Non-C-Dory boat. I like everything except for it's style

B

BillE

New member
I continue to research outboard cruisers, of all types, running down a list of wants and needs and don't-wants and will-not-haves. And I found a boat with a great layout that has a lot of cool features and some smart thinking on this Merry Fisher 895. Easy access on and off the boat, easy access to bow, nice high railings, swim platform with walk-through transom, sit-up headroom in TWO cabins, roomy head, etc.
And the price is competitive,( now that I have had a year or two of sticker shock!) , so hey, I've found my boat, right? Well, no.
It's sort of like a Corvette, and I'm not a Corvette type of guy. It's got the Euro-sporty look and the helm looks like a car dash. I showed it to my wife and she said the same thing, "I can't see us in that". Then she looked at everything that I was pointing out and agreed that this boat had a lot of great features. But I'm afraid that it would never feel like "us".
So, I now just need someone to build this cool layout in more of a Downeast or other traditional style.
Here's a link, check it out, tell me what ya think. https://www.jeanneau.com/en/boats/9-mer ... fisher-895
 
The Corvette anaolgy might not be the right choice, because I am a Corvette type of guy and I do not care for the looks of that boat at all. It looks a lot like forty other Bayliners out there.

I predict you will end up with a new Tomcat 255 or a SeaSport and be very happy.
 
For my tastes, the perfect boat would be a 30 foot Tomcat with a walkthrough transom. It would have more deck space and a larger head. Other than that I'm more than happy with my 25 footer until a 30 comes out.
 
I've been on a Merry Fisher once or twice at the Seattle Boat Show. Maybe not the same model but certainly on with a similar layout. I liked the seat across the back but with the side cabin door and the walkway on either side, you lose a lot of interior cabin volume. That's what I found unappealing.
 
If I had the money I'd be looking at the Great Harbor TT35:

http://www.greatharbourtrawlers.com/tt35.html

It's not THE perfect boat, but it has some nice features (IMO). They are just starting deliveries.

While the TT35 is trailerable, it will not be as trailerable as my CD-22. We really like the ability to move the 22 around easily to explore new places. It is also easy to just park it in front of my house (on the trailer) when I need to work on it.

I've also come to the conclusion that inboard or I/O engines really take up too much room on smaller baots and the onboard space can be used better than for an engine room. O/B's may lose a bit in style points, but I don't pay attention to stuff like that.
 
The specs on this boat (the Great Harbor) seem overly optimistic. I don't believe it's possible to produce a 35'8" long x 10' beam boat that only displaces 6500 lbs.
 
I tend to go the opposite direction when thinking about a non-C Dory boat. My brother, not a boater, once looked at a few new boats with me and said "it's like living in a fridge." I get the same feeling from stylish fiberglass boats.

I sent my wife an email the other day about a boat for sale locally for $20K (a fixer-upper). I had looked at Willards for years and just thought I'd Google and see if any were available. I found one and sent the advertisement off to her. I got a quick reply back to go ahead to buy it. It was this model, but not in as nice of shape. It would take a few months to get it ready for spring. http://www.tmsax.it/sound/soloist8+.mp3

It had sold.

Mark

7.5 knots is screaming fast.
 
Bill: I like the Jeanneau's and I agree that the styling is a bit "over the top". But they are well designed boats and the brand is strong w/ a diverse portfolio. I got on a small, outboard powered Jeanneau at the Boston boat show last year (not sure what model though). I think they look better than RangerTugs (inside and out). I've never been a big Ranger guy.

It's definitely cool having the outboards. Nice feature. I also agree that the price is very competitive (there's a leftover in RI for $144k). At that price you are in the low- mid level Ranger Tug territory and probably not that much more than a well equipped Venture 26 or TomCat 255.

Bill, are you only looking for trailerable boats? What's your criteria?

SSobol: No doubt about it, the Great Harbour TT35 is a game changer. But what's the price?? My only gripe is the beam (only 10 feet). Obviously keeping it trailerable may appeal to some but NOT all. If I'm spending big coin on a new trawler it's gonna have at least a 12-13' beam. Very cool boat though! Love the outboards.


http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2016/Je ... jyI_dKnGj4
 
After hearing weekly reports of a friends experience with a Jeanneau, I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole. Too long a story but a horror story of a $275,000 boat gone bad.
 
I think the opening line on the 895 website says it all for me:

"Designed for cruising, the Merry Fisher 895 is a true weekender."

Over a weekend, I can maybe see it; but I like to go for a week; and I'm itching to go for a month or two. My CD25 is perfectly capable of doing those trips.
 
South of Heaven":193545co said:
... SSobol: No doubt about it, the Great Harbour TT35 is a game changer. But what's the price?? My only gripe is the beam (only 10 feet). Obviously keeping it trailerable may appeal to some but NOT all. If I'm spending big coin on a new trawler it's gonna have at least a 12-13' beam. Very cool boat though! Love the outboards. ...
Click to expand...

I believe the price of an equipped TT35 is around $250K. They were giving special pricing on the first 5 or 10 boats ordered.
 
Marco Flamingo":3qtaam1b said:
That is obviously not the right link. That's from another hobby. Here is the link to the boat.
Click to expand...

That wrong link pairs beautifully with a Willard.
 
rogerbum, Jeanneau has been very confusing with their models and names, but they make two different series of Merry Fisher. One, now called the "Marlin" has full walkaround on both sides of the narrow day cabin. The cruising oriented boat I linked to has the much larger cabin offset to port so that the walkway is only wide on the starboard side with a much larger cabin. Mobility around the boat is a big deal for me and I like the thinking on this one. The bow rail is open at center for exit, the walkthrough transom, and especially that nice starboard passage to the bow, with raised side deck and tall railing, no way to slip off.
Not shown on their website, but the under deck midberth has standing room at the entrance, sit-up room at the head of the bed, and only the feet and body in that tight space, but even that is wide enough to call it a double. So, usable by an adult instead of just a child, and with a measure of privacy from the forward cabin.

Ty Boo, sorry for dissin' on Vettes! My neighbor has a brand new white with black accent Corvette and when I saw that sporty boat it reminded me of his shiny slick new sports car, which just has too much of a "hey, look at me" vibe for this mellow dude.
 
Beware of any boat with a beam over 8 ft 6 inches...that’s an over-wide, not a trailer boat, and it requires a special permit to trailer anywhere. In FL, AL and Miss that means no trailering, ever, on Sunday, or between sunset and sunrise, or other than the pre-approved days and times. Just try to get that changed with 2 weeks notice around a Federal Holiday. If you relish visiting your DMV, you’ll just love dealing with the exceptions to the exemptions to Footnote #413 of some other state’s DMV OverWide Dept on a Friday afternoon.

Almost any recreational boat is ‘trailerable’, like a 33 ft, 11 ft wide, 30,000# Sea Ray...you see them on the interstates, all you need is a Freightliner tractor, pro driver, $250,000 marine hydraulic boat trailer, all the permits and paperwork pre-approved, a couple of escort cars and drivers, and $15,000 cash, and yeah, you can trailer that and most any other boat. However, that $15,000 exceeds the trailering budget for many of us for the ENTIRE MONTH, and we don’t want to go there. Less so for the others previously mentioned, but the principle is the same. If you want to change plans and hitch it up a week earlier than planned and travel over night Sat and all day Sunday to get here (and you should...80 degrees and sunny all week), FORGET ANY AND ALL OVER-WIDES.

I saw a 895 Merry Fisher anchored close by (didn’t board, no crew around). I agree with Roger that the wide walk-around REALLY compromises the pilothouse space too much. It also brought to mind Marc Grove’s comment on the Cutwater…”10 pounds of (‘stuff’) in a 5 pound bag.” Boating Mag review of the 795 noted it looked like ‘an Escalade’...not a Corvette...really I’m not kidding!
https://www.boatingmag.com/jeanneau-nc-795
And the 795 is a 9 ft 2 inch OVER-WIDE, so I bet the 895 is also (beam from Boating Mag, not available on the Bennatau website….and the 795 length/beam is under 3:1, so it’ll likely pound in a chop). What’s with not giving the beam in a boat’s spec’s? Jeeezz.

Other than that, I like it enough that if you gave me one, I would sell it and buy a trailer boat.

Re all the longing for a ‘30 foot TomCat’, that’s been done with the Chill-Cat and Blackfeather (?), both out of business and and with the molds rotting in some Alaska field per last report of Bob Austin. That CAN NOT be a trailer boat with the bridgedeck clearance we’d like, the towed wgt suitable for a standard production HD deisel truck on a non-gooseneck custom trailer under 8.5 ft beam and 13.5 ft hgt on the trailer and at a price the average American rich family will pay. If it could be done, it would have been done by now. We really like the Glacier Bay 3080 series, one of the few cats without the ‘head by the bed’, which is a no-go for us. But an Over-Wide at 10.5 ft.

BillE, it’s OK, even more common than not, to not get the ‘perfect’ boat/first boat. No one knows how many boating seasons we have left, so don’t let too many go by boatless. You can buy a boat at market value and sell a couple years later at market value and not lose much, yet have a lot of fun on it. How much is that worth?

Take home message: DON’T BUY ANY OVER-WIDE TRAILER BOAT (8.5 BEAM) UNTIL YOU HAVE DIGESTED THE MYRIAD RULES RE TRAILERING IT in your state as well as all the others you may visit.

HAPPY BOAT SHOPPING!
John
 
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