Redesigning the Pilgrim 40 Trawler / Canal Boat / Coastal Cruiser

brian eiland said:
I have a gentleman interested in building one of these via some of my ideas I developed here.
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Excellent news! I hope that he follows through, and that you will keep us updated if he does.
 
I guess there are not a lot of modern boaters considering a canal cruiser / liveaboard vessel like this. Sure a shame, I wish I had one.

brian eiland said:
Define what you are seeking from a vessel design.

Perhaps you will find some answers in this attached PDF. I will just list a few of the headings,...

Where Has The Pilgrim 40 Come From?

The Pilgrim Concepts and Philosophy

Character, Style, and Grace,...What We Call Pilgrim Class

Pilgrim Comfort, Inside and Out

Pilgrim Safety, Reliability, and Performance

Pilgrim Ease of Handling

Pilgrim 40, Practical and Efficient

Pilgrim 40, Economical to Run and Maintain

Pilgrim Quality Construction

To Whom the Pilgrim Concept Appeals
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On the other hand, our consumer demand confirms that our distinctive motor yacht appears almost equally to sailboaters, powerboaters, and non-boaters. This has created a larger than normal market acceptance. Therefore the PILGRIM can be for everyone.

To some, her manufacturing cost excludes them from an immeadiate purchase because it is beyond current budgets. It’s a move many will have to plan for, but what a great goal in life to work for….to be a Pilgrim on your own PILGRIM 40. However if you live in a climate where it can make sense to use your boat as your ‘Home’, she’s a bargain and a joy as a piece of moveable real estate.

As boaters ourselves, we can not imagine a better craft to provide the ultimate Retirement
Adventure,…the Alternate home,…or the memorable summer residence,..as a reward to a hard-working and successful life.

For those not yet ready to retire, whether you are 30 or 50, the PILGRIM 40 offers an alternative lifestyle that surpasses land-based norms. There is camaraderie in a boating community that is non-existent in a cement hi-rise or suburb. You become more involved with the heartbeat of life as you are more aware of Mother Nature and her ever-changing moods, something you lose touch with in the big city. You also cannot take your land-based home out for an evening cruise, or an adventurous vacation. It’s so much more than a summer cottage. Its led to some calling it a ‘boatominium’, not condominium.

So if you are a sailor who’s tired of fighting huge headsails, getting soaked in an open cockpit, and living in an ‘expensive teak tube’, all at 15 degrees of heel, you’re ready to consider the PILGRIM alternative.

If you are a power boater who’s tired of taking a loan out every weekend to feed your fuel-guzzling twin engines, having ankles like a weight lifer’s just to get off and on your boat, not to mention frustrated with a boat designed around the number of berths it has, you’re ready for the PILGRIM alternative

Even if you’re a Non-boater, looking to re-discover some excitement in your lifestyle, the PILGRIM alternative is a means to a new way of living, for those hearty enough to seek out more in their lives.
 
The boat is limited to rivers, so spending $200k on her and not being able to go offshore seems foolish.

I’d say you ought to consider something like it, but more sea capable.

For example, the bulwarks/freeboard look a bit low for offshore, etc.
 
fallguy said:
The boat is limited to rivers, so spending $200k on her and not being able to go offshore seems foolish.

I’d say you ought to consider something like it, but more sea capable.

For example, the bulwarks/freeboard look a bit low for offshore, etc.
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Not all boats need to be 'sea capable'. Many folks in their retirement years are NOT looking at going to sea, as they once might have been in their youth.

You could cruise the entire inland waterway on the east coast of the USA, or even do the 'great loop' which many have found both enjoyable and adventurous. One might even do the extensive canal system in Europe or England with such a nostalgic looking vessel. I'm sure you would run into LOTS of admires, as have many current owners of these vessels.
 
brian eiland said:
Not all boats need to be 'sea capable'. Many folks in their retirement years are NOT looking at going to sea, as they once might have been in their youth.

You could cruise the entire inland waterway on the east coast of the USA, or even do the 'great loop' which many have found both enjoyable and adventurous. One might even do the extensive canal system in Europe or England with such a nostalgic looking vessel. I'm sure you would run into LOTS of admires, as have many current owners of these vessels.
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Agreed, but I think my reasons are why the demand for them is low.
 
Hull Shape

Just recently I was made aware of this design posted on another forum,..
Review: Elling 49' "E4" - General Trawler Discussion | YachtForums: We Know Big Boats!


A luxury yacht for the 'high' seas? Of course, it’s built in Holland! If I were to tell you that this 49 foot yacht can cross oceans, cruise shallow waters, turn turtle, self-right, go fast....



elling-roll-over-jpg.64174


Makes me wonder if this underwater hull shape could be adapted to the Pilgrim vessel ?
(I had already suggested a new hard chine shape in my steel version) Edited: Available upon request to me, or in the many postings on this redesign project in the TrawlerForums.


Some excerpts from trial reports,...

The Elling E4 is a multi-purpose yacht that packages a “one boat fits all” list of capabilities. With CE Category A certification, this ocean going cruiser confirmed its sea-keeping competence when in 2008, fresh from the yard, 3 Ellings crossed the Atlantic ocean in 16 days from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean’s St. Marten, the Dutch side of course. The Frank Mulder and Ken Freivokh design based on North Sea lifeboats is rated to withstand Beaufort scale 8 (winds up to 46mph with seas to 25 feet), but this diverse cruiser with an air draught of 12 feet, skeg protected prop, and draft of 4 feet, is also ideal for the Great Loop, Bahamian cruising, Caribbean, New England or of course the canals of Europe.

With safety as the number one priority in the Elling’s development, the E4 has a maximum speed of 18 knots which allows for outrunning storms or beating the sunset into harbor. Yet for those leisurely cruises or those with a sailboat fuel consumption mindset, the E4 has a cruise speed of 7.5 knots nipping a mere 2 gallons per hour. Not too fast, not too slow? There’s even a moderate cruise speed of 12.5 knots consuming 12 gallons per hour.
 
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from the lips of the owner of P40 "Real Mountie"

Why we bought a Pilgrim 40?...

We are still enjoying our Pilgrim 40. Why we bought a Pilgrim 40?...

My wife Lise and I had lived respectively a long and exciting careers. We wanted a new way of living in seeking a pleasure craft that could provide us the ultimate retirement adventure, an alternative home and a memorable summer residence as a reward to our hard-working and successful life.

Current retirement alternatives do not offer much to those who have achieved something in their life and are just ready to be put out to pasture.

We had a need for a boat that could put a sense of freedom into our retirement adventure.

There is a camaraderie in a boating community that is non-existant in a cement high-rise cities and or suburb.

Our need was also to become more involved the heartbeat of life as we are more aware of Mother Nature and her ever-changing moods something you lose with big cities.

We needed more that a summer cottage so we bought a condominium for Skiing during the snow season and we wanted to buy a kind of a Canal Barge like a Boataminium for the rest of the year.

As a Sea Cadet I have sailed since the age of 14 then became a Sailing Instructor at Cornwallis Base in N.S. during the summer as a Navy Reserve Second-Lieutenant.

Since then I chartered sailboats until 1995 and around 2001 I was tired with the handling of huge headsails, getting soaked wet in an open cockpit and living in a expensive submarine, all this at a 15 degree heel.

After a 3 year of research, we made that eccentric choice : Buy a Boat with Confidence in order to find a liveaboard for that ultimate retirement experience in order to escape the jungle of traffic, jammed bridges, construction, concrete and asphalt of big cities like Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

We wanted a Boat that fits our needs and this is why we are so grateful to Doug and Brenda Dawson for all their publications that educated us in finding the appropriate boat.

Doug, Brenda thank you for helping us to make the appropriate choice in order to realize our dream!

NOTE: We had to refer to First Mate 101 in order to resolve issues that could turn the Dream into Nightmare...

With those publications we have interpreted our Research into Reality.

We then established all the criteria for safety, economy, character, comfort, style and why not grace. We were attracted by a classic look Motor Yacht that did not look like a Clorox bottle or Wedding cake type of Motor Yacht (No offence to anyone who choose Low maintenance and Bigger budget Yacht).

We did not want high performance as we have worn out the thrill of rattling our kidneys and our dishes.
We wanted to save our pocketbook in keeping our fuel tanks filled so we would spend it visiting area to discover.

Comfort was a personal choice. We wanted to equate comfort with pleasure and enjoyment. This is one of the area's that occupied most our our research and study. We don't enjoy weathering through a storm although we did encounter some bad weather and put up with Mother Nature during our trip from Fort Pierce to Lake Champlain and we were quite satisfied and impressed with her handling and performance during a tunderstorm.

Our Boat was to be our passport to civilized adventure in the nautical living environment. We did not want a boat to win races or cross the ocean, we just wanted to enjoy ourselves on the water as is it our belief that pleasure boating is for pleasure.

This Boat was to be our escape from the pressures of day-to-day existence. as a new, exiting alternative lifestyle for we wanted to taste more of life. We needed a chage of tempo as we needed to refresh our spririts like to put a smile on our face and in our heart. We are from the '' Stop and Smell the Roses'' School of Boating Generation!
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New Book,....about choosing and finding a Pilgrim 40,....
Ed Muir
Looking to buy a used boat? Learn the lessons of one couple as they tell the story of finding a Gozzard built Pilgrim 40 coastal cruiser.

New Book about Pilgrim 40 New Book about Pilgrim 40 https://www.trawlerforum.com/threads/new-book-about-pilgrim-40.75918/
Hello Please excuse the impersonal nature of this group email. I have written a book about our journey in finding a Pilgrim 40. That book has now been published and is available at Amazon. I think that whether you are a current or former owner of a P40, you'll find this story of the boat we all...
favicon_TFnew.png
www.trawlerforum.com

book is available on Amazon,...I ordered my copy, and its an interesting read as to what older cruising folks (sailors) were looking for in a retirement vessel.
 
excerpted this posting from my discussions on TrawlerForum,...

CNC-cut Metal Kits, ProBoat

There is an interesting affirmation article concerning CNC-cut metal kits in the latest issue (Apr/May) of Professional Boatbuilder:
Table of Contents 148 - Professional BoatBuilder Magazine


Precisely engineered CNC-cut metal kits simplify custom and production projects at aluminum sailing-yacht builder K&M and steel-motoryacht builder Jetten, ..both in the Netherlands


In case you are unable to access this article on-line, I will just hi-lite a few of the notable observations.


Today, at K&M Yachtbuilders, metal components delivered to the construction hall are far more refined: Precut stringers are the precise shape required to yield the finished hull, and they arrive from the computer numerically controlled (CNC) laser cutting facility with an intricate pattern of notches cut halfway through their depth to interlock with the transverse frames, which in turn have a corresponding pattern of narrow cuts around their outer curves. These pre-cut structure members with cutouts, coupled with precut hull plating, assure a stronger hull than conventional build, and require fewer highly skilled builders, and much shorter production time on the shop floor


Building with kits (alum and steel) saves much of the expert but time-consuming manual work, because parts come precut from CNC-laser, or CNC-plasma cutting machines and fit together only one way....


I like this new way of building boats. Nevertheless I must admit with the old method the welders on the shop floor had a very big part in making the hull what it should be. With the cleverly engineered metal parts that fit together to become a firm structure without the workers manipulating any part, construction follows the procedure planned by the engineers. Still it is a fascinating process to see a yacht take shape following the arrival of a pile of metal parts. And we can build much faster now.


When we build with metal kits, the hull comes out smooth, with a lot less finishing work.


A 50' boat can be finished within months. It allows welders and yard professionals with less experience to build a strong, lightweight hull exactly to specification in a predicatively short period of time.


We had a lot of demand for the kind of quality built steel motoryachts we build here. ...That is why the innovation program was started ( the government funded project mentioned earlier, Virpack's Smart Kit was one outcome).
At Jetten Yachting one of the first boats built by the Smart Kit method was a 40' steel-hulled cruising yacht. The yard had built hulls to this design previously, but always by traditional methods. The same boat built from a Smart Kit was finished in just eight months, cutting build time in half.


Building with kit-ed CNC-cut components is so efficient that just 2 weeks after construction began, the hull of this Bestevaer at K&M is ready for plating, which has started at the garboard.


Another savings of the Smart Kit for Jetten is that not all plates must be cut by laser. Laser metal cutting allows no more than 0.1mm deviation from computer drawings, but less expensive plasma cutting is now as precise as 0.5mm-0.8mm maximum deviation.
So we have the main construction of transverse frames and stringers laser cut, but the hull plating plasma cut.


The process of optimizing cost and build time for our yachts continues. The Smart Kit gets smarter all the time, while we also try to improve on yard logistics and cost efficiency. The lower the cost of our yachts, (and the shorter the build time, BE's edit), the bigger our market
 
LOW FREEBOARD

DDW said on the trawler forum:
One issue with the original Pilgrim design, and the 60' version in the picture, is the very low freeboard aft. Looks like about a foot or less from the waterline to the scuppers. I talked at length to an owner of a 40' one day, he said it was a constant problem. Any rolling, or even a largish wake, and the aft decks were awash.
Click to expand...

I think the deck level / sheer line on the original Pilgrim design could be raised 6-9 inches without disrupting the appearance of the boat. This would be prime consideration with a redesign project.
 
BIGGER HELM AREA

I've seen in the past some negative comments concerning the 'crampness' of the helm station. I think this original design should be improved.

At first I thought it might require a lengthening of the vessel by a foot or so?
But I now think there may be some real possibilities of switching sides of the galley and the head areas,...the head not requiring the space of the galley, allowing the helm area to open up a little bit.
 
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brian eiland said:
BIGGER HELM AREA

I've seen in the past some negative comments concerning the 'crampness' of the helm station. I think this original design should be improved.

At first I thought it might require a lengthening of the vessel by a foot or so?
But I now think there may be some real possibilities of switching sides of the galley and the head areas,...the head not requiring the space of the galley, allowing the helm area to open up a little bit.
Click to expand...
Hello Brian. I have not posted for many many years. I see you’re still rethinking and dreaming about a pilgrim 40. My wife and I owned an early pilgrim and used it to cruise from New Jersey to Chesapeake Bay spending as much as a half a year on the boat. We also cruised up to southern New England with it. We did love the boat. There was one aspect of the performance which we found annoying, and if I were to do it again, I would either modify the boat or I have to get a different hull forum. The boat design was based on an inland water use in relatively calm conditions. The rounded hull with the shallow keel resulted in considerable rolling both at anchor and underway. Some of the things I had thought to do to improve the performance included a larger sail plan to stabilize while underway. The use of poles for flopper stopper cages were another consideration while anchored and a more permanent solution was the use of bilge keels added to the original Hull. This might affect the economy of fuel use however, the ride would be much improved. The added keels may also affect the turning radius, depending upon the location and size. A deep keel fat lobster boat hull with a pilgrim upper structure and a ridding sail might also work but that would be a very expensive way to go. Gyroscopic or fin stabilization would work but not KISS in nature. I am posting some of the boats I have been messing with since I left Maryland.the blue Downeaster was a custom one off to my specs called Moon River its plans and articles about it are on the net.
 

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