Halvorsen 32 Gourmet Cruiser

He was a yacht owner. She loathed sailing. Otherwise, Barry and Lois Catchlove got on like a house on fire. So, in the interests of promoting better at-sea relations, they decided to buy a boat they could both enjoy. There's no shortage of motorboats for empty-nesters, right?

Wrong. Concurrently, this couple said the choice wasn't that great if you are among the apparent few who don't like go-fast flybridge cruisers. Problem with them is, explains Lois, that they separate the living amenities from the helm station. Which, along with sloping decks, was precisely the problem she had with yachts.

Coming from a sailing background, Barry also wanted something with a hint of tradition and, I suspect, not a roar-around sportscruiser. Perhaps predictably he found himself gravitating towards the Halvorsen yard before meeting with Harvey Halvorsen.

Harvey suggested either his Halvorsen 32 Gourmet Cruiser or its 38ft sibling for the couple. With no kids to contend with, the 32-footer got the nod. It's not a 32-footer as you might know it, but it's a real little ship with a surfeit of living space for two.

In fact, such was the confidence the Catchloves had in Harvey Halvorsen that they bought their 32 Gourmet Cruiser sight unseen. Photos of their boat's progress were emailed from the factory, and Harvey was there - like a midwife - ready to answer prenatal questions.

TRAWLER POWER
The Halvorsen 32 Gourmet Cruiser is based on the time-proven Island Gypsy 32 hull - 160 sold worldwide - but with a hanging rudder for more speed and a wider saloon for more interior volume.

The Island Gypsy was created out of the Grand Banks 32, which Harvey Halvorsen built for Kong and Halvorsen. So the boat is certainly time proven. It's also seaworthy, drawing 1.1m, with a full-length deadwood keel so you can kiss sandbanks and not dent a prop blade.

A play on the picnic-boat name, the 32 Gourmet Cruiser is designed to be a cut above. This was Gourmet Cruiser #17. While most of them have sold into the unflinching US trawler market, this style of boat is catching on here.

Built in Hong Kong, the 32 Gourmet Cruiser has fetching, trawler-like lines, an optional navy-blue hull on #17 that looks the part, and a nice stepped sheerline leading to a high, swooping bow.

The hull sides have faux-clinker mouldings and teak-capped toerails, and there are teak cabin trim highlights too. The stainless deck gear is extra heavy duty with, for example, a Samson post up front that Samson himself couldn't dislodge. Harvey describes his boat as "chunky, jaunty and go-anywhere". I noted some signature Halvorsen details such as the use of good old Dorade vents, a flashy stainless-steel horn, and super-high and functional bowrails and grabrails that help with the passage forward.

PERSONAL TOUCH
"All these rails around the sides make me feel very safe about going around the outside of the boat," says Lois. And this is an important detail when there are only two of you with mooring lines, fenders and so on to manage.

An interior decorator, Lois says the couple's 32 Gourmet Cruiser really works on the inside too: "A lot of boats are designed from a male perspective and they lack attention to detail. But this boat is easily maintained, and it's accessible."

Lois changed the boat's upholstery from cream to more practical navy blue, and she used Sunbrella for the outdoor cushions instead of vinyl in the cockpit. Scatter cushions with nautical motifs (sourced from Sheets Ahoy) add to the salty feel indoors.

There are matching anchor cutouts in the pantry doors too, but unlike the old timber Halvorsens there's no nameplate on the head.

The golden-hued Burmese teak fitout, navy-blue soft furnishings and stainless steel are a timeless, elegant and classical combination. The boat's abundant windows, hatches and portholes ensure plenty of light aboard. I, for one, couldn't help but warm to its ambience. 

OUTDOOR LIVING
I came aboard via the hinged teak boarding platform, stepping through the centre marlin door, which opens outwards so you don't disrupt your loose table-and-chair setting assembled in the cockpit.

The cockpit had optional teak planking, high-gloss teak gunwales, big-boat deck fittings including huge mooring cleats, and an aftermarket stainless-steel gas barbie.

There are two moulded, aft-facing seats on the saloon bulkhead, under the moulded awning, whose cushions were attached with fiddly press studs. There is a dual gas-bottle locker with venting. Full insect/camper covers let you turn the cockpit into a summer sleepout.

Underfloor, via a big hatch with gutters connected to overboard plumbing, is a lazarette with a deflated rubber ducky, access to emergency steering, and room left over to store half the contents of the average boatshed. The flat aft sections of the hull reveal a grid system of stiffeners.

Even in the out-of-the-way places the boat appears well made. The 340lt stainless-steel watertank (no GRP flavour) lives on the centreline. Above decks, criticism has been levelled at tightish sidedecks. True, you need to shimmy and sashay when passing the step in the sheerline. But relax - the upside is a near-full-width saloon. More on this later.

The foredeck is flat, covered in non-skid, backed by those high rails, and just nice and safe. Sensibly, the owners fitted an optional windlass. The deep anchor locker comes gratis. Fuel fillers are on both sides of the boat.

An all-over accessible cruiser, the 32 Gourmet plays into the hands of the leisure set, retirees, ex-yachties, anglers and cruising types. There is enough floor space inside and out for the boat to entertain, say, six people. Plenty of headroom adds to the sense of space. Yep, she's a big 32-footer.

INDOOR LIVING
A satin-finished teak-and-holly floor ranges throughout the saloon down to the accommodation and split head. The drinks cabinet immediately to port was converted into a home for the must-have microwave oven and some additional cutlery-storage space.

The remainder of the port side is taken up with an L-shaped settee under which lives a large icebox, drawers and storage space. The icebox could easily be converted into an additional freezer or fridge if you added an element.

The dinette, which can seat six if you plonk down two occasional chairs, is mounted on a sturdy pedestal base. The table can be lowered to make an impromptu double bed. One might consider the crank handle that lowers the table to bed height to be an example of over-engineering, but I didn't think so. I have come across too many faulty friction-type fasteners in my time messing about on boats. The crank was engineering to behold.

On the same level as the dinette is the L-shaped galley to starboard with everything you need for a weekend or more away. You get a two-burner gas stove/oven, Corian counter, deep sink and big under-sink storage space, plus top and bottom lockers. The cupboard doors have signature anchor cutouts for quaintness and ventilation.

The Norcold 12V/240V fridge lives under the helm seat, which folds forward to create additional food-prep space. Above the helm is a switch panel and, clearly visible, the water and fuel-tank gauges.

There is a small hatch for day-to-day checks in the engine room, a larger foldback hatch for maintenance work, and an extra hinging panel to help with bigger jobs. In other words, engine access isn't an issue.

The boat is built to USL code and, as such, the engine room is virtually to survey standards with excellent labelling, insulation and impressive electrical systems. The boat has manual and auto bilge pumps, fuel shutoff valves, and seacocks with double hose clips on below-waterline skin fittings.

The twin 360lt fuel tanks have sight gauges and clean-out ports, plus big Racor fuel filters. I noted an 1800W invertor, 40W charger, big house and engine batteries, emergency paralleling facility, and excellent wiring to circuit breakers.

Importantly, there was lots of servicing room around the single 315hp 330B six-cylinder Cummins diesel engine and room for, should you choose, a generator and air-con underfloor. The 45lt water-heater and freshwater pump give, in Lois' own words, "The best hot shower you could ever hope to have".

Back up top, there's a rail on the ceiling to help with your passage forward, four opening side windows and two more opening windows facing aft - all with insect screens. The front three windows have wipers with freshwater washers.

Big windows bring views to the internal lounges and to the skipper at the starboard-side helm seat. Although you drive and cruise for views indoors, one feels part of the ocean environment. There is no sense of stuffiness and one only feels detached when the weather turns turtle. 

FORTY WINKS
Four steps reach down from the saloon to the deep foredeck, which gains height due to the boat's raised sheerline. Up front is the boat's one and only cabin. But it's incredibly spacious, with a full-width double island berth, which gains shoulder room thanks to the flared bow.

The nautically themed bedspread and cushions were a nice touch, and the teak joinery was typically well done. I counted four drawers, six storage hatches and two cedar-lined hanging lockers with lights - one of which had been converted into additional pantry space.

The split head put the WC to port. You get an electric Jabsco loo, deep storage locker and bevelled mirror. The shower across the way had a moulded seat, shelves, towel rail and provision for a shower curtain so you can keep your towel dry.

It goes without saying that there are extractor fans in the WC, shower and galley; handrails where you instinctively reach for them; fiddles where things might otherwise go flying; headroom, shoulder room, storage room... and comforts. Much of it comes from years of experience messing about in boats. The Halvorsen name is duly revered.

TURN, TURN, TURN
Admittedly, all I did was gad about Middle Harbour and turn this way and that. The owners, on the other hand, plan overnighters and weekends away to local waterways such as Port Stephens.

But even on the flat I could sense the boat has a headstrong nature not unlike an ox ploughing a paddock. The big timber wheel is fun to spin and the boat dutifully responds to the rudder.

The Coursmaster autopilot, Sewar chartplotter and Furuno 16nm radar permit hands-free cruising. The boat has a chart area portside behind the dash and red nightlights and searchlight. Not to mention the bowthruster that helped make good our escape.

At optimal cruise speeds, the boat pushes through the water at 2200rpm and about 10kt using 31lt/h. Leaving 10 per cent in reserve, the fuel capacity will see you cover more than 200nm between fills. A touch of in-trim helps maintain unfettered forward views.

Unlike some picnic or trawler-type boats with engines under the saloon floor, this wasn't a noisy boat. At 1400rpm and 7.5kt the 32 Gourmet Cruiser is especially conducive to carefree cruising. Dual engines are an option, but why bother?

Put the throttle down and the four-blade prop shunts the hull to 15.5kt. However, fuel consumption doubles to 60lt-plus. And while the bow rides nice and high, the transom does dig in more like a displacement hull.

This Halvorsen 32 Gourmet Cruiser lives at the foot of the garden, tied to a jetty, several steps below a Sydney waterfront home. But it's put a spring in the step of its owners and, well, it made this budding writer think about retirement. Only three decades to go now. Sigh.

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