Vashon for sale on Craigslist

TAD- Had to chuckle, Looked at a 34 foot "New" old time design commuter fantail constructed at the Port Townsend wood boat school. It had a Saab single cylinder engine. Asked if the hull speed of 6 knots could be realized? Sure could! So on the sea trial in Lake Union, we started out "Poppity Poppity Pop" out into the channel. Then with a GPS we increased speed. My God! The noise and vibration was incredible just incredible!
The wood stove top was a shaking and jumping. You could have popped popcorn on the the stove. The engine was exposed with a brass railing surrounding. That big flywheel was a spinning, the windows were a'shaking. The GPS showed 5.5 knots. The sales fellow, then said, "Well, what do you t-t-t-h-i-n-kkkk?"
The damn boat was a classic and real eye candy, it eventually ended up on Lake Tahoe as a tour boat if one is to be believed.
Further inspection found a real pocket of rot in the stern stem and saved the day for me.
Thanks for the moment TAD,
Al

Tad Roberts said:

Unless you really like noisy, vibrating, old stuff that breaks and the parts are in Norway.....I would seriously consider a modern engine. Of course it depends on how you use the boat, but if you intend any lengthy (more than one day) cruises, living with the sabb will get old quickly. If you just want to get from here to there or jig up a cod, it's fine. Sound deadening will do very little, the engine is hard mounted and most of the noise comes from the whole boat vibrating. A nice little Kubota will be so much better, smooth, quiet, and it starts pefectly when you turn the key.....

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Yes. The sabb is a marvel and amazing to look at and watch tick away, that said I don't want to live with it. The beta 25 (Kubota block) is already on my radar as i can stick with the keel cooler and dry stack, where in my region makes the most sense.

I'd like to hear the case for going with a 30 hp engine hopefully vashon will chime in.

This is all speculative at this point, going out with the surveyor this weekend to see if he can talk me out of it. I don't relish the idea of recoring another cabin top and I know that has to happen on this boat.

Vashon you ever weighed yours? I've seen numbers ranging from 5700-6500 and not sure if that's dry weight or displacement.

Mule said:

In the same vein, only better.....

1998 Maple Bay 30 Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

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I've seen that one but it's a world away and 10x the price of a dirty vashon.

Besides, just not as jaunty.

Close Call,

Your range is not far off. Displacement as stated in my plans is 3 tons but this seems on the light side. According to my notes, actual displacement of Sherpa is closer to 7000 pounds.

My Vashon is powered with a 29HP Volvo Penta (Perkins). Prop is 16x8 on a 1.25" shaft. Given her FD hull, a 20HP diesel would certainly suffice and you would easily achieve hull speed under ideal conditions; however, there have been many, many times (e.g., foul weather) I was thankful to have the extra HP. I cruise at 2700 RPM or so--anymore and the bow begins to lift. Your beta 25 is a good choice. I personally wouldn't go lower though. How much room for the engine? I've never seen the engine compartment of the commercial fishing version. Incidentally, there were also different size wheel houses. Some commercial versions had smaller wheel houses to provide more deck space.

Cabin top is balsa core but everything else should be foam. I haven't run into any surprises or signs of poor workmanship. Vashons are relatively simple and straightforward. I've had two marine surveys conducted and all checked out fine. They are definitely "jaunty" and overbuilt given their commercial roots.

Look forward to hearing more about the survey and your decision!

Vashon_Trawler said:

Close Call,

How much room for the engine? I've never seen the engine compartment of the commercial fishing version. Incidentally, there were also different size wheel houses. Some commercial versions had smaller wheel houses to provide more deck space.

Cabin top is balsa core but everything else should be foam. I haven't run into any surprises or signs of poor workmanship.

Look forward to hearing more about the survey and your decision!

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The engine compartment on one I'm looking at is 80% in the pilot house and 20% under the rear deck. Not ideal placement for a sabb but not bad for a Kubota with most all user serviceable parts right up front. I plan on measuring the beds and compartment size this weekend, the sabb is a 2g, which is pretty large.

Having the engine forward definitely hogs some living space but the fish hold is an awesome storage area, the hatch is large enough to swallow shrimp and crab pots not to mention spare anchors/chain, tools and the option for additional tankage.

Interestingly enough the one I'm looking at has the long house and a hold I'm not sure I've ever seen this layout before. It also has a set of smaller windows in the house aft of the large ones, never seen this on any other vashons. From the looks of the boat I'd guess it was purchased as a bare hull with engine and tanks installed. The owner build a plywood box to hide the engine and called it good. No interior is better than a trashed one.

The boat appears to be three pieces a hull molding, the deck molding and the cabin top. That leads me to hope the only water in the cabin is in the top.
I had no idea the decks were foam cored. I noticed there is one crappy repair to the rear deck and I won't know whats under there till I tear into it. It's near the steering hydraulics under the little aft deck. The appearance of that rusty ram does not inspire confidence. Have you updated Sherpa's stealing system?

Closecall

Closecall,

Great you are looking at one with a longhouse. Let me clarify a bit, the wheel house/cabin is foam with exception to the cabin top. I remember thinking this was odd when the windows were re-sealed. Decks are balsa core. You will definitely have tons of room. My engine is aft and the space is still more than plenty. I used it for anchors, diesel tanks, and tools as well. Yes, there are pretty much three pieces as you noted--water intrusion from the top should be limited there. Hydraulics were all replaced when Sherpa was repowered to include an additional helm/more control station aft, which I use 99% of the time. Watch for gelcoat crazing/cracks on the decks port/starboard amidships--mine was pretty bad and needed work. Fortunately, I didn't have to reinforce the decks and the restoration has held up well. Sherpa is on the hard at the moment and one of the projects is replacing the old stuffing box--I'll likely go traditional but I'm being slowly convinced to go dripless. Gunwales were replaced with Trex decking. A bulkhead with a service/inspection opening was added aft just in front of the rudder shaft and underneath the aft seat to reinforce the deck. I highly recommend you do this if possible.

Hope the inspection goes well!

Keep posting those links to the Vashons you find. Great looking boat and love the economy. Now if one would just come up here in Washington!

Close Call,
I converted a fish boat to cruiser years ago by removing the GMC 6 cyl truck engine that was right in the middle of the cabin (fwd) prior to purchasing a 4 cyl Palmer engine and putting it in the middle if the fish hold ... midships or a bit aft.

Both engines were gas. The GMC was a converted truck engine 302 cu in disp. GMC was about 140hp and the little Palmer 25. This was about 1970. In sea trials the Palmer had no trouble pushing the 29' wood fish boat w full keel. She went well past the point where the bow started to rise.

Most boats are better balanced w the CG a bit aft where the hull is more full to support the weight. That's very much the case w my Willy. Don't like to run w the full aft water tanks (100gal) empty. I try to keep then fairly full. It's easy for us as were low water users.

Well after all that at this point the owner and I are not able to reach an agreement.

The surveyor and I crawled throughout the boat for most of the day and while nothing earth shattering came from it, it slowed me down enough to process each job that needed to be done and look at the big picture. She's relatively sound but we located water ingress points and the extent of associated delaminations in the decks. while a relatively easy fix it would be time consuming project. The sealed fishhold as built, is part of the problem, it's all glassed in and didn't allow the rudder shaft area to vent moisture.

There is some water damage at the companionway and a small rebuild of the joinery work would be required but not too bad. Closer inspection showed this is a factory finished boat and the worst layout of the half dozen I've been aboard. The Dickerson stove (large enough for a 40 footer) takes up most of the port side of the cabin and then a cabinet with sink and diesel tank are aft of that and flush against the engine box. Hard to explain but stupid none the less.
Cabin top wasn't as bad as initially though but a project to patch up.

That's along with 34 years of half ass patches that I'd have to redo in order to keep my sanity. I've built wooden boats and done complete refits on glass ones so for me it's doable, but in my locale summers are short and I can either refit or fish and cruise I chooses the latter. If I lived in Florida and could do boat work in the winter or had a heated shop I'd probably pull the trigger.

I'm more enamored with the design than ever, just not this one. I got to read all the old letters between the builder and the owner, which is neat and got to see the old brochures and manuals for everything.

Vashon Trawler: the manual states 5700 lbs minimum displacement
and 8000 max!

Mr Roberts: what do you figure a real world best guesstimate to have one of your Tanu 24s welded up, just the bare hull, deck and house and aluminum tidbits. I've learned it's easier to build than tear out and rebuild.

Closecall

Pardon the orientation:

Thanks for the follow-up, Closecall; and I really appreciate the scan and information. Most interesting! I would love to get my hands on the manuals and brochures! Sorry to hear it didn't work out but I hope you are able to eventually find one in decent shape.

More Vashon Pocket Troller or should I say Vashon Motorsailer.
Word is one was built in the configuration.
Once again pardon the orientation, hurts my neck too.

Try this orientation then.

Wow! This is a version that this Vashon fan didn't know existed. I knew there were essentially two versions of the troller but was not aware of the motorsailer--most interesting. A 100 gallon tank would provide excellent range. The original aluminum diesel tank installed in the bow was removed on mine and the PO added a much smaller ~20 gallon poly tank midship--ample range for how I use Sherpa.

Thanks for reposting/orienting the pics, CPseudonym.

Larry,
Do you suppose the PO moved the tank for better CG?

We had a 25gal tank on our Albin. Had no trouble on our trip to Juneau and back. And I think we burned 3 quarts an hour. More for sure than your Vashon.

manyboats said:

Larry,
Do you suppose the PO moved the tank for better CG?

We had a 25gal tank on our Albin. Had no trouble on our trip to Juneau and back. And I think we burned 3 quarts an hour. More for sure than your Vashon.

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That is a good question. I believe it was more for convenience. The two tanks actually co-existed for a while. The aluminum was leaking and simply left in the forward compartment. The new tank was installed in a storage compartment midship that has limited space and could not accomodate a larger tank. It wasn't until much later that the old aluminum tank was removed. It was not an easy job from what I understand because the tank had to be cut out. I am still, to this day, cleaning slight diesel residue from the forward compartment where the tank resided.

My burn rate is a little less than your Albin. I tend to average around 1/2 gallon per hour at approximately 5.5 knots. I frequently make the trip from south St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs (130 miles or so round trip) with plenty of fuel to spare. A conservative estimate might be 200 miles for my range--plenty for me.

vashon

These are great little boats, mine has a 23hp westerbeke.

farallon27 said:

These are great little boats, mine has a 23hp westerbeke.

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Welcome to the forum. Would love to see some pictures of your baby neighbor.

Yes, welcome fellow Vashon owner. Please post some pics! Glad to know there is someone else out there that owns and appreciates one of these fine little trawlers!

vashon

Vashon_Trawler said:

Yes, welcome fellow Vashon owner. Please post some pics! Glad to know there is someone else out there that owns and appreciates one of these fine little trawlers!

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I'll take some pictures and post soon, I recently purchased the vashon and in the process of re powering her, she's a great boat and in good condition. Can't wait to get her in the water

Here's a couple of pictures of my Vashon

vashon

farallon27 said:

Here's a couple of pictures of my Vashon

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I'll try again.

Farallon,


I assume this is your Vashon, Puffin? I found these pics online.


1979 Jon Nielson Vashon Vashon Pocket Cruiser Title

Vashon_Trawler said:

Farallon,


I assume this is your Vashon, Puffin? I found these pics online.


1979 Jon Nielson Vashon Vashon Pocket Cruiser Title

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No, that's not my boat, same name, that boat is in Alaska. Anyway still trying to post pictures thanks

farallon27 said:

No, that's not my boat, same name, that boat is in Alaska. Anyway still trying to post pictures thanks

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http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s22/set-up-your-account-|-help-tips-etc-5739.html

Post number 6 at the above linked thread will tutor you in all things photographic for this forum software.

This is an older thread and Farralon27 hasn't been here in a few months but believe I found pictures of his Vashon tonight. If this is the right "Puffin" she appears to be for sale at $25,000 on Sacramento Craigslist.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing CPseudonym. The engine appears to be a Westerbeke, so it may indeed be his. Hopefully, it will fine a good home--not many around. My wife and I are so pleased with ours.

Man..that's a neat boat, so much light.

Thanks for posting the pictures for me, I really hate to sell her but I have to many projects and no time to use the boat. Do you think my asking price is in the ballpark. Thanks again

farallon27 said:

Thanks for posting the pictures for me, I really hate to sell her but I have to many projects and no time to use the boat. Do you think my asking price is in the ballpark. Thanks again

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I'd be interested in taking a look at your boat. I'll be busy until the last week of June and I can't ask you to hold her but if it's still for sale then I'll plan a trip down your way. I'm in the process of retiring...or trying to...from running tugs and I've been looking for a pocket trawler. Thanks.