Bought our first trawler

It just keeps going... I was in the store picking up the new anchor I ordered (a Rocna, heh) and the cashier asked what it was for. I told him we just bought a trawler, and he commented that he was in the market himself and thought he had found a good one, a C&L 37 down in Oxnard. He was going to go see it this weekend.

I had to chuckle at that one. I told him that I'd already bought it. Small world.

Hi All: I also ,just purchased ,my first trawler , a 34 , 1989 marine trader . I`m used to gas powered stern drives . I have a profound , disorientation , when I crawl into the engine compartment , with a ford lehman. Is there any guides available , so I can get a reasonable idea of what I`m looking at , and what I need to monitor , besides a dip stick. Thanx Brian B.

Greetings.
Welcome aboard. The only thing you have to monitor is your fun index. The rest will come naturally. Baby steps...
Further...OK, I was being somewhat facetious. the "what to watch for's" will follow...

FL120 has a couple quirks the FL135 does not have
If you have the FL120 you need to change oil on the fuel lift pump ivery 50 hrs (diesel gets in the lift pump and makes oil). Also, the FL120 has a bleed valve for the coolant. It will overheat if any air is in the cooling system.

good to know thanx. any other advise would be appreciated . I`m wondering about my transmission and bow thruster maintance . Thanx Brian B.

It's official! We closed. We are officially trawler owners. I spent the first day of trawler ownership getting insurance, calling marinas, and ordering parts.

I work in Channel Islands Harbor currently, and the marina behind has openings on the nearest finger. It's where she currently is. So I should be able to see her every day I'm here. And I can just walk down after work.

Now if the weather would cooperate with my work schedule, I could take a quick trip out to the islands...

Congrats Questionmark!

I used to have a Catalina 30 in Channel Islands Harbor and one of my dock mates worked for the postal service. Every day she would stop by her boat and eat lunch there. Sounds like something you could do. It was a great way for her to break up her work day.

Cheers, Bill

cappy208 said:

The transmission is not under stress when the get home engine is in use. No stress = no pressure. = no heat. The oil is just splash lube to keep the back end gears lubricated since there's no pressured oil being pumped in the tranny when the GH engine is used.

Also, depending upon what brand it is, it may be totally unneeded anyway. Some gears can be left in neutral while being towed (wheel spinning). Others can't (for lack of lubrication).

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Exactly. And since its splash lubed there should be no need to over fill the transmission. Especially since when the transmission is not under pressure the oil in the cooler would in most cases drain back into the transmission. So the fluid would be over filled some what anyway.

My guess is the system is fine as is. No extra oil or cooling needed.

questionmark said:

It's official! We closed. We are officially trawler owners. I spent the first day of trawler ownership getting insurance, calling marinas, and ordering parts.

I work in Channel Islands Harbor currently, and the marina behind has openings on the nearest finger. It's where she currently is. So I should be able to see her every day I'm here. And I can just walk down after work.

Now if the weather would cooperate with my work schedule, I could take a quick trip out to the islands...

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Congrats! And you have my sympathy.

questionmark said:

It's official! We closed. We are officially trawler owners. I spent the first day of trawler ownership getting insurance, calling marinas, and ordering parts.

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Not absolutely certain whether to offer congratulations or condolences! (Just joking -- congratulations on the boat, and may you enjoy many happy hours on the water).

And of course you have often heard, I'm sure, that buying a boat is like getting married.

Congratulations! Though I obviously don't know what your survey showed, if you paid asking or less, she looks like a great deal.

I bought my boat in that area, and used Vaughn from AAA Marine for both the survey and some subsequent repairs before moving south. Highly recommend him. Not sure who you used.

Phyrcooler said:

Congratulations! Though I obviously don't know what your survey showed, if you paid asking or less, she looks like a great deal.

I bought my boat in that area, and used Vaughn from AAA Marine for both the survey and some subsequent repairs before moving south. Highly recommend him. Not sure who you used.

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Yes, Vaughn was who did the mechanical, and he is great.

Now the learning curve gets steeper. I've got the slip all sorted, and can't wait to take her out, even if just to practice docking.

Enjoy the Honeymoon! Sincere congrats.

Congratulations on your new boat!

As new (big) boat owners also (since June), I fully understand the docking drills. My biggest problem was doing it wrong and losing confidence. Over time this has gotten better, to the point now where I feel pretty darn comfortable. It's not intuitive yet but getting closer. Enjoy!
Rob

questionmark said:

Yes, Vaughn was who did the mechanical, and he is great.

Now the learning curve gets steeper. I've got the slip all sorted, and can't wait to take her out, even if just to practice docking.

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questionmark said:

.... Now the learning curve gets steeper. I've got the slip all sorted, and can't wait to take her out, even if just to practice docking.

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We recently moved from swing mooring to slip,and it is a learning curve. You`ll likely have the handling skills, but how to use them in docking? Eventually we got a handling coach, after 1.5 hours coaching and a tiny $60, we have a system.Yesterday, I left the helm to attach the bow line, with the boat in gear pulling gently against a stern line.
Like when I did performance/defensive driving courses, the skills are there, it`s how you employ them. If it`s not coming together don`t be shy about getting help. It`s trite, but we don`t know what we don`t know.

questionmark said:

Yes, Vaughn was who did the mechanical, and he is great.

Now the learning curve gets steeper. I've got the slip all sorted, and can't wait to take her out, even if just to practice docking.

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Congrats!

I'll look for you out at the Islands.

Unknown Unknowns Bruce. lol

David.

Enjoy your new vessel. I really like the Europa's.

Well, the first surprise was a pleasant one. The PO said they had a "box of manuals and service records" that they would leave on the boat. Sure enough, there was a folder box waiting for me.

In it were manuals and records, but more importantly a real gem. As - built engineering diagrams of all the wiring, including the alternator/tachometer switching system. Extra bonus, a table of all the panel switches and what they service. That'll save me hours of wire tracing... Score.

They also left the nice memory foam matress. I realized after we signed I forgot to ask for it, but it was still there.

I have a few days off work, so I'll start the process of moving all the dishes, utinsils, tools, and personal goodies from the old boat to the new.

One nice thing is that the boat has ancient electronics, so it's pretty much a blank slate. I'll be moving a few bits from the last boat. I'll be installing a NMEA2K backbone throughout, and probably drag ethernet around while I'm at it.

Wow. Just finished the license applications for the ship licenses with the FCC. They've upped the price. The total was $215, just for the piece of paper. I remember it being somewhere around $150 for my last boat.

I'm trying to decide what equipment I want to bring over from my sailboat, and what I want to leave there/ part with when I sell her. I'm trying to wrap my head around going from long passages to coastal cruising, and I keep thinking "I need to take that" when I look at my sailboat equipment. But do I really?

I figure the sat phone is a no-brainer, one of the reasons my wife is OK with my taking longer trips is that I can check in daily. I can grab another dock and antenna and move the handset back and forth. That one is no problem.

I've got my SSB/Pactor setup and a ham radio both. I've been kicking around moving the SSB/Pactor rig and leaving the ham radio. I actually have a couple of ham HF rigs sitting around, so I could actually toss one of those in the trawler and just call it good. But I really like the SSB radio, I've got it all programmed and customized up how I like it, and it can run double the power. Either way it's going to require a big antenna, and moving the SSB is going to be a pain (trying to remove the control cables without cutting them.)

I probably should start this as a new thread in the electronics section, but any experienced trawler people have any advice? Should I just get over being a weather junkie and make due with the VHF broadcast and weatherfax?

All depends on what you're going to do. If you're out of line of sight for more than 24-48 hours you need something. Getting all hammed and pactored up and if you have the gear lying around and can install it yourself and are knowledgeable and qualified in its use, go for it. If it requires mega $$ (again) and you're not going to use it much, nah.

Agree with the Satcom. My wifey derived much comfort from that when I was out, by myself, for a week. Now, if you're only going out of line of sight once in a while you can set it up like I did, and have a knowledgeable bud watch the weather, and call in twice a day and get a go/no go in less than a minute.

Is the advert right in saying it only has 150 gallons of fuel?

stubones99 said:

Is the advert right in saying it only has 150 gallons of fuel?

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Sort of. It actually has 300 gallons capacity split between two tanks. One of them developed a pinhole leak two owners ago, and rather than fix it they just quit using it. So they listed only the one usable tank in the advert.

Both the engine surveyor and the hull surveyor are in agreement that if I put replace the bigger tank with two smaller ones, the only thing that I'll have to temporarily remove is the muffler, and it's sitting on a platform in the open. Depending on how large of tanks I get, and their configuration, the exhaust elbow might have to come off to get them in. The current working tank can be removed and replaced without moving anything.

I cut a stainless tank out of one my sailboats, so I'm aware of the time and effort required. My goal is to end up with about the same fuel capacity, and reconfigure to add a 40 gallon or so "day tank" that the engine will draw from, which will be fed from either of the saddle tanks. Ideally, I'd like to be able to go from here to San Francisco without refuelling. It's just over 350 miles if I go out a bit, so figure about 50-60 hours. I can almost make that now, so even if I end up 50 gallons less, I still should be fine. I have a bunch of jerry jugs on the sailboat, but I'd rather not resort to that.

My wife has laid down the law that I can't do any projects that will take the boat out of service until she's had a few island trips. Having watched her live through the last two refits (in a generous sense of the word) I understand her frustration. So my plan is to put that project off till spring. I still have to finish the cosmetic fixes on my sailboat, and those are waiting on my finishing the bathroom remodel at the house (almost done) so I have plenty to occupy my time.

We're going to go spend the night on the boat tonight for the first time, and we're going to take her up to Ventura next weekend for the regatta. I was planning on sneaking out for an overnighter during this amazing weather window, but ended up getting hired into a 120 hour shift starting Monday. At least I'll get to sleep in and walk to work tomorrow morning, the boat sits right behind the salt mine.

Questionmark,

With that kind of work schedule you sound like a firefighter. If so, that's a great gig. I did it for 30+ years, and have been retired almost 3 years. Enjoy it while you are there and stay safe.

Cheers, Bill

Brian B said:

Hi All: I also ,just purchased ,my first trawler , a 34 , 1989 marine trader . I`m used to gas powered stern drives . I have a profound , disorientation , when I crawl into the engine compartment , with a ford lehman. Is there any guides available , so I can get a reasonable idea of what I`m looking at , and what I need to monitor , besides a dip stick. Thanx Brian B.

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Did you have a mechanical check when you purchased your boat? If so, spend some $ and some time with him in your engine room. Most good mechanics are willing to explain what is what and how things work. they will want to get paid for their time, but it will be well worth it. take notes. Otherwise, how many hours since the last oil change on the boat? First time especially it may be worth it to hire a good mechanic to change your oil and filters and to check out the various systems such as fuel and cooling. Again, it will cost you a little but getting someone who is knowledgeable to explain your engine room is invaluable.

Capt.Bill11 said:

Let me guess, he thinks 3 or 4 quarts of oil with no external cooling can't get as hot as 2 or 3 quarts under the same circumstances ?

If cooling the transmission is an issue when you use the get home engine, then it should be addressed properly.

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It is common to fill up transmission with oil to run the get home drive. The oil covers the clutches and takes heat away from them so they don't burn if they are being driven without oil pump providing oil for their lubrication.

Unfortunately I see other serious problem in the design of his get home drive.
It is design mistake that is commonly made. When using chain or belt drive one can't just support the driving sprocket to the frame of the boat. The support should be happening on two bearing on the main shaft. The reason being is under way the chain/belt drive will be pulling the shaft to the side (so called shaft side load) and it will wear the stuffing box and the supporting cutlass bearing.
Attached is a picture that shows properly designed get home. Notice the two bearings and the torque arm. With this design there is no side load on the main shaft. Sorry the images are rotated 90deg. I couldn't fix it once I attached them....

SeaMaster101 said:

It is common to fill up transmission with oil to run the get home drive. The oil covers the clutches and takes heat away from them so they don't burn if they are being driven without oil pump providing oil for their lubrication.

Unfortunately I see other serious problem in the design of his get home drive.
It is design mistake that is commonly made. When using chain or belt drive one can't just support the driving sprocket to the frame of the boat. The support should be happening on two bearing on the main shaft. The reason being is under way the chain/belt drive will be pulling the shaft to the side (so called shaft side load) and it will wear the stuffing box and the supporting cutlass bearing.
Attached is a picture that shows properly designed get home. Notice the two bearings and the torque arm. With this design there is no side load on the main shaft. Sorry the images are rotated 90deg. I couldn't fix it once I attached them....

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I went to the boat tonight to take pictures and check the dock lines. It's blowing like crazy here.

The prop shaft doesn't have an additional bearing, but the sprocket for the get-home is attached directly to the trans, on the engine side of the shaft coupling. It's at least 6 feet to the stuffing box.

questionmark said:

I went to the boat tonight to take pictures and check the dock lines. It's blowing like crazy here.

The prop shaft doesn't have an additional bearing, but the sprocket for the get-home is attached directly to the trans, on the engine side of the shaft coupling. It's at least 6 feet to the stuffing box.



View attachment 46406

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If it's attached to the transmission then it's better than what I thought I saw initially. The bottom line is the less side load on the shaft, the better. Obviously if the driving sprocket is attached to the transmission, then portion of the side load is handled by the transmission's output shaft bearing. The fact that the driven sprocket is at closer distance to the transmission then to the stuffing box, makes it even better... Not ideal, but better then I initially thought. It should work ok for emergancies. Just don't run for very long. Also check with the transmission manual if there is instructions for free wheeling. Some transmissions can be ran(driven by "get home") for up to 8hrs without adding extra oil or starting the main motor

questionmark said:

I was planning on sneaking out for an overnighter during this amazing weather window, but ended up getting hired into a 120 hour shift starting Monday. At least I'll get to sleep in and walk to work tomorrow morning, the boat sits right behind the salt mine.

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Sounds like we're in the same business. Any chance there's a Pizza joint next to the salt mine? If so, sounds like you're sitting where my boat was when I bought her.

Capt.Bill11 said:

Exactly. And since its splash lubed there should be no need to over fill the transmission. Especially since when the transmission is not under pressure the oil in the cooler would in most cases drain back into the transmission. So the fluid would be over filled some what anyway.

My guess is the system is fine as is. No extra oil or cooling needed.

Click to expand...

questionmark said:

Yes, Vaughn was who did the mechanical, and he is great.

Now the learning curve gets steeper. I've got the slip all sorted, and can't wait to take her out, even if just to practice docking.

Click to expand...

Phyrcooler said:

Sounds like we're in the same business. Any chance there's a Pizza joint next to the salt mine? If so, sounds like you're sitting where my boat was when I bought her.

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Toppers!
Love that place!