Newbie Requires Help in Many Areas Please

[Ftbinc]

Green turtle bay

Call Jerry at GTB boat sails. He was great, willing to show us everything. After the sale he kept right on being helpful until we cruised the KK Manatee up to Chicago.

Saw lots of boats before we pulled the trigger on the 36 foot manatee. The best advice I heard about buying a boat was buy the smallest one you can be happy on.

We looked seriously at a president 43 here in Chicago that had just completed the loop with twin leamans and well equipped and maintained, but decided it was two big for us. (Last I checked it is still for sale)

Good luck
Paul

I've had my eye on that. I get their email newsletter. Maybe I'll run into you and give you a shout. I used to teach at GR Elem yrs ago before the consolidation. Loved that little school.

Also glad to see Patti's is rebuilding. The drummer from my college rock group, "Clap Hands Here Comes Charly" worked there for a while post-college. Thanks for you heads up!

Bear

 

[Bearman]

Many Thanks, Terry

so you are going from a dinghy to a trawler ? big jump !
i would suggest that you look at twin engine s or a single with a bow or stern thruster. a 30 foot boat with a single engine and no thrusters is a challenge to manuver for an experienced captain. handling a boat is the first step.
second, you want something that you can be on for extended periods of time comfortably. i like the galley down, sundecks. lots of room for two, plenty of galley space and refrigerator space( a big consideration) and a large master cabin with no ladders to climb, unless you anchor out and need to use the swim platform. thats not a big deal since you have plenty of fridge space and do not have to leave the boat except in good weather.
love that floor plan, great for live aboard, entettaining or just cruising.

Great advice! I plan on adding this to my MUST HAVE list. After reading all of the comments/advice from members, there's no way I would attempt a single engine without bow and/or stern thrusters. I've seen a few that do have one and/or both. However, besides the control problems, you also have the lack of a redundancy engine. I've just about decided that the double engine configuration is best - even with the extra fuel consumption. Maybe I'll be lucky and find the perfect boat (for us) with a couple of 120HP Lehman's.
Thanks Again and feel free to share any other ideas/hints that come to mind

Bear

 

[BruceK]

.. Maybe I'll be lucky and find the perfect boat (for us) with a couple of 120HP Lehman's.
Thanks Again and feel free to share any other ideas/hints that come to mind

Bear

The Lehman 135 Super overcomes some L120 issues,as well as the 15hp extra! (30 if you find twins!). Came in around 1983. But L120s are fine and (touch wood) well kept, they run so sweetly.

 

[Bearman]

Great! Thanks Paul

Call Jerry at GTB boat sails. He was great, willing to show us everything. After the sale he kept right on being helpful until we cruised the KK Manatee up to Chicago.

Saw lots of boats before we pulled the trigger on the 36 foot manatee. The best advice I heard about buying a boat was buy the smallest one you can be happy on.

We looked seriously at a president 43 here in Chicago that had just completed the loop with twin leamans and well equipped and maintained, but decided it was two big for us. (Last I checked it is still for sale)

Good luck
Paul

Thanks so much for this info, i.e. - Jerry @ GTB. I will certainly give him a call before we head up to the Fall Boat Show in a couple of weeks. There are a couple of boats we've been looking at online and are ready to see in person. That Chicago boat wouldn't happen to be the 1986 President 43 DC listed @ 79,900 would it? I actually have that boat on my "possibles" list.
I like that boat a lot. Sounds like the same vessel with the twin Lehmans. Anything you'd like to share about that boat would be appreciated. Although there are just the two of us, we're considering doing the Loop with a couple of her more adventuresome nephews for the "crew" as such. We are within just a few nautical miles of the Cumberland and Mississippi Rivers with the Ohio and the Tennessee right outside our kitchen window. That puts Kentucky and Barkley Lakes about 30 minutes away. Have even considered buying a large houseboat and doing dinner cruises. It's hard when you are an aspiring "chef", a professional musician, and a retired adventurer. Which way do you turn? Maybe I could do the loop with my keyboard on board for entertainment as I offer dinner cruises while in ports along the way. Many things to consider - good thing I'm retired!

Thanks Again and let me know what you think about that Prez43 for 4 ppl
Bear

 

[Ftbinc]

That's the one. - old goat

Gene and Mary looped on it two years ago. "Old Goat" looked to be in good shape and well maintained. Lots of room and well laid out. She's been stored indoors heated in the winter across the lake in Michigan.

(They also own a sailboat which Gene rehabbed and raced to mac last year.)

Nice people. They lived on her in the summer and are interested in selling. We looked at it seriously at least twice.

I would contact them and se the boat before it goes to the yard for the winter.

Jerry at GTB was the best broker we came across. Be sure to tell him hi for us.
Paul

Thanks so much for this info, i.e. - Jerry @ GTB. I will certainly give him a call before we head up to the Fall Boat Show in a couple of weeks. There are a couple of boats we've been looking at online and are ready to see in person. That Chicago boat wouldn't happen to be the 1986 President 43 DC listed @ 79,900 would it? I actually have that boat on my "possibles" list.
I like that boat a lot. Sounds like the same vessel with the twin Lehmans. Anything you'd like to share about that boat would be appreciated. Although there are just the two of us, we're considering doing the Loop with a couple of her more adventuresome nephews for the "crew" as such. We are within just a few nautical miles of the Cumberland and Mississippi Rivers with the Ohio and the Tennessee right outside our kitchen window. That puts Kentucky and Barkley Lakes about 30 minutes away. Have even considered buying a large houseboat and doing dinner cruises. It's hard when you are an aspiring "chef", a professional musician, and a retired adventurer. Which way do you turn? Maybe I could do the loop with my keyboard on board for entertainment as I offer dinner cruises while in ports along the way. Many things to consider - good thing I'm retired!

Thanks Again and let me know what you think about that Prez43 for 4 ppl
Bear

 

[ranger58sb]

The best advice I heard about buying a boat was buy the smallest one you can be happy on.

There's another side to that coin.

It's not always easy -- especially for newbies -- to know what that "smallest" size is. Complicated sometimes by mission evolution as folks begin to use their boat more and in different ways.

Hence buying the "smallest" often leads to 2- or 3-foot-itis... moving up, sometimes a few times in a row, to get to where they could have been in the first place.

Initial budget is a big driver, of course, but incremental moves upward can pay havoc with lifetime budget.

I suspect useful to keep both of the typical competing rubrics -- buy the smallest you can enjoy, buy the largest you can handle, buy your third (or last) boat first) in mind, etc. -- but better to concentrate on envisioning up front how you would use the boat (really) and what features you would need to best use it that way.

-Chris

 

[gadahl]

All Things Mechanical

Bearman:

Buying an older trawler as your first serious boat entails a long learning curve and more money than you can imagine as you stand on the broker's dock, sighing deeply as you gaze at that "perfect" boat.
All older boats have some level of "deferred maintenence." There is a direct trade-off between the boat's price and the amount of work she will need. Having brought a neglected trawler back to life, I would suggest buying newer if possible. In the price range you suggested you will be seeing boats that are 30+ years old. These can be great vessels if they have been properly maintained, or a nightmare if the boat was not loved by her prior owner(s).
I suggest you think about prospective boats from a "systems" point of view: propulsion systems, electrical systems (AC & DC), water systems, waste systems, electronics and navigation, deck and hull, etc.
When you get serious about a boat give it this test: In the engine space can you reach and turn every through-hull fitting–every one–and can you reach every filter in the fuel system?
One really good source is the blog and website published by Steve D'Antonio. Steve was for years the mechanical systems editor for PassageMaker and other publications. (www.stevedmarineconsulting.com)
With all it's issues, buying and reworking an older trawler to make her your own is a great adventure and one truly rewarding activity as you learn your boat and her systems. And, as others have said, make sure the Commodore has bought in on the plan. Have fun.

 

[Boilermaker75]

(Marine Trader) Tradewinds 38 Sundeck

Please indulge a new member and wannabe trawler owner/Looper. I've researched dozens of 25 - 35 year-old 35' - 42' Sundeck-style & Europa-style trawlers, and the history of Taiwanese-built trawlers. A 1987 Tradewinds 38 Sundeck in Michigan has captured my attention for a variety of reasons. I think it was probably built/imported by Marine Trader/Marine Trading International (MTI); so arguably, it could/should be called a Marine Trader Tradewinds 38 Sundeck? If not, can anyone tell me what the difference(s) between a Marine Trader 38 Sundeck and a Tradewinds 38 Sundeck is (are)? Just hull/keel design? Is anyone familiar with the Tradewinds 38 Sundeck's pros and cons? If I can buy a mid- to late-80's 40' Sundeck trawler, comparably equipped and in similar condition, for the same $50K +/- price, BUT the 40' boat was a lifelong year-round-use saltwater boat (not a six-months-of-the-year use freshwater boat), would anyone advise getting the bigger boat for the same initial investment? Thanks in advance to anyone who responds to share their knowledge, experience, and insight with me.