Boat Facts:
2002 Cruisers Yacht 5000 Sedan Sport
Length overall: 50′
Beam: 15′-6″
Draft: 4′
Air Draft: 18′-8″
Propulsion: twin CAT 3196 diesel engines. 660 horsepower each
Fuel capacity: 600 gallons
Fresh water capacity: 150 gallons
Holding Tank: 100 gallons
After selling “Why Knot” in August of 2021, we began our search for our “perfect” (for us) loop boat. Some of the features that were on the top of our list:
- Flybridge
- Able to move around the sides of the boat in order to handle lines
- Master stateroom with a walk-around bed
- Either hydraulic swim platform or other way to be able to carry and deploy a dinghy easily
- Room for office/workspace (Scott needs to be able to work)
- Bow thruster (stern thruster a plus)
- Twin diesel engines, preferably CAT or Cummins
And of course the most important features for a loop boat: She had to fit the size requirements for any boat to be able to do the loop:
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- Air draft (height above water): Less than 19′-6″ to be able to make it under the lowest unavoidable fixed-bridge on the loop, which is on the Illinois River just outside of Chicago
- Water draft (depth in the water): Less than 5′ to be able to make it through some of the Canadian canals and even portions of the Intra-coastal waterway
- Length: The only “hard” rule for maximum length is under 84′ long to make it through the Trent-Severn waterway in Canada; however we knew we wanted to be around the 50′ length as the bigger you go, the harder it is to navigate some of the waters and the longer the boat, the costlier it is since marinas charge per foot
We spent considerable time online boat shopping and visited/toured many different boats. Not ruling out any specific brand, we quickly realized aft-cabins were not for us – even though they generally provide for a very roomy full beam master bedroom, we just didn’t care for the overall styling and weren’t a fan of the multiple levels – and stairs. Ruling aft-cabins out limited our options as one of our desires was the walk-around bed.
In June of 2023, after an exhaustive almost 2 year search, one day we stumbled upon a Cruisers Yachts 5000 Sedan Sport.
There aren’t many of them out there so they hadn’t made it onto our radar yet, however they appeared to tick almost all of the boxes. We made arrangements to go to Ontario, Canada a couple days later to have a look at one that looked nice online. We fell in love with her and were under contract within a week, and began the process of surveys and working through all of the red tape involved with importing a boat from Canada into the United States.
Since our last boat was named “Why Knot”, we thought it was fitting to name her “Knot Again”.
The previous owners had her for 10 years and took meticulous care of her and added many upgrades over the years.
A must have on our loop boat was a flybridge. We love the view from up there and the Captain prefers to pilot the boat from there.
Knot Again also has a lower helm, which could come in useful during inclement weather as our flybridge does not have air conditioning or heat.
One of the features we loved on this boat was the side entry into the lower helm. We thought this could come in useful on the loop during locking.
We also love the outside areas on the boat; including the upper deck area behind the flybridge as well as the lower open cockpit.
We knew we wanted to have a dinghy on the loop, and an easy way to load and unload the dinghy was paramount.
Knot Again came with a Freedom Lift already installed and we chose to purchase the 2012 Grand Marine G380 center console dinghy with a 40hp Yamaha the previous owners had.
We LOVE the Freedom Lift, it makes it so easy to raise and lower the dinghy and know that it will be a huge benefit while doing the loop.
The previous owners also installed solar panels and an inverter which will be perfect for nights spent anchored out.
A view of the flybridge. Notice the custom captains chairs that the prior owners had installed. Another great feature is the updated electronics to both the upper and lower helms.
