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Cruiser v Semi-Trad stern


Onionman

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We're looking at a narrowboat share and we're down to a shortlist, most with semi-trad sterns and one with a cruiser stern.

 

I like the cruiser stern boat for many other reasons but we've only have experience of semi-trads.

 

So what are people's views on the benefits and trade-offs of each. I'm sure people will be happy to defend their own choice to the death but I'm interested in as balanced a view as possible please, ideally from folk with experience of both.

Thanks!

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I have owned several cruiser sterns, 1 trad, and 1 semi trad that happens to be the boat I have at the moment. I will not buy another trad by choice but the stern is the least of my considerations as it means nowt in the greater scheme of things. My preference is still cruiser, as a full time liveabord of many years standing the cruiser stern is streets ahead of a trad and a bit better than a semi trad. It realy does depend on each persons choice a bit like colour.

Edited by mrsmelly
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I like the semi trad for my current liveaboard lifestyle, but agree with Tim that it comes down to personal choice. Cruiser sterns are much easier for boarding and I can see that as I get older it might be prudent to go back to one. 

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If you are boating in bad weather you will probably find the cruiser stern very exposed to the elements, the semi trad slightly less exposed and the trad offering the most protection.

The cruiser stern allows everyone to join you out the back, the semi trad allows 2 or 3 to join you and the trad 1 if you have an oversized hatch or they don't mind standing on the gunnels.

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We like the social aspect of a good sized cruiser stern, you can all stand /sit in the same area even whilst on the move, but we only use the boat for short breaks and pub visits on bank holidays etc.

If we lived on one I would probably go for a semi trad, if it was just me I'd  probably go for a full trad stern.

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We are still doing research and leaning toward Semi-trad with Cruiser a close second. My feet don't like standing in one place for long period of times. So I am leaning toward Semi trad and want a small raised up seat in the back corner to be able to sit down when I am tired of standing. Keeps my feet happy if I am  m oving around. 

I am sure I could put something on a cruiser stern to sit on too. But the wife really likes the Semi-trad. As she put it she can 'create a nest on one side' and talk while we cruise.

 

Not even considering a trad, just no social space.

Edited by Kudzucraft
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3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

It will be interesting to see the comments you get about this requirement.

 

Summary = "Deathtrap"

Not at all. I do the same. My seat is just inside the semi trad stern and away from the arc of the tiller. Same as steering a trad. If the seat was outside the rear doors and next to the tiller then I would agree with you.

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Whilst looking we always preferred Semi-Trads - more social than Trads but look more traditional than cruisers - happy midway.

 

There seem to be far more Trads for sale than others, not sure if this means anything other than there are more Trads about?

Edited by robtheplod
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1 hour ago, Onionman said:

 

I like the cruiser stern boat for many other reasons but we've only have experience of semi-trads.

 

 

If you like the boat for many other reasons it's probably "the" boat and you'll get to love cruiser sterns because you have one on the boat that you love.

However, just before we bought our boat after a semi-trad share-boat we hired a cruiser stern boat to cruise the Mon and Brec and I could not get used to bending for the Morse control and walking from that to a comfy position at the end of the tiller where my drink or map was. None of the seating around the deck made me feel in control at tight bends and bridge holes if I met another boat as I was alongside the tiller. So, semi-trad moved up to the top of must-haves.

Just sayin' like.

Edited by nikvah
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5 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:
5 hours ago, Kudzucraft said:

So I am leaning toward Semi trad and want a small raised up seat in the back corner to be able to sit down when I am tired of standing.

It will be interesting to see the comments you get about this requirement.

I have no experience in this matter but understand from other posts the danger of being swept backwards off the “suicide” seat on trads. However I have also wondered if having a seat with a raised  back rest would prevent the person from being so easily swept off the seat.

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5 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

It will be interesting to see the comments you get about this requirement.

 

Summary = "Deathtrap"

I think Kudzucraft means something like this, which we had on our semi-trad. The raised seat is in front of the tiller, in the rear, port corner of the cockpit. Opposite is a drawer unit the perfect height to comfortably rest your feet. The throttle falls conveniently to your left hand whilst underway. For us it was a perfect setup for comfortable cruising.

IMG_2203.JPG

IMG_2204.JPG

Edited by KJT
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6 hours ago, blackrose said:

The main downside of a cruiser stern for me is continually having to lift deck boards to get stuff from the engine space. I guess that's the same for a semi-trad too. 

I've only got an engine and gearbox in the engine space on my narrow boat so don't have that issue. A wide beam might be different but I don't think I've seen a semi trad wide beam.

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3 hours ago, Old Son said:

I've only got an engine and gearbox in the engine space on my narrow boat so don't have that issue.

 

Quite right too. A great advantage of a cruiser stern is that you can reach the engine and gearbox for maintenance purposes without having to have three double-jointed elbows in each arm. 

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As much as I love my boat, given the opportunity to buy again, I'd get one with at least a semi-trad if not a cruiser stern. As much as it might be the design of my boat, I find there's a lot of wasted space that can't really be used in the engine room and as space is always at a minimum (or I have too much "stuff" perhaps?), I feel like a semi-trad or cruiser stern might have opened up a bit more space. And with a pram hood, it'd be an ideal storage space for a bike or other bits and pieces. But I've got her now and for all her foibles, I'm very happy. Still would prefer a cruiser stern though.

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I have a cruiser stern, chosen deliberately to accommodate a few people on deck, as well as our dogs. I ruled out, and would never want, a trad stern.

 

With hindsight, a semi trad might work for us as well, and might even be slightly better because there are usually some seats in the open bit in front of the doors, and we could shut the dogs in this bit when mooring up, or other times when they need to be out of the way. With the cruiser stern, they are downstairs, usually on the bed, when we dont want them on deck.

 

So... if buying again, I would consider semi trads as well as cruiser sterns, but cant see any benefit in a trad stern, other than extra space downstairs.

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When you break down in the pouring rain you'll wish you had a trad. When your engine goes bang because of a leak that hasn't been spotted for weeks you'll wish you had a trad. When your wet clothes are drying around the engine you'll wish you had a trad. When your working on the engine in a cruiser stern and you end up cracking a rib trying to get the last bolt undone you'll wish you had a trad

Edited by Tonka
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15 minutes ago, Tonka said:

When you break down in the pouring rain you'll wish you had a trad. When your engine goes bang because of a leak that hasn't been spotted for weeks you'll wish you had a trad. When your wet clothes are drying around the engine you'll wish you had a trad. When your working on the engine in a cruiser stern and you end up cracking a rib trying to get the last bolt undone you'll wish you had a trad

In 8 years of ownership of a cruiser stern, I've never wished I had a trad :) 

 

I could ask if engines on trads have more chance of breaking down in the pouring rain?

 

I could ask how you spot a leak better on a trad than on a cruiser stern or semi trad?

 

I've helmed in torrential rain from time to time, (but try not to), but have never had the problem you talk about.

 

Not had any trouble working on my engine under the cruiser stern.

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2 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

In 8 years of ownership of a cruiser stern, I've never wished I had a trad :) 

 

I could ask if engines on trads have more chance of breaking down in the pouring rain?

 

I could ask how you spot a leak better on a trad than on a cruiser stern or semi trad?

 

I've helmed in torrential rain from time to time, (but try not to), but have never had the problem you talk about.

 

Not had any trouble working on my engine under the cruiser stern.

I was referring to a trad with a boatman's cabin

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10 hours ago, KJT said:

I think Kudzucraft means something like this, which we had on our semi-trad.

 

IMG_2203.JPG

 

 

Pretty much! Something like this is where we are leaning. I think a Bimini top over this would be a very practical... if I bit ugly. Wife wants a Pram hood and I see it is a very practical but I don't think I would buy one if it didn't have it.

Just for the record, I see advantages in all three stern designs.

  •  I love the 'engine room' on a trad for storing ground tackle and all the misc gear. Don't like the lack of social space. No place for the wife to sit and 'nest'. That is why we most likely would not buy one.
  •  I love the space of a cruiser stern and it has to be easier/more space to work on an engine. But don't like the lack of seating and seems to waste space for our use. We want to be CC'ing and all that open space has to be colder in the winter.
  •  Semi-trad has to be a real pain to work on the engine. But the seating seems to suit us the best. As long as there is storage space under the seats, that allows storage for ground tackles, lines, fenders outside of the living space.

 

 

 

Edited by Kudzucraft
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11 hours ago, Mick in Bangkok said:

I have no experience in this matter but understand from other posts the danger of being swept backwards off the “suicide” seat on trads. However I have also wondered if having a seat with a raised  back rest would prevent the person from being so easily swept off the seat.

 

My trad stern boat has a pair of suicide seats but they're not all dangerous. I don't sit on them.

 

They are often useful as something else to hold on to when stepping on or off though.

 

We have hired both trad and cruiser stern boats but not a semi.  We like having a trad stern with a good sized deck at the front. When we have company people prefer sitting at the front as we go along. When we don't then whichever one of us is not steering usually prefers to enjoy the comparative tranquility, and closeness to the water, you get when sitting at the front. It feels very different to being at the stern.

 

It is rare that we cruise more than 4 hours a day so there is plenty of time for chatting/arguing/etc while we are moored up. We don't need to do that during cruising hours as well.

 

While I try not to boat in heavy rain, sometimes it just can't be helped if there's a sudden downpour. Even if there is somewhere to moor, by the time you've done it you're soaked anyway. At times like that the partial shelter you get with a trad stern is very welcome.

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Richard10002 said:

In 8 years of ownership of a cruiser stern, I've never wished I had a trad :) 

 

I could ask if engines on trads have more chance of breaking down in the pouring rain?

 

I could ask how you spot a leak better on a trad than on a cruiser stern or semi trad?

 

I've helmed in torrential rain from time to time, (but try not to), but have never had the problem you talk about.

 

Not had any trouble working on my engine under the cruiser stern.

Yes agreed. There are 365 cruisng days every year so why the hell boat in the rain. My engine is japanese so doesnt go wrong but I do check to see if it is losing coolant. I dont do much work ont tengine nowadays as someone else is always happy to do it for me but its very easy to get at for such as oil changes. I wouldnt subject myself or visitors to the misery of a boatmans cabin either. I had a trad stern perch on one boat as thats all that builder did and I wanted one of his boats..........lesson learnt not to be repeated.

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5 hours ago, Machpoint005 said:

 

Quite right too. A great advantage of a cruiser stern is that you can reach the engine and gearbox for maintenance purposes without having to have three double-jointed elbows in each arm. 

For maintenance from best to worst:

1. Trad stern with engine room

2. Cruiser stern

3. Semi-trad

4. Trad with engine under stern.

 

The odd one out would be when you have a trad with the engine under the stern but everything around it dismantles.  It's a bit time consuming but you end up with fairly easy maintenance.

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