toying with a Fisher

[Adrianwool]

Hello.
Toying with the prospect of going from power to the 'half way house' of perhaps a Fisher motor sailer. Always been a power man upto now and would appreciate how difficult (& strenuous) making the transition would be. Am considering a 37' Fisher with a 90 hp engine, have heard Fishers are excellent seaworthy boats, any comments and advice appreciated.

 

[LittleShip]

Hello.
Toying with the prospect of going from power to the 'half way house' of perhaps a Fisher motor sailer. Always been a power man upto now and would appreciate how difficult (& strenuous) making the transition would be. Am considering a 37' Fisher with a 90 hp engine, have heard Fishers are excellent seaworthy boats, any comments and advice appreciated.

I have a friend who owns a Fisher 37, great boat for long distance cruising, not fast and takes some effort to set the sails. It's niether a sail boat or a cruiser but handles both reasonably well. There is lots of space on board and it gives a comfortable ride.

I personally like the fact that it has the open view with large windows at the helm and the secluded lower cabin.

For me and it's personal, I find moving around the rear deck, getting up and down to go forward most difficult and would suggest that you need to try this before you buy.

Alas, If I was going back to sail I think I would be very tempted by a Fisher especially the 47' and power winches

Tom

 

[machurley22]

The 37 is a great party boat. I remember (actually that's a big fat lie) disgracing myself aboard one a few years ago.

 

[sarabande]

Used to have the Colvic Watson version. Utterly re-assuring in all weathers. Forget the sails till F3. A bit rolly at rest. Fishers have excellent standard of fit out. Cubic meters of space everywhere, and room to swing several cats below. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, beats sailing along in a shirt, watching keen saily types wearing oilies

Dream Boat. If you need a hand moving her.....

 

[Bosun Higgs]

Hello.
Toying with the prospect of going from power to the 'half way house' of perhaps a Fisher motor sailer. Always been a power man upto now and would appreciate how difficult (& strenuous) making the transition would be. Am considering a 37' Fisher with a 90 hp engine, have heard Fishers are excellent seaworthy boats, any comments and advice appreciated.

The above posts give some of the plusses. I would add that they are very solid very heavy sturdy boats built by a good manufacturer.

However you would be swapping a mobo for a displacement mobo in reality. By mobo standards the inside will be smallish and gloomy. The boat will heel and roll, particularly downwind. It will sail downwind but dont kid yourself that you will get anywhere fast in the other direction. Now none of this may matter to you, but if you are coming from a modern mobo I would think you are likely to be frustrated. Try one and see. But also try a good modern sailing boat.

Trouble with half way houses is that they seldom do either requirement well.

Making the trasition? Its easy - far easier than you would imagine. Learning to sail is not difficult - a weeks course in somewhere sheltered like the solent would get you well on the way. The biggest change will be to mental attitude depending on what sort of mobo you drive. If you are into power and fast boats then you will have to adjust your tempo to journeys taking much longer and tides being much more important. In the end, sailing is about the journey and the sailing skills. It isnt about the destination.

 

[Tom Price]

"Toying with the prospect of going from power to the 'half way house' of perhaps a Fisher motor sailer. Always been a power man upto now and would appreciate how difficult (& strenuous) making the transition would be. "

So what's wrong with the Nimbus then?
Many of us dream of owning one!

 

[[2574]]

we saw this one motoring.....

.....in to a decent breeze this summer. (See attached).

We went from 30kt Fairline Targa to 6kt Nauticat and yes, there is a readjustment to go through but we certainly wouldn't go back to motor. The Nauticat shares many qualities and similarities with the Fisher but is more of a sailing yacht. We had a look at a Northshore (Vancouver Pilot house) when we were looking but preferred the layout of the Nauticat. Similar £££'s; you pays your money and takes your choice!

rob

 

[alant]

Hello.
Toying with the prospect of going from power to the 'half way house' of perhaps a Fisher motor sailer. Always been a power man upto now and would appreciate how difficult (& strenuous) making the transition would be. Am considering a 37' Fisher with a 90 hp engine, have heard Fishers are excellent seaworthy boats, any comments and advice appreciated.

If you have a marina berth, you may want to get one with a bow thruster.
They have a long keel, which for some, makes them very difficult to manouvre in tight spots.

 

[Paragon]

Well, I've had four Fishers to date and would have loved to have had a 37, mine were two 25's a 30 and a Northeaster 30 up until recently.

As has been mentioned above, loads of room and great live aboards, if that's your thing. Going astern in a marina is always guaranteed to get the blood pumping if you haven't got a bow thruster, which I would consider essential equipment on a marina based 37.

Once away from the marina/mooring get sail up as soon as you can, almost regardless of the weather, as they do roll and the sails act as stablisers even if not actually providing much forward thrust!

Very well built and economical to run, I think an autoprop would be a good addition for both motoring and sailing. They do sail, better than might be expected and I was always surprised at how well they would go, even in relatively light airs. Inevitably they are, as has been mentioned, more suited to F3-4 and above for pure sailing and can really get going 4+!

I particularly liked the wheelhouse in harbour as you could be inside out of the weather but not confined below with limited visibility and more remote from "the action"! Strongly recommend you join/contact the owners association which is both extremely helpful and quite active with a great web site.

Finally, there is nothing quite so satisfying as being warm and snug in a tea shirt in a cosy wheelhouse whilst all around you are dressed up and getting damp! Shame I'm now in the "getting damp" group now!!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Never sailed one but seen plenty out sailing. I'd suggest that sailing a Fisher is unlikely to produce joy or thrills - it's anondyne sailing. Before shelling out you might want to try a proper sailing boat, where the performance can be deeply satisfying - and even grin-inducing.

(PS - if you're toying with one, does that make it a Fisher Price?)

 

[Sybarite]

Love them. However after trying a Fisher 37 I also tried a Nauticat 38. For me this was even better. Better sailing performance and a more congenial layout.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

.....in to a decent breeze this summer. (See attached).

Beautiful picture.

I delivered a vancouver pilot and a fisher a few years back. It was doing this that convinced me to sell my rustler 36 and get something with a raised saloon. In the end I went for a bigger rustler, but I can understand the desire to try to get the best of both worlds.

As stated above, I agree that you may find a fisher is more than half way from motorboat to sailing boat.

If I had the money I would be really tempted by this.http://www.nordhavn.com/models/56/

 

[Adrianwool]

"Toying with the prospect of going from power to the 'half way house' of perhaps a Fisher motor sailer. Always been a power man upto now and would appreciate how difficult (& strenuous) making the transition would be. "

So what's wrong with the Nimbus then?
Many of us dream of owning one!

Tom I was thinging of adding to my Nimbus, not selling it

 

[Tom Price]

"I was thinging of adding to my Nimbus, not selling it"

Then you're a fool (albeit an afluent one) - I have problems juggling between one boat, one wife and one house!

Ken hit the nail on the head: don't compromise with a motorsailor which does neither well, go the whole hog and sail properly - it's a different world altogether.

You might contact RickP of this parish who moved from a Nimbus to . . . Better ask him, you'll be surprised.

 

[snowleopard]

Then you're a fool (albeit an afluent one) - I have problems juggling between one boat, one wife and one house!

Ken hit the nail on the head: don't compromise with a motorsailor which does neither well, go the whole hog and sail properly - it's a different world altogether.

You might contact RickP of this parish who moved from a Nimbus to . . . Better ask him, you'll be surprised.

Say 'Motor sailer' and everyone has an image of a heavy-displacement boat with small sails and an enclosed pilot house. It doesn't have to be like that.

I get up to 11 knots under power and similar under sail. My accommodation is spacious and I am well-protected from the wind and weather. A nearby boat has a comparable sailing performance but can do up to 17 knots under power.

 

[Erik C]

I found this some where else.

I have owned my Fisher 37 since Oct 2004, and sail her in the seas waters around Scotland. By performance i guess you mean sailing performance, rather than living accommodation, etc. The Fisher 37s have always been applauded by their owners as good sail boats, in all aspects to the wind. Fisher 37s built 1984 onwards have taller rigs and this has boosted their sailing performance, especially upwind. The powerful engine make it perhaps too easy to motor when navigating tricky straits, but last year I had cause to tack upwind through a narrow strait , and was very pleased (and relieved!) my the Fisher 37 lived up to expectations, tacking close to the wind, picking up on each the new tack quickly, with little leeway. At 15 tonnes she loves a strong breeze to bring her alive. An example was crossing last summer from Iona (Isle of Mull, Staffa, etc). to Isle of Colonsay, in a force 5-6 beam reach, she got into the groove and was "leaping along like a dog off the lead" (to quote my guest crew). She can be sailed short-handed (skipper +1), and is very stable, handling rough seas very well. In Oct 04, I, with 2 crew, sailed her from Holland to Scotland across the North Sea close-reaching / close-hauled in force 6-7 sometimes 8 (reefed), and I fell in love with her sea sure-footness as she shrugged off the breaking waves. As is a long keeler if not sailing she can roll in a cross sea, I have experienced this only once while stooging outside Peterhead / Ratray Head, getting her moving soon brushed off the rolling. She has been categorized as a 50:50 motorsailer - sailing as well as she motors.