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Freighter Yachts - Unlike the Puffin 36 these 45 footers make no pretense of being real cargo carriers. They are strictly homes afloat. If you want a large powerboat, think long and hard before you conclude you want "high speed". Remember a displacement powerboat uses very little fuel and therefore costs so little to operate that anyone who can scrape up the cash to have one built and can afford to maintain it can afford to go anywhere with it. In contrast a high speed planing powerboat with these accommodations uses so much fuel you might as well just hire a kid to throw nickels in the water just as fast as he can throw them one at a time. He'll never be able to throw nickels fast enough to equal the high speed vessel's cost of fuel. I remember one happy couple on a 60' vessel built along the lines of a shimp boat. They had, and needed, very little in the way of fancy gear on this boat. What they did have was every comfort, including a brick fireplace. How did they make enough money to liveaboard this boat and travel around continuously? Down below just forward of the engine room there was a wood working shop with the tiniest table saw, bandsaw and lathe you ever saw where the husband made doll house furniture. Working on days when the weather was such that it wasn't fun to travel earned him enough money to live this life.

Rough Sketch for a 45' round or vee bottom freighter yacht. Length 45', Beam 15'9", Draft 6'0"

A 45' vee bottom steel or plywood freighter yacht. Length 45', Beam 15'9", Draft 5'8"

By the way, when you think about it on most populated coasts high speed isn't very useful anyway unless you have a very light no-wake type boat. Remember you are responsible for your wake by law. Even if the law doesn't get you an intracoastal waterway based waterman hand tonging for oysters out of a small open boat may voice his disapproval of getting swamped with a shot gun. I know of at least one boat yard in Florida which, when I was around it, was making a pretty good living repairing shotgun damaged hulls.

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