Cspray, the Fleming is a superb yacht(Im on a brand new 65 in maine right now) you cant go wrong with it or resale, just a painfully slow cruise speed. The Carver I would stay away from unless your staying on the rivers and lakes. The Maritimo, mixed reviews so far!

ZXXXdonzi, I hope you computed the fuel burn of you CC wrong. There is no way you burn 240 gals a hour at wot.

Don't forget Marlow and Grand Banks.

(I have the 400SS diesel already...)

You don't think a set of 1271 TI's can burn 80 gph while pushing an 80'000 lb boat at 18 knots? I have not put an exact pencil to it but that should be around 4 gal per mile. Not that I would ever run like that.

Sorry, I thought you meant gallon per minute not mile:lolhit: 60-70 gph per motor sound about right!.
Cspray, you have quite the decision to make with your boat choices!

No worried Capt. Given your resume, I figured it was a miscommunication. It will be many years before I get to do the whole loop. Yes, 60 - 70 is about right. The boat has to be light and clean to make 18 knots. Old lit says 22 max. I am not sure how viable that is. Maybe stripped down and running on fumes.

Sounds like a fun boat zxxx donzi!!!

Yes - Sort of a good news/bad news situation. The Fleming is the Rolls-Royce of trawlers, but the lack of speed and the sacrifice of salon space for the pilothouse go against my preferences. We plan to allow enough time that we can pick and choose when we run versus when we sit, so a pilothouse is not that important to me. More and more flybridges are enclosed these days, anyway. That's what I like about the little bit that I've seen of the Maritimo.

The other area of design that's moving forward very quickly is power cats. To this point, I have not seen an interior layout that didn't feel a bit broken up or cramped except for one, and the quality of the construction on that boat left more than a little to be desired. Cruising cats exhibit great speed, economy and stability.

Volvo IPS drives are almost a requirement from my point of view as well. They really open up the interior of the boat.

Interesting times - Glad that I have a few years to decide!

I have done most but not all of the Great Loop in sections with a variety of performance boats over the years. Since I do not have the patience for locks, I trailered from Lake Ontario to Troy on the Hudson so I'm missing that section and the only other missing piece is from Chicago to the intersection of the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers. Other than that, have covered most of the "Loop". Cruising guides are very helpful in the planning ......as long as they are not outdated !
Never stayed on the boat and always made a point of arriving in a port with facilities by late afternoon or nightfall latest and getting a room. All day on the boat is enough, then I need a really good bed to be in shape to do it all over again the next day!! LOL

Bob

Laugh but, I thought about doing a leg from Buffalo, NY to NYC in or 21 Apache Scout.... :) Yes, I am still young.. We have a little overnight spot under the deck and a hearty appetite for liquor to help sleep easy on the boat.. If I had my choice, I think I would go with a 30 Mystic Cigarette with twin 496's. Great cruising speed, reliability, and a good size traveling thought the locks..
Jr.