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kpinnn

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2012
Messages
137
Location
USA
Vessel Name
Periwinkle
Vessel Make
Gulfstar 36
Been looking at trawlers for some time (see other posts). Actually still not sure betqeen Downeast styles vs trawler. Regardless one of the issues I do not want to deal with it teak decks, very problamatic here in New England. I see a number of Gulfstars available and no desk teak. Is this a Tiawan trawler? Also looking for something that could be used for offshore use. Not blue water but certainly off shore, and what that means I don't think I am very sure of. Whatt makes someting offshore vs blue water vs coastal cruiser?
 
Whatt makes someting offshore vs blue water vs coastal cruiser?

EVERYTHING, Initial design , scantlings , construction , fuel tankage , internal volume for stores , even the bunks are different .

No "Queen" Lubber bunks where the folks will be rolling crashing into each other for the off watch.

What is the difference between a passenger car , and a tracked command car?

There both "cars" that carry folks ,but with really different design and build concepts.

The closest one can get in a boat that is NOT a Passagemsker that can stick its nose outside into ocean conditions is a sport fish.

And even they watch the weather very carefully.
 
I was told Nordhaven is bluewater. I do not need blue water but want something with better sea keepin qualities than the 28 ft Rinker I am not in. It is not impossibe for me to see 4, 5, or even 6 ft chop in Buzzards Bay Mass. Four ft is tough in the Rinker if not dangerous. Will a trawler be better to handle these conditions? I am aware of the fact that the sport fishing boats seem to be better at these conditions than the express cruiser type I am now in. Will something like the Gulfstar be better, and is it as good if not better than a down east style hull. I know ther are a lot of factors and much has to do with the captain. Just looking for opinions and thoughts. It almost apperars teh sailboat is best for rough seas.
 
To zero in on the OPs question I think the Gulfstar boats will be considerably better in rough seas than the typical trawler and especially if equipped w paravanes.

A good rule of thumb is that if the hull out of the water looks more like an old fishing boat and less like wide planing hull it will probably be much better in the nasty.
 
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They were built in Florida. They are great boats. We had a 38 ft Motor Cruiser and just bought a 44 Motor yacht. The tanks are fiberglass so no rust issues. Name brand components. We would buy another one in a minute. We crossed the Gulf of Mexico in hours and have no issue running offshore within reason. Which model are you looking at. There was a big difference between the 36 and 43 ft and the later models. The first ones were little more than sailboats without the mast the latter are true trawler style.
 
Probably looking at the 36. Still looking but see there are many available.
Ken
 
Take a look at the 38 long range motor cruiser. Nice boat

Here is a link to our blog on the old boat

MV Mer Soleil
 
kpinnn said:
I was told Nordhaven is bluewater. I do not need blue water but want something with better sea keepin qualities than the 28 ft Rinker I am not in.
You don't need a Porsche or BMW to drive either but when you are driving one it is nice to know that they can do things that 80% of the other cars can't. So don't sell the Nordies and Selene's style of boats short.

Gulfstar, Morgan and Irwin were all built with in a few blocks of each other in St. Pete FL on Bryan Dariy Road. Yes out in the middle of farm land, no water in sight. It was said that one could buy a boat from all three of these builders in three separate year models and five or six of the 40 folks that built the boats worked on every one of them. It was a revolving door between the three builders.:dance:
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I’m into my second year of owing a 1975 MrkII 36 footer. Not so much worried about the blue water since the Chesapeake is large enough for us. I have been out in the bay with 3-4s (that is big in bay standards) she did fine with the wind 20-30 from port to stbd. Much more on the beam it gets very rolly. Board reaching is ok and running is fun! I think for my wife’s sake if we had to go more than a few miles in a larger beam sea I would tack. The MrkIIs have slightly larger rudders that the first models from what I understand. What year are you looking at?
 
Welcome, we have a Gulfstar 1973 Mark 1 43 trawler. Had Sangria Nites almost two years now and have been working to refurbish her. Keeping updates posted in our photo gallery here.
The keel really helps keep it stable and it's a great solid boat.
 
I have crawled around on a couple of them over the years, ( gulfstar trawlers )

I realy like the build quality , well built , simple set up, kinda. Could use better deck draining.

A friend took his 36 from Vancouver to the west side of Vancouver island for the summer 2012. Had a grand time. They have good legs ( distance ) and solid ride ( IMO ) for coastal cruising here on the west coast of Canada. Seems fine for off shore fishing / cruising (10 , 20 , 40 , 50 miles out ) with decent weather windows.

Be a name that would be on my list to watch for if I ever change my wooden boat ways.

My 2 cents for what thats worth.
 
Love the Gulfstars... Well made and plenty to choose from.

I own both a trawler and a downeast, both the same size. Very different creatures the Willard is full displacement type 6.5K cruise The Bruno is 12K cruise.

All the Gulfstars are twin engine (I think) and some may also have balsa cored hulls
 
Victor_Chat said:
Welcome, we have a Gulfstar 1973 Mark 1 43 trawler...The keel really helps keep it stable and it's a great solid boat.
Click to expand...
In Gulfstar36s avatar, the keel looks like a cross between a sailboat fin keel and long keel. Is that right? If so,no wonder they are so stable.
 
I do not need blue water but want something with better sea keepin qualities than the 28 ft Rinker I am not in. It is not impossibe for me to see 4, 5, or even 6 ft chop in Buzzards Bay Mass.


In this case SIZE does matter.the larger boat is the usually more comfortable in chop.

Round or rounded bottoms will give a better ride than a box bottom with hard chines , although the motion (roll) may be longer the check , reversal will be smoother and less cause for vomit.

Roll control,, flopper stoppers can be added to any boat with a strong enough hull to take the loading .

The sport fish answer is to just climb up on top of the chop, tho this takes a big boat and probably 1/2 to 1/4 MPG.

It is a dream to think a small boat(under 50ft) can be comfortable at all times.
 
From what I understand the 70's models used the same hull molds as their motorsailer.

BruceK said:
In Gulfstar36s avatar, the keel looks like a cross between a sailboat fin keel and long keel. Is that right? If so,no wonder they are so stable.
Click to expand...
 
Greetings,
Oooo....Mr. alormaria....nasty. That comment DID give me a chuckle though.
A number of years back I was interested in buying a GS and went on quite a few. Seem to recall my impression was pretty close to yours.
 
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I have a friend with an older 43/44 GS sailboat and a previous dockmate had a similar size/age 43/44 GS trawler. Both are well built sturdy boats, well capable of off-shore travel, though IMO the trawler is not an ocean going vessel. Two issues with the trawler were high deck level required steps up from dock and in rough water the bow would get pretty wet leading to leakage around windows and forward hatches. Both leakage problems are probably boat specific rather than design issues, though these boats are getting on in years. By contrast the sailboat is in excellent condition and very seaworthy. Does race well - built like a sled!!
 
Must not have been on many sailboats :socool:.

My 36 has much more room than the 35 foot sloop I had in the past.

alormaria said:
Yes, and they have about as much interior room as a 70's sailboat.
Click to expand...
 
"Yes, and they have about as much interior room as a 70's sailboat."

THAT'S The price of being able to stick the boats nose out in blue water and cross it..

3 stories high with an oxygen tent on top is fine in brown water.

You pays your money and takes your choice.

Vessel or condo afloat , both are fun.
 
FF said:
"Yes, and they have about as much interior room as a 70's sailboat."

THAT'S The price of being able to stick the boats nose out in blue water and cross it..

3 stories high with an oxygen tent on top is fine in brown water.

You pays your money and takes your choice.

Vessel or condo afloat , both are fun.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking a condo with an air conditioned flybridge is my choice...
 
Ours is a GulfStar 44' MC...... We've owned her since 2007, live aboard full time. She's officially classed as an "antique vessel".... She is stout, solid, and comfortable. The workmanship put into her was well above average.... The GS's were built in St. Petersburg, FL....until some time in the 80's when they were bought by Viking...

Our boat has zero coring anywhere.... she's all solid FRP.

I can tell you that I have been caught in some very bad weather and she handled it well enough that I never felt unsafe.... I was heading north up the west coast of FL from the Keys when a bad front moved south much faster than predicted....seas were very bad... only had to reduce speed to keep from banging ....and I was surprised after docking to not be able to find anything broken loose or damaged.
 
Gulfstars and Rough Water

Do any of you GS 44MC owners have any experience running the Mona Passage on an average day? Will the 44MC handle that ok?
 
Mona Passage on an average day?

The passage is simply a 120 -140 mile day when its nice.

Just distance , no monsters , or "Here There Be Demons"!
 
After a little research...

Gulfstar 36 and 43 foot trawlers were built from the same molds as the motorsailers. I don't know what the differences between the motorsailers and the trawlers are concerning ballast and center of gravity, but the hull form is the same.

There are two generations of 44 foot gulfstar trawlers, and the two boats are very different below the waterline.

The 44MC (1978-1980) is a soft chine deep keel boat that looks like a modern sundeck cruiser above the waterline. It is typically powered by perkins 6.354 engines, and is intended to be cruised at about 7-8 knots.

The 44MY (1985-1988) is a sundeck cruiser with a modified V hull and typically came with Cat 3208s. The MkI usually has 3208Ts, and cruises at about 14-16 knots. The MkI had side decks, the MkII was full width. The MkIIs can be had with 3208TAs, and can be cruised at 18-19 knots. They are very different boats from the earlier 44MCs.

I just put a contact on a 1979 44 MC. I'll let you know how it handles Chesapeake Bay chop. This particuar boat is reputed to have gone to Panama and back, and is supposed to be ready to go again. We'll see...
 
Where on the Bay? We are on Kent Island with our 36.

Hank
 
OFB said:
I have crawled around on a couple of them over the years, ( gulfstar trawlers )

I realy like the build quality , well built , simple set up, kinda. Could use better deck draining.

My 2 cents for what thats worth.
Click to expand...

On our 44' MC...I found that when it rained heavily....the decks wouldn't drain as quickly as they should....so I found a solution to that problem. The original drain setup combined the flybridge drains on each side with the deck drains and fed down to the bilge where the water exited the boat via a seacock.

I drilled openings in the sides of the hull directly below the deck drains and put a 1 1/2" stainless thru-hull in each side about a foot above the waterline, which allowed the water to flow much faster since it did not have to overcome the upward pressure of the outside water. It also gave me two more seacocks to use for other systems, or to eliminate.
 
Gulfstar 43MKll

My old buddy Rufino just told me he is swallowing the anchor--hes 70 and had a hip replacement last year. He lives aboard in Ft lauderdales Las Olas area. His boat is one of very few GS43 MKll with the Perkins 160 HP turbos. Said he will be asking hi 30s.
 
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