Fisher 25

I am now starting to get more serious about where I will be sailing during the next two years. .While everything I have heard about Great Lakes sailing is attractive, the short season and cold fresh waters just are not as appealing as the southern oceans. Therefore, I expect that the majority of my usage will be in salt water from the Chesapeake Bay to points south. All of the vessels described below are well suited for the limited offshore passages that I intend. In fact, they are overkill for the purpose since at least two of the five (Flicka 20 and Nor'sea 27) have multiple circumnavigations recorded to their credit.

I am keeping one pilot house (Fisher 25) on the short list since the advantages of a pilot house for an aging singlehander are many both in comfort and in safety. However, much of the comfort can be achieved with a good selection of canvas Bimini and Dodger products. The safety aspect can be achieved with a good harness and jack lines which are still needed even on the Fisher when out of the cabin. However, a pilot house in southern waters can get very warm and the windage of the Fisher superstructure makes me nervous about singlehanded docking maneuvers in even a slight crosswind.

While I have had larger boats on the consideration list, I still intend to keep the boat as small as possible for the ease of handling and lower costs of operation. The temptation is there - (everyone knows about two-foot-itis) - but I must also face reality in that bbigger is not often better. A maxi-trailer boat will allow me to have my cake and eat it too. This is especially true on trips to reposition the boat to new cruising waters where a maxi-trailerable boat can serve as a camper/trailer on the road and then your liveaboard vessel when on the water.

All of the boats on the short list are full or modified full keel. While this will make for difficult close quarters maneuvers, the directional stability advantages of a full keel in open waters (and especially downwind) far outweigh the disadvantage. Also, all but the Fisher are trailer legal without wide load permits. I do not intend to trailer these boats often, but the possibility of renting a tow vehicle and trailering the boat to a new port is a real advantage. The required trailers are also light enough (2,500 pounds or lesss) that I can tow the empty trailer as required for maintenance or long term storage with my current vehicle. The trailer will also serve as a convenient storage cradle when the boat needs to be on land for storage, service, or seasonal purposes.

Since I will be buying on the used market, I will need to have the vessel surveyed by someone with considerably more experience than I have to ensure that I don't overlook a significant system problem. This survey will in all likelihood also be required for insurance purposes.

While the short list meets my needs and this is where I expect to concentrate my search efforts, I will continue to keep my eye on other designs from the consideration list. This is especially true for the slightly larger representatives on the list since they are as capable and often available at lower purchase costs. The Flicka and Nor'Sea do command a substantial premium to combine small size with go anywhere securely capabilities. I have a significant time to search for the "right boat" and I am not in a hurry to part with my hard earned coin collection.

Flicka 20
This boat still stays on the top of my list. While it is the smallest of the group, it is perfectly designed for the single handed voyager. The fact that more than 400 were built under the Pacific Seacraft logo and more were home built or built by the first manufacturer (Nor'Star/Westerly) helps ensure that the used market is active and a selection of vessels are usually available. It is also the only one of the group that was designed to be outboard powered so that additional storage would be available in the space taken up by the diesel and inboard fuel tanks.

The Flicka that I want will be sloop rigged and will have the factory designed marine head compartment. I would prefer the outboard version to the diesel but this may be a difficult combination to find. Preference will be to mid 1980s models due to cost considerations. I would really like to find a boat in this range with a "dead" diesel at an appropriate discounted price. This will allow me to remove the engine and convert to a combination of outboard power and electric power for now with the option of re-installing a newer diesel (or diesel/electric drive) at a later point.

With an outboard powered Flicka, I will definitely install both an outboard engine and a high thrust electric motor designed for salt water usage. I will use the electric whenever possible and have the gas option as more or less a last resort when there is no wind and I really need to go a long distance. This means installing about 4 or 6 deep cycle batteries and at least 100 watts of solar panels. I may also install some other source of recharging power although the options are not very well defined as yet.

Frances 26
Second on the list only because they tend to be significantly higher in price and less available. This boat was designed exactly for the type of cruising I had in mind and if I can find one at a reasonable price, it would be a real toss up between the Flicka and the Frances.

I like the double-ender look and the standard cabin layout with quarter berths for sea berths is perfect for singlehanding or those occasions when my wife is along for the trip.

Nor'Sea 27
The Nor'Sea 27 is a close third choice. The layout of the aft cabin design really is not as well suited for the singlehander and I have yet to see an aft-cockpit model for comparison. The size is also more than I really need and this would drive up purchase and operating costs accordingly.

An older model with the 9 HP Faryman diesel could however meet my self imposed price constraints. Especially, if the diesel engine was ready to be put out to pasture in favor of a newer model and this was reflected in the asking price. A Nor'Sea of this vintage would need to have the higher ballast option (3,000 pounds instead of 2,500 pounds of lead) and also the tall mast option.

Fisher 25
This is a distant fourth on the list. The extra room and safety of the Pilot House would have to be balanced against the poorer sailing and handling qualities. This is a motorsailor and trips to windward will definitely be an issue under sail alone.

This page was last updated on September 14, 2000 05:08 PM

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