Need help selecting Eagle 32 or a Marine Trader 34

[Eksaltydog]

Hello Everyone,
My wife and I are in our late 60’s and have decided to move from our sailboat to a small trawler. We are newbies to trawlering but we like the Eagle 32 transpacific and the Marine Trader 34.

Any and all advice is welcome to help us make our choice.

Ed & Jo

 

[Shrew]

Welcome aboard Eksaltydog!!

The Marine Trader 34 came in a Europa model and an Aft Cabin model. Do you know which you're considering? I feel there is more solon space in the Europa. The Europa has bunk beds in the guest cabin.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. What do you want the boat to do for you? Weekends? Extended cruising (months)? Snowbirds? Will you have guests? LOTS of variables. Oh ya, and which Milton?

 

[Eksaltydog]

Use

We live in Delaware and plan on coastal cruising and down the ICW. My Admiral wants AC but is a generator necessary?

Just started looking but like the looks of both the Marine Trader And Eagle32 Transpacific. Want something I can handle alone which raises the question of bow or stern thrusters.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. E. Thanks. We've had a single and two twins so I have no experience with thrusters. We DID have a 34' MT double cabin for about 11 years and quite enjoyed her. I initially considered adding thruster(s) but never quite got around to it. Enjoy the hunt. As an aside, I haven't yet figured out why one would put a bow thruster on a twin engined boat below 50 or 60 feet.

 

[nodestination]

MT is single engine. Putting bow truster would be hard, but stern truster is easy. Most of the boats with trusters are 40+

 

[Shrew]

If you value AC, then you will be going from Marina to Marina in order to have access to shore power. If you grab moorings or anchor and want AC, you're going to need a generator.

I would definitely want a bow thruster with a single inboard.

 

[Donna]

I have a marine trader 36ft. Sundeck. It has a single engine Mercedes. I also have bow thrusters and can’t imagine not having them. It also has a generator as I am a creature of comfort. The sundeck model has a forward queen cabin as well as an aft queen cabin. Ask away and welcome aboard!

 

[Jim Cooper]

both are well made boats although you won't get any manufacturer help anymore from either builder. Transpac still answers emails from Asia but hasn't built a boat in several years. I would think the MT might be better for your cruising habit if just for the extra two feet of space on extended cruises. It's all going to come down to what is available on the market and I think MT is going to have an advantage, many more MT34's in existence than Eagle 32's. Best of luck...

 

[Nomad Willy]

Something that seems to be missing here is that these two boats are probably most different from each other in their hull design than in any other aspect.

The MT is a much more typical trawler. Straight run aft and wide. The Eagle has a higher aspect ratio and probably some rocker to the the bottom. Hull wise they are very different boats. The MT emphasizes size/space and comfort whereas the Eagle is smaller and more efficient and probably more seaworthy dispite it’s smaller size.

I think it’s odd the OP is looking at these two boats. If one was right for him the other probably wouldn’t deserve a glance.