New to forum , 78 34 mainship Mk1

[Alaskasbear]

Hello all,
I've been a commercial fisherman for 25 + years in this great state of Alaska so not new to boats,just new to owning one. Got a screaming deal on a 78 34 mainship. Needs lots of polish but she turns over and still floats. Only soft spots were the cockpit aft. Thought at first i was in over my head but the panic has subsided. Plan on doing all my repairs and turning her into a birding/whale watching charter for my retirement. She's still wrapped in shrinkwrap right now but I'll post pictures when it's off. Tons of information on this forum and have lost sleep already due to the wealth of information on here. Thanks for having me.

 

[Giggitoni]

Welcome, Alaskasbear!

 

[O C Diver]

Welcome to the forum! We have a simple rule here, No pictures...it doesn't exist. We're waiting patiently.

Ted

 

[FlyWright]

Welcome aboard, AB!!

 

[78puget-trawler]

Homer, eh? We stopped in there for fuel once in '82 on a tug southbound. Welcome!

 

[Alaskasbear]

Yes,Homer area. Banana belt of Alaska. Lots of beautiful days to be out o the water. I grew up in Kodiak. LOTS more rain there.

 

[78puget-trawler]

Been by Kodiak numerous times but never made it in there. Not on the freight run of the company I worked for. Still think about doing a bear hunt there someday though.

 

[Keysdisease]

Welcome aboard, I owns a '78 MKI for 11 years, looking forward to pictures

 

[Alaskasbear]

Where's the best place to post pictures?

 

[Alaskasbear]

Welcome to the forum! We have a simple rule here, No pictures...it doesn't exist. We're waiting patiently.

Ted

Here's what i have so far. Hopefully unwrapping next week or so. (Projects need done with it dry).
Keep in mind only paid 5k for this and it runs and floats. 72 yr Old man just hadnt used it in 2 years and was tired of paying boat storage fees.. Boat is a mess from being used evey summer for fishing and then hauled out and wrapped until next year,but is something that elbow grease and vision cannot restore.

 

[Arctic Knight]

Alaskabear,
Welcome. I first boated KBay in 1957 and recently sold my place in Bear Cove after 45 years. I will look for you on the h20 if I get back up there.

Arctic Knight

 

[Alaskasbear]

Alaskabear,
Welcome. I first boated KBay in 1957 and recently sold my place in Bear Cove after 45 years. I will look for you on the h20 if I get back up there.

Arctic Knight

Bear Cove is beautful. Looked at land there few years back. Hard to find.

 

[O C Diver]

Here's what i have so far. Hopefully unwrapping next week or so. (Projects need done with it dry).
Keep in mind only paid 5k for this and it runs and floats. 72 yr Old man just hadnt used it in 2 years and was tired of paying boat storage fees.. Boat is a mess from being used evey summer for fishing and then hauled out and wrapped until next year,but is something that elbow grease and vision cannot restore.

Looks very serviceable. A good cleaning should take care of most of that. Hope the mechanicals only need some basic service.

Ted

 

[Bacchus]

Welcome aboard TF
Looks like you have some work ahead but also looks like tons of potential and a good deal.
Best of luck w the projects and retirement venture

 

[Keysdisease]

OMG, you have the original World Map in the galley, that is priceless among the vintage Mainship peeps.

Looks like there is a lot to work with there, not bad at all really. The soft spots in the cockpit were typically hear the door and the fresh water tank fitting, not aft where you describe. If that's all the soft spots you have you're way ahead, and maybe you can pick away and treat the potential areas of concern and do a little pre-emptive work to keep them from happening.

Good Luck,

 

[Keysdisease]

And upon a second look at your pics your mast is down. Mine came without one, and after running a friends that had one I'm happy not to have it.

Got tired of looking at it from the upper helm, makes moving about the foredeck a little more cumbersome, and it makes using the eyebrow in front of the flybridge difficult, not to mention all the attachments and brace fittings being potential water ingress points.

Maybe consider not stepping it, you can install a combination anchor/steaming light on the forward side of the flybridge to meet the light requirements

 

[Alaskasbear]

And upon a second look at your pics your mast is down. Mine came without one, and after running a friends that had one I'm happy not to have it.

Got tired of looking at it from the upper helm, makes moving about the foredeck a little more cumbersome, and it makes using the eyebrow in front of the flybridge difficult, not to mention all the attachments and brace fittings being potential water ingress points.

Maybe consider not stepping it, you can install a combination anchor/steaming light on the forward side of the flybridge to meet the light requirements

Yes,I'm not a fan of it either. Thinking of having a friend of mine fabricate an aluminum arch for me as I would like a radar dome mounted up there as well.

 

[Alaskasbear]

Had a fantastic last 2 weeks. Got the wrap off, starter out ,rebuilt and put back in ,bilge 99%clean of waste oil (Thinking PO just dumped it into the bilge) 1 new battery installed ( still needs 1 more) . Numerous wires that were just hanging got reconnected, Discovered about $2000 worth of fishing tackle still in the packaging , $1000 worth of Fishing reels and poles and 2 spare props in the focsle under the bunk. Got the galley cleaned and stove (painting coming soon) . And most importantly.... the engine fired up to operating temp (purrs like a dream ) . Found the oil leak ( valve tappet inspection plate) . Sadly I ran out of time to work on it. (1 do a 3week rotation on north slope in Prudhoe Bay) Going to be hard to wait this time. Anyway heres more pictures.

 

[stonejd]

Brings back great memories. Had an '81 Mk I for ten years about 25+ years ago. Multiple trips up and down the west coast of FL, to Keys and Bahamas. I've described it as Chevrolet of boats. Nothing fancy but really a solid, dependable performer. My only disappointment was chasing down a leaking port in the head and finding the port "bedded in" with double-sided paper tape.

A tip... early on find out exactly how to bleed that Perkins. Hope you don't need to know, but probably will.

Enjoy.

 

[Alaskasbear]

Update. Been busy these last couple months but gettint closer to knocking out the things on my list before i launch in march. Found the original keys to the door and the flying bridge ifniton hidden on a hook under a gunwale on thr stern. Here's some more pics on progress. Just finished paint the bottom ,redoing zincs and oiling the teak. (Trying to get nice weather projects done before snow flies) Got the hull cleaned off of all the oxidation and stains..waxing is next..

 

[Toolbuddie]

AB, shaping up nicely! Can't wait to see your progress. Looks like a very good find for you. Good luck.
Dave

 

[Alaskasbear]

Boot Stripe done. Onward to the topside projects. Deciding to keep the mast to better fly my Seahawks Flags.

 

[mgardner]

This just kind of ended. I saw it way back and again on my hunt for someone who has put an aft mast up through the roof on a MKI. How is the boat working out for you?

 

[KenM]

5k is certainly a good price for the MK1.... IMHO if you want to really enjoy the boat, install a bow thruster and autopilot... two things I would not want to be without on my MKIII. They will make all the difference when you are actually using it.

 

[Alaskasbear]

This just kind of ended. I saw it way back and again on my hunt for someone who has put an aft mast up through the roof on a MKI. How is the boat working out for you?

Boat is working out wonderfully. It's been in the water for the last 2 years and we take it out weather permitting. Added a radar arch and solar panels up on top. Solar is the way to go. Batteries are never down. Even in the winter.

 

[Alaskasbear]

5k is certainly a good price for the MK1.... IMHO if you want to really enjoy the boat, install a bow thruster and autopilot... two things I would not want to be without on my MKIII. They will make all the difference when you are actually using it.

Been on the water for better than 30 yrs on boats up to 120 ft. Never used a bow thruster but autopilot is in the works. Although I do not mind hand steering. Keeps me more alert for floating deadheads and kelp monsters that are abundant in this area.

 

[KenM]

Been on the water for better than 30 yrs on boats up to 120 ft. Never used a bow thruster but autopilot is in the works. Although I do not mind hand steering. Keeps me more alert for floating deadheads and kelp monsters that are abundant in this area.

One thing you will find with the MS MK boats is they have a small rudder... giving you little or no control in reverse and little control at idle/neutral speed in the marina... a bow thruster helps a great deal....

 

[Mrwesson]

One thing you will find with the MS MK boats is they have a small rudder... giving you little or no control in reverse and little control at idle/neutral speed in the marina... a bow thruster helps a great deal....

I don't have one on my 34' Mainship and haven't had much of a problem yet(except a couple go arounds). I even back into my slip on the river.

Have to get the revs up, plan ahead, approach turn, lock steering left or right and use fwd/rev to maneuver.

A tight marina without anything to block wind can be a challenge. My last marina was like this(when I bought the boat). Only had small fishing boats before and had a pretty steep learning curve.

Measured my approach/slip and recreated it using weighted pool noodles. Worked on it all day but got some leader caught in the prop.. I'd recommend very lightweight fishing line vs leader and not rope because eventually you'll grab one. Good that it was summer .

 

[jleonard]

One thing you will find with the MS MK boats is they have a small rudder... giving you little or no control in reverse and little control at idle/neutral speed in the marina... a bow thruster helps a great deal....

I ran a model 1 for 14 years. Never had a thruster, never really had a problem with control. The rudder is plenty large enough for close quarters.
Just have to learn the back and fill procedure.
Wish I never sold it.

 

[Jeff F]

I ran a model 1 for 14 years. Never had a thruster, never really had a problem with control. The rudder is plenty large enough for close quarters.
Just have to learn the back and fill procedure.
Wish I never sold it.

Agreed. I've done 8000 miles and probably 100 locks on mine, original configuration with no thruster, mostly solo. Autopilot is a must for me, but I don't feel the need for a thruster. Boat responds well to rudder and throttle inputs.