Cheer Man PT41 potential acquisition

[tdoriot]

Hi Gents,

I have the opportunity to pick up a 1984 Cheer Men PT 41. The boat is probably a 7.5 out of 10. It has pretty new electronics, twin Perkins auto pilot, even a washer/ dryer. The downside is the exterior teak is in need of some love. Much is bare ( good thing) some still has decent varnish. Personally I prefer oiled Teak. The quandary here is this: (Don't kick me the hell off for this) while this boat is quite amazing, my first love is the 90's Bayliner 3888 Motoryacht. Surprisingly enough, good ones of that vintage are a touch scarce. And sometimes pricey. Obviously the Taiwanese boat is likely a much better boat. The expanses of Teak are delightful. The walk around decks are super nice and safe. This one is essentially a single cabin, head model. That makes a great down forward storeroom and very generous Salon with a hidabed couch and 3 chairs. Lots of great stuff. I can probably pick this one up for a song. Likely cheaper than the 3888. My issue is regretting "settling" for a design that was never on my radar. I see a few old posts from Cheer men owners, but not many. I know Trawler folks are a tight group. Is appreciate some sage advice.

 

[kthoennes]

Oh heck, don't be embarrassed, the 3888 has a lot of fans. Our slip neighbor was a 3888 and they offered to sell. We thought about it, but our current boat is nice and comfortable, and the ladders kind of kill it for us. Not that we can't do ladders, but try taking a tray of food or a couple cups of coffee up the ladder. That Bay had (has) good strong diesels though, rumble rumble. Funny, we noticed a CHB (Chung Hwa Boatworks) Seamaster 48 for sale in Marathon, FL this weekend. 1986, a decade older than our boat now. Completely impractical, not a good idea. But all the woodwork sure is pretty, and its much bigger. And a navy blue hull, I love navy blue hulls. $98k asking price. Hmmm. No apologies necessary for liking what you like.

 

[hollywood8118]

I believe that yard made the early Ocean Alexanders. I think that is a considerably classier ( Sorry Bayliner Fans) and probably has aged better than early Bayliners. Don't think I am bashing Bayliners here. Obviously they have a fan base and offer a lot of bang for the buck but that boat is a great boat.
HOLLYWOOD

 

[NComfort]

We owned a 41 PT for 11 years, lived aboard and cruised the BC Coast comfortably.



We put many, many hours into keeping all that teak in good shape. If you are able to keep the boat under cover you will save yourself ALOT of work.



If the boat is kept under cover now and has teak decks, make sure to check for any leaking seams or screws. Providing the current owner will let you, you can check seams by running a hose on the decks and wait for them to dry. Any loose seams will stay wet and sometimes will show bubbles when you step on the board next to it. Our boat had been kept under cover prior to our buying it and we dealt with some leaks initially.



The PT will be a heavier boat than the Bayliner and you would find that you don't "skate around" as much on anchor in any wind.



We now have a boat without a single piece of teak and don't miss the work at all. Having said that we loved the PT and it was a sad day when we sold her. If you don't mind the work involved to maintain the PT go for it.



Good luck with your decision.

 

[Comodave]

It depends on what you want/like. The Bayliner is a decent boat. Personally I would not want the Hino engines but there are a lot of people that love them. The deal killers for me with the Bayliner is the vertical ladder and the fixed furniture. We both have bad backs and we have an 85 pound black lab. The Bayliner is probably a faster boat if that matters to you.

 

[tdoriot]

Great advice. Sadly at the moment the boat is in a 40' slip. They forced him to back it in so the bow is in the elements. I can only imagine their has to be water intrusion. Especially if it lives there all winter here in Portland Oregon. If I end up with it, a better cover solution has to be arrived at. A boat house is ideal as you say. Any idea what the speeds are on this thing? It has the twin Perkin 120's. While dinking around at 9 kts is good much of the time, occasionally a bit more speed is desirable. What was max speed ? Hull speed? Best economy cruise? Thanks!

 

[tdoriot]

I get your points. The Cheer Man has some super comfortable loose furniture. My mission is dockside entertaining, anchoring in good weather on the Columbia for outings. The big picture might be summers in the San Juans.

 

[rochepoint]

First time I have seen photos of a PT41 Sedan......it is a big brother to Our 1985 PT38 Sedan, our club has 3 other PT's all Tri Cabins, two 38's and one 41. We have had ours for a little over 25 years and love her. We have even more teak outside....cetol is a great friendl. You can see photos of our boat at www.rochepoint.ca, our is a galley up with a side berth as well as the walk around fore berth. We have a single Perkins 3.6544M and normally cruise at 7.5 knots.

 

[tdoriot]

great Info Mike. Your boat is killer. This one just needs a bit of love. The engine room is like new. Spotless. My initial reservation was the single stateroom. The salon is very generous. Cockpit is decent as well. Most if The Teak could be powerwashed and treated. I will look up the Cetol. The twins are attractive to me as redundancy as well as close quarter handling. I look forward to hearing from all you guys. Tracy

 

[rochepoint]

Thanks for the kind words.
Please don't use a power washer as it will destroy the soft tissue of the teak.........

 

[Comodave]

We are gradually painting the exterior teak on our boat except the deck on our sundeck and it is almost all covered. We use Semco on the teak decks. Very fast to apply a coat once a year.

 

[firehoser75]

td.
Nice looking boat. We looked at one when we were in the market, but decided against it. Personally it had too many things that I did not want. EG. lots of exterior teak trim; screwed down teak decks (a biggy to me); twin engines, etc. It seemed very solid to me, and looked fantastic both inside and out. Very "yachty".
We didn't have access to nor wanted the extra expense of, covered moorage, and for that boat, seemed necessary.
As someone else has stated, if you don't mind the extra work and expense, it would probably be a great boat.
With twin 120 hp, I would not expect a great turn of speed. Beyond hull speed, if it could at all, you would push a lot of water and burn a lot more fuel (I would expect).
Expect a cruise speed around 8 knots, give or take. If the boat has a bow thruster, with twins, it should be easy to dock.
Good luck with your decision.

 

[tdoriot]

Thanks guys. Valid points about the Teak issues. As a career woodworker (home and cabinet building) I am a huge fan of Teak. Just like most of you, I am not a huge fan of maintaining Teak. This one IMHO needs a solid week or two of sanding and refinishing. Like previously mentioned, I don't know if the decks leak like a screen door on a submarine. Heck even the 3888 I had a purchase agreement on had soft decks just from the windlass penetrations. I can only imagine a thousand screws. I definitely want covered storage in the PNW. It just rains too much here. Stuff just melts here. The boat would fit the mission parameters for the most part. I guess I will just see how the sellers temperature is. The closer he gets to moving to Florida, perhaps the more motivation to off load the vessel.

 

[Comodave]

The only maintenance I would do to a teak deck is rip it off and glass it then paint. We only have teak decks on our sundeck and that is way more than I would like. Not only the refinishing but recaulking it sucks.