Looking for Advice on First Large Ship

[scoobert]

so i have narrowed my boat choices down to trawlers, and 42-48' range.
i want a boat that can world cruise, and spend much time at sea under power.
i will be on her full time.
so i have been looking at this boat:
48' DeFever will consider Real Estate, cash, small boat - eBay (item 220738232642 end time Feb-18-11 11:44:52 PST)
and wondering if that would fit my needs?
i am single, with only two dogs. i will be working from the boat, and spend a majority of my time anchored just off a coast of the US.
i would like to take a full circumnavigation on in the next few years.

thanks!

[skipmac]

By world cruise do you mean cross the oceans, like US to Europe or California to Hawaii? If so, very few trawlers have the range to make it and I don't think the Defever is one. The link you posted showed fuel capacity "over 200 gallons". Not sure what that means exactly but even if it was 400 gallons that's not enough to cross the ocean without adding bladders, extra tanks, etc.

[scoobert]

900 gallons says the owner. so 1800 or so miles of top range.

[simonmd]

You won't get round the world on that, even the Atlantic would be pushing it with an 1800m range, never mind the Pacific! Hit a headwind or current and you'll run dry before you reach land again to fill up.

This may be a daft question but have you considered the shere fuel costs as well? I would reccomend thinking about investing the money in some sailing tuition and then looking for a motor sailor at least. You'd then be able to have the best of both worlds, a boat that can motor it's way through bad weather and sail for FREE when conditions are right. The only vessels that go round the world under power are cargo ships.

[skipmac]

Well LA to Hawaii about 2500 miles. Transatlantic even if you break it up into jumps, Bermuda to the Azores is about 2000 miles.

In a trawler since you don't have sails for backup I would allow at least one third of the capacity for reserves and emergencies, then how much will the generator use? So useable range maybe 1200 miles if you believe the owner. I looked at the Defever web site and the new 49 only shows 500 gallons as the standard fuel capacity.

So, you are at least 1000 miles short of a safe range to cross the Atlantic, more for the Pacific.

There are options, basically work your way around the coasts instead of direct crossing. Atlantic coast to Maine to Newfoundland to Greenland to Iceland to Scotland or CA to WA to AK to Russia and then south, but both of these options have their own problems.

Not a trawler guy myself but there are other brands out there that are designed to be true ocean crossers.

[scoobert]

i have given thought to sailing.
i dont like the healing. and i do not like the open cabin.
i am also one person, and many boats need more then 1 to handle them.
i wish i had the money for a 40' nordhaven. that would do it all.

price for fuel. 1000 gallons is 3000. and will take me 2000 miles in good weather. so 40K-50K for a circumnavigation is within reach.

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by skipmac

There are options, basically work your way around the coasts instead of direct crossing. Atlantic coast to Maine to Newfoundland to Greenland to Iceland to Scotland or CA to WA to AK to Russia and then south, but both of these options have their own problems.

Not a trawler guy myself but there are other brands out there that are designed to be true ocean crossers.

thats what i was thinking, was crossing at the coasts. safer in my opinion for bad weather as well. are there major places that way to get fuel? how long is the longest hop? was thinking of Alaska to Russia down to japan.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by scoobert

i have given thought to sailing.
i dont like the healing.

Get a cat or tri. By the way, you do know that a trawler can roll back and forth to angles at least as great as a sailboat will heel.

Originally Posted by scoobert

i do not like the open cabin.

?? Sailboat cabins are generally no more open than trawlers. Some can be open but most would be considered less open

Originally Posted by scoobert

i am also one person, and many boats need more then 1 to handle them.

Pretty easy to set up most sailboats for single handed sailing. Assume you have read about the many sailors that went around the world, many non stop, many racing very large boats.

Originally Posted by scoobert

40K-50K for a circumnavigation is within reach.

Take that and add it to the kitty to buy a bigger, better sailboat.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by scoobert

thats what i was thinking, was crossing at the coasts. safer in my opinion for bad weather as well. are there major places that way to get fuel? how long is the longest hop? was thinking of Alaska to Russia down to japan.

What little I have heard about Russia they are not too open to yachts.

Your idea is doable but would be a major undertaking and require a lot of planning to sort out the logistics, mainly fuel. I suggest you get a couple of charts, dividers and parallel rulers and look at the distances. Noonsite.com will give you pretty good information about facilities in just about every country in the world.

[daddle]

Add tankage. Like almost all cruising sailboats do. One must be able to hide two thousand gallons on a 50' power boat. Like under that double bed...

[perchance]

Originally Posted by daddle

Add tankage. Like almost all cruising sailboats do. One must be able to hide two thousand gallons on a 50' power boat. Like under that double bed...

Just out of curiosity how much extra weight is that and would it affect the handling of the boat until you burned a good portion of it off?

[SailFastTri]

Scoobert -- Based on your questions I think you'd be better served to approach this in stages. Buy a coastal cruiser and get some navigation and seamanship experience, then you will know what it takes to make your own evaluations about a boat to do circumnavigation. You will need to learn forecasting and other skills to obtain weatehr data, as you won't always be within range of reliable professional forecasters.

Also, you may want to consider the risks associated with piracy from legal pirates (government officials) and bandits, as you might find near Malaysia and Somalia http://www.allatsea.net/article/February_2011/Notice_to_Mariners_that_The_World_is_Overpriced#

The world is a dangerous place and there are many coasts you would be taking quite a risk to hug. (e.g. You may find it safer to have enough range to skip from India to Capetown.)

Also, putting aside politics and criminals, being coastal is not necessarily safer than running offshore. Yes it is nice to be within 24 hours of a port in case of a major storm, but there is increased risk of collision with other vessels and man-made hazards as well as groundings around the edges. A harbor entry in bad weather or at night is often riskier than staying offshore.

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Get a cat or tri. By the way, you do know that a trawler can roll back and forth to angles at least as great as a sailboat will heel.





?? Sailboat cabins are generally no more open than trawlers. Some can be open but most would be considered less open




Pretty easy to set up most sailboats for single handed sailing. Assume you have read about the many sailors that went around the world, many non stop, many racing very large boats.




Take that and add it to the kitty to buy a bigger, better sailboat.

i had given thought to the cat or tri, someone told me thou they dont heal they will capsize?

the trawler cabin is 100% closed and waterproof.
and all of the cats, sails ECT are plastic tops at best.

thou i am thinking of taking a quick sailing class down in the nyc bay.
they have a sailing school on the jersey side.

i have a 25' now, and have learned much in the 3 years i have had it.
i can bring it into dock in 30mph crossinds and currents. and that has no thrusters.

[simonmd]

Originally Posted by scoobert

i had given thought to the cat or tri, someone told me thou they dont heal they will capsize?

Rubbish, search on here for similar subjects. Only racing cats or those out in weather that they shouldn't be are at risk from that. A decent solid cruising cat' will only capsize with bad handling or bad weather. It's arguable that the same condition would easily overcome a trawler as well and unlike a cat', that would sink very quickly if it happened.

the trawler cabin is 100% closed and waterproof.
.

Like I said before, look for a motorsailor. The vast majority have two helm positions, one inside and one out. As for 'heeling' that you mentioned with sailboats, have you ever been in a good sea in a powerboat, trawler or otherwise? Let me tell you, a good constant heel is a LOT more comfortable than the constant rolling from side to side that a relatively small 40ft trawler would suffer.

Like has been said above, you would be better off putting a lump of your 50k+ fuel budget towards a proper cruising boat that can handle long distances. Trawlers and similar are designed for coastal cruising, the only way you could circumnavigate with one of those would be to go to very high latitudes (ie the Alaska or Greenland route options) and that means putting yuorself in unneccessary danger with the harsh weather that these latitudes will serve up.

[scoobert]

can you recommend an older motor sailor that would be under 160,000? that is my budget for the boat.