nova36
Newbie
Hi all, I just picked up a 1987 Nova Heritage 36 Sundeck trawler here in sunny Seattle, WA. I'll be taking short trips around Puget Sound and the San Juans and spending a lot of time enjoying the boat dockside and in Lake Union.
I researched a good amount on here before the purchase and noticed that there are several other Nova 36 owners, so hopefully we can share some tips about these nice boats. I have the usual items to address - small window leaks, replacing the stainless holding tank - but overall the vessel is in reasonable shape. I am a marine engineer by trade (tugs, deep sea, ferries) and can help with questions as well.
A few observations so far:
- I fit a Splendide 2100xc washer/dryer combo in the biggest main cabin locker on the port side. I had to put it in sideways and then rotate it in the locker, but it went surprisingly smoothly. Very easy to run the water and drain lines from here as it backs up to the engine room.
- I cut a hole in the deck for a vent, and to my surprise the deck is foam-cored! Were all of these boats foam-cored? Now I understand how this boat does not have any soft spots on deck after all of these years in a wet climate.
- I have the Volvo TMD41A engines. Will share any tips as I work on these. For any owners, there is a great YouTube series by a guy that is currently overhauling one of these engines (look up "Svend Bjelland"on YouTube).
- There is a huge void space between the bilge and shower sump pans and the actual bottom of the bilge / top of the keel. This was full of maybe 30+ gallons of ancient, gross water that migrated there from holes drilled in the bilge pans to mount bilge pumps, etc. I went ahead and just cut out much of the bilge pans so that the bilge pump can suck from the deepest part of the bilge. I re-routed the shower directly to a sump pump.
-Nick
I researched a good amount on here before the purchase and noticed that there are several other Nova 36 owners, so hopefully we can share some tips about these nice boats. I have the usual items to address - small window leaks, replacing the stainless holding tank - but overall the vessel is in reasonable shape. I am a marine engineer by trade (tugs, deep sea, ferries) and can help with questions as well.
A few observations so far:
- I fit a Splendide 2100xc washer/dryer combo in the biggest main cabin locker on the port side. I had to put it in sideways and then rotate it in the locker, but it went surprisingly smoothly. Very easy to run the water and drain lines from here as it backs up to the engine room.
- I cut a hole in the deck for a vent, and to my surprise the deck is foam-cored! Were all of these boats foam-cored? Now I understand how this boat does not have any soft spots on deck after all of these years in a wet climate.
- I have the Volvo TMD41A engines. Will share any tips as I work on these. For any owners, there is a great YouTube series by a guy that is currently overhauling one of these engines (look up "Svend Bjelland"on YouTube).
- There is a huge void space between the bilge and shower sump pans and the actual bottom of the bilge / top of the keel. This was full of maybe 30+ gallons of ancient, gross water that migrated there from holes drilled in the bilge pans to mount bilge pumps, etc. I went ahead and just cut out much of the bilge pans so that the bilge pump can suck from the deepest part of the bilge. I re-routed the shower directly to a sump pump.
-Nick