Hi all, new ish member and new boat pics

First time boat owner long time mariner. Well I just jumped into buying my first boat and has been a learning experience so far working on a much smaller boat than I’m used to. Picked up a 42 foot semi custom aluminum trawler that confuses me every time I look at it’s specs but the price was right(you wouldn’t believe me if I told you lol) and the deal was real so bought it on a hope and a prayer it will all turn out all right in the end. A little about the boat, it’s a 1972 Alloy manufacturing 42 foot trawler, built in Canada, , it has twin Lehman 120s mounted on the stern with a v drive setup, swinging 30 inch wheels, is a semi displacement hull that is full welded 1/4 inch marine grade aluminum. It has paravane stabilizers and integral tanks with 1200 gallons of fuel, 250 gallons of water . The boat is loosely set up kinda like a Europa style trawler only with the master bedroom on the stern that opens up right into a real nice cockpit and master bath in the middle of the boat. In all my searching I have never seen a boat with such unusual specs, layout or design before. I’ve wanted a trawler to travel the world with since I was a small child and have probably been dreaming of and searching for the right boat to live on my entire adult life. So far this site has been invaluable in my research and I’m sure I will be relying on all of your expertise in the months to come as I refit my boat. So in advanced thank you all and happy travels
Joe

Btw

These were the pics I took the day I first went to see her, She looks pretty rough but is making progress all the time. I’ll update pics and progress as I go along. Also that’s not me in the pics that’s the PO

Welcome aboard. Congrats on your new boat. You are off to a good start on the forum since we love photos.

Some updated pics

This is after I had the railings, outrigger, and mast repaired and got both the motors running.

You have a very large project ahead of you but I like a lot of things about the basic boat. How is the engine access being twins?

Lol yea very large project to get her where I want her, at least a year maybe two. I’ll be gutting her insides for a complete remodel. Outside will be completely stripped down above the waterline to bare aluminum for that work boat look. Engine access is so so, lots of access to the front of the engine. Sides are so so top is sky high the inboard side on them both is horrible since the generator is smack dab between them. I’m still young and in reasonable shape so squeezing beside the outboard sides are still possible with a little work and grease and I have room enough room to work on them sitting Indian style once I’m there.

With the engine hatches open to the sky on the stern It will be very easy to do an engine upgrade if I desire to in the future. I’m thinking a pair of Cummins 6B’s run through some zf gear boxes would be a pretty sweet upgrade in the future.

in the process of rebuilding the generator btw. Water got into the #2 cylinder from the exhaust and rusted it solid. So new pistons and Rings all the way around and Christmas tree the cylinder Should be fine after.

Looks like she'll clean up just fine! lots of good cruising ahead, Congrats!
Steve W

Sounds like you are the mechanical type who isn’t happy unless he has something to fix. Looks like you are going to be happy for a while. Lot a work but a lot a reward in the end.

Lol I don’t particularly like working on things but I have the skills and knowledge to do pretty much everything on the boat except a/c work and from the research I’ve been doing on marine ac units they don’t look particularly complicated. That and I have a hard time paying someone else to do the work when I can do it myself, especially marine mechanics. They seem to be a pretty big hit or a miss anyway in regards to quality anyway so I’ll prob be stuck turning a wrench the rest of my life since I don’t trust too many people. And I bought the boat a few years earlier than I was planning so not a ton of extra money to pay someone else to do it right now either lol so that leaves me to do the majority of it. Think I may be crazy though, I work a 28 days on 14 days off schedule on tow boats as is so it’s working 28 days on a boat fixing someone else’s junk and now I get to go home and work on my junk lol.

Yes, welcome to the forum. You do have a project on hand there, but if the price was right, well worth it. No wood rot issues or soft cores or rusted out tanks for starters. She should buff up real well. Not a pretty boat, but very business-like, and built for purpose. Good luck as you proceed, and please do keep us up-dated with pics.

I don't see the "V" drives in the picture, although if you say so, I'm sure they are there. Tell us a little more about the engines. What was wrong with them and how many hours on them?

pete

Yea she isn’t the prettiest boat in the world but once it’s done she should be a pretty low maintenance boat compared to other old boats. And it was such a a good deal that I couldn’t pass it up in good conscience. And as for the v drives it’s set up a little different than a lot of other v drives I’ve seen since the engines are in the stern they from the transmission to drive shafts about 7 foot long then connect to the v drives. The v drives are accessed from inside the boat.

Jmarsh203 said:

Yea she isn’t the prettiest boat in the world but once it’s done she should be a pretty low maintenance boat compared to other old boats. And it was such a a good deal that I couldn’t pass it up in good conscience. And as for the v drives it’s set up a little different than a lot of other v drives I’ve seen since the engines are in the stern they from the transmission to drive shafts about 7 foot long then connect to the v drives. The v drives are accessed from inside the boat.

Click to expand...

Any pics out of the water?

It looks like it has good bones,

but the first thing I would do to make it look like boat is take the window AC unit and deep six it!

In aluminum it will clean up good and is very repairable if needed structurally.


Says Fl, if so you can work year round


It will be a totally different boat after painting



Good luck, keep the pics coming

Not yet I’ll be hauling it in another month or two. I’ll be moving the boat next trip home hopefully. I’ve dove it and cleaned the bottom and didn’t find anything that looked too bad exterior wise. Bones look pretty good on her for a boat from 72. There are a couple little spots on the inside that will need a little attention but nothing that would make me regret buying the boat so far. I know on the remodel I’ll be yanking out the black water tank and replacing it. It’s an aluminum tank so it’s only a matter of time before it’s going to be a problem. Lol that window unit will be pulled out in the long run and for the transit I’ve got planned next trip home but I’ll prob put it back in while I’m working on the interior so I don’t have to mess with the sea strainers for the marine ac units. I can also leave it on without worrying about anything while I’m at work so I can keep some good airflow through the boat. I’ve still got the window glass and frame for the back window but was thinking about upgrading the windows all the way around and going as thick as my vertical sliding windows I’ve got on board, which have half inch thick tempered safety glass in them.

Boats in TX right now I’ll be taking it to mobile al in a few weeks hopefully. Tried last trip home but just wasn’t able to make it happen. Should be able to work on it all year there. And once all the work is done on the boat that ac unit will definitely be trashed.

Congratulations and condolences on your purchase, and welcome to the posting side of the forum. I think it's cool to see unusual boats like this come up. Those are some big ass davits you've got there. You could probably hang a car from those bad boys. And did you say 30" wheels? Zoinks...

Best of luck with the refit. I look forward to seeing how she comes out!

Not davits, I think for fishing nets

Lol yep those are some huge davits, they will hold weight wise much larger of a boat than I can physically fit back there. They are actually set up so I can swing them around and yank the motors with them so they are stout. Yea those 30 inch wheels really threw me for a loop. Definitely an odd setup all the way around.

She does about 7 knots at 1200 rpm. Almost 3 knots at idle.

You said you were putting a new holding tank in. May I recommend Ronko tanks. Really good quality and they have hundreds of stock tanks that they will put fittings in per your specifications. I would put in 2 vents, one going to each side to keep your tank aerobic. No affiliation just a happy customer of Ronko.

You are a brave man indeed but so far you seem to have the patience and skill to get this boat to where you want it. Not many guys like you around.
Certainly looks like you have a good base to start with.
Looking forward to more posts as this comes along.

I am curious as to where in Canada your boat was made, could be either east or west coast. And the fact you work on a tug could put you on either coast. But the largest use of tugs in the world is in British Columbia.

Are you located in Canada?

Yea I’ve never owned a boat before but all of my careers have been located on or around the water and one under it, so over the years I’ve turned a lot of wrenches on a lot of different things, I also used to do a lot of woodworking with my grandfather as a child who was a master carpenter for 56 years or so so I’ve got a pretty good base knowledge on just about everything that I should need to refurb a boat. And no I am not located in Canada, the gulf coast is where i live and I work on the major rivers cutting through America. From Nola to Chicago and Pittsburg. It’s like half the great loop every trip I go to work. And I work on tow boats not tug boats.

Looks like a swell project! Can't quite agree with Peter B. She has all the potential to be pretty. I my deteriorating old mind, almost all boats have the potential to be pretty. I am still sailing (48" custom catamaran), but increasingly looking at trawlers as I get older and more arthritic. Yard prices (and marina prices) around Galveston Bay are significantly higher than down here in the Corpus Christi area. For DIY projects, "House of Boats" and "Hooking Bull" near Rockport offer the best rates for hauling and dry storage while refurbishing. For more professional work, "Mile 533" in Aransas Pass handles a mix of commercial and recreational vessels with significant experience with metal hulls. The downward spiral of gulf shrimping has left a lot of people and facilities with boat work potential pretty under utilized.

Lots of Winchester shotgun ammo at the head of the double berth, and maybe a Glock? in a case. Are you a sporting man? Ducks? Lots of guns down here on the Texas Gulf Coast. "Don't mess with Texas".

I believe the boat was buitlt in Quebec.

Lol yea all the ammo was the PO not from me. Hmmm I believe there was a Kel tek 22 mag pistol in that box.