President 41

[Pipeliner]

We finally divided to do this boat thing after years of dreaming. Put deposit on a 41' president aft cabin 1987 model. Will get engines survey and marine survey next week. It has FL 225 twin. Not sure of hours on engines(gauges broke and have not seen any maintainanc records) Would appreciate any input on this from y'all experienced boaters. The only thing we didn't like about the boat is the turbos. Price and layout we think we love. Thanks in advance.

 

[Tuesday]

No maint log is a kind of a big deal in my opinion.

You havnt seen them yet, or they are unavailable?

Purchase price is a very sweet and seductive temptress. The survey will be instrumental in discovery and the true value position of the boat.

No doom and gloom talk from me. I am sincerely excited for it to be exactly as is seems. I am just extremely weary of great deals on used boats..

 

[Pipeliner]

I have asked, but broker could not find at the time. Will ask owner. A good deal always scares me too. But will go through with survey unless something really detours us. But my confidence is a little low. Need someone to give me a boost. We love the boat but are we waisting money , but guess we won't know till after money is spent.

 

[Tuesday]

I intend no sarcasm when I say... its only money.

That said, I worked and scrimped and saved and scoured for finding the right boat. Pined and priced and dug deep to use all my reasonable judgment in attempting to make the "right" decision. Nearly drove myself mad.

You want a scape goat to blame when it goes overbudget? Thats easy.

Buy it! Its a great boat and its going to be amazing!

Yeah. I know, doesnt help much...

Only you know your position. Financial position. Mechanical inclination, personal resourcefulness, time you can devote, and threshold for tolerance in the ever blurry lines of all the above.

Be as honest with yourself as you can. Use your head. Use your strengths. Lean on your partner for hers/his. Its a big purchase.

You said WE. So I am sure it will be the proper outcome. Be patient and thorough. Be honest and have eyes open as possible.

It will work out. Or it wont. Enjoy the process. Dont dread it. If the deal breaks.. so be it. There WILL be another boat. I am rambling so please forgive...i wish you and yours the best.

 

[Pipeliner]

Guess your right. Appreciate your honesty. You only live once !!

 

[Blissboat]

Yo, Pipeliner: Glad you're psyched about a boat that could do the job for you. Good luck!

I'm curious to know what it is about those 225 hp Lehmans that concerns you? Recently I inspected a 44' Marine Trader, offered at an attractive price, that was powered by a single 225 hp Lehman. The standard power in those boats had been a single 120 hp Lehman. The seller explained that a previous owner, after ten years of operation, felt the boat needed more power, and re-powered it with the bigger Ford. Sounded okay to me, until we started talking about fuel consumption, which turned out to be more than twice what other owners report with the standard Lehman. That was not the only factor that turned me off from the boat (it had lots of deferred maintenance), but it weighed heavily in my decision to pass.

Anyway, the surveys will be interesting and educational. Please let us know what you find out!

 

[Pipeliner]

I guess the economy and I really don't know anything about turbos. Seems to me it's one more mechanical thing to go wrong and upkeep.

 

[Paul Reid]

We are getting a survey on the 6th. For a 1985 41’ DC PRESIDENT
ANYTHING we need to look for ?

 

[Comodave]

We are getting a survey on the 6th. For a 1985 41’ DC PRESIDENT
ANYTHING we need to look for ?

Our last boat was a President 41. It was a great boat. Check the decks for wet coring. The fuel tanks are”black iron” which means steel so check them for rusting. Mine had insulation around them so it is tough to see the tanks. I could see the tops where the filler is and there wasn’t any rust. That may be the best you can do. It only had one 30 amp main breaker with 2 30 amp inlets so one of the inlets didn’t have any over current protection. I have looked at several 41s and they all were built like that however it isn’t safe, so you will need 2 main breakers. I replaced the main electrical panel and got 2 main breakers. Also check that the boat will be able to plug into the new docks with ELCI protection. My 41 had all the neutrals tied together on one bus bar. Had to add a second bus bar and separate the neutrals for each inlet. It was a PITA since none of the wiring was labeled so I had to figure out which neutral went with which hot.

We did extensive work on the boat. Painted the whole boat ourselves, replaced the 11 portholes with 316 S/S ones, rewired most of the boat, added a stern thruster, made new canvas enclosures, added a hardtotop to the flybridge, and many more upgrades. It sold in less than a week to a very nice couple from Wisconsin.

Good luck, hope it works out for you.

 

[TJM]

We are owners of a 1981 41 President DC as well, but with the FL120's.
Great boat, check for leaky side windows along the decks. Everything else is owner specific. I personally would not worry too much about maintenance records. I smart owner can whip something up in a few hours on a computer and no one would know the difference. Sneaky ? absolutely.

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

We have a very similar PRESENT 42' sundeck, with FL 135 engines - same as the one's you are inspecting, sans the turbo's. Great engines, but if run hard, the turbos will shorten their life - as in maybe 7500 hrs to overhaul, vs 10-12,000 for non-turbo. So Not really a problem. Good luck.

 

[Comodave]

Forgot about the useless leaking side windows. They are about 48” long aluminum windows and President mounted them on the curved fiberglass cabin side. Of course they leak! I took the 4 windows out and glassed them closed. Then added 3 10x10” ventilation hatches for air flow and light.

 

[Paul Reid]

No turbos .