Accepted offer on LaBelle 44

[Coppercove1]

Hi Forum members: after about 4 years of mainly lurking and trying to soak up very useful information from the knowledgeable community here, we finally have made an accepted offer on a 44ft. Labelle: see https://www.yachtworld.com/boats-for-sale/make-la-belle/model-44-cockpit-motor-yacht/.

One of the apparent advantages of this particular opportunity is assumable moorage in a boathouse not far from our home, and that has to be one of the main reasons for the good condition of the vessel relative to water entry, etc.

We have access to a May 2020 survey that was generally complimentary of the condition of the boat with few issues to address, and have arranged our own survey, haul out, mechanical inspection with oil analysis, and sea trial for today.

Any particular pointers from similar LaBelle or Taiwanese trawlers of this vintage? Apart from being quite impressed with the physical condition, the recent investments in new hard top, davit, instruments, etc., our immediate concern is mechanical condition of the twin Volvo Penta TAMD 40D 165hp engines (1540 hrs) and the Northern Lights 6KW generator (hours to be confirmed). I have to say that the engine room and bilge area are impeccably maintained and decently spacious compared to most I have seen, which is a positive indication of recent attention.

Any particular tips on on the survey and mechanical inspection?

Also, has anyone retrofitted a bow thruster on a boat of this vintage? We have just returned from a charter on a similar sized boat and had some challenges docking in a strong, gusting wind pushing us off a congested finger berth in tight quarters. We had about 10 helpers on dock for this maneuver, and that gives rise to some concerns for the Admiral and I managing this size of vessel ourselves.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[mvweebles]

Congrats so far - hope the transaction goes smoothly.

There will likely be several negative comments on the Volvos, and while they wouldn't be my first choice, they wouldn't be my last either. People complain about the price of spares, but I don't often hear complaints about the engines themselves. The boats I've run with Volvo's are smooth engines. Find a good Volvo mechanic and get their best thinking.

I recently installed a bow thruster on my 1970 Willard 36. On my boat, had to remove some concrete ballast which was a pain. Most boats won't need that. I believe a decent 24V thruster and tunnel is in the $5k range. Install of the tunnel is pretty straight-forward. There is a fair amount of time/effort/expense to install batteries and cables/switches; plus a DC-DC charger if you go with a 24V thruster on a 12V boat (recommended). Figure $10k-$12k USD for the total install, but may creep higher.

Best success -

Peter

 

[Hippocampus]

Congratulations. We’ve been trying to find our next boat for a year. Know how,frustrating it is.

 

[slowgoesit]

Congratulations (hopefully not prematurely) on your boat! She looks really nice in the ad. If you don't mind my asking, how much was the boat house? Please let us know how the survey/sea trial goes!

 

[OldDan1943]

You got a great boat. I wish you many happy cruising days.

 

[Comodave]

Congrats, hopefully, on your new boat. While I am not a fan of Volvos, I hope you have a great time with them. We are buying a Formula 41PC. It has a walkthrough windshield which isn’t great for my wife. So we will put both bow and stern thrusters on it so she doesn’t have to go on the bow very often, if at all. There is a company on the east coast that travels around doing only thruster installs. They are going to be in the neighborhood of $23K for both. I put a stern thruster on our last boat, a President 41. It cost about $5K for all the materials and I installed it myself. It was a big help for docking and transiting the locks.

 

[Coppercove1]

Congratulations (hopefully not prematurely) on your boat! She looks really nice in the ad. If you don't mind my asking, how much was the boat house? Please let us know how the survey/sea trial goes!

Thanks, for your reply.

The boat house is rented and averages between $CAD 1100-1200/month depending on power consumption. Water is supplied for free. It fits about a 55 ft boat, ours is 48 ft from tip of bow pulpit to swim grid.

 

[slowgoesit]

Thanks, for your reply.

The boat house is rented and averages between $CAD 1100-1200/month depending on power consumption. Water is supplied for free. It fits about a 55 ft boat, ours is 48 ft from tip of bow pulpit to swim grid.

That doesn't seem bad depending on the marina. Thanks for offering that up!


How did the survey go?

 

[Coppercove1]

Update: LaBelle 44

The deal is finally done, took possesion August 5th!

Survey findings which included a dry docking by Vancouver-based David Wood were good. I had a mechanical inspection including sea trial and oil samples done by Joe Torres and he was very thorough and helpful. There are a number of recommendations on the engines: one engine needs a rebuild on an oil cooler, a replacement water pump, all exhaust hoses need replacement, one transmission oil sample showed 200 ppm iron, and one shaft needs a replacement coupler.

At Joe's suggestion I got Stem to Stern Marine Services in Vancouver to source and quote the necessary parts based on the recommendations. They found all of the TAMD-40B parts, giving me sufficient confidence that we can address the engines and should not break the bank doing so.

Seller and I went back and forth, and we compromised on the initial price to compensate for the mechanical findings. He had actually addressed the coolers in one engine and already bought many of the parts on the other.

Seller is a really nice guy, super proud of the boat which he has owned for 17 years. He made a 12 hour drive to attend the sea trial and is making the drive again today, so that we can do a comprehensive handover tomorrow. He has been meticulous in his record keeping and has files to hand over on every system in the boat. There are also the original wiring diagrams, which I understand are not usually avialable on Taiwanese Trawlers. The boat is spotlessly clean, and completely outfitted with everything you can think of. We didnt spend time in the survey on the tender, but I had a look the other day and it is a well set up fibreglass zodiac with replacement pontoons, center console, fish finder and GPS and older 25 hp Mercury 2-cycle. Should be fun. Davit was replaced by the seller as well.

Once I get her out of the boat house, will post pics and keep you all updated on how this goes.

Thanks in advance for the interest!

Steve

 

[OldDan1943]

Sometimes I feel like getting my boat surveyed just so the surveyor will have to write the list of all the improvements I made. LOL I will verbally recite the list so he can write it all down.
I get tired just thinking about the list.
One nice thing is the ToDo list is much much shorter than the HaveDone list.

 

[Peter B]

Sometimes I feel like getting my boat surveyed just so the surveyor will have to write the list of all the improvements I made. LOL I will verbally recite the list so he can write it all down.
I get tired just thinking about the list.
One nice thing is the ToDo list is much much shorter than the HaveDone list.

Actually, that is nice to do - even a bit belatedly. I had that done in order to set the asking price, when I finally reluctantly put my boat up for sale. Didn't get the initial asking price, but it felt good to have the improvements listed and valued. Got a fair price, considering her age. Better than the broker predicted.

 

[Comodave]

Congrats on your new boat. Sounds very nice.