George Buehler, the iconoclastic designer of salty Diesel Ducks trollers, just passed away in Washington state after suffering from an aortic aneurysm. He was 69.
Born in Oregon, Buehler wrote that he was always “boat crazy” and even worked in custom boatyards in Maine while he was in high school. But his fancy always returned to the rugged, single-diesel, fuel-efficient salmon trollers of the Pacific Northwest. He decided to apply those same principles to his Diesel Ducks, designing safe and comfortable trollers for a couple who wanted to cruise long distances.
Buehler saw a niche for his trollers after looking at the more traditional trawler market. “Many are wonderful vacation homes,” he wrote, “but if you want to do open-water cruising, most aren’t suitable. They’re so high and fat that they’ll beat you to death in a seaway, be difficult to dock in any wind, and have systems aboard that require skilled technicians to keep operational.” He noted that he’d been called a minimalist, “but I’m not sure I like that because the implication is of something lacking.” Instead, Buehler said he based his designs “on the concept of simplicity.” (A Diesel Duck 48 is pictured above.)
Over the years, Diesel Ducks were made in various yards in China and Turkey and elsewhere out of wood, aluminum and steel. Most cruised at 8 knots and burned a gallon an hour. In 2007, the 462 Diesel Duck Peking won The People’s Choice Best in Show Award at the Mystic Trawlerfest. Buehler also wrote two books, “Buehler’s Backyard Boatbuilding,” and “The Troller Yacht.”
Toward the end of his life Buehler wrote that he and his wife, Gail, were living in Whidbey Island, north of Seattle, where “we have a fine little house on a couple of acres where I collect old boats, stray dogs and interesting machines.” They were “comfortable,” he said. “That sums it up.” Read more:
