Portager

I haven’t posted to this forum for a long time, so I thought I start by discussing developments on my boat design “Portager”.

Portager, as the name implies is intended to be a trailerable or at least transportable trawler. Since my wife and I really enjoy our jobs, we don’t intend to retire until they drag us our by the ankles, so our cruising will be limited to weekends and vacations for the foreseeable future. It is my dream to be able to transport Portager to premium cruising areas such as the Pacific Northwest (North America), the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California to be PC), selected inland lakes and rivers and eventually maybe the East Coast (US). By circumventing the long and arduous passages we can expand our cruising area and stay within our time constraints. My wife (AKA the Admirable) wants to accompany me of these treks, but only if the boat is very safe and extremely comfortable (our roughing it years are behind us). In addition, since I’m an avid SCUBA diver, we’ll be bringing along another couple so I have a dive buddy and the Admirable has a knitting buddy.

Based on the requirement of comfort and safety, I have selected a trawler type power boat intended for long range Ocean voyaging or a “Passagemaker” as defined by “Bebe” in “Voyaging Under Power”. We are not interested in light weight “go fast” boats that bob on the Ocean like a cork (I get plenty of that at work), and due to the requirement to be transportable, I have focused on monohulls.

Those who recall my posts from last year will recall that I was planning on a 36’ long, 10’ beam “Tug” type trawler, however as the requirements have evolved it has become painfully obvious that we want too much stuff for a 36 X 10 boat. The list of highly desirable equipment include; an air compressor for my SCUBA tanks (I can’t see traveling thousands of miles to get to remote dive sites and be limited to a couple of dives), a get-home drive, a head in the owners stateroom and to keep the Admirable happy, a combo washer/dryer, dishwasher and a spinning wheel, not to mention the two Great Pyrenees (big white dogs). (O, the hot water shower is on the mandatory list).

Now, a couple of months ago, I was asked to give a presentation at “Trawlerfest” in Poulsbo WA. on transportable trawlers. Since most Trawlerfest attendees are retired (or soon to be) live-aboard cruisers, they are interested in larger boats that they would be comfortable living in full time but which could be transported from their Winter to Summer cruising areas. Therefore, I set out to determine what the upper limits were for transporting a boat overland (in the US and Canada). It turns out that if you avoid certain two lane highways, you can transport up to 12’ wide boats in 49 of the states plus Canada (the limit in Maine is 11’ 11”) without requiring a pilot car, which is when the costs take a significant step function. If your want more detailed information, you can review this presentation on my web site at http://www.portager.info/Transportable_files/frame.htm .

All the way back from Poulsbo, I’m thinking why not increase the beam to 12’ (I don’t plan to trailer in Maine) and I’d have the room for all the stuff we want. So if you visit my web site www.portager.info you will see that the baseline design for Portager is a 48’ long, 12’ beam boat based on skinnier version of Michael Kasten’s Rhumb Runner design. Michael Kasten indicates that this should be feasible, provided we keep weight to a minimum, since we will be reducing displacement when we reduce the beam and we don’t want to have to increase the length. Therefore, I’ve been investigating ways to minimize weight without sacrificing performance or features, which will be the subject of my next post (I hope).

Regards;
Mike Schooley
Designing “Portager” a transportable trawler

 

Yay! He's back!

 

As far as 1st impressions go Mike, the Rhumb Runner looks to be a fine starting point for Portager. Interesting that you have chosen not to lose the extra inch to allow transport through Maine - as an Aussie, I gotta say that it's well up on my cruising destinations wish list.....
As a fellow diver, there's one change I would most certainly make. A cockpit, with transom door is, as far as I'm concerned, the only option for those who regularly like to clamber in and out of the water with 20 or 30 kgs of scuba gear. Similarly it greatly simplifies access to floating pontoons and tenders - particularly as I assume you are planning to use the boat well into your twilight years.... And if you've ever had to lift one of those pyrenees up a ladder onto a raised aft deck after they've been for their morning swim, you'll be thankful for the transom gate.... (I have two boating dalmations - so I know where your coming from here...)

 

Portager, Maine and Boarding

Thanks for the comments Will.

I figure I can cruise Maine without trailering through it.

On the subject of a transom door, I had the same concern, but Michael Kasten suggested a ramp, like a draw bridge on the stern. On a low speed boat like this and especially if your designing for long range passages where you might get caught in rough weather, you need to consider following waves and getting pooped. Stern gates have a way of inviting big waves aboard and slow draining, open cockpit tend to retain the water long enough to screw up your attitude for the next wave. Michael’s ramp, or gangway, seams to be a reasonable alternative and my mind has run with the idea. I could lower the tip of the gangway into the water for easy diver and dog entry and egress. For boarding the dinghy, the gangway could have fittings on the end to attach to the gunwales or bow of the dinghy allowing the Admirable and the Pyrenees easy embarking and disembarking. I could also attach the gangway to the transom and raise the stern out of the water for towing, or I could attach the dinghy crossways underneath the gangway, hoist it completely out of the water and stow it sideways for transit like a Weaver davit. For trailering I could rotate the gangway all the way forward until it contacts the deckhouse so the dinghy would be upside down over the stern of the boat. Finally, if the gangway were an open grate covered with Astroturf and extended horizontal, I could coax the Pyrenees to relieve themselves there where it would be easy to rinse clean. Would this make it a poop deck?

O, one more thing. Pyrenees, being mountain dogs by origin, don’t seam to like water. We can get them to go for a swim, even in extremely hottest weather, so I expect to be landing too many wet dogs.

If you look at the Interior Profile of the Rhumb Runner http://www.kastenmarine.com/rr48_int_prof.gif you’ll see that there is a seat for divers to sit on while gearing up and 3’ length by 12’ width of flat deck. I think this should be sufficient for two divers, assuming the Pyrenees stay out of the way.

Regards;
Mike Schooley

 

A number of european boats (which regularly moor stern to) use their pasarelles as cranes to lift tenders on and off the boarding platform (are you having a platform? Or do you envisage the 'ramp' doubling as both?). I built a lightweight ramp with a fender tied 2/3rds of the way along for the dogs to clamber in and out of the water ...it was reasonably succesful. The only possible problem I can see is to make the ramp long enough so that the angle your climbing up - complete with dive gear - isn't too steep.
The point you make about filling cockpits is a valid one - though in 36 years of cruising with my parents, we've not once come close to having a wave over the stern. Large scuppers seem to work well enough on the thousands of fishing boats that ply the worlds oceans - and they venture out in far worse weather than Im ever likely to encounter - I hope!

 

Thanks a lot for the thoughtful comments Will!

I’m not planning on a boarding platform or swim step. I don’t think I need one with the gangway and mounting the dinghy on the swim step is often too close to the waterline. I think it is better off on the backside of the gangway, it will be higher off the water.

I was thinking of having a hinge section with an overlap so it forms a cantilever when extended. For example, if the gangway is 5’ long the hinged section would be 4’ and the hinge would be 1’ from the end, so when it is extended it would be 8’ total. This should allow for a more tolerable slope. I am planning to use a surface like a sine wave or like stairs that have the corners rounded off. That way regardless of the slope, down to 45 degrees, there is a spot that is level. I have found gangways of this type easier to walk on.

I agree that getting pooped is rare. It usually doesn’t happen to planning hulls, they tend to surf out of the way, and coastal cruisers are usually smart enough to avoid those conditions. It is a however, problem on displacement Trawlers, especially on long voyages where they are more likely to get caught in rough weather.

I’m not saying that swim platforms and transom gates are really bad. I’m just saying that on a Passagemaker they aren’t very good and I think the gangway is a better idea.

Regards;
Mike Schooley