Nimble Boats, Florida's Shoal-Draft Trailerable Cruisers

A builder who designed for Florida's shallows

Jerry Koch set up Nimble in Clearwater in 1985 with a clear brief: boats that could ride a road trailer and cruise the thin water of the Gulf Coast, the Keys and inland rivers. He did not draw them alone. Ted Brewer, the respected yacht designer, produced the sailing side of the line, including the Nimble 24, the 25 and an Arctic variant of the 25, plus the Kodiak, a 26-foot motorsailer. A 32-foot model called the Wanderer came later in two forms, one leaning toward power and one toward sail.

Koch and Brewer then teamed up on the Nomad, the company's only pure powerboat, and the first hull was begun in 1990.

No two boats quite alike

Nimble ran more like a custom shop than a production line. According to its own literature, work on a boat did not start until the customer had gone through the drawings and settled the layout, joinery and equipment, and Koch wanted buyers involved in the finishing decisions. The result is a fleet of small cruisers that share hulls but differ in detail, which is part of their charm and part of the challenge when buying one now.

Koch died in 2003. Ken McLeave, who had supplied Nimble with fiberglass components through his own firm, joined partners to take the company on, first in Brandon and then in Tampa, where Nimble Boat Works showed a lengthened 29-foot version of the Nomad around 2014. After that the trail goes cold. The website was suspended by 2017, and we consider the brand dormant.

The Nomad and its place in the story

Our Nimble Nomad review covers the model most shoppers are looking for today. PassageMaker credited it as one of the first compact trawlers built anywhere, and it captures the company's whole philosophy: towable, very shallow, simple outboard power and a cabin a couple can live in for a week. It is a protected-water boat rather than an offshore cruiser. Dimensions, power options, the two interior finish levels and used asking prices are covered on the model page, along with how it compares with today's pocket tugs.

Owning a boat whose builder is gone

With no factory left to call, Nimble owners depend on general fiberglass and outboard yards for help. Boats come up rarely, often in Florida, and frequently through private sales. Because every hull was finished to order, inventories vary widely, and the outboard, trailer and head usually decide whether a given boat is a bargain.

On any Nimble, check:

• Moisture or delamination in cored areas, especially near deck hardware
• The hull-to-deck seam, toe rail fastenings and bedding
• The outboard well and transom for cracking or softness
• Engine compression, age and maintenance records
• The trailer's frame, axles, brakes and bunks
• Leaks at pilothouse windows, hatches and doors