See Links Below for As-Built Photos...
Three Versions...
There are two different vessels represented on this page:
The 40' Coaster, and the 40' Ocean Trawler, each developed for
a different purpose, but each using the same hull form and general
arrangement.
COASTER: The 40' Coaster was created for a couple and
occasional guests for summer cruises in the Pacific Northwest from Puget
Sound to Alaska with occasional coastal hops to ports farther south, thus
the design name, "Coaster."
OCEAN TRAWLER: The concept for
the 40' Ocean Trawler has been to take the Coaster design, keep the
interior and most of the exterior the same, and adapt it to heavy weather
passage making. Please see below for additional detail...
WIDEBODY: The 40' Widebody
Trawler
version of the Coaster is described below as well... Basically it
involves widening the aft house out to the bulwark, and donating one foot of
the aft cabin to the aft deck, making more room in both places.
General Concept
The general approach taken with this design has been to produce a metal
trawler for the least possible cost, and with the least possible long term
maintenance requirements. Therefore, light displacement for economy of
construction and propulsion, and aluminum construction, unpainted except
below the waterline for the ultimate in a maintenance free boat...
Coaster is designed after working West Coast fishing vessels for
their excellent sea keeping qualities. Coaster's lines provide for a
very easily driven hull, being of relatively light displacement
(displacement to length of 256 at her design waterline). Particulars
are: 41' LOA x 36' - 0" DWL x 13' - 2" Beam x 4' – 5" Draft light and 4' -
9" Draft loaded. Displacement will vary from around 26,500# light to a
full load capacity of 34,000# with tanks full, stores for two people, and
the boat ready for a long summer cruise.
Construction
Hull; deck; cabin and pilot house construction are built of
aluminum. Scantlings have been determined according to the ABS Rule for
Motor Pleasure Yachts - 1990. Plating and framing are detailed
for NC cutting. Check out this image of
Coaster's Frames, ready for nesting. Coaster was built very
economically in Vancouver, BC. A few images are below.
Coaster 40 Construction Images
Bow View From Forward
| Bow View From Aft.
Power & Range
The engine specified is a John Deere 4045 DFM - 4 cylinder
diesel, which produces 76 hp continuous at 2,400 rpm. It is mated to a
Twin Disc gear using a 3:1 reduction to drive a three blade 26" fixed pitch
propeller on a 2" Aquamet 22 stainless shaft.
Any alternate engine for this vessel should be a diesel within the range
of around 70 to 80 horsepower using a continuous (M-1) rating, and a weight
of no greater than 1,200 lb complete with gear. The "cruising speed"
for long range voyaging with this hull is assumed to be 7 knots.
Theoretical hull speed is about 8 knots. However due to the
relatively light displacement hull form of the Coaster, over 9 knots should
be easily attained.
The engine space is located under the Pilot House sole. Access is
through a sound proofed door behind the pilot house ladder, and through two
hatches in the PH sole above. Low levels of noise and vibration are provided
by substantial sound insulation. Vibration damping is provided by
flexible engine mounts along with a flexible shaft coupling.
Ample engine room ventilation is provided by separate entry air and exit
air vents, which lead up to / from the Pilot House top.
Space has been allowed for a 5 KW generator to be installed to starb'd
and aft in the engine room. A full size person still has plenty of
room to access all parts of the engine, gear and generator.
Exterior Arrangement
Deck structures provide 6' - 6" standing headroom throughout.
Aboard Coaster, the aft deck, side decks, and saloon / galley are
all at one level. Aboard the Ocean Trawler, there is a ladder
up to the aft deck from the saloon.
On Coaster, along the exterior side deck there is a step up to the
Pilot House side deck, and a further step up to the foredeck. The
foredeck spans the full width of the vessel. In the cockpit area aft,
a ladder leads up to the "boat deck" through a hinged hatch at the top of
the ladder.
The side and aft decks are surrounded by substantial bulwarks, especially
around the cockpit area. Additionally the decks are protected by
welded stanchions and railings along both sides of the pilot house deck and
the fore deck. There are welded hand-holds on each house top, per
owner's preferred locations. There is a manual windlass on the fore
deck.
Pilot house doors are water tight. A water tight door is
specified aft, leading to the cockpit.
The mast is arranged with a boom, to allow placing a small shore boat on
the top of the aft cabin.
Coaster 40 As-built
Exterior Images
Shop Roll-out
| Fore Deck
| Afloat |
Under Way
Interior Arrangement
The accommodations are intended to provide comfortable cruising
for two people on extended summer cruises, with the addition of a third crew
member or a couple for shorter trips.
Right forward is an "island" berth in the owner's cabin. There are port
and starb'd shelves with reach hole access to lockers below it. A
hanging locker is located on each side of the master stateroom. A door
leads aft into the hallway.
To starb'd of the hallway is a guest stateroom, containing a small double
berth, and lockers at each end. To port of the hallway are the head
and shower. Within the head, a vanity cabinet with sink are outboard
and a marine toilet is located forward. At the aft end of the hallway, a
ladder leads up and aft into the pilot house. Behind the ladder a door
is provided to access the engine space.
Within the pilot house there is a built-in seat to starb'd. The
wheel is located slightly to starb'd of center. The "dashboard" forward of
the wheel holds navigation instruments and engine controls.
A few steps lead aft on the port side from the Pilot House to the galley.
In the aft cabin the galley is to starb'd. A peninsula counter is located
along the aft face of the galley, and contains a double sink and an
under-counter combination washer / dryer. A three burner propane range
with oven is located outboard to starb'd. Along the forward face of
the galley, there is a 'pocket' occupying the space below the pilot's seat,
which provides a place for the 12v DC refrigerator. The fridge is
flanked by a counter having a cupboard above and cabinet below.
Aft of the galley there is a full width saloon. A pair of easy
chairs are located to port with a small table between, and to starb'd is a
dining table with wrap-around settee. An alternate arrangement has
been drawn as well, with all saloon seating built in, so that table leaves
can be folded up to create a large central saloon table.
Coaster 40 As-built Interior
Images
Forward Cabin
| Pilot House |
Galley |
Saloon Starb'd |
Saloon Portside
We have also created a preliminary design that we've called the
Ocean Trawler.
Transforming the Coaster into the 'Ocean Trawler' required only a few
changes:
- To raise the aft deck to the height of the rub rail.
- To lower the aft house.
- To eliminate the cover over the aft deck.
- Lower the aft interior accommodations.
The raised aft deck is able to provide substantially greater buoyancy
aft, as well as having much less enclosed volume in the cockpit (within the
bulwarks), therefore the "Ocean" designation. Due to the
raised aft deck combined with the lowered aft accommodations, there is not
sufficient headroom to have a cover over the aft deck, and the exit door to
the aft deck from the saloon has become a "companionway" with a scuttle to
enclose the aft doors. This is all to the good in terms of
sea-keeping.
The interior is exactly the same as with the Coaster, however the saloon
and galley are just a bit lower down. This reduces windage of the
house, eliminates the windage and weight of the exterior overhead structure,
lowers the center of gravity, and raises freeboard. All of these are
ultimately friendly attributes for offshore voyaging.
At present these changes have been proposed and modeled, and a new
profile plus one section have been drawn. It only remains to make
changes to a few of the other drawings to match. This will be easily
done and thus will not involve any added cost for the design. In other
words the cost for the Ocean Trawler Building Plans is the
same as for the Coaster. The NC cutting files however will need
substantial revision. The cost of the Building Plans and the NC files
will be as given on our
Plans List web page.
40' Ocean Trawler Design
Images
Ocean Trawler Exterior
Profile | Ocean
Trawler Perspective Aft |
Ocean Trawler Perspective Forward
A modified arrangement has been sketched for Coaster that makes the
saloon and galley considerably larger. We are so-far calling this version
the 'Widebody Trawler.' In the Widebody layout,
the port and starb'd sides of the aft house have been pushed outboard to
within 6 or 8 inches of the bulwarks, eliminating the exterior side decks in
way of the saloon and galley. This would leave an inset to the house
sides above the bulwark - just enough to refer to as a 'cat walk' on each
side.
As can be seen in the images of this concept linked below, a much more
spacious saloon and galley are the result. Due to the elimination of
the side decks, the aft deck seating can wrap around to port and starb'd.
With this layout it is possible to make the dinette larger.
Possibly it could wrap around forward along the aft face of the galley as
shown. The chairs and table to port can be quite a bit larger.
Access to the aft deck is also excellent, with access directly through from
the pilot house right aft through the saloon and out the aft door.
Given the much greater width of the saloon it becomes possible to steal
perhaps a foot from the length of the saloon and donate
that to the aft deck. Plan - Layout Sketch #1
does not illustrate this possibility, but
Plan - Layout #2
does show it, and you can see that the settee in the saloon is around 12"
shorter in length.
Outboard of the pilot house, access to the house top is quite simple.
From the exterior PH side decks an integral ladder/stair leads right up to
the galley / saloon top. This allows excellent access to the paravane
rig for deploying and retrieving the poles and the paravanes.
A substantial benefit of these changes is that the vessel would be much
better suited to big water. Why? Because the low-freeboard side
decks would be eliminated, thereby vastly increasing the buoyancy aft -
especially when heeled. This provides an excellent enhancement to
seakeeping.
Preliminary layout images are provided below. Presently this is a
concept, however it is one that would be easily adapted to the existing
Coaster design. If this revision is of interest, please inquire for a
quote on the design revisions.
40' Coaster 'Widebody'
Preliminary Design Images
Plan - Layout Sketch #1
| Plan - Layout #2
| Profile - Layout #2
Design Summary
At first it seemed nearly impossible to fit two staterooms into
a vessel of this size without making the boat too tall. With diligence
in fitting it all together, the interior has worked out very well, and there
is ample room for the accommodations, plus a sizable engine space.
In all, whether given the form of Coaster or the Ocean Trawler
or the Widebody Trawler these boats are very economical
to build, simple to maintain, and a pleasure to travel with...
Direct Quote from an aluminum boat owner...
As an owner since 5 years of an aluminum boat I could
not agree more with your preference for this material.
She is a great boat and requires very little in the way
of maintenance. I do a lot more reef snorkeling than the
paint, polish, varnish and wax guys!
--Peter Kminek
