Several years ago Bill Kimley at Seahorse gave me the hull Lines to a 35’ hull he had been building, and invited me to create a version of it. I used this as an opportunity to develop an idea for a boat I’d like to own; something specifically suited for the Pacific Northwest vacation and recreational use. The result, “COOT,” generated a lot of interest but no boats sold. It was simply to short of a hull to carry off the idea I tried to do.
I still wanted to do something along the concept I was thinking of so finally got around to redoing the old COOT idea but this time, changing things to make it work rather than trying to fit things to an existing hull. This boat, the NW Cruiser 39, really pleases me. While the DUCKS are outrageous long range cruisers, this boat is an idea that has great appeal to because not all of us are able to actually take the time to travel to distant exotic places. And for those of us in this “boat,” the NW CRUISER should give lots of pleasure.
Believe it or not, I based the interior on typical mid size RV interior design! Why? Because it works! Even a 1/2 mill diesel motorhome will have ONE bedroom, ONE bathroom, and comfortable quarters for lounging. The concept is drink 6, dine 4, and house 2. The couch in this boat’s pilot house will convert to another bunk for the odd guest, but, practically all RVs and hardly any boats are set up specifically for the use of the owners. This boat is. I admit that if you have children the interior shown isn’t ideal. However in that case I’d make two singles in the bow for the kids and I’d use the pilothouse couch as a “Murphy Bed” for the owners. I have one of those in a cabin I own and it works great. But feel free to change the interior anyway you please.

The interior shows a real galley and an actual table and 4 chairs for dining. This aft cabin is spacious with large windows. The pilothouse has great visibility in all directions and is large enough for a group of people to gather in. The bow has a real bed, 5’ x 7’, walk around style, and a head and shower. The head is barely big enough. It’s bigger than the typical production boat head but not the 5’ x 7’ area I like to spec. There simply wasn’t the room. But it will work and in return we have a real pilot house. Note the engine room below the pilot house is a full 7’ long and the full width of the boat. This gives lots of room for easy access to all parts of the engine, something far to rare in today’s production boats.
On deck we have a short aft cockpit and of course outside steering and engine controls. That’s because part of he NW lifestyle is trolling for salmon and tending crab and shrimp pots, and this boat is set up to do all that well. I gave her 18” side decks making it easy to walk the decks, with 12” bulwarks and 36” heavy pipe life rails to make deck travel secure.
Construction is for plywood or steel, and she can also be aluminum. Regardless of the material chosen, her hull lines are simple with "easy" curves allowing material to flow around without much fuss.
Power is 60 to 100 HP but in practice, I doubt you’ll run it much more than 40 HP very much.

Back to Stock Plans