Ragged island overnight

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Taz

That's a great choice to do the kind of boating you are planning. You have some great plans. I wish you all best in your future boating. My wife loves the Nordic tug style. I like trawler style but will probably never be able to afford one of those. I know there are a lot of used but the kind of boat I would like used is still $200 - $300k. Down east lobster style like a Back Cove are also very nice.

Nordic Tugs and Back Cove boats are quite different in purpose and function IMO. Back Cove boats are not really designed as a live aboard, and are really high-end cruisers meant for long weekend vacations at speed. They are what I would consider an alternative to a sedan sport fisherman, for someone that is not all that into fishing, but wants speed, quality and clean style. They are beautiful boats, but they trade a lot of function for form and are not as practical as a boat designed to be a full time home. You almost never hear of anyone doing a loop on a boat like a Back Cove and generally see them parked in front of waterfront mansions. Nordic Tugs are designed with far more amenities and safety features that make sense for live-aboards and they are great coastal cruisers. They typically have a much more cluttered look than a Back Cove, but that "clutter" makes daily life on a boat MUCH easier than on a boat where clean lines are a priority.


Nordic Tugs started making boats the same year Tollycraft went out of business. They are simply newer, thus the higher price they command on the used market.

My Tollycraft is kind of a hybrid. It is definitely designed to be a live aboard boat, but has the performance to hit 25 knots if desired. Style-wise, it's really bland, and very cluttered, but I did not buy it for style...

[Taz]

Originally Posted by Dave R

Nordic Tugs and Back Cove boats are quite different in purpose and function IMO. Back Cove boats are not really designed as a live aboard, and are really high-end cruisers meant for long weekend vacations at speed. They are what I would consider an alternative to a sedan sport fisherman, for someone that is not all that into fishing, but wants speed, quality and clean style. They are beautiful boats, but they trade a lot of function for form and are not as practical as a boat designed to be a full time home. You almost never hear of anyone doing a loop on a boat like a Back Cove and generally see them parked in front of waterfront mansions. Nordic Tugs are designed with far more amenities and safety features that make sense for live-aboards and they are great coastal cruisers. They typically have a much more cluttered look than a Back Cove, but that "clutter" makes daily life on a boat MUCH easier than on a boat where clean lines are a priority.

Nordic Tugs started making boats the same year Tollycraft went out of business. They are simply newer, thus the higher price they command on the used market.

My Tollycraft is kind of a hybrid. It is definitely designed to be a live aboard boat, but has the performance to hit 25 knots if desired. Style-wise, it's really bland, and very cluttered, but I did not buy it for style...

Thats a great looking boat! I love the lines. So that's a semi-displacement? Will that sedan bridge profile make higher wind days more difficult to handle? Yes, the Nordic Tug, Nordhavn, etc are more for full time liveaboard where as the lobster style, Back Cove, Sabre are beautiful boats but would be more for a few days at a time instead of full time but I love the lines to that style.

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Taz

Thats a great looking boat! I love the lines. So that's a semi-displacement? Will that sedan bridge profile make higher wind days more difficult to handle? Yes, the Nordic Tug, Nordhavn, etc are more for full time liveaboard where as the lobster style, Back Cove, Sabre are beautiful boats but would be more for a few days at a time instead of full time but I love the lines to that style.

Thanks, we like the lines too, but it's not for everybody. I overheard someone talking about it being "too "oceany"" once, while it was being compared to a more sleek design (that looked like giant basketball shoe to me) we were docked next too. Made me smile... The boat is remarkably easy to handle at low speeds around the docks, even when there's a lot of wind. It has 26x26 props and 2:1 transmissions, so even at 650 RPM idle, it responds instantly when I put it in gear and those big props start turning at 325 RPM. It does not have thrusters and IMO does not need them. My slip neighbors have a 2003 Carver 410 Sport Sedan that I have operated quite a bit and it's really a handful around the docks when there's any wind, despite having bow and stern thrusters. I'm not sure what Tollycraft did to make it so easy to handle, but I appreciate it.

For a 44 foot boat, it really is not all that tall. If I take the radar, mast light, and antennas down, we can fit under a 14' 9" bridge, which was really handy on the Erie Canal where 15' bridges are common on the west half. Yes it was tight and worrisome every time...

I think it's classified as a planing hull, more like a Back Cove than not, in that regard. It gets on plane cleanly (and with surprising quickness) and effortlessly cruises at 20 knots (23 MPH), which is way above semi-displacement speed for a 44 foot boat. That said, I only run it like that for a little while on every outing just to get some heat in the engines, per the recommendation in the CAT owner's manual. 90+% of the time I run at 8.5 to 10 knots (10 to 12 MPH) and get 3 to 4 times the MPG that I get on-plane. I want the engines to last a long time and 4 figure fill ups get old...

[radiocontester]

Originally Posted by Dave R

Thanks, we like the lines too, but it's not for everybody. I overheard someone talking about it being "too "oceany"" once, while it was being compared to a more sleek design (that looked like giant basketball shoe to me) we were docked next too. Made me smile... The boat is remarkably easy to handle at low speeds around the docks, even when there's a lot of wind. It has 26x26 props and 2:1 transmissions, so even at 650 RPM idle, it responds instantly when I put it in gear and those big props start turning at 325 RPM. It does not have thrusters and IMO does not need them. My slip neighbors have a 2003 Carver 410 Sport Sedan that I have operated quite a bit and it's really a handful around the docks when there's any wind, despite having bow and stern thrusters. I'm not sure what Tollycraft did to make it so easy to handle, but I appreciate it.

For a 44 foot boat, it really is not all that tall. If I take the radar, mast light, and antennas down, we can fit under a 14' 9" bridge, which was really handy on the Erie Canal where 15' bridges are common on the west half. Yes it was tight and worrisome every time...

I think it's classified as a planing hull, more like a Back Cove than not, in that regard. It gets on plane cleanly (and with surprising quickness) and effortlessly cruises at 20 knots (23 MPH), which is way above semi-displacement speed for a 44 foot boat. That said, I only run it like that for a little while on every outing just to get some heat in the engines, per the recommendation in the CAT owner's manual. 90+% of the time I run at 8.5 to 10 knots (10 to 12 MPH) and get 3 to 4 times the MPG that I get on-plane. I want the engines to last a long time and 4 figure fill ups get old...

Beautiful Tolly Craft Dave. Are you following Searching for Sea Shells on Youtube? They have the same boat and cruise from Canada to the Bahamas.

"(that looked like giant basketball shoe to me)".....it's the express cruiser design which I happen to prefer, and have (Formula 37PC).....no offense taken

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by radiocontester

Beautiful Tolly Craft Dave. Are you following Searching for Sea Shells on Youtube? They have the same boat and cruise from Canada to the Bahamas.

"(that looked like giant basketball shoe to me)".....it's the express cruiser design which I happen to prefer, and have (Formula 37PC).....no offense taken

I have been following Searching for C-Shels for a long time, but I must say that we picked the Tollycraft 44/45 as our next boat before we knew about C-Shels. Sheldon and I communicate frequently and he was a tremendous help when we were boat shopping. We plan to get together with them eventually. They stopped taking the boat to Canada two years ago and simply park it on the hard in Florida all Summer now.