Slow Trawlers vs Fast trawler

Even if it's 40 miles there's an advantage sometimes in making it in 2 hours vs. 6 or 7. There are some places where the scenery is worth the extra hours. But some places you see the same in 2 hours you do in 6. We just went from Washington to California. Between ports it all looked pretty much the same for miles on miles. By going at a faster speed we got more time to spend meeting the people, exploring the towns. Your example you used of South Florida. We're not saying skip Fort Lauderdale, but get from Miami to Fort Lauderdale in less time.

I know it's not for everyone, but we enjoy moving faster on the water. The breeze in our hair and faces. The sensation and feeling of boating. We love going 40 knots when around home. When built, the boat we use for the loop will have a top speed of 32-33 and cruise at 23-25. Now at cruise it will use 2 gpnm (0.5 nmpg). At an economic cruise of 11 knots it will get just over 1 nmpg.

Our first loop will take at least 2 years. But we still like the added speed. We'll use it to see areas most loopers don't.

Sometimes it's where you're coming from too. On the lake we were use to 50-55 knots. We've slowed down from that. Sailors are use to 3-5 knots so 7 is speeding up. And Capt J is use to SF and doubt anything else will ever rival them in his mind. But that's what he loves and that's fine. To each their own.

You're missing my point. I would say that 90% of the loopers (or more) do the entire loop in 1 year. They don't winterize it somewhere in between like you guys are doing. Given that, the soonest you can get through the Erie is May and you have to be south of Chicago by October and even then the weather is not nice. That being said. At 7 knots you're spending most of your time transiting, and not enough time in each port to enjoy yourself. If you cruise 20 knots, even if it's for your 20-40NM (let's say in Lake Erie for example, which there is nothing to see IN the lake). You could leave the dock by 8am and be in your next port by 10am or 12pm and have the rest of the day to see the stop, maybe even stay another day or two. The speed allows you to maximize your time on land, or exploring nooks and crannies, or making a lot more stops along the way. Otherwise, you're missing out on some stops. You can always go slow in any boat to conserve fuel. But you can't go faster than the cruise speed will allow. There are also some legs on the way down from Chicago, where your marina's are very few and far between and if you need a marina for fuel or need a marina to dock, as there are very limited places on the Tenn-tomm to anchor no depths on the charts outside of the channel, you're stuck. In one stretch just North of Mobile, it's 120 miles from marina to marina and there is only 1 place you can anchor and be out of the way of the tugs and barges. You can ALWAYS go slow and take in the sights when there is something to see.

I did the entire Great Loop in 2008 in a 75' Hatteras MY. I would say 85-90% of the time I ran 10.3 knots hull speed. But there sure were about 10 different instances that it was very good to have it's 18 knot cruise speed when we did have to get to a spot we could anchor before dark, or a marina we could fit into. I did the 5300NM with 7500 gallons of fuel and we anchored 3 out of 4 nights and ran a genny 24/7.

Olderboater- I do like Motoryachts also and actually recommended a 43/44' Lagoon to the OP. But I like the ride and seakeeping of a SF over a motoryacht. Visibility of the entire boat from the FB (bow/sides/and stern) as well as the low cockpit make locking through so much easier. A lot of the aft visibility on a lot of motoryachts completely sucks. Also on a SF with no outriggers, the captain can even hold the sternline from the flybridge. It makes it easy. Also the SF have a better hull speed than motoryachts and are more stable at hull speed because they are designed to troll. Also most SF are going to have a lot more range than MY's size for size. So there are a lot of advantages to a couple choosing a 40-50' SF for the loop.

Exactly. Different strokes for different folks. At the AGLCA spring rendezvous there was everything from our Hatt to a Kady Krogen to an old Carver to sailboats and a runabout that gets trailered. I even heard about one guy planning to do it in a Kayak and another on a waverunner. But MOST are in no real hurry. The main concerns with most are air draft, bottom draft and economy. Nobody seems real concerned with speed except for a day here or there. Now running down the Pacific coast, between the seas and the distance between safe harbors, it's an entirely different story; same as when I transport on the east coast or do lunch runs. On the west coast quite frankly I think I'd rather take my Harley than a boat (at least until I got north of Oregon).

What you are failing to realize, is you have 5 MONTHS, maybe less, to make it from Troy,NY to south of Chicago, there are a lot of miles there, and without speed, you're spending 50% or more of that time running the boat. In a 7 knot boat, you're talking about 200 hours of running time or 300 hours with the locks and other hangups. That doesn't leave enough time to see ALL of the cities you should see and other waterways.

Our wintering is mostly due to our wives having major operations earlier in the summer, and our desire to only be aboard about 10 days a month. If we were staying aboard F/T like most, making Chicago would have been no problem. However we'd planned to lay up over this winter to have blisters taken care of anyway. So Michigan works as well as down south. Plus after over a year and 3,000 nm it's time for a break. 10 instances of being glad to have 18 kts out of 5300 nm is a lot to pay for a very little convenience. Again though, different strokes for different folks. The key here is for the OP to make the choice based on HIS desires.

I burned 1.2 gallons per NM at 10 knots. If I ran the boat 8.5 knots I would get 1 NMPG. That's pretty **** good for a 75' MY. I average 1.5 GPNM the entre trip. A 75' trawler or expedition yacht isn't going to get hardly any better milage at it's 10 knot cruising speed, if any. A 40' Cabo Flybridge with zues will post the exact same fuel consumption as a 42' Grand Banks at 7.2 knots.......Even if you average the 1hr a day you run at cruise to keep everything clean, the difference is pennies on the dollar. Also, those 10 times we HAD to run at cruise was worth it's wait in gold, for safety and could be the reason I'm still standing here and the boat is in 1 piece with no damage.

Again it comes down to 'So what'. We don't have 5 months to get from Troy to Chicago. We have a lifetime. It's not about getting anywhere. It's about the trip; the adventure. Most of the people doing the Loop are older and retired. The Loop could be done in about 3 months, but why? We're not rushing back to jobs. This will be a once in a lifetime experience, not a 20 cities in 20 days bus tour.

You're not, but 90% of the other people doing the loop are. They have other obligations, families, houses, businesses, and other commitments, finances, for some it's even health. Most other people have 1 year to do the loop and that's it. Even if someone is retired, they still have obligations.

Why are you comparing a Fast Trawler versus Slow Trawler thread to your personal situation anyways??? The OP wants the ability to both go slow and fast as well as to fish sometimes as well as an open deck, be able to do it in a year, and here you are stepping all over his thread and toes with your situation which is clearly not HIS situation. You're telling a guy who states he wants a boat that will do 17-24 knots, to get a trawler that maxes out at 7.5 knots, when you state that even you cannot do less than 10 knots.

Jim, what I'd recommend is chartering. First come up with Olderboaters list of what you must have on board, and what you really want and need. Then charter the type of boat you may be interested in for a week and do a trip on it. Then from there, you'll say you know.....I really need a covered aft deck with a galley up......or you know I really hate this or that......etc etc.....It's a lot cheaper than making the mistake of buying a boat to then realize you hate it.

If I got a motoryacht to do the loop it would have to have a cockpit. Trying to get lines from an aft deck with a roof overhead and fenders out and from docking is too troublesome. Offshore is worth checking out as well, many people love them. Some of the older Hatteras', etc.

Jim...we're only helpful when we have a good listener. You obviously were seeking advice and assistance as opposed to some who just want confirmation of what they've already decided. So you deserve credit.

I've been where you are in trying to figure out what boat for this or that. It's difficult. Then you get advice and you have to sort through it and figure out what part fits with you. Different people cruising the same areas will do it very differently.

The speed was a perfect example for you. There are many people who are content to loop or cross the Atlantic with a top speed of 7 or 8 knots. You have realized that is not right for you. You will go through each of the possibilities and then ultimately any boat is a compromise. But the key is you won't be compromising on those items critical to you. One item at a time it will become clearer. You'll charter and make it more so. You'll end up with two or three boats that seem to fit. Then it will be one item of comparison that pushes you to a specific boat or away from another one.

Make sure that the one on the couch provides lots of input during your process, and gets a vote on the final decision. It will be critical to everyone's enjoyment of the boat you end up with.

It's not just a boat. It's a home. Whether it's weekends, weeks, months or years, you're living on it. You're really buying two things in one. Something to carry you across the water and something to live on.

On today's AGLCA bulletin a fellow announced that he and a friend will be starting the Loop this week from Chicago in a 20' center console. So it really is whatever works for you. It should also be noted that in the bulletin members generally post when they cross their wake. Most posting over the past month or so originally set off in 2012, some before that. Yes the Loop can be completed in about 3 months, but the Great Loop is not a race. It's more than just completing a circle. It's all about the day by day experience.

That's not an entirely bad idea. Perhaps something with just a little more seaworthiness than a houseboat and diesel for fuel economy. You can make a lot of time and explore a lot of nooks and crannies with a comfortable and fast tender/center console. Although towing it through the locks will be a little bit of a chore, even if you put it on the hip.

In the size range of boat you're talking about, that size tender is not likely. Typically you're talking at the low end of your size range about an 11' tender and at the upper range you're moving to a 13' and up to 15' on a 55-60' trawler.