Good By Commodave

I am pretty sure the moderators will be sending out a bunch of warnings about the number of people who had well wishes to Dave.( you are not supposed to comment on "for sale" postings)

I'm sorry to hear Dave is selling or has sold his boat. I have followed his posts for years and knew he was having back problems when he couldn't finish some of his projects.

Fare Thee Well Dave. We can only hope you will continue with your posts and share your knowledge with us even though you are currently boatels.

pete

"You can check out any time you want, but you can never leave".

jleonard said:

"You can check out any time you want, but you can never leave".

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Ditto... and fair winds too...

Aw, sorry to hear this. I hope he stays on the forums. He has been active and one of the more helpful contributors from what I've seen.

As they say in Russia: Семь футов под килем!

Dave isn't going anywhere.
His recent posting indicates he is sell boat #x and looking for # x+1.
I am sure he is also an Eagles fan.

koliver said:

Dave isn't going anywhere.

His recent posting indicates he is sell boat #x and looking for # x+1.

I am sure he is also an Eagles fan.

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Exactly!
Should be wishing Dave good luck with his next boat ( not good bye)

Dave is getting a smaller low profile boat so MIL can see the view beyond.

Besides, I thought it was you can check in, but you can never leave unless scraping paint.

I am not planning on going anywhere, unless you all throw me off the forum because we will not have a trawler anymore. I have been having back issues for several years, 11 back procedures in the last couple of years, and I need to slow down on the big work on the boat. There isn’t any marine diesel mechanics here but there are gas engine mechanics. So we are looking at some express cruisers. We need a faster boat so we can get home more quickly in an emergency. My mom lives with us and just turned 101. Unfortunately with the trawler it takes 3 to 5 hours to get anywhere here. With an express cruiser we can return much faster if she needs us. So hopefully you all don’t kick me to the curb for getting a non trawler…

And yes our President is gone, virtually. It is still at our house but the new owner is going to get it next week and cruise it to it’s new home. Sad to see it go but excited to look for boat #24…

Congrats on the sale of boat number seventy-five! You’re not allowed to go anywhere.

Definitely sounds like it's time for a faster boat and no more diesels. Beyond the express cruisers, there are some fast enough gas motoryacht types at 40 feet and under out there. And those are usually cheap too, as not a lot of people want the gas ones. They're not quite as fast as a lot of the express cruisers, but they also give more space and comfort, sometimes on par with a similar size trawler. A lot of the express cruisers are also pretty bad at going slow when you want to save gas.

As an example, my boat with twin gas 454s will happily cruise at 17 - 18 kts all day without beating on the engines. Some of the motoryacht types are even a bit faster depending on hull design, weight and engine choice. But by not having a fast express cruiser hull that would be happy cruising at 25+, it's also quite well behaved at 6.5 - 7 kts.

Aw Geez! I was hoping to get updates on how your Lion Batteries worked out for you.

Tator

We did a sea trial and survey Monday on a Formula 34PC with 7.4 MPIs in it. They wouldn’t turn over 3100RPMs and then we found the entire engine room bulkheads and stringers would peg the moisture meters. That deal was toast. We are going to look at a 36PC tomorrow. It has 502s in it. I hope it is in better condition.

There are some fast diesel boats out there like a Back Cove, Sabre, etc. At my yacht club, the gas powered boats seem to have never ending engine issues. I don't mean to second-guess Comodave, as I'm sure he knows volumes more than me on most subjects. I just question why going faster means going to gas. There are plenty of diesel boats that are not trawlers (like mine, even though it's called a Mainship Trawler)

Comodave said:

I am not planning on going anywhere, unless you all throw me off the forum because we will not have a trawler anymore. I have been having back issues for several years, 11 back procedures in the last couple of years, and I need to slow down on the big work on the boat. There isn’t any marine diesel mechanics here but there are gas engine mechanics. So we are looking at some express cruisers. We need a faster boat so we can get home more quickly in an emergency. My mom lives with us and just turned 101. Unfortunately with the trawler it takes 3 to 5 hours to get anywhere here. With an express cruiser we can return much faster if she needs us. So hopefully you all don’t kick me to the curb for getting a non trawler…

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Dave,
With your bad back and need for speed you should consider a power catamaran. Softer ride for the back and fast. We have a Glacier Bay and we love the speed and ride.

Bud

Going faster doesn’t mean going gas. We don’t have a marine diesel mechanic available here. There are gas engine mechanics here, just not diesel. We may end up with a diesel boat but that means I have to do the maintenance on the engines. And that is what I am trying to get away from. I have a great,short, skinny mechanic that works on gas engines and will come to the house to work on our boat. While I love working on the boat, it is getting to be time to hire some of the work done.

Bud said:

Dave,
With your bad back and need for speed you should consider a power catamaran. Softer ride for the back and fast. We have a Glacier Bay and we love the speed and ride.

Bud

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We looked at some. They don’t have the cabin area that we are looking for. And then there is the price….

Comodave said:

We looked at some. They don’t have the cabin area that we are looking for. And then there is the price….

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Thats true. What are looking at gas outboards or inboards?

Inboards. The one we will look at tomorrow has 502s in it. We are going to, maybe, look at a Formula 41PC with 450 Cummins in it. Nice engines but then I have to maintain them since they are diesels. Time will tell.

backinblue said:

There are some fast diesel boats out there like a Back Cove, Sabre, etc. At my yacht club, the gas powered boats seem to have never ending engine issues. I don't mean to second-guess Comodave, as I'm sure he knows volumes more than me on most subjects. I just question why going faster means going to gas. There are plenty of diesel boats that are not trawlers (like mine, even though it's called a Mainship Trawler)

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A lot of gas engines end up in boats that are perpetually under-maintained. The engines get abused, damaged, aren't well cared for and then people wonder why they never work well or reliably. With good maintenance, mine are pretty much dead reliable. Save for a couple (very few) carb issues over the years, in the whole time I've known this boat, every engine issue it's had has been something diesels are equally susceptible to (like a failed fuel pump or a cooling system problem).

Good luck with the search. You will know when you see it.

Bud

Congrats on the (unsurprising) quick sale of your trawler & good luck on the next one?

Curious why you are only looking at inboards? It seems to me that if you're moving to gas the newer outboards are very very good & probably less expensive over their life than an inboard due to standardized packaging, efficiency, etc. Seems like the way things are moving for faster boats.

In 15 years running a gasser 454 with a 4 barrrel Holley, it never failed to complete an assigned tow. Yes I repaired or fiddled a few times underway, but less than I have with my Ford Lehman in 8 years.


Unusual? Probably but gassers ave come a long way if maintained and run well.

socalrider said:

Congrats on the (unsurprising) quick sale of your trawler & good luck on the next one?

Curious why you are only looking at inboards? It seems to me that if you're moving to gas the newer outboards are very very good & probably less expensive over their life than an inboard due to standardized packaging, efficiency, etc. Seems like the way things are moving for faster boats.

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Ditto, on the outboards. Better resale value too

psneeld said:

In 15 years running a gasser 454 with a 4 barrrel Holley, it never failed to complete an assigned tow. Yes I repaired or fiddled a few times underway, but less than I have with my Ford Lehman in 8 years.


Unusual? Probably but gassers ave come a long way if maintained and run well.

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That last statement is very true. As long as it's maintained, has either a good carb or reliable EFI, and has a good, reliable electronic ignition system there's nothing unreliable about a gas engine. The historic unreliability mostly comes from points and other old, crappy ignition systems that couldn't reliably get the job done.

Not that I have been pricing them lately...but I just saw 300hp Mercury outboards that are something around $23,000 and long block marine engines over 400hp can still be had for around $15,000.


But it really depends on what size boat,desired cruising speed, etc...etc....


Smaller outboards are the ticket...but over 200hp and I think it inverts quickly.

psneeld said:

Not that I have been pricing them lately...but I just saw 300hp Mercury outboards that are something around $23,000 and long block marine engines over 400hp can still be had for around $15,000.

But it really depends on what size boat,desired cruising speed, etc...etc....

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Do you know how that translates to all-in costs, say on a new build? (Not a rhetorical question - I don't know!)

Of course the outboards include rudders, screws, shafts, through-hulls, exhaust, etc, etc...

A re-power is a heck of a lot easier too!

Pete Meisinger said:

Fare Thee Well Dave. We can only hope you will continue with your posts and share your knowledge with us even though you are currently boatels.

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He's just downsizing. He's not leaving.

Shrew said:

He's just downsizing. He's not leaving.

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Not until there is a boot print on my butt…

psneeld said:

Not that I have been pricing them lately...but I just saw 300hp Mercury outboards that are something around $23,000 and long block marine engines over 400hp can still be had for around $15,000.


But it really depends on what size boat,desired cruising speed, etc...etc....


Smaller outboards are the ticket...but over 200hp and I think it inverts quickly.

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The Formula that failed survey was going to need new engines. 310HPs would have cost about $18K installed for long blocks. Since it was an express cruiser the engines would come out very easily. Outboards can be nice but they certainly come dear.