Future vessel suggestions

[captdag]

Looking to Purchase a used vessel in near future and any help or suggestions with brands and models would be greatly appreciated.

listed are my search criteria:

semi- live aboard trawler type in the 35 to 45 ft range
operating area will be limited to US Gulf Intracoastal waterway and Gulf coastal areas
fuel efficiency is priority
not interested in fancy accommodations and exotic wood. would like more of an expedition type vessel for exploring, fishing and sightseeing.


which brands to stay away from?

Regards,
CDag

[Steve]

Sent a PM message to your profile page
Steve W

[Phil Fill]

Originally Posted by Steve

Sent a PM message to your profile page
Steve W

Well, that is not fair as others also want to know?

I think a bayliner is still the best bang for the buck.

[GFC]

I agree. It seems that if a person is going to either praise or badmouth a certain brand, that he'd have enough huevos to do it publicly. The only reason I can think of that he would not do it publicly is that he's afraid of taking some heat for his comments.

Transparency keeps us honest.

[CPseudonym]

Could he have possibly noticed the new member is from his home state and he had no desire to hijack his thread???

I tend to agree with Phil, bayliner in the larger size represent a tremendous value. Truth is there are many boats in that range to accomplish your purpose.

Welcome to the forum.

[Art]

Tollycraft - Need ! say more!

PS: BTW Forum Mods... I miss being able to utilize the face throwing pop corn in his mouth - That stands for a lot! What happened to him; he go to jail? Can ya bring him back on... please!! With sugar on top!!!

[CPseudonym]

Originally Posted by Art

Tollycraft - Need ! say more!

PS: BTW Forum Mods... I miss being able to utilize the face throwing pop corn in his mouth - That stands for a lot! What happened to him; he go to jail? Can ya bring him back on... please!! With sugar on top!!!

Thislittleguy

Click the [More] button at the bottom of the smile box and see where he's hiding

[Art]

Originally Posted by CPseudonym

Thislittleguy

Click the [More] button at the bottom of the smile box and see where he's hiding

DUHHHHH - TY Craig! Yeah - that's da guy. I never REALLY noted the "more" before! Again... DUHHHHHHHH

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Phil Fill

Well, that is not fair as others also want to know?

I think a bayliner is still the best bang for the buck.

Well, since you ask, I sent this message,

"Hi, where in La. are you located.?
I live in Thibodaux and keep my boat in Houma
Steve Willett"

[Steve]

Originally Posted by GFC

I agree. It seems that if a person is going to either praise or badmouth a certain brand, that he'd have enough huevos to do it publicly. The only reason I can think of that he would not do it publicly is that he's afraid of taking some heat for his comments.

Transparency keeps us honest.

Well, here goes again!
I'm thinking I have more huevos than some have brains?

Hi, where in La. are you located.?
I live in Thibodaux and keep my boat in Houma
steve Willett

[ksanders]

I have to agree that the Bayliners are hard to beat.

This isn't the boat I'd choose for heavy weather cruising, but they make a great coastal cruiser.

[twiisted71]

Originally Posted by captdag

[FONT=Verdana]
fuel efficiency is priority

Get a nice fat sailboat. 44 Gulfstar or similar Morgan Out Islander. Put a house over the center cockpit with a flybridge atop or just put a hardtop over the cockpit with Eisenglass curtains for winter cruising. JMHO. these boats will make much better trawlers than sailboats.

[GFC]

OK, OK, that foot didn't taste very good and the egg on my face has almost dried and is hard to get off.

I agree with Kevin, Bayliner motoryachts offer more space for the buck than just about any other boat I've seen. You may not be able to find many of them in LA, but i'd bet if you checked in CA you could find them. It wouldn't be too spendy to have one trucked from CA to the gulf.

[Woodsong]

Can't go wrong with the larger bayliner but if looking for fuel efficiency as stated I would look at the Monk 36 with a single screw 135 perkins burning around 1.5 to 1.75 GPH.

[Marin]

Originally Posted by captdag

Looking to Purchase a used vessel in near future and any help or suggestions with brands and models would be greatly appreciated.

Lots of boat makes and models will meet your criteria. A place to start narrowing things down might be David Pascoe's boat review website. Boat Reviews by David Pascoe, Marine Surveyor - Index

While he is very opinionated and biased, his evaluations of a wide variety of makes can be very useful as a single data point and can perhaps narrow the field for you.

I suggest you draw up a list of everything you want a boat to do for you, from how many guests you anticipate having on board, to whether you prefer propane or electric galleys, to how many heads do you think you'll need, to do you want a flying bridge or not, to what kind of waters do you anticipate boating in--- shallow, deep, exposed, protected--- to do you want to anchor out a lot or do you like going to marinas, and so on.

Once you have defined what you want the boat to have and do for you, then you can start figuring out what brands and models will do it.

If you start by looking at boats first, it could be a long and frustrating look.

[ksanders]

Originally Posted by Marin

Lots of boat makes and models will meet your criteria. A place to start narrowing things down might be David Pascoe's boat review website. Boat Reviews by David Pascoe, Marine Surveyor - Index

While he is very opinionated and biased, his evaluations of a wide variety of makes can be very useful as a single data point and can perhaps narrow the field for you.

Pascoes books, are also well worth the money. I have his buyers guide on midsized power boats as well as his book on surveying fiberglass power boats. They are both very informative.

The big thing Pascoe pointed out in his books is that there is no perfect boat. He indicated that some of the best boats were models with a very long production run. Thats because over time manufacturers tended to improve the boats over the length of the models lifespan, fixing the little things that make or break a boats design.

He was especially harsh on manufacturers that change models every couple of years for the same reason.

[FF]

"offer more space for the buck than just about any other boat I've seen."

Space for the buck is not a good yardstick for a useful boat.

[Phil Fill]

Originally Posted by Phil Fill

Well, that is not fair as others also want to know?

I think a bayliner is still the best bang for the buck.

I little more detail would help. Do you wnat the boat to look like a trawler, wht speed, what design/modle?

Wehn looking for a larger boat we use the 45 Bayline as our basic as we liked the pilot house layout, and we almost bought one.

[ksanders]

Originally Posted by FF

"
Space for the buck is not a good yardstick for a useful boat.

Actually I would beg to differ on that.

We're talking about Coastal Cruisers here, and not blue water Passagemakers.

I would contend that for the most part space = comfort. In a Coastal Cruiser comfort is the key to a useful boat.

There will be exceptions to the rule, and of course other design criteria are very important, but in a Coastal Cruiser the more "space" you can have for a given length makes for a more comfortable existance, which makes for a more useful boat.

You can go overboard on the space thing as well, I'll admit that. For example a boat that you cannot dock comfortably is not a useful boat. A boat that you cannot board carrying sacks of groceries is not as useful either.

When we add the "for a buck" part of your post("Space for the buck is not a good yardstick for a useful boat") into the equation we get even more usefulness.

All other things being equal, the less you pay to enjoy boating the better. At least to me boating has never been about showing ones ability to buy a very expensive boat, its been about getting out on the water. If you can have as much fun out on the water for less money thats fantastic! Whats wrong with that?

So, I would contend that "space for a buck" can be in many cases be a very good yardstick of a useful boat.

[GFC]

FF, I'm another who would respectfully disagree with your comment. Captdag lives in Louisiana. Chances are he'll be traveling the Gulf of Mexico so he'd need a seaworthy boat, but not a passagemaker. I've been aboard a few trawlers and to be quite honest, I would get to feeling claustrophobic after awhile on most of them. But that's just me.

The more time I planned on spending on a boat the more room I'd want on it. I think most couples who spend a lot of time aboard would want to have enough space that they could get away from each other at times. All of us have our squabbles and if you're stuck in the same small space with someone you're angry at, it can make life difficult.

Speaking only for myself here, I'd gladly forego some fuel efficiency to have a boat I'd feel like I could spread out on. I'd want a boat that could handle most conditions I might encounter when coastal cruising, and do it comfortably. The last thing I'd want to do is scare the bejesus out of my Admiral if we were caught out in a storm.

Captdag I've always had two major rules when it comes to boat shopping....
1. Buy your second boat first. Most people don't do their due diligence before buying a boat. They get one they think is 'pretty' then find out later it doesn't suit their needs. That can get very expensive.
2. The wrong boat, at the best price in the world, is still the wrong boat.