Economy
The wood-free exteriors of Great Harbours require minimal maintenance. You’ll have more fun while spending less.
You don't need millions to enjoy a great cruising life. Many of our owners are happily cruising full time, and most are of relatively modest means. Their Great Harbour Trawlers have proven to be economical to buy and even more economical to operate and maintain. Whether you’re a millionaire or not, we think you’ll appreciate our common sense approach to cruising.
Many new boats are so expensive to buy and maintain, it’s becoming impossible for people with average means to buy a new boat and go cruising. We’ve seen the prices of many popular brands of trawlers reach $1 million for a 44-footer that is nothing more than a rehash of a 35-year old design. Or about the same for a new 41-footer with so many complex systems that its owner will be in constant need of high-priced service technicians just to keep everything running.
And even if you can afford one of these gold-plated wonders, the cost of operating and maintaining it could easily keep you tied to the dock. Do you think it’s worth burning 20 or 30 gallons of fuel per hour just so you can reach “semi-displacement” speeds of 14 knots? Or do you want to pay a boat yard $40-$50 an hour to keep all that “yachty” exterior varnish looking perfect?
Many new boats are so expensive to buy and maintain, it’s becoming impossible for people with average means to buy a new boat and go cruising. We’ve seen the prices of many popular brands of trawlers reach $1 million for a 44-footer that is nothing more than a rehash of a 35-year old design. Or about the same for a new 41-footer with so many complex systems that its owner will be in constant need of high-priced service technicians just to keep everything running.
And even if you can afford one of these gold-plated wonders, the cost of operating and maintaining it could easily keep you tied to the dock. Do you think it’s worth burning 20 or 30 gallons of fuel per hour just so you can reach “semi-displacement” speeds of 14 knots? Or do you want to pay a boat yard $40-$50 an hour to keep all that “yachty” exterior varnish looking perfect?
A Great Harbour galley features a full-size household refrigerator, which is not only more convenient and enjoyable to use than a marine refrigeration unit, but also more energy efficient and less expensive to service.
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Great Harbour Trawlers are the sensible alternative to all this craziness. Because of our intelligent, practical designs, low overhead manufacturing facility, and policy of selling direct from our factory, the cost of our new trawlers is often comparable to buying a used boat. We have also resisted making our boats more complicated than they need to be. By keeping things relatively simple and straightforward, we can keep the costs down. A perfect example of this approach is the use of high quality home appliances in lieu of complex “marine” appliances. Most new cruising boats in our size range don’t have room for a full size household refrigerator, so they resort to complicated little marine units that cost a fortune and are a constant headache to keep running. |
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Another example of how our intelligent designs and “KISS” approach to boatbuilding pays off is our reliance on the inherent form stability of our hulls instead of complex and terribly costly stabilizer systems. What a costly shame that builders continue to build trawlers with sailboat type hulls that rock and roll even when sitting at the dock. Their only solution is to add expensive stabilizer systems that seem to have a habit of failing when they’re needed most – in rough seas!
The cost to “stabilize” a 40-footer can easily add $50,000 or more to the price of a new boat. If you wonder whether our hulls are stable enough for ocean passages, consider that our 37s have made crossings to Bermuda and Hawaii with no problem, and with their crews never having to worry about whether their stabilizers would keep working. |
The owner of this Great Harbour N47 heads out to sea confident that his boat’s inherently stable hull will give him a comfortable ride without having to rely on finicky, expensive stabilizer systems
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The Great Harbour 47 is powered by two small, efficient diesel engines which together burn less than 3 GPH at cruising speeds.
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Fuel prices may continue to rise and fall, but one thing is certain: The cost of diesel fuel will continue to be a big issue for cruisers. We’ll never see $.99 a gallon for fuel again, and nowadays we're paying nearly $5 a gallon. Boats that burn 20, 30 or more gallons an hour are just too expensive for most people to run. Even 10-gallons-an-hour seems like a waste to us. In contrast, our N37 burns a total of 2.2 gph when running at her cruising speed of 7.5 knots. That’s an incredible 3.4 nautical miles-per-gallon for a boat big enough for full-time liveaboards! Or, our GH37, which has the interior room of a Manhattan apartment, can cruise from Maine to Miami on a single tank of diesel fuel.
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