6 Pocket Cruisers Ready for the Open Road
Outboard-powered trailerable cruisers give owners the freedom to pick up and go from coast to coast.
Demand for trailerable boats has caught fire over the last decade, and boatbuilders have answered the call with a wide variety of solutions. Though designed with a common objective, the solutions vary greatly in how they address the needs of a portable market. Conceived to take a cruising couple on waterborne adventures, these trailerable boats are a natural fit in the world of trawlers, but in a different fashion. Traveling is at the core, but the question is how far, how fast, and how long. Here are six capable cruisers you can strap down and take with you this summer.
When I first wrote about this boat in 2012, the Acadia 25 was only offered as a diesel. But I was taken with her simplicity and rugged Downeast styling. Atlas Boat Works owner Tom Gamso and his family have been building boats on the west coast of Florida since 1987, and the Acadia 25 has been one of their most popular models, with more than 120 hulls built to date. Prompted by the increasing popularity of four-stroke outboards, the company introduced its first outboard model less than a year ago.
“The more stringent emission regulations on diesels have also substantially increased the cost of small diesel engines,” Gamso says.
He has only built two Acadia 25 outboards thus far, and one of them was nearby on Siesta Key: Liberty, owned by Mark and Jackie Barry. Lit by the morning sun, she gleamed in her lift behind their home. Her hull was painted with Awlgrip “Boston Whaler Blue,” picked by Jackie.
“One nice thing about working with Acadia is that any color is standard,” Mark said. Another benefit was that the builder was located within an hour drive of their house. “It was so convenient to stop by on a regular basis to see our new boat under construction.”
Avid boaters all of their lives in New York, the Barrys’ last boat was a 46-foot cruiser. Now in Florida, they were interested in more simplified cruising from Tampa to Key West. With a plethora of marinas, restaurants, and attractions to visit by boat, their primary needs were simplicity, ease of service and airflow.
The Acadia 25 is made with open sides in the cockpit area, which are covered with a canvas awning over the aft deck stretched over a custom stainless steel frame. Between her color, her simplicity, her 26-inch draft, and her size, she’s their perfect boat for the west coast of Florida. With a 200-horsepower Suzuki four-stroke, she is capable of almost 30 knots, and her semi-displacement hull lets her cruise comfortably over a wide range of speeds. Mark finds 18 knots at 3800 rpm to be her sweet spot for fast cruising, and her most economical speed is 7 knots at 1600 rpm. While the Barrys have no plans for longer trips right now, they’re considering other great places they might like to cruise—using a trailer and expressway to get there.
Prompted by the increasing popularity of fourstroke outboards, [Atlas Boat Works] introduced its first outboard model less than a year ago.
The four-lane Route 19 along Florida’s west coast passes through Crystal River, where I met Three Rivers Marine Owner Mike Shotwell, a C-Dory dealer, to see the new C-Dory 25.
With a combination of low freeboard, a discreet cabin, and molded lapstrake hull detail, the C-Dory 25 ranks among the most attractive trailerable trawlers out there. Though built in Bellingham, Washington, she’d look just as natural cruising the fjords of Norway.
In contrast to the exterior, the textured white gel coat interior finish is rather plain in appearance, but it’s practical and easy to keep clean. Exposed wiring runs and soft flexible covers over much of the onboard equipment suggest a simple approach that should appeal to anyone who appreciate access over aesthetics.
The interior has a fully enclosed head and shower in the main cabin. Because the head has large windows fore and aft to provide visibility from the helm station, it does not feel intrusive. To maximize headroom in the main cabin, the carpeted cabin sole is literally the top surface of the hull structure, which somewhat compromises the acoustics when running.
The forward cabin is enclosed by a sliding curtain, which can be a bit tricky to negotiate at first, owing to the low headroom of the opening. A diesel stove in the galley doubles as a cabin heater, which will be appreciated in colder cruising climes, and its separate fuel tank is easy to access for refills. The 200-horsepower Suzuki lives in a well, which makes for a smallish aft deck.
We eased the C-Dory 25 off the dock and cruised quietly down the no-wake canals, a haven for manatees in the area. In open water, the C-Dory 25 accelerated quickly from displacement mode to full plane. Going to windward through a stiff chop, the interior decibel readings were in the 80 dbA range. (C-Dory has recently introduced its new Venture Series with a deeper V hull and an isolated floor that I suspect will run quieter.) My GPS readings verified speeds from 4.5 knots at 1000 rpm up to 22 knots at 4000 rpm. The C-Dory website has full test data for a C-Dory 25 equipped with a smaller (150-horsepower) motor and claims impressive economy over a wide range of speeds, with an average of about 3.5 miles per gallon.
The C-Dory 25 ranks among the most attractive trailerable trawlers out there. Though built in Washington, she’d look just as natural cruising the fjords of Norway.