Most experienced (older) sailors like a stable sailboat that's easy to own and looks traditional. When I say easy to own, I mean inexpensive to buy. When its time to move to a trawler after having owned a sailboat for years, most sailors will miss their old boat's handling characteristics. Most powerboats are built to go fast and don't feel the same as a sailboat. I can't think of any inexpensive trawler built today with a keel and ballast that can be transported on a trailer. A recycled sailboat may be a sailor's solution to owning a small trawler.

Chapter 1 We started off with the fiberglass components of a Sun Cat sailboat and a computer drawing of what we wanted in a trailerable trawler. Our progress towards getting it built and opertional has been slow. Our normal work schedule keeps getting in the way. We are going to remove the words and pictures showing the building process to this point. We need to save some space on our Web site and it was lots of stuff. Our article will continue from where we are now until we finish the project. The first picture is a computer drawing of our first design and the second picture is where we are now.

Chapter 2 Most of the major construction items are completed. The rudder and the rear hatch are still being built, but that's about all that has to be done on the outside. The hatch is going to have a Com-Pac 27 seat hatch cover. It's large and I can go through the hole. The fuel tank, steering and other components are in the stern and will need attention from time to time. The fuel tank can be removed through that hatch. I was sitting back there the other day and it felt like I was in the rumble seat of a Model A. The boat is going to have a tiller in the cockpit and a wheel in the cabin. A tiller head and a tiller arm will be positioned on the rudder shaft. The rudder shaft is going to be 1-inch stainless steel and the rudder blade will be 1/4-inch stainless steel plate. A trailing rudder will follow the boat and prevent rudder wander. I'm not a fan of over center rudders on small boats. The trailer for the trawler is on the yard and the first pictures of the boat in the water should be available soon.

New Trawler I'm going to change the subject a little bit. We started a new trawler project on a 1977 Com-Pac 16. These boats were built like tanks back in those good old days and this boat is a good example. The hull is extra heavy and well made. This boat has been a dry boat and the inside is excellent. It had the standard deck core problems associated with those early years, but we will be replacing the bad part with the a new house. The boat will have a 5HP Honda as power with a vented fuel compartment. The motor will have remote controls mounted inside the cabin on a console with a wood wheel. We are currently using a textured paint on the inside with excellent results. The bunks will be covered with a textured material like the material used on the new Legacy. The inside will have lots of teak trim with and an off white background. It's going to be a pretty boat. The boat is going to have 2 bunks, a place for a toilet, the looks of a trawler and will go under a 7 foot garage door. A really "compact" package.

We finished with the interior paint on the 16 and we have fabricated the teak floor for the forward self. The house has been cut from 1/2-inch "COOSA" and glassed on 1 side. We will put glass on the both sides before it’s installed. The deck is currently upside down after painting the interior. The plan is put 3 coats of primer on all the exterior surfaces. The deck and house will be a light cream color to compliment a dark green hull. I voted for a red hull, but I didn't have the votes when everyone else wanted a green hull. We have the windows for the house, the motor mount and the trailer is in stock. The Coastal Packet (Com-Pac Sun Cat) is on its new trailer and just about ready for a float test. I plan on using 50 pounds of lead in the cabin to simulate the windows that I haven't installed and another 25 pounds of will take the place of diesel fuel that's also not in the boat. We almost made it to the water last week, but it turned cold and blew a gale. They forecast warm weather for this coming week.

A mockup of the 16 console has been completed. It will house the wheel, controls and a few other odds and ends. The inside of hull has been refurbished and looks good. The boat will have sleeping for two, storage and a head. That's a bunch of stuff for a 16-foot boat. A hatch on the house, bow pulpit and ladder will be available options. We are going to put the deck back on the hull and we plan on cutting the deck next. The house will be temporarily put in place to mark the cut lines for the deck. When the deck has been cut, we will glass the house panels in place. We are currently building a mold for the top of the house. This one feature alone gives this boat's it unique character. Some people call it cute.

We had a nice day and it was time to put our Coastal Packet 20 in the water for a balance test. That test needed to be completed before we made some of our final design decisions. We started off with 45 pounds of lead in the stern to simulate fuel weight. The plan was to take extra lead and make fine balance adjustments when the boat was in the water. That didn't happen because we ran out of time and the parking lot was some distance from the ramp. It would have been too far to carry lead. You can see from the pictures that the bow needs to come down about 4 inches. The cabin was empty in the test and we plan on adding bunks, a battery and a bulkhead as far forward as possible. The steering console and seats will add additional weight forward, but not as far as those other components. We are happy with the results so far and plan on doing some fancy inside work without the worry of too much weight forward.

We have cut the deck and installed the house on our current Com-Pac 16 Trawler. This boat will be similar to our first trawler 16, but it will have some additional features (bunks and a head). We also hope to reduce the cost of construction and make a better boat with better materials. The boat on the trailer will still go through a 7-foot garage door and will have the good looks of the original boat. We think this boat is going to have a blue hull with a cream colored top. With a new trailer and engine controls, it should sell for about $12K

We mounted our original plug top on our new 16 trawler and it fits. You can see from the pictures that this new boat will have a different look than the original prototype. The house is more aft on the hull and has a different interior design. The first boat didn't have bunks. I think this boat will have 1 small round port forward on the lower part of the cabin. The fun part of putting it together is about finished and the hard work of doing the finish work has started. All the joints have to be filled and rounded and the boat has to be painted. The boat will have several coats of primer and a fine finish coat of Awlcraft Marine paint. A long bow pulpit from the Com-Pac Legacy will be part of our standard equipment and is going to look good on this boat.