Chris Craft 47 Commander

[Wzdr02]

How are these old boats in Florida and the Carribean?

 

[Billyfeet]

In Florida they are either in Bristol condition tied up behind the waterfront home of the original owner who is 90 years old, dresses exactly like Judge Shmailes in Caddy Shack and has not been aboard since the end of the Reagan Administration. Or they are being used as a floating home in the Keys with the engines removed to increase beer storage. In the Caribbean most are part an artificial reef program.

 

[slowandsteady]

Awesome response Billyfeet! My wife is sitting on the other side of the room wondering what I'm laughing at...

 

[Wzdr02]

So not a good idea?

 

[Billyfeet]

I was pulling your leg there.....I love those old Chris Craft Commanders! For spending the winter season in Florida at a dock or putting around the Keys or West Florida inland waters it might be a fun option. I think that most if not all were originally twin gas motors. Even at 6 knots those old carbureted 427's will drink enough fuel to make a grown man cry. But if you could find that 1969 Commander that has been sitting in a canal in Ft. Lauderdale in a covered slip behind the home of the guy who's dad invented the turn signal since it was new you should buy it! Before I do...... as to the Caribbean it would be a terrible choice. The sea conditions in the Caribbean sea are usually much too rough for a hard chine hull like the Commander and the range would be a problem unless just based in the USVI/BVI.

 

[johnrupp]

There are two very good Commander forums where you could get your questions answers by current Commander owners.

www.chriscraftcommander.com

www.commanderclub.com

 

[Wzdr02]

I'm struggling with my search for a trawler when I here so many good things about a commander and I'm curious about seaworthyness in the carribean

 

[Billyfeet]

A CC Commander in the Caribbean Sea will ride like a bucking bronco, suck it's value in fuel getting you there, and break the spirit of most mortals. Imagine being married to Kim Kardashian with $10,000 to your name......

 

[Wzdr02]

So the concensus remains stick with a displacement or semi displacement hull?

 

[Marlinmike]

I really think Billyfeet nailed it, nice putter around Florida boat, but if a gasser it will be a tough/expensive haul to the Caribbean, not to say impossible, just not probable. Find one repowered with Cummins/Deere/Yanmar's and with the right route and weather the Caribbean is a greater possibility.

 

[Wzdr02]

Oh yes the ones I'm looking at are all diesel. As I've noted before I'm focused on safety and then economy. . I'm homing in on tollycraft 43 and gulfstar 44.

 

[Billyfeet]

Boating in Florida or the Bahamas is a totally different experience from the Caribbean. "The Caribbean" is a large piece of water with different conditions in different areas. The prime factors are wave conditions that are typically choppy 4-7ft. Trade Wind seas and open water passages that require substantial distances between shelter and fuel. Discussion on an appropriate powerboat would require more info as to intended use, area of use, and budget issues and the captains experience. Also the discussion should take more time and space than a reply on a forum.

 

[Wzdr02]

True. The live aboard mission is clear to island hopping December to June and then on the hard during hurricane season. No travel beyond USVI and BVI. Boat budget 100TH and monthly budget of 7k.

 

[Billyfeet]

Gulfstar 44! YES! A sailboat without all those wires and giant radar mount to get in the way! And two engines! Built like a tank, low profile cabin, simple systems that have probably already been replaced at least once. No teak decks! Instead of Kim Kardashian you are now dating that slightly less visually attractive waitress who will rub your neck, whisper lies to you about your how great "it" was, leave you enough in the bank to buy her a new refrigerator when that 1977 Norcold quits on you!

 

[Donsan]

And I wondered why our 1984 Norcold was SoHot.

 

[Billyfeet]

Monthly budget sounds great! 100K budget for a boat will get you some quality, older, appropriate equipment. Travel during Dec.-June if no further south than Exumas is a different ballgame than down the "Thorny Path" to the Virgins. If you really want to be in the Virgins, and having lived aboard there for a few years I recommend it, you might want to look for a boat already there. Lots of dreams die on a dock in St, Thomas when the wife steps off from that little dream cruise down the island chain and declares her intention to never set foot on a boat again. Just a thought.

 

[FF]

Most of the Carib that I have sailed was a snooze.

Getting there was a hassle 630nm+ and the stream to Bermuda, then about 900 easy miles.

From FL its a bore , running from island to island when the wind gets flat , the Thornless Path.

Once there its mostly a day trip between islands , eyeball navigation.

Sure between the islands , going N or S the wind started in Portugal and is 15K mostly to 25K , Christmas Winds , and on the beam , sail does better than power.

But with a bit of speed the waves can be taken partly ahead , so distance is traded for comfort.

Behind many of the islands , the wind is almost calm, although will become a tailwind , then a headwind as you progress.

Mostly the wind is sun driven so early AM will frequently be almost calm , power boat time!

For a gas boat the biggest hassle might be locating a dock pump with gasoline at most islands.

 

[pilothouse king]

Monthly budget sounds great! 100K budget for a boat will get you some quality, older, appropriate equipment. Travel during Dec.-June if no further south than Exumas is a different ballgame than down the "Thorny Path" to the Virgins. If you really want to be in the Virgins, and having lived aboard there for a few years I recommend it, you might want to look for a boat already there. Lots of dreams die on a dock in St, Thomas when the wife steps off from that little dream crutise down the island chain and declares her intention to never set foot on a boat again. Just a thought.

What he said!!
A tip though in garnering aforementioned runaway wives departing other boats is to do what I recommended to a client who came to me from Las Vegas with zero experience with the same goals; I told him, "your really going to need to make lots of friends since you know so little, so the most important equipment we need to equip your boat with is a huge watermaker and three icemakers".
He did, and everywhere he went he would hold up a big bag of ice and say "anybody need ice?" Needless to say he made plenty of friends and unintentionally pulled his next wife out of a little sailboat IN the Windward Passage with that trick. She literally jumped ship on the high seas, and she didn't care that he already had a wife onboard, she was getting off that damn little 30'sailboat.
The original wife died (we don't ask questions in this business) and I sold that boat, which was a Morgan OI 51' and they then bought a big Hatteras and live onboard I think now in St . Martin. Moral of story? Ice. Well, that an perhaps that if your wife is so buxom and blonde that she can be spotted on the high seas from another boat, then perhaps you should had bought a bigger boat, or stayed on land?

 

[Wzdr02]

Great ideas. My bride is onboard literally as when I show her a boat she wants to see it. We are power boaters in the great lakes. Carver 37 LOA. We prefer calmer waters but lake Erie does it's own thing. We will have water makers solar and wind power generation and looks like a ice maker is on the list too. Great ideas.

 

[slowandsteady]

Here's a nice Chris Craft Commander:
Chris Craft Commander
Not your Grand Daddy's Commander. Love the boat, hate the interior.

 

[Billyfeet]

Love the updates! The interior essentially erased the classic quality and replaced it with a clean upscale RV look! I think that this is the perfect example of how to take a $20,000 boat, add $150,000 of parts and labor, and have a $40,000 boat to show for it! I wonder if eventually somebody pulls those Yanmars........and puts in the beer locker........

 

[slowandsteady]

I'm not so sure the interior of that boat was so classic to begin with. That vintage Chris Craft had lots of that fancy wood grained formica, probably not much worse than what's there now. My Dad had a 1969 42 and it had white formica and black and white shag carpeting. Groovy Baby! And an 8 track! It looks like the person that restored the Vintage Lady ran out of money when he got to the interior.