Nimble Nomad, the Trailerable Pocket Trawler From Clearwater and Tampa

What the Nimble Nomad boat actually is

People searching for the Nimble Nomad boat, or just a Nomad boat, are usually looking at one of the earliest compact trawlers built in the US. It is a 24 ft 7 in pilothouse cruiser with a single outboard tucked into a cockpit well, an 8 ft 6 in beam that keeps it trailerable and a draft of only 16 inches. Passagemaker described it in 2012 as one of the first compact trawlers ever built and noted that builder Jerry Koch collaborated with designer Ted Brewer on the design, starting the first hull in 1990.

Nimble Boats itself dates from 1985, when Koch founded the company in Clearwater, Florida, to build trailerable, shoal draft power and sail boats. Brewer, the respected yacht designer, drew the Nimble 24, 25 and 25 Arctic sailboats and the 26 ft Kodiak motorsailer, and the later range added the 32 ft Wanderer, built as a trawler or a motorsailer. The Nomad was the pure powerboat of the family.

Jerry Koch's semi-custom approach, and what happened after 2003

Nimble never built boats off a fixed spec. The company's own brochure said it would begin a Nomad only after the buyer had studied the layouts and decided how they wanted the interior and options, and Koch insisted owners take part in the final design. That makes every Nomad slightly different, which is charming and also a reason to inspect each boat on its own merits.

Koch died in 2003. Passagemaker reported that Ken McLeave, whose company had fabricated many fiberglass parts for Nimble, and a group of partners kept the business going, building in Brandon, Florida. By 2013 and 2014 Nimble Boat Works was based on Raleigh Street in Tampa, still offering the Nomad, Kodiak and Wanderer, and it showed a stretched Nimble 29 with two more feet of cabin and two more feet of cockpit.

The company's web presence then faded. Archived pages show the Nimble Boat Works site suspended by 2017, and the old domain no longer belongs to a boatbuilder. We treat the Nomad as out of production, with the used market the only route to ownership.

Tropical or Special, the two finish levels

Nomads were sold in two versions with identical hulls, decks and exterior layout. The Tropical, which the builder said was the more popular, has a warm varnished teak interior or lighter birch with teak trim, a teak and holly sole, and interior doors framed in teak with woven cane panels. The pilothouse has six windows, two of which slide open, and 6 ft 3 in of headroom.

The Special targets easy maintenance: a gelcoat interior with teak accents, a textured non-skid sole and aluminum sliding windows in the aft cabin. Construction quality is the same; the hull to deck joint on both is bonded and sealed, capped by an aluminum toe rail and through-bolted with quarter inch stainless bolts on centers of less than six inches.

• Tropical: varnished teak or birch interior, teak and holly sole, cane doors
• Special: gelcoat interior, textured sole, aluminum aft cabin windows
• Both: same hull, deck, outboard well and exterior layout

Walk through the cabin to the bow, no side decks required

The Nomad's smartest feature is safety-driven. Rather than forcing crew along narrow side decks to reach the anchor, the layout gives a path through the interior from the deep aft cockpit to a protected foredeck with high bulwarks. Passagemaker singled out the open bow cockpit as a secure place to anchor, handle lines or simply ride in calm weather, and used listings show extras such as a bow shower and a teak anchor line box there.

Inside, the pilothouse has a helm seat, a mate's seat, a teak chart table and space for autopilot, radar and plotter. Aft, the cabin has a single settee berth to starboard and a convertible double to port when the dinette table drops, plus an enclosed head with standing headroom. Four elliptical bronze opening ports and the companionway hatch provide light and air. A basic galley flat and stainless sink were standard; an L-shaped galley with a 110/12 volt stove and refrigerator was the popular upgrade.

Out back, the cockpit is deep with high coamings, the engine cover doubles as a cockpit table and acoustic barrier, and the outboard well is deep enough for an electric tilt so the motor can be lifted clear at the dock or when trailering.

One outboard, 24 gallons and patience

Nimble offered outboards from 9.9 to 50 hp and said the most common choice was a 50 hp four-stroke with a power prop, a combination it described as fuel-sipping. The standard built-in tank holds 24 gallons. Used listings show Honda 45 and 50 hp engines and an Evinrude 50, often replacements for the originals.

We have not found independently measured speed or fuel figures for the Nomad, so ignore any listing that promises specific numbers without a test. This is a slow, easy-riding coastal and inland cruiser for protected water, not a boat for open ocean crossings. Its 16 inch draft is the real performance figure: it opens the Florida Keys backcountry, the Everglades and shallow river systems where deeper trawlers cannot go.

Running costs are tiny. Budget roughly $3,000 to $8,000 a year for insurance, outboard service, trailer upkeep, storage or a small slip and the odd canvas repair.

Finding and judging a used Nomad

Nomads are scarce and mostly change hands privately or through small Florida brokers, which is why searches such as Nimble Nomad for sale Florida are common. In 2014 the builder's pre-owned pages asked $19,900 each for a 1991 Tropical and a 1994 Nomad, and $38,900 for a 2005 Tropical with a Honda 50 and a two-axle trailer. In 2026 we would expect most to sell between about $15,000 and $45,000.

Because each boat was semi-custom, compare equipment lists line by line. A newer four-stroke, a sound galvanized or aluminum trailer, air conditioning and a proper marine head with holding tank add real value. Original two-stroke engines and tired trailers subtract it quickly.

Nomad versus today's pocket tugs

Modern trailerable cruisers such as the Ranger Tugs R-23 and R-25 or the Cutwater C-248 bring inboard or bigger outboard power, more speed and contemporary electronics, at several times the price. The Nomad's appeal is different: it is light, very shallow, simple to maintain and full of hand-built joinery. For an owner who wants to poke slowly through skinny water and sleep aboard in comfort, it still makes a lot of sense.