Here's a Defever for someone...

Stabilized. New engines. New generator. Would be a nice cruise back from Panama!

1983 Defever Tri Cabin Trawler New Motors Power Boat For Sale -

Wonder why they they repowered with twin 240hp Yanmars. Does that make sense?

I wish I was ready for my first trawler. She looks like a nice boat. The defever has just about everything on my wish list.

David

Is that really fiberglass? Sure looks like steel to me.

Looks like a scream'in buy to me. And what's not to like about new Yanmar engines? I think it's the same boat that sunchaser has.
refugio what makes you think it's steel?

Loading that boat on a freighter in Panama and dropping it off in Florida would be criminal in my opinion. Yes Eric that's sunchasers twin sister with all new iron. 240 HP is about what they came stock with so twin 240's while a bit overdone should be perfect for the next 20-30 years cruising.

The DF 48 pictured will make somebody very happy. Our year 2003 build is SN 168 so just guessing this one would be about SN 35. The 240 Yanmars are the right physical size and will seldom see above a 35% load thus should go for a long time if maintained properly.

Assuredly the vessel is FRP. I just measured the thickness of the solid plug (diesel heater exhaust) from about 1 1/2' above the waterline at 1" thick. We've just been running around in some BC winter gales, the stability of the 48 is pretty impressive.

God bless Art, I'm just enjoying his creation and keeping it in the condition a "DeFever Motor Yacht" (so says the placard above the switch panel) deserves.

yup, it looks like a very good deal. Head west from Panama, explore the South Pacific. Wonder what kind of range it has?

The brown stains from th OB discharges might make it look like its steel with rust streaks. But its glass. Gelcoat looks a bit faded and the short cabin makes it a less desirable live aboard but still a great boat.

Yes, 480hp is a bit much for 8kts cruising speed and 12kts top end. My 46 DeFever with 270hp easily cruises 8kts. But my top speed is 10.5kts. That's a lot of extra hp for 1.5kts.

I need a recommendation for a surveyor in Panama. One who speaks and writes in English as my insurance company doesn't staff translators in the legal department. This is too hard. Maybe I should just wait until it gets to Florida! And no aquatic hitchhikers please.

The paper towel dispenser in the ER is class. Why didn't I think of that idea?

Could the brown stains be from black water discharge? Grey water discharge?

manyboats said:

refugio what makes you think it's steel?

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It just looked like it to me. Maybe it was that all the rails are painted. The look of coamings at the bow and stern. The lack of curvature in the bow. It looked like the steel Defevers to me. Did they ever make this in steel and copy it in fiberglass?

The brown stains are from the 3 discharge thruhulls which more than likely are the are the ones for the 3 aircon heat exchange water discharges.

And it's not a steel boat, it's fiberglass.

Amazing I'm OK w an overpowered boat and most others are questioning it.
Not my usual for those that don't know me.

If the engines were NA and 480hp I would be singing my usual song. But I really don't know much about tubocharged engines and assuming if they were ran at a 75% load they would wear much faster than a NA engine at 75% load. Also assuming most all people would run this boat at a 25 to 35% load re the 480hp. But if someone were to run this boat overdriven at 14 knots (assuming it could) I'd not be mak'in positive sounds about it. What does Yanmar say about a continous rating on these engines?

But like a turbo Cummins running just a bit into the turbo (40 to 50% load) should be fine. Due to the turbo I consider a big chunck of this power to be sort of artificial. Only useful for short periods of time. Tear into me if I'm wrong because I really don't know. And if these Yanmars are good to go at 80% load continously then I'm on the way over powered bandwagon. But also due to hull design these boats could be usually underpowered.

refugio said:

It just looked like it to me. Maybe it was that all the rails are painted. The look of coamings at the bow and stern. The lack of curvature in the bow. It looked like the steel Defevers to me. Did they ever make this in steel and copy it in fiberglass?

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refugio,
Looking at the pics I think I see what you are seeing.
Sharp lines. In the pics the bow looks like it has a much narrower entry that it actually does. This is not a narrow boat. Especially the look of the bow in the pics presented. Those upper deck support slanted slab like things that could be replaced w regular stanchions also give the boat a look that it was made of cut out pices of flat steel plate .. or perhaps plywood as I'm quite sure they were. And there are some abrupt and sharp lines in the topsides aft too. But the smooth topsides fwd and obvious flare should have been a dead givaway.

Looks like a great deal. Buy it.

Exhaust system looks ify

Defever is one I've been looking at also. This seems like a nice trawler. would like to see twice the fuel cap. with those larger engines. and the longer cab. lf it works for you go for itl

manyboats said:

Amazing I'm OK w an overpowered boat and most others are questioning it.
Not my usual for those that don't know me.

If the engines were NA and 480hp I would be singing my usual song. But I really don't know much about tubocharged engines and assuming if they were ran at a 75% load they would wear much faster than a NA engine at 75% load. Also assuming most all people would run this boat at a 25 to 35% load re the 480hp. But if someone were to run this boat overdriven at 14 knots (assuming it could) I'd not be mak'in positive sounds about it. What does Yanmar say about a continous rating on these engines?

But like a turbo Cummins running just a bit into the turbo (40 to 50% load) should be fine. Due to the turbo I consider a big chunck of this power to be sort of artificial. Only useful for short periods of time. Tear into me if I'm wrong because I really don't know. And if these Yanmars are good to go at 80% load continously then I'm on the way over powered bandwagon. But also due to hull design these boats could be usually underpowered.

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Look in my signature. I used to own one of those engines. They are very easily run at 75% continuously. What I would consider the sweet spot in my installation was 2800RPM on a 3300RPM engine(3100 continuous at 190hp...so the power curve is nowhere near linear...you gain 50hp in that last 200rpm). With that said, I think there is nothing terribly wrong with this application. Those engines will run perfectly happily outside of the boost. The boost comes on about 2200rpm....obviously depending on load but I am willing to be it would be right around there. Anyway, much like the 4236 is considered Perkins best engine....this engine is held in the same regard as it relates to Yanmars.

Florida Cracker said:

Defever is one I've been looking at also. This seems like a nice trawler. would like to see twice the fuel cap. with those larger engines. and the longer cab. lf it works for you go for itl

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My guess is the listing specs are not right for fuel capacity. It should say 2 tanks at 4XX each. My DF48 has about 900 gross fuel capacity spread over 4 tanks.

Baker said:

The boost comes on about 2200rpm....obviously depending on load but I am willing to be it would be right around there. Anyway, much like the 4236 is considered Perkins best engine....this engine is held in the same regard as it relates to Yanmars.

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The vessel is designed to cruise comfortably at around 7.7 - 8.2 knots. At 7.7 in flat water the total HP required is no more than 40 per engine. Just guessing, 1900 or so RPM should do it. Top speed, hull limited, is about 11 kts with 8.5 the high end of the economical cruise range before boost climbs up on my engines.

But, survey and sea trial will reveal the prop/RPM/load data for these engines.

When I first saw 240 hp each I thought that would be wastefully over powered. But I looked at the specs for those engines. They are only 211 cubic inches. The power curve for shows about 2 GPH at 1600 rpm while making about 40HP. Sounds good for 7.5-8kts.

Is the space above the trunk cabin wasted?

I see there is a small cockpit, but is there even enough height to sit in a chair on top of the trunk cabin? If you can't sit there, what would you store there? It seems like a wasted of space. What am I missing?

Cuttyhunk47 said:

I see there is a small cockpit, but is there even enough height to sit in a chair on top of the trunk cabin? If you can't sit there, what would you store there? It seems like a wasted of space. What am I missing?

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Hahahaha...nothing!!! You got it right. I have always felt the same way but people like this configuration and it sold well. So, use it as you will or don't buy it. I always thought it a bit odd myself....with due respect to the owners on here.

Same exact boat DaddyO uses for his extensive cruising. Great boat. A boat Bess really had her eye on until she found what we have now.

The trunk cabin is by its nature a compromise. The on deck experience is compromised, and the belowdecks experience does not have full headroom throughout. But it allows the deck to be lower and the stateroom to have some standing area.

Covering the trunk cabin - well that at least gives a flat area on the upper deck. It also protects the trunk cabin, which is a notorious source of leaks.


Keith

Cuttyhunk47 said:

I see there is a small cockpit, but is there even enough height to sit in a chair on top of the trunk cabin? If you can't sit there, what would you store there? It seems like a wasted of space. What am I missing?

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Sometimes NAs like Art DeFever choose to not listen to those on TF and do it their way. Of course since TF wasn't alive and well 35+ years ago Art had a different goal in mind - to build a tri cabin vessel that had the niceties of the GB being built at the time and one up Tony Fleming.

The typical flush deck vessels in the 45 to 50' range with the high roof over the aft part of the vessel are a NA's nemesis. Lots of windage, high CG, no safe walk around in big seas, no cockpit etc. Tony Fleming built the tri cabin with little or no cockpit, no covered aft section and no covered side decks.


So to fit into a niche and build a seaworthy vessel Art penned the 48. The vessel with its low aft roof (which prevents Baker from parking his posse) and roomy aft cockpit does provide:

• A great boat deck area for dinghy storage, and not perched way up in the air
• A completely covered walk around on both sides and stern, from the foredeck - with rails and high coamings
• This cover keeps rain noise and sun off the master SR, a huge plus in SoCal, tropical or PNW type climates
• The aft covered "ready" area provides great and out of the way (short term for us) storage for all sorts of things such as bikes, liferafts, freezers, fishing gear.
• Did I mention an out of the rain covered walk around? Well when we bought the vessel at the Seattle Boat show it was a record rain event. We looked at the much higher priced GB 49 and found the deck and walk arounds useless and WET.
• Did I mention out of the rain, guess I did. With our desires to boat 24/7/365 focused in the PNW, well here we are.
• BTW, the covered side and aft decks and windshield have another plus - NO WINDOW LEAKS

Art also had stability issues in mind back in the 70s and 80s. With the bulk of his vessels being used for offshore work and main audience out of San Diego, those Pacific challenges were heeded. Picture a life when weather reports and sea state at the push of a cursor did not exist. Vessels had to be designed to fit that era and unknown conditions. That DeFever did.

Did I mention the completely covered side and aft decks. Art did, whenever he had the advertising chance.

refugio said:

The on deck experience is compromised, and the belowdecks experience does not have full headroom throughout. Keith

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Really, what vessels are you referring too? Since you have never seen or been on a DF 48 sometime if we are in your area I'll give a shout and you can see our headroom - ER, aft cabin etc. It is pretty roomy

Having been aboard sunchaser's boat, I concur that it would be a fantastic cruising boat for those who venture north of the 50th parallel in the summer or use their boat year round. Having a large outside area, protected from the rain, but does not intrude into the seating or passage area sure makes a lot of sense. I could also see it having great value in hot sunny climates. Anywhere that shade or rain protection is valuable, I guess.

sunchaser said:

Really, what vessels are you referring too? Since you have never seen or been on a DF 48 sometime if we are in your area I'll give a shout and you can see our headroom - ER, aft cabin etc. It is pretty roomy

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Um, that would be ever vessel with a coach roof. I guess you could have standing headroom under the decks if you're a dwarf.


Keith

48 defever, I now own. Engines are perfect for this boat.

Back deck...ck out photo.

This is cirrent refit progress in rio dulce