My wife reminds me regularly that I have too many bad habits. Mea culpa. They are, in order: boats, cars and planes. All of them have devotees who discuss endlessly what they’ve had and, perhaps more important, what they wish they’d had. Or may still get.
Pilots have hangars. Car junkies have garages (or cars-and-coffee gatherings). But boating people? We have “wishful marinas.” After a day on the water, skippers and crews gather in someone’s cockpit to quaff a beer and talk about their dream boats.
I will share with you some of the boats that fill my mental marina, with several caveats. First, I must never have owned them. Second, they must be in perfect repair; we’re not talking fixer-uppers here, but turnkey. Third, they must be cool for some reason. They don’t have to be beautiful, but that helps, as do speed, range and comfort.
Gulfstar 44
My first trawler charter was a Gulfstar 43 in the Pacific Northwest. We passed the racing fleet returning, in cold rain, from a rugged Swiftsure race. I was in shirtsleeves and socks with Buddy Holly on the stereo. Ah, trawlers! Big aft stateroom, built on the same long-keeled hull as a Gulfstar motorsailer and designed by Vince Lazzara, who helped launch Columbia Yachts, went on to Gulfstar and, with his sons, created Lazzara motoryachts.
Romsdal 53 Trawler
Built in Norway for use in weather I don’t even want to contemplate, this boat had me at first sight. Tall pilothouse, vast foredeck with a working mast, beautiful varnished wooden hull (with knots) and, inside, my first look at what Scandinavians did with teak. She has a big, slow-turning Volvo Penta with enough torque to climb Niagara Falls, and fuel for long adventures. Heady dreams for this teenage dock boy.
Nordhavn 46
I must have a soft spot for pilothouse trawlers, and this is a beaut. I knew about the builders, Pacific Asian Enterprises, for their gorgeous Al Mason-designed sailing yachts, but this Jim Leishman design is just delicious. Very North Sea-ish with an amidships owner’s stateroom and a 143-hp Lugger that pushes the boat at 8 knots and 3 gallons per hour to a range of 2,000-plus nautical miles.
Columbia 50
The Columbia 50, when introduced in 1965, was the largest fiberglass sailboat of her time. Designed by Bill Tripp in his flush-deck and bubble-house style, it had acres of deck. It won its class in the Chicago-to-Mackinac and Transpac races out of the box, which is not exactly cruising, but still enviable.
Canal barge
It’s not quite a deep-sea passagemaker, but I would dearly love to have a converted work barge or even a former charter penichette from Locaboat, with a big, airy pilothouse and galley-up so everyone can enjoy the view of passing meadows and tiny villages. I would need a second marina in France, so I could pop over, sip some Burgundies, bicycle the towpath, and smell the capers and wine sauce on the galley stove when we return.
Strumpet
Don’t know this boat? Of course not. It’s a custom Jay Benford design for novelist, aviator and curmudgeon Ernest K. Gann, who had owned larger yachts (like the ill-fated Albatros, a 117-footer that capsized after he sold her, leading to the movie White Squall). Fed up with large boats, Gann’s directive to Benford was for a trawler that “drank six, ate four and slept two.” A memorable spec.
There are lots more boats on Dock B in my mental marina: several classic Grand Banks designs in the 43- to 44-foot range, and a 58-foot Hatteras Long Range Cruiser from the boards of Jack Hargrave with its pilothouse, huge bridge and 8.5-knot cruise at 6 gph. There’s also a Kadey-Krogen 39 (with its get-home use of the genset to turn the prop), and a Florida Bay Coaster (from Benford’s fertile mind) darn near as tall as long, with huge livability and a master stateroom behind the pilothouse with its own deck. I’d potter along the Intracoastal Waterway in grand style.
Dock C would have a classic Pilgrim 40 motoryacht next to a Lord Nelson Victory Tug 37 with the sweetest sheerline. There would also be a DeFever 44, which is perfect for cruising couples like us. It carries an 11-foot Boston Whaler on the upper deck, has a spacious master stateroom aft and has a guest stateroom forward (but we’ll never invite guests).
So, that’s some of my fleet. It changes as quickly as I see new boats or remember old ones for which I once lusted. Unlike in real life, I don’t have to get rid of one boat to add the next, so I’ll soon be up to four piers full of boats.
What’s in your marina?
This article was originally published in the November/December 2023 issue.
