Modern Retro Trawler

[2savage]

Could well have been that the original radar with CRT would have worked fine for the next 20 years or so...
-Chris

Yes, and it could have failed off the coast of Newfoundland in thick fog. I'm not one for rolling the dice. I like the odds in my favor and new vs. 30 years old is a no-brainer.

 

[koliver]

Yes, and it could have failed off the coast of Newfoundland in thick fog. I'm not one for rolling the dice. I like the odds in my favor and new vs. 30 years old is a no-brainer.

Good choice.
My replacement radar is closing on 20 yrs old.
When the Furuno CRT failed, the Furuno guy said he could fix it, but he recommended moving up to a more modern unit, as even a fixed Furuno was still going to need work, parts, and still more work over the years. Then you would still have an old CRT unit taking up too much space and needing the operator's head stuck in the hood, unable to multi-task.

 

[SeaMoose]

You want the smallest boat you can be comfortable on. The cost of owning, maintaining, docking, anchoring, etc. is not a linear function, it's a logarithmic one. With a steep slope. I know couples who can only take the boat out on a perfectly calm day as they can't run it by themselves, its too big.

I paid $25,000 for my boat. Have invested $82,000 in it as of today not counting dock fees, storage, and insurance over 20 years which is another $54,000. It's worth perhaps $30,000 and would no doubt take a year to sell. Did almost all the work myself.

Would I do it again? If I wasn't 66 yes.

I loved every minute of it, learned a great deal, and it is setup exactly as I want it. There is nothing on the boat I can't rebuild, fix, etc. except the transmission, and rebuilding the engine. It's 34 feet. I planned to finish it in five years, it took twenty.

My story is not all that unusual.

I love everything about boating, have two of them, have owned eight. Nothing in my life except perhaps my dog comes remotely close to pleasure I get from being a boater - don't tell the women in my life LOL.

When you're hooked on this boating thing don't say us old salts didn't warn you.

 

[Caballero II]

I completely agree with the above. I can't think of anything more reliable than an old school diesel tractor engine. I wouldn't trade my naturally aspirated Ford Lehman 120 hp for a modern electronic common rail engine except under extreme duress.

 

[slowgoesit]

I completely agree with the above. I can't think of anything more reliable than an old school diesel tractor engine. I wouldn't trade my naturally aspirated Ford Lehman 120 hp for a modern electronic common rail engine except under extreme duress.

Totally agree. Our boat has a Gardner 8LXB. About as simple as it can get. Totally mechanical, no electronics whatsoever. And pushes our 85k lb boat 7.5 kts on 2.4 gph.

Wonder if the OP ever found a boat?

 

[Nomad Willy]

SeaMoose wrote;
“I paid $25,000 for my boat. Have invested $82,000 in it as of today not counting dock fees, storage, and insurance over 20 years which is another $54,000. It's worth perhaps $30,000 and would no doubt take a year to sell. Did almost all the work myself.”

I’m just about an exact duplicate.

 

[Old Sea Dog]

Have been looking at boats to do the loop myself. Have been out of boating for 35 years while life as a truckdriver got in the way. Now retired and with a new wife that does not know boating. So we have found a '79 GB 36. Needed something I could handle myself and teach the wife. Single Lehmann with 5800hrs. Bow thruster. 8kw gen. Tanks, decks upgraded. Solar on the aft bimini. Been lived aboard and taken care of. We will be heading north to the Chesapeake. Home port Crisfield MD.
First however is a haulout to replace 4 plastic thruhulls, along the waterline, with bronze.
There is a young couple on a MT 34 that is doing the loop this year. With no prior experience he took it upon himself to replace his decks. Admire him for taking on that challenge. Looking forward to meeting all you good folks along the journey.

Sent from my SM-G715U1 using Trawler Forum mobile app

 

[OldDan1943]

I agree with changing to bronze hull valves. Remember to upgrade your bonding system too.

 

[Hippocampus]

Bought a NT 42 last fall. So far TCO has been ~$60k not including the $40k escrow held back to fix a wet deck. Boat had a spotless mechanical and general survey. Given little use by prior owner undertook complete detailed servicing. Found multiple things.
Remote for watermaker was non functional and replacement no longer made.
PSS frozen to shaft so needed delicate cutting and grinding to be removed without injuring shaft.
Aftercooler needed work although all numbers on seatrial were perfect and nothing showed on survey.
We choose to replace rugs with Amtico.
We choose to strip and refinish interior wood (doing that ourselves).
We choose to do the 1000h service on the SeaKeeper prematurely.
We choose to polish fuel after having genset fail due to bad fuel.
We choose to replace all electronics with current.
So boat was unavailable during the winter as it was in a shed to do the deck. Currently available but not moveable during flooring installation. (2 weeks total).
We will end up with a boat that’s nearly mechanically and cosmetically Bristol fashion. But during this period cruising has been interrupted and we’ve lived in the house except for two multi day transits (RI to VA and back).
So depending upon the boat you buy you probably won’t have the ability to live on it for awhile. Even then will not unlikely need periods of several weeks off the boat as some repairs will be required. For us not a biggie as we’re retired and have a house. When I had my last boat transition was I retired. Wife retired a year later. But we had that boat built for us so it was fully functional and liveable from inception. In fact had our current house built for us when we were off cruising and living on her.
Think about the transition. You will probably need two different places to live for one to two years or ideally keep a dirt dwelling while you’re off cruising.

 

[Adopo]

Agree with the general consensus here regarding size for a family of three as well as your talking about two projects: restoration refit and a cruising adventure.

I’ve been inspired a few nice examples of older classic trawlers going through a modernization. Refit. Most of these are focused on cosmetics and the modernization of appliances, systems, etc.

It does go to show how you can bring an older vessel up to current design and lifestyle standards.

Modernization of a Lord Nelson Victory Tug

https://www.dwell.com/article/lucy-the-tugboat-the-brooklyn-home-company-b0136173

A terrific Kadey Krogen refit

https://www.passagemaker.com/technical/belle-of-the-west-refit

We’re on a similar journey with our Kadey Krogen 54 while living aboard.

I’ll just say everything takes longer and costs more than planned but we’re able to tackle projects in chunks that keep us cruising.

https://www.instagram.com/mvfortitude/

Man that is very cool. The older I get and harder to see the more white appeals to me. This is well done. Not a fan of all of it, but very well done indeed.