alexanders, Tollycraft, Hatteras. These are all probably a bit bigger than 40'.

[NewMoon]

How about Nordic Tug 37 or 42? NT's have been around for a long time, are well built, and a design well suited to the PNW. Cruising at 7-7.5 knots you can get really decent mileage, but you can go considerably faster or easily power through currents if you need to.

[westsail42]

There are lots of Krogens in the PNW. Considered by many local yards to be a good boat.

If you are seriously entertaining a boat like a Nordhavn or Selene... the Nordhavn is the better built boat. Selenes have had QC problems from the factory (at least a couple years ago, may be fixed by now). Also, getting warranty work done on Selenes can be difficult (very few yards are qualified for warranty work and some yards have REFUSED to do warranty work due to red tape requirements from Selene).

Echoing what others have said. Tolleys, Nordic Tugs make great cost-effective PNW cruisers. There are a lot of them around and the used market is pretty good.

Not mentioned in this thread: avoid Ranger Tugs. Very difficult to work on. Besides, they are a bit small for your stated 40 foot range.

[westsail42]

Another popular PNW cruising trawler is Grand Banks. Generally good quality (but stay away from the woodies if buying used).

[JerryF]

David,

I suggest that before you buy a mono-hull trawler you check out a Power Catamaran Trawler. They are more stable both moving and at anchor, cruise at 10-14, have twin screws, and an on-coming current affects them less because of the narrow hulls.

We took a two week cruise on a 42' Manta from Bellingham and I continuously kept doing the wine glass test. For this test I put water in a wine glass and a small rubber pad under the glass so it would not slide. Result: it NEVER tipped over, not even once.

[Stillraining]

FWIW...there are many places in the PNW where 7 knots will not be enough to overcome the currents and you will either have to wait it out or anchor.

I use to play troller in our Sea ray..and have gone backwards on many occasion..

Twin screw is unnecessary but the ability to hit at least 12knots IMHO is well almost dangerous if it cant be done..at least a sail boat has the ability to claw off a lee shore...7 kts wont do it for you in some place around here.

[eyschulman]

Take a look at the transpac eagle forty they are often available in northwest-not as much freeboard as selens and nordhavens low center of gravity good beam not as likely to roll. price is moderate don't have to pay for all the advertising hype