Should I purchase?

I am considering purchasing a 1956 50' Custom trawler. At this point she has been meticulously maintained by the current owner in a covered dockage. She has had many updates and needs some minor fabrication and new screens for her electronics.

Not knowing much of the costs associated with a vintage ship of this size.
What is an annual estimation of cost/time to keep her clean, ship shape and properly varnished?

She will be parked in Florida sun and will have weekend warriors to help maintain her.

Any advice, help discouragement/ encouragement is welcomed!

A link to her is below.
https://www.hmy.com/used-yachts-for-sale/CUSTOM/1956-49/240660

That's a beautiful boat.

You should expect to pay the same as the P.O., “meticulously maintained with no regard to cost”
This boat is a labor of love, and in order to keep her afloat and beautiful will cost a fortune. Every year.
I would not touch it with a 10’ pole...
But then maybe you are ridiculously wealthy, and savagely in love with her, in which case, by all means have at it!

Welcome aboard. I think you should buy it.

if you can afford the $15,000 per year depreciation plus normal maintenance of a 50 foot boat then it’s a good deal. That boat is either a labor of love and money is insignificant or you use it up and throw it away when it’s done.

Plan on learning how to do much of the maintenance yourself. Or have a very large checkbook.
I live on an 83', 70 year old boat. I also owned a yard that did mostly commercial boats and bigger yachts.
There is a lot of maintenance with owning a wood boat. If you let it go, later it becomes a much bigger maintenance problem.
Varnish doesn't hold up well under harsh sun. Plan on yearly sanding and revarnishing the top coat. If you let it go you have to start at bare wood again. Painting with excellent prep and excellent paint can go 3+ years if cracks or other damages to the paint film is touched up as needed. I've got as much as 5 years. Outside wood needs at least 2 coats of primer and finish. Then light sanding and new top coat every 2-3 years. Heavy use boats get painted yearly. As long as you use good paint and keep on top of it, you many never have to go down to bare wood.
Salt water is both your friend and enemy to a wood boat. Salt preserves, but breaks in the bottom paint can allow wood boring worms in. So in Florida you'll need to haul yearly and buy a really good paint. Also read up about zinc protection for your underwater metal - shafts, props, rudder, etc. I put borate (a salt) in the bilges as a wood preserver. It also kills mold. My hull is copper plated.
I'm 70 and do all my own work but occasionally hire helpers. I have professional sanders and other tools. I can sand the hull in a couple days and another day to paint. I painted over all the varnish. Someone after me can sand thru the paint if they want. In the PNW, at a commercial fishing port, I get hauled in the off season for about $1500. That's in and out plus a bottom pressure wash. I paint the bottom and replace the zincs. I spend less than $5000 a year on maintenance. Having a yard do all the work varnish, paint and bottom, could be ten times higher.
Your perspective boat has Detroit Diesels - my favorite. 4-500 hours is nothing if well maintained. My 671 naturals did over 20,000 hours before overhaul. I cruise at 1800, the continuous hp rating. A previous owner cruised at 2100 as I sometimes do. If you take care of the engines, you can leave them in your will. With turbos, keep under 80% of continuous rating.

That is a georgous boat!

The labor to keep that georgous boat in the same condition she is in right now is probably more than the average $100K boat buyer will be willing or able to expend.

Stil a fantastic boat, and a boat in that condition is in my opinion a bargain. The only problem is keeping her in that condition.

Beautiful just beautiful a month or 2 in the sun and she will look like a totally different boat.
Keep lots of photos for memory sake

What a beautiful boat, you will need a particular set of skills as Liam Neeson would say.
Those skills would need to be attached to a decent bank account as well.
But hey life is short. You would get a lot of pleasure out of something like that.
Just don't forget to remove those rose tinted glasses. Cheers.

The hull is listed as "composite" which is meaningless .

If the boat is mostly wood , your hobby will be Maintainng the boat NOT using the boat.

Some folks love constantly messing about with boats , others don't.

What hobby do you prefer?

Not too many fiberglass boats were built in 1956 so I assume the hull is wood. At some point, it must have been covered with fiberglass. The results of that are somewhat mixed and I would want to know when it was done and what process was used. A survey by a surveyor knowledgeable in glass over wood is called for.

If this boat has been kept under shelter at Bradford for most her life, she will look very good. Put her out in the sun with the other minions and the sun might start beating her up fairly fast. Don’t believe there are many places you can get a covered boat house in south FL but YMMV.

The price is really good and the boat looks great in the pics. If you can afford the dockage and upkeep, it seems like a good deal. We have a TF member named Tucker (forgot his last name) who is a broker at Bradford who probably give you a better answer on this boat.

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. This vessel is a well kept sport fisherman (convertible style) and NOT a trawler IMO! What has been mentioned above, is accurate wrt $$ and maintenance. Think about a model T Ford. Great collectors item but NOT a daily driver. Heck, you don't even drive one in the rain.

What you haven't told us yet is what do you want the boat for? Cruising or a showpiece? Where do you expect to cruise to? How are you anticipating using the boat?

MY opinion only is IF you want a trawler, in the broadest sense of the word, keep looking.

gaston said:

Beautiful just beautiful a month or 2 in the sun and she will look like a totally different boat.
Keep lots of photos for memory sake

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Agree. The boat must be kept under cover. As are many here, my older wood boat ownership says out of the elements.

Composite = Wood. If you are a cabinet maker by trade, go for it.
Also notice the desired covered storage. Rain and sun are the enemy. You get to pay extra for that IF you can find an open slip.
I'm going to take a guess at $100K/yr minimum for operating and maintenance expenses.

At the bottom of the listing, does this sound like you?

"This is a very unusual boat as it was maintained for the owner of Bradford Marine in Fort Lauderdale with no regard for cost. Bradford Marine, currently with over 129 employees, has in house diesel mechanics, electricians, painters, plumbers, air conditioning technicians, carpenters, fiberglass workers, and more who took care of this min yacht for the owner of the business..."

Keeping it in a covered slip would save you a SIGNIFICANT amount of money!!!!

The Tuna pulpit and the berth layout definitely indicate it spent part of its life as a hard-core fishing machine. It looks like it was refitted as a cruiser.

Whatever you guess, you will underestimate the cost and labor involved to maintain this boat. The cost to own a boat is well beyond the purchase price. I would buy this boat at $98K if I had a $200 K budget in mind, AND planned on spending a lot of time working on the boat.

IF you have a $75K budget and are stretching, this boat will slowly crush you.

has a Huckin's vibe to it. "Composite", perhaps Cold Molded like a Huckins?
Beautiful boat and I don't shy away from a proper wooden boat, but I wouldn't consider it without covered moorage. You would be doing this beauty a disservice keeping her out in the elements 24/7.

Beautiful boat, but MUST be kept under cover. If you can't keep it under cover, turn around, walk away and don't look back.

If you can keep it under cover and you have really deep pockets, go for it.

Very pretty boat.

I think the decision wold be based on what you want to do. Do you want to cruise in your boat or do you want a long term hobby fixing/maintaining a boat?

To keep it as is i think one of the last sentences in the listing would need to be continued:

<<<This is a very unusual boat as it was maintained for the owner of Bradford Marine in Fort Lauderdale with no regard for cost>>>

ktdtx said:

This is a very unusual boat as it was maintained for the owner of Bradford Marine in Fort Lauderdale with no regard for cost

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BINGO! This sentence says it all!!

I expect this boat to be purchased by an antique boat fan who would keep it under cover and lavish attention on it. Someone who already has antique cars, or antique airplanes, or antique motorcycles. Maybe an antique checkbook that never runs out.
I wrote much of that listing write up and the listing itself has been turned over to a broker intern here at Bradford Marine. I have been told by the former caretaker that the hull is wood, and it was double planked and then glassed over.
The exterior is pristine, when the paint or varnish crews were not busy here at Bradford they would work on this boat. I saw a boat tech remove an air condition raw water hose and replace it with a new one because there was marine growth inside the hose, it was easier to get a new hose from the parts department rather than clean out the old hose.
The boat is a gracious older lady, that led a pampered life with the best of care, but systems are older and will need more care over the years.
Inside storage here in Fort Lauderdale would run from $30,000 per year to $100,000 per year at Lauderdale Marine Center at only $5 per foot per day for undercover. the rest of the country will be less in most places.
Here is a little of the engine compartment.

High Wire said:

I'm going to take a guess at $100K/yr minimum for operating and maintenance expenses.

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Well now that's just silly. Where did you come up with a number like that?

Oh, wait, that's the same number that I guesstimated. Never mind.

RumRunnin said:

Not knowing much of the costs associated with a vintage ship of this size.
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That answers your question. No, you should not purchase because you don't have a true understanding of what is required to maintain it-time, effort, or cost. A post on a forum might give you some ideas but not the knowledge you need.

danderer said:

Well now that's just silly. Where did you come up with a number like that?

Oh, wait, that's the same number that I guesstimated. Never mind.

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Definitely higher than what I had expected, but I have never owned an older, larger boat like this. She sure is a beauty for the right person.

Fletcher500 said:

Definitely higher than what I had expected, but I have never owned an older, larger boat like this. She sure is a beauty for the right person.

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Need an unlimited budget and must be willing to exceed it.

This is a very unusual boat as it was maintained for the owner of Bradford Marine in Fort Lauderdale with no regard for cost. Bradford Marine, currently with over 129 employees, has in house diesel mechanics, electricians, painters, plumbers, air conditioning technicians, carpenters, fiberglass workers, and more who took care of this min yacht for the owner of the business.

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That is the kind of home she belongs in. I hope the next owner can lavish her with the same kind of care.

I would only buy this boat if I was extremely wealthy and had an unlimited maintenance budget. Beautiful boat, but on my budget it would not stay beautiful very long...