Defever 41

[Wally]

My wife and I are looking at a Defever 41 as a live-aboard cruiser. Plan on doing the loop and the Islands. She is single engine with a bow thruster. Any comments would be helpful in our decision making. Thanks Wally and Darcy

 

[Ben]

My wife and I are looking at a Defever 41 as a live-aboard cruiser. Plan on doing the loop and the Islands. She is single engine with a bow thruster. Any comments would be helpful in our decision making. Thanks Wally and Darcy

Where's the boat? I think there's one (41) for sale in New Bern NC, near me. What is the power plant? DeFever is a tank. Strong boat.

 

[Wally]

The boat is in Merritt island, Fl. It has a 6-354 135 perkins

 

[Portuguese]

... That's a wonder boat. With regular amounts of TLC she will give you lots of joy.
Make sure you that it is in good condition.

Be happy

 

[Ben]

The boat is in Merritt island, Fl. It has a 6-354 135 perkins

Contact Tom.B on here. He has the same engine and is a good mechanical hands-on captain.

 

[Stagalv]

Which yard built this 41?

 

[sunchaser]

A very nice DF 41 is/was for sale by TF member Ralph Yost. The vessel may well be the most up to date 41 on the East Coast. New engine, hull peeled with new mat added and Furuno NN3 among the redos of the past few years.

 

[Daddyo]

A very nice DF 41 is/was for sale by TF member Ralph Yost. The vessel may well be the most up to date 41 on the East Coast. New engine, hull peeled with new mat added and Furuno NN3 among the redos of the past few years.

Grace Yachting Group (Raleigh, NC)

Grace Yachting Group (Raleigh, NC)

 

[Larry M]

Grace Yachting Group (Raleigh, NC)

Grace Yachting Group (Raleigh, NC)

The exterior on the one in Jacksonville looks good but the engine? Pictures 50 and 54 show two different alternators. And the expansion tank hanging off the front of the engine? Picture 54 is also missing engine parts. Current pictures available?

 

[sunchaser]

. Pictures 50 and 54 show two different alternators. And the expansion tank hanging off the front of the engine? ?

Picture 55 shows the brand new alternator sitting on the engine. A bit of sleuthing shows some other before and after pictures during engine mods. But, suffice to say if one is serious about a rare single DF, this East Coast one is worth a look.

Wally, there are several DF owners in AZ. Buy one and you can join a very "exclusive" Cactus loving club.

 

[Maryboo]

Different subject and my very first post. We just bought a 1998 Defever 44 motoryacht and have a question about the seachest. It's 33" tall inboard and 25" outboard to the hull. The waterline is all the way up to the cover and would overflow and sink the boat if we remove the top. We understood that the 2003 boats have taller sea chests. Has anyone added a height extension to their seachest and how did you do it? And does anyone have a source for that gasket?

 

[sunchaser]

On our 2003 DF the top of the sea chest is about 10" above the water line. The top has a clear plexiglass cover with a 8" bronze screw cap. The gasket material is standard red rubber about 3/16" thick and can easily be made on your kitchen table.

I'm not sure what extending your sea chest up would accomplish. In theory it allows access to the through hulls or clearing a trash bag from the intake grate with the boat in the water, a need we've never run across. I've seen many non DF sea chest designs that terminate below the waterline, all in fact except for the later model DFs.

 

[Stagalv]

Here is a pic from a new 2014 DF50 Cockpit. On this boat (which is a different hull from the 44/49s) on the inboard side it is 46" from the top of the chest down to the hull, 6" less on the outboard side. The surface of the water on the inboard side is about 30" down to the hull.

I don't recall ever seeing a DF with water all the way up to the top of the seachest.

 

[Maryboo]

Thank you both for your information. I wish ours was as tall as your 50. I am still wondering what other 44 owners have this configuration and if anyone has taken on the job of raising it by adding taller fiberglass sides, as we are considering. We did run across a 2003 44 owner within the last month who has a taller seachest than we have. As it is now we could not remove the top at all without hauling, or could we replace the gasket which started this whole thing for us.