16' Nolan Micro-Motorsailer (1980) - HEATHER

A 16 foot motor sailor. Heather is perhaps the embodiment of the perfect one or two person micro motor sailor. She is sneaky fast, well appointed below decks and a capable near and offshore cruiser.

Her creator naval architect Tim Nolan designed and built Heather as his personal boat and sailed her for some 35 years. In this time her took her to sea including day sailing out of Seattle and his home port of Port Townsend. Tim also voyaged out of Port Townsend far north up the inside passage.

I was fortunate to become her current steward. She was purchased by Marty Loken a local boat builder who had lusted after her for all of those 35 years. Due to a change in his life he had to pass her on after two short years. I had been invited to his shop to see Heather first hand and when I laid eyes on her I was amazed. I had never seen such a boat, smitten would sum up my thoughts. Nah better yet, I was a bit dumb struck that such a package could be built into 16 feet and the craftsmanship was world class.

I am a sailor of boats small and large but focus on small for all the obvious advantages they offer. I am also an engineless sailor (with one exception) and this boat hit the mark for small and well OK Heather is a motor sailor. Being a motorsailer seemed very appropriate given her intended purpose and she is suited to her home port, at times a windy place complete with wicked currents plus lots of cold, foggy, wet, often inclement weather.

Sitting in her cockpit that day I realized her new owner had a deep love for the boat and Heather was to be his for the long term. I took a chance and said, “Marty should you blink at some point please think of me first” or something to this end. Little did I know at the time that 13 months later my phone would ring and Heather would be offered to me.

At that time I was not in a position to purchase Heather and yet knew if I allowed the moment to pass the next person would snap her up in a pair of seconds. I committed and it happened.

Classics like Heather are special and like all loved boats will live as long as they are looked after. I knew I was not so much becoming her new owner as her next steward. With this in mind and recognizing the limitations I had at that stage in my life I decided I would develop her slowly and look forward to finally hoisting sail.

Heather had been stored indoors for about 15 years and is rock solid sound, so a spruce up on paint and varnish is all she needs along with some means of propulsion other than sails. Her previous owner had also pulled the engine planning to go electric and so I purchased her engineless.

My first mission was a new trailer as her wheels were a less than adequate glorified yard dolly complete with old fork lift wheels. Over two seasons and no small struggle I managed to finally get her aboard a solid tandem axle. Each of these two years I did launch her on a very limited time budget so no spar and sails. I launched so I could work on fitting out the trailer and each time I lived aboard. To date 19 glorious days and nights, albeit at a dock have done nothing but make me want time with her even more.

Heather is decadently comfortable to sleep aboard in spite of her diminutive size. Her small galley is completely functional and she feels like a well cared for, well appointed small classic yacht. She features two cabins accessible via a crawl through for nasty weather and is appointed below in natural woods and cushions throughout.

As mentioned her previous owner had pulled her engine and sold it to a friend with a plan to go electric. I have thought long and hard about electric yet know battery technology is not quite there yet. With a nod to her motor sailor design brief I did dip into the dark side and have a low hour Yanmar 1gm waiting in the wings but first I am going with sail and oar.

Heather weighs in at 3,000 pounds and has rather high freeboard, still I am going to go with oars that I am building and will see where this tack ends up.

Apparently she is nimble under sail and given the stories I have heard plus her slippery shape I know I can sail her in and out of marinas (which I do with most any boat I sail). When the wind drops her long oars should be propulsion enough, we’ll see.

I have not yet sailed Heather but all reports from Tim and others plus her under water shape has me believing in her ability for what I term “sneaky speed.” It is easy to be fooled into thinking “slow” given the wheel house, short waterline and hull shape. However, she has purportedly walked on many a supposedly faster boat in the Pacific Northwest.

I am considering switching out her rig to a split rig but only after I sail her and make a full assessment. I like the advantages of the split rig and think Heather is a good platform for such a change. As a boat builder and sail maker spinning up spars and making new tan bark sails for her would be fun work.

Two years ago I stood on the dock beside Heather with her creator Tim and he recounted one sail back to Port Townsend from a voyage just concluding. He was caught out in a gale with top winds hovering around 60 knots. He told me at one point Heather was knocked down but given her lineage ( a bit of life boat in her bones) she bobbed right back up not taking on any water and he just kept going, dry and warm below.

There is one huge issue with Heather and it’s this, Privacy.

Heather draws attention like honey bees to flowers. When docked it is a bit like an ongoing “one boat” boat show. People of all walks sailor and non sailor alike stop by due to her somewhat whimsical look. They ask many questions, make delightful comments and snap photos. Several have asked if she is for sale or where can they obtain plans. I am planning to sew a full set of curtains for her wheel house so I can find a moment or two;-)

I hope you enjoy looking at Heather.
Happy to answer any questions.