Customer Reviews

Troller Yacht Book

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Read the book cover to cover, some great info about the type of boats that you can take offshore without having a huge inheritance coming.
He explains hull designs, the engine and boat-building, without getting bogged done in scientific equations.
I loved the practicality of the book.
It reminded me of listening to an experienced journeyman explain to me why we do it this way, in simple plain English, as apposed to an engineer trying to impress you with his "bulls**t baffles brains" approach.
Things don't have to be complicated, read the book.
It's not a travelogue type of book, it's all about the boat, so go to the travel section, there is a million of them there.

Mostly the book is a rant on what is wrong with the curent design of cruising class boats. I agree with the point of view but was looking for more help with understanding and making my troller better. If you are considering buying a coastal or midsized cruiser and want to know what to look for and what not to look for then this book can be a good resource.

The book binding fell appart upon opening the box.

This book was about Econo-Yachts, Snailboats, World cruisers, motorboats with displacement hulls that are faster than sailboats but slower than plaining boats.
This book sparked my interest in long range cruising with power boats that compare favorably with sailboats. Unfortunately there aren't many around.
The closest category is pilot house boats with small diesel engines that travel at hull speed [1.34 times the square root of the waterline]and aux sails.
This book introduces the possibility of going around the world for the price of a set of sailboat sails at faster than sailboat speed.
The book includes too small to read plans and building recomendations for this kind of boat.
I highly recommend this book for those interested in this kind of travel. This book is about the boat not the travel itself. Delbert Jolly

Should be mandatory reading for anyone considering living aboard or cruising as a lifestyle.

This book is an excellent primer explaining, in easy to understand terms, why certain boat designs may be more suitable for those of us with "realistic" budgets, custom vs. production boats, powering, design, construction materials, etc.

Reading this book has completely re-oriented our focus away from production boats to begin the process of design selection and having our own custom live-aboard built! Thanks, George.

Mr. Buehler's book is an excellent read, and an extremely handy guide for those of us interested in its subject matter but without the bottomless pockets required to enjoy today's production boats. Can you build a boat using just this book? No. Can you plan your round-the-world cruise using just this book? Again, no. However, with chapters on the concept of a proper cruising design, affordability, safety, construction, outfitting and other relevant items, the book is an excellent primer on the concept of safe, affordable cruising for the everyday Joe who loves boats and the water.

Mr. Snell may not have found what he was looking for; personally, I suspect he was offended by Mr. Buehler's attitude toward production yachts and their inadequacies.

Down here on the Gulf Coast, hundreds of people still make their livings piloting wooden power boats out into open water, staying a few days, and then coming back with holds full of seafood. I know some of these folks. They don't inherit fortunes to buy boats, they aren't millionaires stepping off into the latest trendy adventure, they're people who use boats, well and practically built, to make a living. George's book is about the Northwestern versions of these people and their boats. George asks why people like me can't find proper boats. Why people who want a good, spacious, long-legged cruising vessel but who didn't have a dear rich uncle or a winning lottery ticket to pay for it. Why forty feet should be $750,000.00. And he answers the questions. He answers well. He steps on toes which need to stepped on, and tells us that dreams can come true. He took my little piece of a dream and expanded it. What more can one ask of a book?

Anybody who does anything that remotely involves public exposure almost always can count on some sort of strange negative feedback. Bill Clinton is a prime example, but on a very lesser plane there is no better example than the "review" by Joe Snell, of my book. Mr. Snell who so far besides his mouthings about MY book, has enlightened us with his brief comments about 3 CDs, has chosen for some reason known only to him to make flip and ignorant statements about my book that I can only assume: 1) he never read it, or 2) knows nothing at all about boats. Giving him the benifit of the doubt I suspect 2). If this was 100 years ago I would challenge him to a duel for what he said. Today, the consequences of doing so, unfortunately, ain't worth it. But I want to state in rebuttal that PROVEN ideas are never "antiquated," and, that inded the book goes into great detail about its subject. Cruising powerboats.

This book is in no way a "Guide to Crossing Oceans" as the title implies.

It is a new book about the author's antiquated boat design ideas for budget minded boaters. The book offers little to no information regarding what one needs to know in order to plan or undertake an oceanic powerboat crossing.

This is a wonderful book about building and owning reasonably priced power boats, as well as why it's so difficult to find such boats from the standard manufacturers today. I,too, have often wondered exactly why a 40' power cruiser should cost $350,000 and need 350 horsepower to move through the water. After reading this book, I now know:

1. it doesn't have to be that way, but

2. the boating industry profits handsomely from that structure.

Whether you agree with Mr. Buehler's opinions or not, you really should put his book on your "must reading" list prior to making a considerable investment in your own boat. The included boat plans, the interesting equipment discussions, and Mr. Buehler clear writing style make this one of the best books on the topic I've ever read.

Disgusted with the cost of a modern production troller, the author recommends constructing your own vessel. For circumnavigation potential with a two to four man crew, he recommends a 38' to 50' vessel. The book goes on to describe what said vessel would entail and is a starting point for either building it yourself or commissioning it. Its great reading even if you aren't planning on building a vessel but are interested in the concept. He claims the 38' he focuses on can be built for between $35,000 and $120,000 (1998) depending on how much you do yourself. The author has a decent webpage and sells a number of plans thru the website. After reading "Voyaging Under Power" (ISBN 0071580190 - also highly recommended) which extolls the virtues of a $600,000 vessel, this was the other extreme. Wouldn't mind locking this author in a room with "Voyaging Under Power"'s editor and letting them fight out some middle ground. Oh, by the way, I tried to find someone with the vessel described in the greater Los Angeles area and failed.