converting a sail boat to a open fishing boat?

[Sallyfstone]

Hi Everyone. This is going to sound very strange but here it goes.
I have a CD 22 that I love. But Id also like to have a small fishing
boat that I could also do some lobstering in. All of the small fishing
boats (17-20 ft) seem to require such gigantic motors. So I had
the wild idea of taking the mast off of a Typhoon or a Pearson
ensign, and using it with a 9.9 motor for just poking around the
bay fishing, etc. Both would have the open cockpit that I am
looking for but would operate with a small motor.

Does anyone know if that would work? or would the mast being gone completely mess up the balance. Im not looking for speed.
My 22 under motor runs quite fast enough for me.

If anyone has any thoughts, Id love to hear them. Thanks

[Tom]

I don't know much about fishing, but I would think what you want in a fishing boat is a stable platform that doesn't roll much, a cabin where you can get out of the wind, and a hull that will go faster than hull speed. Fishing boats have big motors so that they can put a big load in them and then go quicly back and unload and get out to the fishing grounds again. When a boat is empty it doesn't need much power to drive it, but when you have a huge load in the cockpit you need some power to drive it and you don't want a boat with fine ends that will squat when it's loaded at one end, and you want a boat with a flat or vee bottom that will get up and plane or make an attempt to. That requires some engine muscle when you're loaded. I picture a Ty with a load of fish in the cockpit with it's nose in the air, it's stern buried and asking to be pooped because it won't rise to the waves like the graceful bird she is when empty. And with a 9 hp outboard and a big load of fish she won't be scooting along at hull speed any longer, she'll be a wallowing pig hard to handle with her scuppers buried and her rail under. The weight in the cockpit will overcome the weight in the keel and your center of gravity will be high and tend to make her roll. If what you don't like is big motors on fishing boats you can always just put a small motor on a fishing boat and go slow and not have th power to push into a sea with a big load.

Now if you're talking about just catching a few fish for dinner and not fishing seriously that's a different story. You don't need to remove the mast for that. Just drop the sails when you want to fish and run them up when you're done. Generally boat designs have evolved over hundreds of years to fit the use they're being used for. Fishing boats are designed the way they are because they work best in that configuration. If some other design would work just as well or better, or you could get by with a smaller engine, fishermen would have figured that out a hundred years ago and you'd see other designs out there fishing. It's probably not just a coincidence that fishing boats have big motors and flat bottoms and sail boats have small motors, big keels, and fine entry, it represents a thousand years of fine tuning.

You asked for opinions so mine would be to keep your sailboat for when you want to sail and get a boat designed for fishing for when you want to fish. If you can only afford one you have to decide what you want to do the most. Trying to convert one into the other just means you'd have a boat that wouldn't sail and also wouldn't fish worth a damn. And not have enough power to push into waves with a full load of fish The worst of both worlds. JMHO

[Sallyfstone]

Tom:

Thank you for such a thoughtful reply. You are most certainly right.
I just want to catch a few fish and I have a 10 trap lobster
license. My 22 won't work with the traps. So I guess I need to
look for a fishing boat that is safe but that also requires the
least power. And keep my 22 , of course , for sailing. Thanks again[/list][/list]

[Kurt]

Years ago I motored an Alberg Sea Sprite from one marina to another with the mast down. It was a windy day with quite a chop on the lake. It rolled A LOT more than it would have with the mast up...I would not recommend using an Alberg designed sailboat for anything other than the purpose for which it was intended.

[Didereaux]

If, and I really mean if, I were in your situation i.e. wanted to lobster or crab and couldn't for some reason get another boat I would try this.

Build a small 'false' poop deck on/over motor well, large enough for your ten traps. This solves that problem. Now the 'live' well for the catch is more problematic, I doubt you want a dozen or so ticked off lobsters running amock in the cockpit...but then again, with the claws banded, what the hey? Right? heh

Rig a snapshackle at the end of the boom and a small winch with its line running thru that shackle. Swing the boom out over the trap and buoy, connect up and voila'.

Kinda sorta a wildly modified version of the old skipjack fishermen of a century or so ago.
g'Luk and remember sometimes offbeat can be fun....other times merely expensive and or wet. heheh

[Parfait's Provider]

How about a 1979 Grady White 204C walk-around with a circa 1995 135 HP Yamaha and a circa 2002 Suzuki 15 HP for when you want to go slow? Comes with a trailer too. The small engine needs a bracket, but it could be linked to the 150 for steering.

If you are looking for a project, maybe this is an easy one to get what you need for those cold lobster waters. The big engine will go slow at about 2 gal per hour and fast (35) at about 15 gal per hour. The Suzuki is stingy, but I don't have the specs handy. Both engines and the trailer are essentially new with very low hours. If you are interested, please email.

[Steve Laume]

My son likes to troll while we are sailing and has caught a few fish. The biggest problem is trying to stand and stay in the boat while you are fighting the fish. Most fishing boats have deep sides to stand against while fishing. The Typoon would like to send you in after the fish as you try to stand and reel while the boat rolls and the fish tries to run around the rigging. There have got to be some very cheap aluminium boats around that you just don't have to worry about and could drive with a fairly small motor. Catch a mess of em, Steve.

[mark]

I suggest you get a copy of "American Small Sailing Craft" by Howard Chapelle. Many of the small sail boats he describes were work/fishing boats. He discusses design/performance characteristics of these boats. It'll give you lots of good information.

[robert brown]

A small rowboat with a small engine or a set of oars is all you really need to pull 10 traps once or twice a week. I know an old guy who goes off the beach almost everyday and checks his traps, close to shore, with a row boat and no engine. a 13 foot whaler with a 15-35 would do all of what your looking for as well.

I too have thought about trolling for dinner during a sail. my worry is you catch it and where do you gut it?? in the cockpit ? a bit messy, you could ice it and gut it at the dock, but ideally the fish gets gutted on the water and iced right away.

Setting up my new spinnaker today, I saw a good size striper right off the bow..a free dinner after a sail sounds like a good day

have fun

[John from Oswego]

Hi,

A good example of this would be a Grand Banks Dory. Brave men would leave the mother ship each morning and go jigging for cod all day and hope that the fog would lift enough to get them back as night set in.

No motors, no radar, no Garmins or electronics of any type. The only means of propulsion was a ratty sail held up by a wooden pole and a pair of variable speed oars and Swedish steam.

Their biggest concerns was that they wouldn't rip their oilskins and that their pipe tobacco would stay dry. Their best friends were a compass, a fog bell and a good set of lungs for calling out for direction. The peasoup fog is very deceiving.

The GB Dory is a venerable design, refined through the ages to suit the job at hand. Now, if anyone asks what the hull speed is, he's going to get a codfish over the noggin.

O J

[Al Levesque]

I have done more fishing from sailboats than from any other way. Perhaps the CD25 was the greatest fisherman of our three different CDs. I have trolled countless hours while sailing, usually for bluefish or mackerel. I have spent many hours at anchor or just drifting while jigging for cod. Our son's most memorable catch was a tuna caught while trolling on the way home from a week's cruise.

We keep an old rubbermaid dish pan with an old cutting board so that we can clean the fish. One disadvantage of the larger fish when on a cruise is that one can't consume the entire fish before it spoils.

You might consider a cat boat as an alternate but I found that I could easily fight bluefish under mainsail alone while steering into the wind with the tiller between my legs. Great fun. Another technique is to immediately sheet the main in tight and let the tiller go.

[Neil Gordon]

Now the 'live' well for the catch is more problematic, I doubt you want a dozen or so ticked off lobsters running amock in the cockpit...

With the claws banded so they don't eat each other, lobsters keep very nicely in a towable wooden crate.

[Marianna Max]

With the claws banded so they don't eat each other, lobsters keep very nicely in a towable wooden crate.

Or a dinghy, rescue and lunch all on the same tow line!