Converted Sailor - Pilot 30

[JackD]

Greetings,
We are closing on a Mainship Pilot 30 next week. Looking forward to it! We'll be keeping her on Kent Island, MD.

Cheers,
Jack

[FlyWright]

Welcome to the forum, Jack. You'll find lots of Mainship fans here and a few guys who are quite passionate about their dark-colored hulls!

If you haven't noticed already, there's a Mainship Section devoted to everything Mainship. Marlow - Mainship - Trawler Forum

We love boat pics here, so feel free to fill this thread with boat pics of your new baby when she arrives.

[Moonstruck]

Welcome. Here is a group where you should find plenty of company.

Yahoo! Groups

[jwnall]

Welcome. Nice looking boat!!

[JackD]

Failure to launch. Some issues with the survey. Sad day.

[Uncleg44]

Ouch! Any resolution to survey issues

[Moonstruck]

The Pilot 30 is a very honest, straight forward boat. Was there some kind of abuse? It looked pretty new.

[Baker]

Dammit....I hate it when that happens. If there is anything I can help you with, post up here or don't be afraid to PM me. I owned one for 6 years....and it was a great boat!!!

[JackD]

Well, I don't have the survey back yet' but here's the key deficiencies:
1. Some minor blisters, small, few.
2. Windlass "ran away" in deploy mode. Probably bad switch at bow?
3. Little play in cutlass bearing.
4. Little play in rudder bearing.
5. Battery charger appears to be dead. Xantrex inverter appears to be charging too, but not sure if charging both banks.
6. During sea trial, my brother-in-law (mechanic) was actually laying on top of the engine. He had seen some rust around a head bolt. He saw very tiny droplets of water escaping, not around the bolt, but from the head, then evaporating. That scared us and we decided to not close the deal. Looking to have a Yanmar tech do an eval next week.

Other items maybe acceptable for 2003?

[Moonstruck]

Items 1-5 are small and not surprising with a 10 year old boat. They could be easily worked around. Water coming from the head is very different. It would take some looking into. Was the engine a 315 horse Yanmar?

[JackD]

Originally Posted by Moonstruck

Items 1-5 are small and not surprising with a 10 year old boat. They could be easily worked around. Water coming from the head is very different. It would take some looking into. Was the engine a 315 horse Yanmar?

Yes. 315.

[JackD]

What do you guys think about the blister report?
"Approximately 10% - 15% of the wetted surface of the hull contains blisters
ranging in size up to approximately 1/2” in size, although most sighted were ¼”
or less. While a slight concentration of these blisters (and evidence of previous
blister repairs) were noted along the chines, most of the hull below the waterline
is affected to some degree."

[Baker]

Originally Posted by JackD

What do you guys think about the blister report?
"Approximately 10% - 15% of the wetted surface of the hull contains blisters
ranging in size up to approximately 1/2” in size, although most sighted were ¼”
or less. While a slight concentration of these blisters (and evidence of previous
blister repairs) were noted along the chines, most of the hull below the waterline
is affected to some degree."

Blisters are one of those things...if you have them, it is not that big of a deal. But if you have a choice, you would rather not have them. If the boat was awesome and you really liked it and it had some blisters, then it you may look past them. Many of those blisters, if they are that small, might just be in the bottom paint. I would rather hear a number for blisters, not a percentage. The boat I just bought had about 150 of varying sizes. I repaired about 75. I will repair the other 75 on the next haul out.

Like Don said, the other issues are not a big deal. The head issue is. There are too many Pilot 30s for sale out there to settle. If you have to have this boat, get a good mechanic and run the piss out of that engine under load for awhile. Generally speaking, if there is a head gasket leak, the coolant will show up in the oil. I would not trust just checking the oil since the owner could have just changed it before survey. Oil can also show up in the coolant. Anyway, do your due diligence if you still want the boat. A good mechanic should be able to tell you how bad it is. If there has been a "mingling of fluids" as explained above....RUN away from the deal.

PS...I just sold my 2004 P30. It had no blisters.

[Codger2]

Originally Posted by Baker

PS...I just sold my 2004 P30. It had no blisters.

My 1999 didn't have any either. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

[JackD]

I decided to walk away from the deal. I will keep an eye out for another P30 or maybe P34.

[Codger2]

Originally Posted by JackD

I decided to walk away from the deal. I will keep an eye out for another P30 or maybe P34.

As I previously wrote...I owned a P30 but were I to do it again, I'd get the same age P34. More room and speed & not nearly as "tender." (Some came with twins, too!)

[Daniel Ward]

hope I am not offending anyone here but can blisters be cured with out bringing a ship out of the water?

[Moonstruck]

Baker said, "PS...I just sold my 2004 P30. It had no blisters."
__________________


Baker, 2 to 1 that your boat was in the batch that was all vinylester resin.

[Codger2]

Originally Posted by Daniel Ward

hope I am not offending anyone here but can blisters be cured with out bringing a ship out of the water?

No

[Moonstruck]

Originally Posted by JackD

I decided to walk away from the deal. I will keep an eye out for another P30 or maybe P34.

+1 on the 34. Single 370 with bow thruster will cruise 16-17 knots. Twin 240s @ 19-20.