Camasonian
Veteran Member
The wife and I are back to boat shopping for a trawler/tug that we can keep mostly in the Portland area but use annually in Puget Sound and BC/Alaska. We previously lived in Juneau and owned a series of boats up there culminating with a 27' Seasport Seamaster that we took all over the northern half of SE Alaska for weekend and longer trips. We would like something a little larger and more comfortable for long-term cruising.
Our careers and kids in school mean that we are likely to continue living in the Portland area (Camas WA) for the next 5-10 years. So we need something that will primarily be kept and used on the Columbia/Willamette for at least the next 5+ years with infrequent trips up to Puget Sound.
The biggest obstacle seems to be transport. Trailerable boats make the trip quick and easy as we are 4 hours from Anacortes. Cruising around the outer coast of WA seems like an expensive and time consuming proposition for boats that are too large to reasonably haul up via I-5. Something I might want to do some day but not on any regular basis.
So that leaves us trying to determine what are the reasonable size limits to constrain ourselves to and which cruising trawlers/tugs maximize seaworthiness and cruising space while still being transportable. I don't own a large pickup and don't plan to buy one so either way we would be hiring someone to transport the boat. The only question is whether it will be some guy with a F350 pulling it up on a boat trailer, or a semi truck doing it with a pilot car. And how much difference the cost is between those two options.
Our shopping has pointed us to the Ranger Tug R31 model which looks to be about the largest trawler yacht on the market that can be reasonably towed by a large pickup on its own trailer. Anything larger seems to require a much more expensive semi haul with wide load and pilot car, etc. So...questions?
1. What are some alternatives to the Ranger Tug R31 model. We like the tug style yachts but aren't fixated on them to the exclusion of other trawler style yachts. I very much like the look of classic Grand Banks style trawlers. Most likely looking single engine displacement boats. We will most likely be looking for something fairly late model used that is reasonably turn-key. Not a new boat or a decades-old project boat.
2. Are there Portland area boaters here who regularly transport larger yachts between Portland and Puget sound via semi truck hauls? If so, what is your experience with that and what is a reasonable maximum size trawler for that sort of regular use? Is something like say an American Tug 365 or a Nordic Tug 36 reasonably transportable between Portland and Anacortes via I-5, or are those pushing the limit in terms of cost and practicality if we were to do that every year?
Our careers and kids in school mean that we are likely to continue living in the Portland area (Camas WA) for the next 5-10 years. So we need something that will primarily be kept and used on the Columbia/Willamette for at least the next 5+ years with infrequent trips up to Puget Sound.
The biggest obstacle seems to be transport. Trailerable boats make the trip quick and easy as we are 4 hours from Anacortes. Cruising around the outer coast of WA seems like an expensive and time consuming proposition for boats that are too large to reasonably haul up via I-5. Something I might want to do some day but not on any regular basis.
So that leaves us trying to determine what are the reasonable size limits to constrain ourselves to and which cruising trawlers/tugs maximize seaworthiness and cruising space while still being transportable. I don't own a large pickup and don't plan to buy one so either way we would be hiring someone to transport the boat. The only question is whether it will be some guy with a F350 pulling it up on a boat trailer, or a semi truck doing it with a pilot car. And how much difference the cost is between those two options.
Our shopping has pointed us to the Ranger Tug R31 model which looks to be about the largest trawler yacht on the market that can be reasonably towed by a large pickup on its own trailer. Anything larger seems to require a much more expensive semi haul with wide load and pilot car, etc. So...questions?
1. What are some alternatives to the Ranger Tug R31 model. We like the tug style yachts but aren't fixated on them to the exclusion of other trawler style yachts. I very much like the look of classic Grand Banks style trawlers. Most likely looking single engine displacement boats. We will most likely be looking for something fairly late model used that is reasonably turn-key. Not a new boat or a decades-old project boat.
2. Are there Portland area boaters here who regularly transport larger yachts between Portland and Puget sound via semi truck hauls? If so, what is your experience with that and what is a reasonable maximum size trawler for that sort of regular use? Is something like say an American Tug 365 or a Nordic Tug 36 reasonably transportable between Portland and Anacortes via I-5, or are those pushing the limit in terms of cost and practicality if we were to do that every year?
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