The newly reconfigured 40-foot Willard pilothouse could be a temptation, but
there are only two of those in existence. And there is a small problem with the
associated price tag. Wowzers- at least for me.

Besides, if anything goes wrong with one of these new diesels, it's much harder
to diagnose or repair. My old Perkins is easy to understand. I can look at
every part and piece on the exterior of that engine and know what it is, how it
works, and how to take care of it. It will even run with a stone dead battery-
like to see a new Cummins duplicate that. :-)

Hi Chuck,
I've been looking at the older 30ft Willards w/o the flybridge. They
look like a solid basic cruiser. What's your opinion on them?
Mark (Gimpy Wannabe) Williams

Hi Chuck,
I've been looking at the older 30ft Willards w/o the flybridge. They
look like a solid basic cruiser. What's your opinion on them?
Mark (Gimpy Wannabe) Williams

Willard builds one heck of a boat.
They build a lot of motor lifeboats for the armed forces. As a result, much of
what they build for pleasure boating is put together to mil specs.

Their hulls are laid up in a continuous shift, "wet" process.

Willards are exclusively or almost exclusively full displacement hulls, rather
than the semi-displacement design that most similar size vessels would employ.
There is no finer sea boat than a well found displacement hull when things get
seriously snotty, and I always say you pick a boat for the *worst* (not the
average) conditions you will encounter.

The downside to a displacement hull is that it is "busier" in a calm to
moderate sea than a semi-displacement hull.
We spent one night at Friday Harbor last week, and the WA State ferry is, for
some reason, really hot-footing it into the adjoining ferry dock these days. We
were berthed next to a Krogen, 4 feet longer and quite a bit heavier than our
boat. The full displacement Krogen rocked violently in the broadside ferry
wake, while immediately next door our semi-displacement hull stayed relatively
level as it just rode up and over the swell.

However, if I were halfway across the Strait of Georgia and it started blowing
40-knots I'd much rather be aboard that Krogen.

A lot of the full displacement boats use outriggers and stabilizers. WESMAR
makes some very good electronically controlled active fin stabilizers, and some
other companies might as well. I think that
I'd reserve a few bucks in the budget to add stabilizers after a season or so
if we didn't acclimate comfortably to the busier ride.

But at last check, that 40-foot Willard pilothouse is about 1/2 a million
bucks.
Assuming for a moment that we had the option to rearrange priorities enough to
invest (no, make that spend) that much money for a boat I'm not sure I'd want
to.

Boating fun does *not* increase proportionately to the amount spent for a boat-
once one gets to the point where a safe and functional boat is attainable.

Example: Is the family in the $100k boat having 5 times as much fun as the
family in in a $20k boat? Of course not. Is the family in the $2mm boat having
20 times as much fun as the family in the $100k boat? No, again. Sometimes, the
great big boats are *less* fun than just a knock-around 30-40 foot family
cruiser that is easily operated by a couple.

If you want a slow, economically operated, seaworthy boat, a Willard would
certainly be among your options.

Example: Is the family in the $100k boat having 5 times as much fun as the
family in in a $20k boat? Of course not. Is the family in the $2mm boat having
20 times as much fun as the family in the $100k boat? No, again. Sometimes, the
great big boats are *less* fun than just a knock-around 30-40 foot family
cruiser that is easily operated by a couple.

If you want a slow, economically operated, seaworthy boat, a Willard would
certainly be among your options.




The older Willard 30s are going for $30 - $40 thousand. Much less
than your $150,000 new 40 footer.
Mark

The older Willard 30s are going for $30 - $40 thousand. Much less
than your $150,000 new 40 footer.
Mark

Know where I can get a new 40-footer for $150k? :-)

On 23 Sep 2003 16:41:58 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:

The older Willard 30s are going for $30 - $40 thousand. Much less
than your $150,000 new 40 footer.
Mark

Know where I can get a new 40-footer for $150k? :-)


Lol, I see what you mean. TYPO!!!
Mark Williams