Introducing Victoriana

We are new to this forum as members but have owned our 1981 36' Universal Tri Cabin trawler since 2012. Having enjoyed the gulf islands around our home on Vancouver Island we look forward to communicating with others in the area for tips on handling and upkeep.

Cheers

Welcome!

Greetings from down the road in Sidney, welcome aboard!

Another greeting from Sidney - I think we have the same boat? Got any pictures?

markpierce said:

Welcome!

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Thank-you for the first welcome!

rochepoint said:

Greetings from down the road in Sidney, welcome aboard!

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I appreciate the welcoming I recognize your boats name, I have seen it before at Maple Bay Marina.

hobbystuff said:

Another greeting from Sidney - I think we have the same boat? Got any pictures?

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Thanks, I believe we do or a very similar one. Actually I believe we were going to look at the vessel you own (i guess before you bought it), but we were told it was sold before already. I will try to get some pictures up soon.

Hello from Nanoose bay I also have a 36 victorian sedan ive owned it for 2 year now.
Dean

dean said:

Hello from Nanoose bay I also have a 36 victorian sedan ive owned it for 2 year now.
Dean

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She looks very nice! I didn't think that I would find 2 people on the Island with Universal's.

Ya I am surprised to, there doesn't seem to be to many around.
Mine needs quite a bit of work, but I enjoy working on it.
This year I am hoping to redo the bright work and repair a leaking fuel tank.
Do you have single or twin engines?

dean said:

Ya I am surprised to, there doesn't seem to be to many around.
Mine needs quite a bit of work, but I enjoy working on it.
This year I am hoping to redo the bright work and repair a leaking fuel tank.
Do you have single or twin engines?

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Finding much info on the brand seems rather difficult. We only have the one engine, which we are trying to keep in the best shape possible. Unfortunately ours needs some work too, apart from bright work and some paint. Our vessel is somewhat blessed that previous owners took rather good care of it. They took apart the teak deck and reset it, also tore down the entire aft cabin chasing a leak. Now we seem to have some moisture problems with our flybridge though, but hasn't become a huge problem as of yet.

My fly bridge seems ok but i have a lot f rot under the cockpit floor and under the decks on ether side, I am going to bring my boat home and put it under cover next winter, then I'll redo the plywood under the decks and I mite just eliminate the teak.
The PO. Replaced both engines with new isuzu diesels in 06 so they should be good for a long time, I put about 120 hours on them last year so they now have 480 hours on them.
Last year I replaced all the battery's and installed a new Sterling smart charger.
I let you know when im down your way,if it's convenient we can check out each others boats.
Dean

Victoriana said:

Thanks, I believe we do or a very similar one. Actually I believe we were going to look at the vessel you own (i guess before you bought it), but we were told it was sold before already. I will try to get some pictures up soon.

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Yup, looks like we have sisterships.

When we put in the first offer on our boat, it was rejected because we offered a trade (can't blame a guy for trying). We decided to go have a look at your boat but was told it was under offer, so we put in a cash offer that was accepted - well under what they were asking.

The boat and engine surveyed well, with some minor issues, which we have corrected. Overall it is a very solid boat that was very basic when we bought it, having been well kept mechanically by the previous owner. Since we bought it in August of 2012 we have completed quite a few upgrades including all new appliances, new electronics, new engine gauges, new electrical panel, new wiring, new cushions in the forward/aft cabins, new dinghy and I just completed a major upgrade of the battery banks including a new charger, external regulator, battery management panel and inverter. We have a single Lehman 120 that runs well, spent most of our time over the last couple seasons replacing parts and ensuring we have spares aboard - also had the top end done to deal with a small head gasket leak.

We also have a small leak on the flybridge if we leave the canvas open. Last year we met a couple from Powell River with the same boat as ours at Clam Bay. Shortly after we were anchored they came by for a visit to check out our boat, and we did likewise. He has twin Perkins, and has removed all his teak decks. I mentioned the flybridge leak to him and he said that under the teak deck on his flybridge there was a hatch that was never properly sealed, and that his leaked until it was properly repaired. Thought that was interesting.

The big thing with ours is cosmetic, overall it looks pretty good but things like teak, waxing, etc. have been started but took a back seat to upgrading the systems.

So, there are three Universal 36 Tri-Cabins on the BC coast that I now know about, including ours.

I'm going to PM you our contact information if you ever want to email or call me with any questions. Looks like you started your journey with Victoriana around the same time we started with ours.

-- Ryan

Isuzu's

dean said:

My fly bridge seems ok but i have a lot f rot under the cockpit floor and under the decks on ether side, I am going to bring my boat home and put it under cover next winter, then I'll redo the plywood under the decks and I mite just eliminate the teak.
The PO. Replaced both engines with new isuzu diesels in 06 so they should be good for a long time, I put about 120 hours on them last year so they now have 480 hours on them.
Last year I replaced all the battery's and installed a new Sterling smart charger.
I let you know when im down your way,if it's convenient we can check out each others boats.
Dean

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Hey Dean- I was reading this thread and came upon your post about having newer Isuzu engines. I have not heard of many boats with Isuzu's, but--I currently have eleven Diesel engines in various pieces of equipment/generators/trucks, and the Isuzu's are my favorite, over the Perkins, Dietz, John Deere's, even the Cat's. I have one smaller Isuzu in a 25 KW MQ generator that has well over 12,000 hours (I'm afraid to look anymore) and runs like a champ 16 hours daily. I think you lucked out getting your vessel with the Isuzu's in place--Good Luck!!
Todd

Welcome aboard. It looks like you have already made some connections. Excellent! A lot of knowledge on the forum blended with some great humor and personalities.

that would be great, always nice to talk to people who willing to share their knowledge abut their boats.

Welcome aboard.

Gorgewags said:

Hey Dean- I was reading this thread and came upon your post about having newer Isuzu engines. I have not heard of many boats with Isuzu's, but--I currently have eleven Diesel engines in various pieces of equipment/generators/trucks, and the Isuzu's are my favorite, over the Perkins, Dietz, John Deere's, even the Cat's. I have one smaller Isuzu in a 25 KW MQ generator that has well over 12,000 hours (I'm afraid to look anymore) and runs like a champ 16 hours daily. I think you lucked out getting your vessel with the Isuzu's in place--Good Luck!!
Todd

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Hi Todd I did a bit of research about Isuzu diesels beforebI bought my boat and that's what I discovered to, they seem to have the reputation of being one of the best of the Japanese diesel engines, there the same engine that's in Hitachi and John deer excavators,and a ton of other equipment.
Dean