new member

drjasa · 09-26-2020, 07:40 PM

I am just joining this terrific forum. I am a 73-year-old retired doctor, grew up in the Chesapeake Bay but now live in Ohio and looking for a trawler to use as a base on the saltwater. I'll have some catching up to do but have been around the water for years.
Have been doing some preliminary looking and ran across a Thompson 44 long-range trawler with dual Perkins T6.354 engines, 4400 hours reported but one recently had rings replaced.
Is this a good boat? Am I going to have problem with the engines, particularly repairs and getting parts
my budget is at this point 30 thousand dollars or less.
Would appreciate everyone's thoughts and I am glad to be part of this group

Comodave · 09-26-2020, 07:46 PM

Welcome aboard. Not familiar with that boat but the Perkins engines are a good long lived engine. The individual boat is what matters in the older boats, get a good survey.

firehoser75 · 09-26-2020, 08:18 PM

Welcome to the forum. As usual, Comodave has it right. You are definitely looking for a boat that has been loved by it's current and past owners. Even at that, make sure you don't "blow the budget" with the purchase, as you should count on leaving a pretty substantial budget for repairs, setting a maintenance baseline, additions, etc. We bought a boat in great condition, and still spent over $30,000 in the first 2 years, and still have not updated the electronics. Not trying to "scare you", just want you to go into it with your "eyes wide open".

Comodave · 09-26-2020, 08:23 PM

One of the variables is how good are you at DIY? If you are good at DIY and like working on boats then you can accept a boat that needs a bit of TLC. However if you are not good or don’t like DIY then you have to set the bar a bit higher. At 30K for a budget you are going to have to look at older boats. Then brand really isn’t significant since a Mercedes can be run down so that a great condition Chevy is a better deal. Good luck and enjoy the search.

JohnS · 09-27-2020, 06:45 AM

When we were looking for our boat, we looked atcseveral Thompson 44s. They were a solid, fishing boat based hull, sometimes finished by other yards or owners.
They seemed to have a decent engine room and layout, a huge fuel tank, and, onbtwo of three I looked at, soft cabin tops.
At your price point, expect to have repairs and upgrades before the boat is cruise- ready. Check to see if you, or your mechanic, can easily access the outboard side of the engines.
Welcome aboard.
Good luck with your search.
JohnS