1996 Bolger Shallow Draft Motorsailor19m

Miss Nina is a 61 ft. pilothouse ketch motorsailer designed by Phil Bolger and built by Brad Story in Essex Massachusetts in 1996.  Though Phil Bolger is primarily associated with plywood “instant boats” and highly unconventional and conceptual designs (folding schooners and bow steering sharpies), there is a lot more to his story.  He was one of the most prolific American yacht designers of the 20th century, producing more than 700 plans of remarkable diversity over a 50+ year career.  When called upon to draw a boat to a relatively conventional brief, Bolger created some very well thought out, extremely livable, beautiful boats.

Miss Nina is one of these designs, an aesthetically modern yet very conventional motorsailer.  She draws less than three feet, carries over 1,200 square feet of sail and is stable and comfortable when the wind is up.   Her rig is set up for short-handed sailing and she can be steered either from the aft cockpit or from inside the pilot house.  With her twin diesel engines she can cruise at eight knots when the wind is not cooperating.

The cockpit is all the way aft.  A round transom bench surrounds the central outside steering station.  All sheets are lead aft to the forward end of the cockpit for ease of sail handling.  Forward of the cockpit is the pilot house.  There is a settee and dining table aft to port, the inside helm station forward to starboard and the companionway down to the salon forward to port.  There’s easy access to the deck on three sides and the pilot house has exceptional visibility in all directions.

There is a day head at the bottom of the companionway to port, forward of it a P.E. Luke soapstone wood stove and double settee.  Aft to starboard is the dining area, which converts to a double bunk, and forward of it a roomy, well-appointed galley.  The salon is full of natural light and its eye level portholes allow a great perspective on your surroundings while down below, particularly at anchor.  Forward of the salon is the forward cabin with double bunks to port and starboard and all the way forward, a second head.

Her current owners put Miss Nina through a major restoration in 2011.  They own a boatyard in the Midcoast ME area and maintain her to an extremely high standard.  They’ve operated her successfully as a day and overnight charter boat out of Belfast, ME for the last few years.  With a beautifully appointed, executed and maintained interior, a spacious pilothouse, and ample space in the cockpit and on deck, Miss Nina is the perfect boat for coastal exploration.  The added benefit of shallow draft allow this 61 ft. boat access to tidal areas unapproachable to sailboats half her size. The mast height of 56 ft. 6 in. allows Miss Nina to travel anywhere in the Intracoastal Waterway. This boat is in excellent condition and with its updated systems, rig and amenities makes for a perfect cruiser, live-aboard, or charter vessel.  Considering Miss Nina's draft and rig height, this is an ideal vessel for sailing the coast of Maine in the summer and cruising to the Bahamas come September. This is a floating home fit for family or couple looking to travel the coastline with the comforts of home.