Hei! Her kjører jeg norsk! :-) Dette er jo ekstremt kult! Dere er kanskje sjokkert over at båten er fullstendig tømt/ødelagt inni, men den var dessverre ganske råteskadet i de fleste veggene, helt ytterst mot skroget og ikke lenger i sjødyktig stand. Så mitt valg var å ta steget helt ut. Det fulgte med to bilder, som hang på veggen i båten da jeg kjøpte båten. Så disse er dere. Så utrolig koselig at du skriver! Planen er å gjøre Marco Polo sjødyktig igjen :-)

😃👍

😄

Thanks for your kind feedback 😊👍

Thanks, John! I certainly hope to enjoy my coming "golden years" in this boat. If I can get used to the slow phase of life in these boats.

Thanks! There are lots of work to be done... :-)

Thank you, Alf, for your kind comment.

Thank you! Will keep on bringing her back to "life".

Thanks Simon for your great comment!

Thanks for your kind words. I will try to document at least major things that might be useful to others. But I am an amateur on video-production so please have low expectations. Things are moving slowly for the time being so next video will come when there are things to edit. Thanks again!

You are not late Cousin Jack! I very much welcome your kind words; very motivating support. Thank you!

Thanks Colin. Work is in progress, but for now getting worse as there are fundamental work to be done.

@@hsobstad Bilges and Engine room looking great, surprising what a clean and paint job can do.. Keep up the good work...

Thanks for your kind words. Great to have a closed cockpit in our nordic climate.

Thanks! Working to fix it to be able to enjoy it :-)

Thanks Renato. It is lovely to read that this work brings inspiration to others. Project-boats like this on is not for everyone - but is everything to someone. If you enjoy this - like I do - dont waist your time...! :-)

Thanks! :-)

Thanks Fred! I will live long on that comment. Love it!

Thank you, Bradley. It is actually a British made boat, unlike the Tresfjord which is truly Norwegian built. It is a similar project as mine I think. About the same size boat.

Thanks. The restoring of this is coming along fine. Good luck with your own plans.

Thanks. It gets better in the latter videos. :-)

That is absolutely a point. However it will roll a lot in heavy seas without the sails as a stabiliser. So even if I would not sail (which I will) I would still keep the sails ready as a stabiliser.

Thank you!

Hi Wilhelm. Thank you so much for writing. Exciting to read that you are the first owner, and actually had this boat new from the yard, 47 years ago in 1976. I have a lot of questions about the boat. Is it correct that this boat has had north of Norway as a home also in your ownership? Is it sailing well? Hard to sail singlehanded? Is it seaworthy in heavy seas? Consider if you will let me contact you. I respect any answer you give. In any way, keep commenting if you have any advice or comment. Thank you again. 😊

@@hsobstad Hi. The home base was Trondheim (3rd largest city in Norway). It is a Motorsailer and does not go very fast by sail, but it is very safe. We mostly went by motor. She was handed over to me in Oslo and I and the salesman went all the way along the cost from Oslo to Trondheim in nice and bad weather without any problem. Original engine was a 30 hp Volvo Penta. She needed quite a long distance from full speed to complete stop, so we had to be carefull. I never tried to use the sails when I was alone as the weather and the speed of the wind changes quite fast along the norwegian cost. I am sure you will love the boat as much as I did and feel safe as long as you respect the nature and behave wicely. Wher is the Home Base of Marco Polo now ?

​@@wilhelmstorm2162 Thanks, Wilhelm. Sure sounds like a wonderful and exciting trip! It must have been an expensive boat in the days. Did you ever sail with a spinnaker? The 30hp sounds a bit on the low side, for maneuvering and emergency stops, but maybe sufficient for ordinary runs. The new 60hp is great, I think. The boat is not too far away, in Bergen (2nd largest city in Norway 😏). So we could continue in Norwegian. If you are around, feel free to contact me for an inspection of the boat. But you might be disappointed as she is not in any way looking her old self. Sorry for that, but it was really necessary. (I am not sure if you have seen all of my videos on this boat).

Thanks for your kind words. Thats motivating! Yes, I think there were a few Fisher 32s made in Australia, but I am sure they are hard to get hands on. Wishing the two of you great days on the water too! Helge

Thanks, I also think that.

Thanks for your fine comment. As a young boat-enthusiast, in the late 70ties, I also was fascinated by the Fishers, then most since they looked like small ships. And as you write, they are really rugged. In the 70ties and 80ties there were a similar kind of boat build here in Norway, quite near where I live. It was the Viksund 31 Gold Fish, also delivered as a motorsailer. I always thought of that as the most solid an rugged boat in that class. However - as a comparison - the Fisher 30 is about 50% heavier than the Viksund 31. Only halv of that extra weight is ballast. Hence the Fisher´s are ultra-solid, in which I take a lot of joy/pleasure. I like this small ship to be solid. Just the opposite of the Dragonfly 800 I new have for sale. It weighs in at only 1100 kg, fully fitted. That is one sixth of the slightly longer Fisher. I will report some amateur videos like this one when I have something to report about. Soon spring though....

Just watched your video of the Dragonfly, In the mid 80s me and my father went looking at a very similar looking boat but I think it was called a ‘Telstar 26’ the outer wings would fold inwards to make it trailerable he hummed an hawed over it but decided it would be too much hassle for weekend trips. I think secretly he always regretted not buying it. Does the dragonfly have any shared history with the Telstar 26 do you know? they do look very similar!

Just looked at a picture of a Telstar and and doesn’t look anything like your dragonfly 😂😂

@@psyjayne I think there are no relations between these two brands. I dont know Telstar as a brand. Dragonfly however is made to very high standards and specifications, meaning my soon 32 years old Dragonfly 800 is still in excellent shape, has about the same features as the new ones, and is very quick. Very fun to sail. All fine adjustments are measurable in knots, immediately. Just the opposite of the Fisher I presume. :-)

Thanks. This one has quite some work ahead to be perfect.

Thanks for your motivating comments! I do actually wish - with this boat - to extend the otherwise short season quite a lot. So I will insulate the boat. I agree this is a slightly Nauticat-ish, but I like the Fisher better due to the lines and the extreme build quality and safety aspect. About the engine, I have heard these N4-60s are high reliability engines. I hope that is correct. I will work with this boat, but focus first on the necessities; waterproofing the deck and windows, checking the hull below waterlevel etc and live with a very basic boat this (and maybe next) summer.

@@hsobstad good plan bud🙂

I agree! Extends the season a lot. Rainy days dont really bother us, but we tend to get "high" when the sun pulls through. So these days, after a winter with "dark at 5" it is a rush every day as it gets brighter and longer days. But still - as you write - practical to be able to steer the boat from inside, keeping the heater going. Thanks for your comment.

Sounds like a great way of living life. Best of luck with your search for a sailboat.

Engine, yes! The boat is solid, but a lot of fundamental maintenance needed. It is a project :-)

That, Charles, is extremely cool! Thanks for commenting that. I had strong hope in the seaworthiness of this boat. So you changed the side-slidingports to hinged doors? That is interesting. Why did you do that, if I may ask?

Thanks for your mental support here. Not sure the Dragonfly-people agree ;-)

@@hsobstad No, perhaps not! Maybe they need to go out on her for a sail!

Thanks! Not a barn find though. Old boats are not like old cars, going up in price. So this is not business, just pleasure.

@@hsobstad Oh I know. Our first boat was an Islander 30'

Thanks! It is a great boat :-)

It is a Nanni N4-60, 2018 model with less than 200 hours. So quite new yes.

Same, same, John. Finally acted as this one was put up for sale in Norway. :-)

@@hsobstad I am envious have been looking at Fisher boats for many years used to go earl court boat show always big crowd viewing them.

Thank you, Tin Man.

Thanks, Marty. Quite hard to get Fisher boats in Australia, I guess, being quite far from England. There were a few Fisher 32 (?) produced in Australia I think, but not many. I found mine in north of Norway, where she has sailed all her "life". Looking forward to spring now, to commence refurbishment. I might even document some of it ;-)

Yes! Right now I am enjoying silence on my cabin, on an island on the coast. The sun is shining, pushing away the cold air from last night. And a cup of coffee.... - myself :-)

Thanks for your comment, Chas. I am actually very excited about the "stomach-part". Rumours tells me she rolls like a bath-tub in heavy seas. That might be a challenge... But setting sails should fix some of that... :-)

@@hsobstad From my experience on my dad's Fairways Fisher 25 she rolls the most at anchor!!

@@dm5374 That actually makes complete sense, as the sails and hull under speed tend to stabilize the rolling motion a bit. Great that your father has the Fisher 25. Almost bought a brand new one at the Southampton boat show, some years ago. If I had, I would have missed out on a lot of trouble though... 😊

Hi Mike. Missing the ridiculous ease of achieving speed is one of my greatest fears when going to this heavy boat. But I will love the feeling of seaworthiness and all the space inside. Your choice of the Catana 39 is excellent. I dont have mooring space for a cat. But the Fisher is the right size for just me. :-)

😂

Thanks for your comment. Sure sounds like a nice trip you did. I will probably not do that route as it is slightly on the other side of the planet (northern anyway) :-) But there are plenty of routes of similar quality (landscape-wise) going north, on the Norwegian coast.

@@hsobstad I much wanted to get over to your neck of the world with my schooner (55' L. Francis Herreshoff, 'Marco Polo', also designed for long fast passages, shorthanded.) But I kept running out of money . I wish you the very best in your travels, with a nice sailing breeze over the quarter. -Veteran '66-68

@@rogeranderson8763 What a coicidence that your schooner has "Marco Polo" as a part of the model-name, while my Fisher was named "Marco Polo" the day it was new, in 1976, and still has got that name. I like such coicidences. Thanks again!

@@hsobstad That's a good one alright! Your 'Marco Polo' is certainly fitted well for living aboard....I had a 28' sloop for awhile that worked fine that way, ...I had one bag for clean cloths and another for the dirties....when the one was empty it was time to go to the laundromat again. I had been spending some nights on a small 25' boat with a enclosed cabin but if a guy wants a girlfriend, it is best to have an enclosed head on board. Things got better when I figured that out. -Veteran '66-68

Thanks for your comments, Michael. I started refurbishing the inside underwater hull since it was incredible dirty from oilspill and greywater. That made the entire boat smell really bad. Also a good way to get to know the hull and construction, looking for faults. I have not yet sailed the boat, as the sails were totally worn out. I have measured the size of the sails and ordered a new set of identical sails, including the Fisher Motor logo and the number on the boat, 56. Also ordered the rust-red colour, as my wife surprisingly took part in that debate and fancied those old looking sails. Sails will be delivered by Gran Sails. (would prefer Sobstad sails as that is my surname, but as I understand that brand is no longer in use). I have bought a Scanbatt 200A lithium battery. Consider one more of these. Changing the old cable-based steeringsystem in favour of a hydraulic system, incl a autopilot fitted for such a system. Wind vane is not yet on the table as there are a lot of work to be done before the long trips.

Thank you very much for a positive comment. I will try to produce some videos of the restauration work, but no promises. Unfortunately I dont have the available time to make continuously videos. But I thought the video might be of interest for others with the same mindset as myself. Good luck with finding your boat.

Hello Mike, fellow Fisher-owner. Norwegian costal waters is - i guess - a bit different from UK-waters, as there are thousands of islands and fjords, and places to anchor alone. You will find lots of great experiences along the western coast of Norway, just dont expect sunny weather all the time. If you are in the Bergen/Øygarden area, let me know and I will be happy to meet you. Helge :-)

Thanks for your comment, Clive. My plan is to refurbish and sail up north. This boat is heavy built and so far - touch wood - there seems to be no big problems with the structure. I thought Alluring Artic already had a "new" aluminium "ship" or have I missed something? Compared to that boat this Fisher 30 is small (but maybe just as tough). If I can help him (them) with any questions I am happy to do so.

@@hsobstad Hi, Their vessel is sort of loaned/leased and is a massive Al hulled Expedition motor sailor Vinson of Antartic but its had a lot of problems and theyve had to have it hauled out and fixed several times already.😬 and they are Snowed in in Iceland. So they were talking about looking for a boat for themselves but still capable of handling higher latitudes sailing . As they are Finns they cannot cope with the heat. 😂 So they need a tough seaworthy boat thats insulated and offers fully protected sailing as a live aboard... The 30 might be a bit short on storage space but one of its bigger sisters might be just the ticket. BTw take a look at this set up... kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pd2dY91ercrYYKs.html

@@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665 Shall be interesting to see what they´ll choose to do. Nice set-up. Smart to do a pure generator, being able to put it anywhere and at the same time have loads of power for any onboard equipment. Nice!

@@hsobstad Fuel efficient as well and using the 35 hp motor to effectively propel a vessel that size and wt.

Clive: Who said it was for sale?

Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I´m selling the Dragonfly to be all-inn for this new experience :-)

Hei Martin. Yes I have found the number. On the Fisher 30 Northeaster the number is on the outside of the stern, slightly on the left side (port). Mine has the number FM060 / 056 / 5/1/76. That reads Fisher Motors job 60, hull (and sail) no 56, date of buildstart May, 1st, 1976.

Yes, I have kept all the rigging. I will restore the masts. The original sails are worn-out, but good for template for new. Will come in a later video when that task is done.

Thanks! So you have an even older Fisher than mine. Is it the same model/size? There might be issues coming up, to be consolidated. I am also now member of the FOA, which is very helpful.

@@hsobstad I have the exact boat. Color is tan. I see you have the tarp covering the bow coach top. Not sure what you have leaking. My mast step was rotten. The rot extended into the compression bulkhead. I repaired the deck and installed a compression post.

@@adventurousboat8724 The tarp covers the area where the mast foot stood, to protect from water ingress into the core. I believe there are rot already as part of toe coach top, just behind the mast foot, has collapsed slightly. So I will change the core from underneath. I think the compression bulkhead is ok, but I will check thoroughly. Tarp also covers leaking side-windows. Are you happy with your boat? Setup? Sailing? Seagoing cabailities etc? I consider changing the interior from a 6 berth to 2 berth (very comfortable berth that is). Have other plans as well. Might make a video about that....

@@hsobstad I need to make a video and post to catalog my changes. Hope to do that soon. As far as the boat goes she is a cool motorsailer. Pretty slow boat. She has been re-powered once to a yanmar 3GM30 which is not enough in my opinion. I have a lot of work before I upgrade that.

@@adventurousboat8724 Looking forward to your video. Let me know, please. Your engine with 27 hp is possible on the low side. I have a Nanni N4-60, 60 hp with twice the cylinder-volume as yours. I think that engine is sufficient, but would not go below 50 hp.

Yes, British. Correct, Bradley! I am very far towards east, across the Atlantic in the kingdom of Norway. This boat has spent it´s entire time cruising along the Norwegian coast. I guess this boat could also favour sitting under a tree, being refurbished all inn one go. However I need to use it during refurbishing to keep up the joy and also to get good ideas for changes by using and experiencing. I will however put on dry land this spring, if i can get access to a suitable place.

@@hsobstad very good! Fisher looks very stout. Great project. I had a lot of fun rebuilding my Tresfjord. I will send on some pictures!

Probably correct, Vaidotas. However, I dont compare the Fisher-boats to either sailboats nor motorboats. They are motorsailers. And very good ones as well. This boat weighs in at 6.6 tonnes which is quite heavy for a 30 feet boat. Many of the pure sailing boats in that size is less. Larger boats moves better in small waves, so bigger size is normally better. In bigger waves it does not matter that much if it is a 30 or 50 feet boat. It is suitability for bluewater use. The Fisher is rated as a heavy bluewater boat. sailboat.guide/northshore/fisher-30-ms Upwinds the Fisher owners motorsails or go purely by motor, enjoying a GT. :-)

I will certainly do my very best to improve the next video. Thanks for your feedback.

Still winter-ish but spring is coming. Soon time to work…. 👍😃

@@hsobstad Its been very mild in the uk but the temperatures forecast to drop again this week and it may snow ❄️ in places. 🙄 The fruit farmers will be unhappy the cherries are already coming into full bloom.

@@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665 Forgot to answer about the rig. Yes it is a Ketch. Twin masts. I also follow that young couple, working their cat, and the engine rebuild these days. :-)

@@hsobstad I hope Marks Dad and his mates have got that engine sorted now... They've covered a lot of road miles transporting it. I also want to see them beat the nay sayers.

It is a Rhea 900, a French build motorboat, build between 1996 and 2008. This is a 2007 model. Quite rare actually; only 54 were ever made.

@@hsobstad Thank you. Tidy-looking little vessel, very nice lines, almost Cape Islander-like, if she was a bit more wide and squat back aft. I wonder if she's a good sea boat?

@@harbourdogNL I guess she is a good coastal boat, B-classed. But also quite light, weighing in at 3.5 tonnes, and shallow draft of only 0,8 meter, which is slightly negative. Her bow rounding off midship, and a narrow hull means she is cutting the waves and so is a wet boat in heavy sea. Cutting through the waves is a good thing. She also has her weight rather low, which is a good thing. In total a good coastal wessel, but not ocean-going, in my humble opinion.

@@hsobstad Thank you. No, I wouldn't go too far offshore in one either, but yes, I think she'd be great for coastal cruising, and around the Med.

Hi. Yes there is. And you are right, it is not on the video. Sorry for that!. It is a small head, including shower and toilet, and a wash-basin which rolls out over the toilet. Overall I think it is slightly too small. Made small to provide room to sleep 6 people. I wish to make a new head, slightly bigger, as I have no need to sleep that many persons.

Yes. It is a compromise between a lot of factors. Smaller boat is cheaper, easier to maneuver, etc but has less space. In my harbour this is the largest boat possible. And it is large enough for just me (mostly). I very much understand if you prefer more space on deck.

This is a Fisher and it is not for sale. 😊

Thanks for your exciting comment. Being on the opposite side of the earth I can only dream about sailing New Zealand with this boat. Marlborough Sounds is a wow! Very beautiful area, as far as I can see on the pictures. Sad with the selling of your boat. Life is different stages once go through. Not everyone makes that. Sounds like you have plenty of great memories to look back upon. I would love to get photos. :-)

It´s me (not you). I am an amateur making videos. So VERY unprofessional. Sorry about that.

Sorry, yes, there is a head. By a strange coincidence I did´nt film it. It is very small. Considering changing it to a larger one, offering a few berths.

You are probably right. But again, I convert from a Dragonfly which will race this Fishers topspeed with only 4 knots of wind. So I mean it when the title of this video says "...New perspective on sailing..". That includes my mental state at sea. It´s all about the journey, not time or target. Calm down I must ;-)

@@hsobstad Yea you really gonna come down with this boat 😆

Hi. Could you specify your question a bit? It is dripping into the boat from cracks and from windows sealings.

Sorry for that, Brian. I am still very much an amateur in making videos. Trying to improve though. I will do better!

Haha! Nice analogy. But compared to what? These are not sailboats, nor motorboats. Motorsailers, being a mix of both worlds. Motors better than sailers but worse than motorboats. Sails worse than sailboats, but better than motorboats. So what do we have then. A boat that motorsails ok, and one can stay inside warm and comfortably, not to mention safe. Being very underpowered on sails, but overrated on ballast, there is quite a safety-sone for making errors. Just an example. If I wanted an excellent sailer I would have kept my Dragonfly, which I sailed 16.5 knots. A boat with very different characteristics. It´s all about what characteristics once wish to prioritise. Cant have all... :-)

Takk, Stefan. Det er mye arbeid, men det vil bli bra til slutt. Jeg håper du liker de andre videoene, og særlig de nyere :-)

@@hsobstad jo ja har sett alla videorna , o du o dotern gör ett bra arbete , ska bli kul o se när ni börjar inreda båten igen

@@stefanhellemar4501 Vi skal gjøre vårt beste for å få fin fremdrift, med god kvalitet. 🙂