Gday from Downunder and How about this boat? :)

Hi folks just stumbled upon this site and it looks great!

My wife and I are keen to livaboard a trawler in Darwin Australia.** We'd live in Darwin Harbour and still work in the city in the short term but we'd want to cruise along the TopEnd coast when we can.* We might have a couple of teenagers hanging on for a couple of years if "roughing it" in a boat doesn't scare them away

My wife and I, in our ignorance, (we've only owned trailerable boats before) love the look of something like http://au.yachtworld.com/boats/1982/Broadfire--2085353/United-States*- and its in the price range of something that we could get (when considering getting it to Australia etc).

Just wondering what peoples opinions of something like this are?* We'd strictly be doing coastal cruising in fairly sheltered waters.* I don't know what the "rollback hull" design mentioned in the ad means but I do wonder how much this would roll as it doesn't seem to have stabilisers.*

I can do basic servicing etc but I'm not a really mechanical person - but I expect I'd have to learn more!* But yeah so less fancy systems to maintain the better I'm thinking.* Just after a reliable, long range economical cruiser.

Very hot weather in Darwin and we don't want to have to run aircon all the time so ventilation is important.* We figure we'd use a flybridge a lot in our climate also.

Thanks all and greetings - any advice/suggestions very welcome.

I'm an extreme 'noob', shopping for my first 'live-aboard' vessel, as well.

That is a beautiful vessel, indeed!

My only comments, after similar input, is to get a comprehensive survey.

Engine hours, and potential for engine replacement/servicing.

And, not sure if it is consideration on Australian coast, but the draft should be considered, but seems to have decent draft for dimensions.* BTW, what is the coastal, shallow water, cruising depth in Australia?

*

Good luck, seems like a worthy ship, so far.* It is indeed beautful, in my eyes!

She is just down river from where we keep our trawler. I've been looking at her online for quite some time as she has been for sale for a while. It is hard to tell from the pictures but she looks to have relatively low freeboard for her size. I can't see from the pictures if she has hard chines or not but I would suspect she rolls.

waterhawk wrote:
BTW, what is the coastal, shallow water, cruising depth in Australia?

Click to expand...

*Thanks Waterhawk yeah it has some appeal to me somehow too

Australia's a big place - but around where I am on the north tropical coast its pretty shallow.* 20 miles offshore where you can't see land its still only about 60' deep in most places.** We take our 15' aluminium boats out this far at times for fishing - so yeah its pretty sheltered.* We don't get the ocean swell as we're protected from the Tiwi Islands and/or the shallow waters - no continental shelf anywhere along the TopEnd up to Indonesia etc pretty much.* We can get a nasty chop with a good wind but a big swell is pretty much non-existant.

In closer lots of shallow bays and rivers - big tides (8 metre range) - a cat would be good also for the shallow draft and even better economy but they seem to be a bit beyond me in affordability and they don't seem as well built as the monohulls...* and they don't like too much weight I gather.

Hi Paul, welcome aboard. Congrats on joining - and being able to post a live link first up - that's still a challenge for many on here for some reason. We have a wee but keen contingent from Downunder here in Oz, and including NZ, on the site. Keep an eye out for activity on the 'cruising events down under' board. Bit slow at present, but it hots up from time to time. By the way, where does the nom de plume djambalawa come from, I'm intrigued....

As to the vessel in question....looking at the price, and allowing for shipping and tax when landed, I suspect it might not quite add up. Especially as it looks like it would be a pretty much enclosed waters type of boat - best on a lake I would say. Clearly a much loved family vessel, a bit more like a houseboat however than a coastal cruiser in my opinion. Other may feel different on that, but.* For that amount of money however, you could pick up some very useful true blue water coastal cruisers in Australia with much less hassle getting it to where you are. Look up Boatpoint

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/

Also Trade-a-Boat magazine, in any bookshop, is a great place to find Trawler type vessels over here.* $A150k at present would get you a 36-40 foot cruiser no trouble.* Oh, yes, one other thing - I think the design of that boat would be a bit hot inside in your climate.* Evidence, the number of added aircons, and it is not in the tropics.* Over here in Queensland, and even moreso in Darwin, without a doubt a better style for you would be a sedan/Europa style, with open aft cockpit and plenty of shade/weather cover over it and the side windows if possible, (hence our modifications to our boat in the Avatar pic), or maybe for more room, but same idea, a sundeck type, with large, preferably covered*deck above the aft cabin...?* Just a few thoughts to consider - you'll get plenty more advise, don't worry...

Peter B wrote:
Hi Paul, welcome aboard. Congrats on joining - and being able to post a live link first up - that's still a challenge for many on here for some reason.

Click to expand...

*I think you're implying technical issues. *

Since I'm sure you're probably aware that there are folks who use proxy servers and script retarders that seem to have issues with that feature.

Peter B wrote:
Hi Paul, welcome aboard. Congrats on joining - and being able to post a live link first up - that's still a challenge for many on here for some reason. We have a wee but keen contingent from Downunder here in Oz, and including NZ, on the site. Keep an eye out for activity on the 'cruising events down under' board. Bit slow at present, but it hots up from time to time. By the way, where does the nom de plume djambalawa come from, I'm intrigued...


As to the vessel in question....looking at the price, and allowing for shipping and tax when landed, I suspect it might not quite add up. Especially as it looks like it would be a pretty much enclosed waters type of boat - best on a lake I would say. Clearly a much loved family vessel, a bit more like a houseboat however than a coastal cruiser in my opinion. Other may feel different on that, but.* For that amount of money however, you could pick up some very useful true blue water coastal cruisers in Australia with much less hassle getting it to where you are. Look up Boatpoint

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/

Also Trade-a-Boat magazine, in any bookshop, is a great place to find Trawler type vessels over here.* $A150k at present would get you a 36-40 foot cruiser no trouble.* Oh, yes, one other thing - I think the design of that boat would be a bit hot inside in your climate.* Evidence, the number of added aircons, and it is not in the tropics.* Over here in Queensland, and even moreso in Darwin, without a doubt a better style for you would be a sedan/Europa style, with open aft cockpit and plenty of shade/weather cover over it and the side windows if possible, (hence our modifications to our boat in the Avatar pic), or maybe for more room, but same idea, a sundeck type, with large, preferably covered*deck above the aft cabin...?* Just a few thoughts to consider - you'll get plenty more advise, don't worry...

Click to expand...

Thanks for your thoughts Peter I appreciate them.* "djambalawa" means "sea-eagle" in some aboriginal dialects up this way and was the name of one of my trailerable boats * I have some "adopted family" from Maningrida.

Will keep an eye on the oz events area - maybe I can convince people to come further north than the Whitsundays!

I have been keeping an eye on boatpoint etc too so will keep my eyes out.* It just seems so many so called "trawlers" have two huge engines on them and do 25 knots

I was just at the Sydney Boatshow for fun and although couldn't dream of anything there my wife and I decided that the 44' grandbanks would be an ok size for us if we could find something equivalent we could afford (and therefore much older).* But yeah a 50' would be great as we have a couple of teenagers etc.

Haven't really looked at those sedan styles so will have to do a bit of research on them thanks.

In my ignorance I think the broadfire would be seaworthy enough as I really am a* calm weather person and would wait for the weather etc - and its surely not really a typical houseboat.* It does look a bit flat-bottomed towards the back I agree (one shot has it on a lift) but that might help with the rolling?* But yeah I really have no experience with these kinds of boats.* The 2" solid bottom appeals to me...

Fell in love with the 66' Halvorsen Selene at the boatshow - anyone got $2.4m they don't want?

djambalawa,
Mate, Welcome aboard.
Don't worry some of us will eventually get around to getting up your way.
One of my must dos is the Kimberleys, check out web page Kimberley Cruising.
I had a quick look at listed boat mentioned, Ok but low freeboard, and also personally not much in love with the aft flush deck.
Plenty of good boats available in Aus but also there are some very good deals in the US.
Check import costs, survey costs and duties etc they do add up.
Spoke to some one who lurks on this site rwcwntly who imported a twin screw pilot house motor yacht, did not go over but had a reputable broker inspect the boat.
He is very happy with his purchase.
Trawler converts are a good start also look at Anchorline Marine a good brooker on the Gold Coast, sells mainly power cruisers.
Garth is a top, honest brooker.
The big Selene or a Nordy would be nice but then you wouldn't want to be running them on the rocks or crap up in the rough country.
Cheers

Ah well, the Selene...yes. I have also lusted after one of those, but realistically the upkeep of a boat that size is also extremely high also, so you need to be a multi-millionaire to run one, let alone buy one. Also, unless one does regular ocean passages, completely wasted, even if you can afford to own it.
However, there are plenty of good single and twin engined cruisers which would fit your needs well, it's just a case of hunting them down. Actually, the right one will find you, if you expose yourself to them enough.
The thing that concerned me about that one above is the lack of covered useable deck, and the amount of superstructure, which made it look a bit top-heavy, and I think the weather can get quite unpleasant at times, even in Darwin. They even have the odd cyclone, right?

Some suggestions...? And these are just a small example of what's out there. Although not as big as you originally were thinking of they are eminently affordable, and excellent way of experiencing the dream without committing too much at first. As a matter of fact, I have often admired the Blue Seas 36 sedan myself. There is also an aft cabin version there as well.

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=10316149

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/Tig/UI/PagePopup.aspx?R=9404663&PhotoID=bp5746682888077041356&h_mid=5249319&f_mid=&c_mid=5220874&pid=241228&tabID=302921

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/Tig/UI/PagePopup.aspx?R=10503319&PhotoID=bd5736604509156584751&h_mid=5249319&f_mid=&c_mid=5220874&pid=241228&tabID=302921

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=9238662

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/Tig/UI/PagePopup.aspx?R=9996911&PhotoID=bd4960084012251588549&h_mid=5249319&f_mid=&c_mid=5220874&pid=241228&tabID=302921

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=9637298

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=10142309

Peter,
Don't mean to be a stick in the mud but the above mentioned boats in my opinion would all be a little on the small side
for any serious cruising around the top end.
Full size aft cabins carry a lot of windage and are a PITA when it comes to berthing or getting on and off when at anchor, the small aft cockpit
(yacht fishers). Fuel and water are the main criteria, due to distances and lack of fuel stops.
Water makers are almost a requirement and then maximise fuel carry, plus the ability to carry a reasonable amount of outboard fuel for the
dinghy, reasonably fast and large , no place for donuts up there.

All very remote stuff and can get pretty rough and no where to go especially when those 30 ft tides are not in the right phase for your entry.

Thanks for all the comments and advice - so much to consider and so many designs to choose from!

Those 36 footers might be good for just me and my wife.. or a couple of the kids as a weekender... one option we do have is to downgrade the house to a unit and get something like this and don't live on it fulltime.. but I'm currently favouring getting something a bit larger to live on fulltime...

It is very remote and all that yes... and although I'd be first taking "baby steps" using Darwin as a base I'd like to eventually range far and wide and do the Kimberlies etc when I'm confident/competent... so range etc is important of course...

I'm sure you guys get sick of "how about this one?" type questions but here's just one more I promise!

Perhaps something like this would have better sea-keeping ability and still be an ok size for me?

http://au.yachtworld.com/core/listing/boatMergedDetails.jsp?boat_id=2349923&checked_boats=2349923&ybw=&units=Meters&currency=AUD&access=Public&listing_id=76548&url=&imc=pg-fs


-- Edited by djambalawa on Wednesday 3rd of August 2011 07:41:53 PM

Mate,
Not a bad unit for a live aboard but you would probably get sick of no aft cockpit for berthing and dinghy access after
a while.
Twin Perkins not too large (Perkins parts are readily available here in Aus) plenty of fuel for tripping around the Tiwi islands etc.
Will cost approx $50k to get it to Bris and then steam it home.


-- Edited by Tidahapah on Wednesday 3rd of August 2011 08:11:33 PM

If that's the sort of boat that rings your bell Paul, then these are right here in Oz, and allowing for no shipping costs or tax, and the fact you could actually see them for yourself, the price is close if not lower than that one in the US and with less risk of buying a lemon...?

http://www.usedboatsales.com.au/products/4386/

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=8821580

That's a nice boat thanks Peter - but the US one is around $100k cheaper if I allow $50k more to get it here?

I guess it is 5 years newer tho... and might have shore power etc setup for here...

Paul, I think most US built boats - or built for US, are 120volt shore power, and the cost of shipping, plus taxes, (20% on estimated wholesale cost to land here - how do I know? - burnt bring just a trailer yacht over from NZ, and I had owned it 5 yrs and bought it second hand), wharf handling charges etc, could well come to much more than $50K, but good luck with your looking.

Hi djambalawa

Check out the used power boats on this site

I'm sure you'll find something of interest

http://yachthub.com/

Allan


-- Edited by AllanY on Friday 5th of August 2011 04:25:30 AM

Yep will keep it in mind Peter. Some nice boats on that site Allan - some I remember from boatpoint but I think there might be quite a few that I haven't seen before thanks.

Hi Everyone, Benn mentioned in his post, that he met sommeone who imported a USA boat...that person is me. I am moored in Mooloolaba at the Wharf Marina. I spotted Benn on his boat and said hi and introduced myself.

If you want all the necessary details of importation then i am happy to tell you all i know.

Essentially my boat is twin cummins 53 ft pilothouse with 3 staterooms, ensuite, guest head, large flybridge etc. I searched the net in the USA for years watching the market and consider myself to have done my time working out what was good and not good. When i found this boat, i had a broker i trusted who helped with the purchase. I never saw the boat in person. I had it surveyed and engine also. No real surpirses when it arrived. I have since done a lot of small to medium sized jobs to get to the standard where she is now really well looked after and it shows.

There was no chance i could buy an Aus made boat or a boat of similar quality in Aus for anything close to the price i paid from the USA. Basically the pruchase price plus say $50 US to ship to NEwcastle, plus 10% GST, no sale tax if the boat is USA built due to the free trade agreement, plus some customs and quarantine fees and paper work. There are people who do this for you and i hired someone to smooth the entry into Aus. All went well. I picked the boat up in Newcastle from the ship, and drove to Mooloolaba two days later in one hit - 50 hours.

As for the 110 volt issue. It really is a non event. I spent a fair some to a trusted electician who completely set the boat up to Aus standards. simple really. Anyone who tells you otherwise has no clue as to what is involved. The key thing is that the AC panel in the boat is capable of taking 240 volts. mine was and the genset also is a 240 120 volt capable genset. Some things run via a step down transformer. All my stoves etc are all Aus stuff and 240v.

Would i recommend importing a boat? Absolutely and there has never been a better time to do it. Just make sure the boat has not been on the market too long as they have likely not been maintained. Many repo boats have been neglected to a significant degree and the list of issues start mounting up. However, this is reflected in the price and you can start your offers at close to half their asking price.

Have fun.

Bo,
Good to see you have come out of the lurker box. I figured you may see that and have some wise words and info on a very relevant subject these days.
Will pop up and see you when I get a chance.
In Mooloolaba at the moment but after tonights thrashing by the All Blacks am a bit depressed.

Really am away tomorrow to Christmas Island (Kiramati) bone fishing and on return I think back to work.
Will get up when I return if you have not gone north.