Mainships

[Downeaster]

Looking at something that will be economical, preferable a sgl engine, trawler or downeast boat, suitable for the loop and ICW from Maine to Bahamas. The Mainships price points look attractive. Plusses and minuses? Someone told me that the are very rolly- but he was trying to sell me a different boat. I'm thinking about a 40.

 

[twistedtree]

You get a lot for your money with a Mainship, but they are not as stoutly build as some other brands. Comparing displacement of comparably sized boats can be revealing. But, for coastal and inland cruising, its probably just fine.

One thing to check carefully is the attachment of the swim platform, and to be certain it has not filled with water. I don't know which models and years are susceptable to this, but they had an issue where the hollow swim platform would take on water, become excessively heavy, then work loose from the hull, often creating leaks. I was on a 390 that a couple had just bought and it was fine while at dock, but underway the bilge pump was running every 15 seconds the water was coming in so fast. It took them 3-4 go arounds with different yards to finally get it fixed. It's a fixable problem, but better done on someone else's watch and wallet.

 

[DavidM]

Downeaster:

Take a look at Steve Cyr's website. He is a Mainship 40 owner and covers the ins and outs of that boat very well. Go to Stellablue. Steve hangs out on the Yahoo Mainship forum, a good place for Mainship advice.

If you are interested in a downeaster style Mainship in the 40' range, the only one is the Pilot 43, but one is going to cost about $250K or more. Not really a Great Loop boat with two great big diesels to feed, but if you can afford it .....

David

 

[johnma]

Only the 390 had the swim platform issue. the 400 and 34T did not. You can tell if the 390 was fixed, just look to see if there are access ports in the platform. If so, the foam was removed and the inside of the platform was repaired (the platform is hollow and about 2' deep. Any of these 3 models would be a great boat for the loop and a trip to the Bahama's. They roll about the same as any other semi displacement boat of the same size. Mainship has a strange way of measuring boats; you would think by looking at the model numbers that they were widely different in length, but I think there's only about 2' difference in all three boats.
The 34T is a single stateroom with a pretty large salon, the 390 and 400 are two stateroom boats and both cabins and the head are almost identical. the 400 has a longer saloon. All three have molded in steps to the flybridge and no exterior teak. both were big selling points for me.
Good luck
John
2003 MS 390

 

[River Cruiser]

A friend has a 430 & is planning on doing the loop & Bahamas starting this fall. His cruise is faster than my wot but I suspect he'll go slower than what he did bringing it back from Lake Michigan.

 

[Earl34Mainship]

Downeaster.. I bought a 2005 34 MS Flybridge Trawler last Sept and have only locally cruised - not any great cruising experience yet. The 34 MS has a lot of nice items - single 370 Yanmar, bow thruster, enclosed flybridge, windless, adequate galley (2 burner elec cook top, AC/DC ref) water heater, stand up shower, sleeper sofa, Kohler gen, electronic controls, upper and lower helm, even a vacuum system. No need for other toys. Engine room has adequate room to service eng and gen. David's suggestion to view stellablue is perfect to see MS details - Steve does a great job of documenting what he's done with his MS. I looked for about a year; went to trawler fests, etc, and settled on the MS - not a Nordhavn, but a great boat for my needs.

Earl

 

[Earl34Mainship]

John Coble had the water in the swim platform problem with his 390. His email is secret.spot@live.com if anyone wants to learn how he fixed that problem on his MS.

 

[BruceK]

John Coble had the water in the swim platform problem with his 390. His email is secret.spot@live.com if anyone wants to learn how he fixed that problem on his MS.

It`s no secret now.
Unless you like spam, best not post your email, or anyone else`s. Posting addresses attracts spammers to TF like ants to a picnic.