The Banjer 37 is built like a tank! Friends on "Will of the Wisp" gave us a tour. 6 cylinder engine & 32" prop, lots of structural steel in the hull structure. Downside: No aft cabin.. Lee Haefele > > "Motor-sailor" used to illicit bad connotations when I used to hear it, > now that I own a 1976 Fisher pilothouse, the word means comfort, warmth, > protection, living room with windows, etc etc... > > I originally wanted a pilothouse, but couldn't really afford the ones I > wanted, so I settled on a Baba-30 as my first boat. I could have done a > lot worse, the Bob Perry designed Baba is one of the best pocket cruisers > out there! The craftmenship, amount of storage, and overall layout is > second to none. But after living aboard for 7 years in the Pacific > Northwest, "pilothouse lust" finally got the best of me and I upsized to a > Fisher 37. I figured I was making a big compromise on sailing > performance, but this has turned out to not be true. I'm completely > happy with the way the Fisher sails with the ketch rig and find it > comparable to the Baba-30. My Fisher does have a stainless steel bowsprit > which was not original in 1976 but was later a factory designed item, and > getting the jib a few feet forward from the bow helps sailing performance > IMHO. The fact that the previous owner of my boat travelled over 47,000 > miles, most of it under sail, tells me that the Fisher is more than > capable of making passages as long as you're not looking to go racing. > Offshore, the big windows of a pilothouse do pose a risk, but I have 1/4" > lexan shields that can be placed over all glass. (Sometimes buying a > cruising boat with all the systems already included and figured out can be > really nice!) > > I also find myself sailing from the exterior cockpit using the tiller when > I want the "wind in my face" experience... but having the option to get > in out of the rain, wind, and sun is something I love now. I also feel > that having a pilothouse from which to operate the boat from which also > contains all my instruments, radar, chart table, laptop, gps etc etc... > allows me a better environment to focus on navigation and keeping an eye > on gauges and such. The trade off is that I might be a little less in > tune with what the rig is doing outside, but with a huge sunroof and > opening windows on all sides, I can still pay close attention to sail trim > and how the boat is doing... The Fisher also has a blindspot directly > in front of the bow, but you learn to do a zig zag once in a while and can > keep an eye out for crabpots and the like. > > I seriously looked at two Tayana 37 pilothouses, but didn't feel like > there was enough room and enough visibility in their wheel houses. I've > heard good things about Banjers, but did not actually look at any in > person. > > Good luck on your search! > > Ken Pearce > Bellingham, WA > s/v Gryphon, '76 Fisher PH_______________________________________________ > Liveaboard mailing list > [email protected] > To adjust your membership settings over the web > http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard > To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ > > To search the archives > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > The Mailman Users Guide can be found here > http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
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