Mainship 390 Questions

[Paul M]

Hello to all,

I am a new member considering transitioning from sale to power. One of the vessels I am considering is the Mainship 390. I have some questions that I hope you can help me with.

David Pasco did a review of the Mainship 350 on October 27, 1999. There were a number of issues he discussed and since the 390 is essentially an updated 350, I would like to know if the problems were addressed.

* Excessively loud generators.

* The engine and generator exhaust and some thru-hull valves on the starboard side of the engine were unreachable.

* The swim platform extension caused the hull to squat and throw a huge stern wave as the bottom of the platform profile does not follow the hull contour, but angles upward from the point of attachment.

* the sea keeping in a following sea caused wallowing and difficulty maintaining control.

Finally, has anyone done long duration cruising like the "Great Loop" or similar trips have any comments or concerns to share?

I just completed an 8 month cruise to the Caribbean and back and I hope to do some more long range cruising in the states. For the most part the crew will consist of only my wife and I and an occasional guest for at most a week, but usually about a weekend.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

 

[DavidM]

David Pascoe would find fault with a Nordhavn.


But seriously some of his points are valid and some apply to every trawler ever built- the stern seas wallowing comment.


The original 350 was a mistake. There wasn't enough aft buoyancy to let the boat gracefully get up beyond hull speed. So a kudge was developed- the buoyant swim platform was added soon after the 350 was introduced. But it had its own problems. It was an add on so the water flow didn't flow smoothly as Pascoe notes. And more importantly the swim platform leaked. Most were fixed under warranty. I am surprised that Mr. Pascoe didn't mention this, but maybe the model he surveyed for his surly comments was already fixed.


He is right about generator access and that is a perennial topic on the Yahoo Mainship site. Don't know about noise.


The 390 is an ok boat, but not great. The 34T corrected almost all of these issues but is a couples boat. The 400 does what the 390 tried to do, quite nicely.


David

 

[johnma]

we have a 2003 390. the original generator was 3600 rpm's and supposedly noisy. i never heard one so i cannot comment. mine is 1800 rpms and not that bad, although the noise does bounce off of the cockpit overhang so it is a bit louder than a boat with no overhang. not a problem when you're inside with the door closed. you can see if the swim platform had the repair by looking to see if there are access hatches, either round or square. if they're in there it's no problem. any boat with a squared off traqnsome does not like a following sea. I have a good auto pilot (Simrad) so it is not a problem. All thru hull valves are accessable; however, there are some thru hulls above the waterline on the starboard side that could be an issue if they ever needed to be replaced (no valve on these) bilge pump discharge, ac pump discharge etc.
lots of 390,s have made the loop
john