1975 Marine Trader 34

Mako said:

That's a very strange generalist statement to make, Scooby. It would help if you offered some details.

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I don’t want to be negative if you like the boat and you’ve actually looked at it great .I wouldn’t even go look at it and I have owned many Taiwanese trawlers .I would buy them clean them up and flip them when I say many more than 20 I don’t remember exactly how many ,I’m not saying that to make myself looks like some kind of expert but I do know a lot about those boats .I think I looked at pictures on the brokers website ,is that the one with the air conditioning hang out on the back window those bolts are just too old for all that plywood coring I could go on for a long time maybe I’m wrong maybe I’m not

I have 1855 hours on mine. These aren't globe trotters. About 50 hrs a year is normal. One of the reasons they last so long.

I would be concerned that the rear escape door has been covered up. Very small water tank compared to what came on it new (150 gallons was standard)

Aft cabin safety and ventilation

nobles9596 said:

I would be concerned that the rear escape door has been covered up. Very small water tank compared to what came on it new (150 gallons was standard)

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I’m also a veteran of early MT 34 . Owned a ‘73 for about 11 years until health said it was time to pack it in a few years back.Many of the photos brought back memories of projects I spent a lot of time on. All these boats now have 40++ years on them, but I never seen a mod that eliminated both the aft hatch, rear and starboard windows. You gotta wonder what sort of damage or deterioration would cause a PO to repair it this way. The risk of fire, CO , or whatever else that would require quick egress would make me totally unwilling to spend a night in that dark hole of an aft cabin.

I’d also question when and how regular maintenance was performed…the boat is a pigpen and pride of ownership by PO is obviously very low, even if he did have it in charter. Looks like there’s no thruster, no genset, no anchor windlass…dodgy a/c with the window unit and a portable unit fwd that vents out a window.. I wouldn’t back that thing out of its slip.

When I bought my MT in 2007 it was already older than most insurance brokers would consider but I had two previous boats with BoatUS, was paying cash for the boat, and only with repair receipts to correct several survey issues was I able to insure the boat. I hope the prospective owner has his insurance, and financing if necessary, all in line before he jumps in.

That boat sat for a long time, so I had suspicions about it, but it finally sold, and my house hasn't yet, not til next Monday if all goes as planned. I haven't shed any tears that it's gone lol..when the right one comes along, it'll work out. The Albin 27 in the for sale section looks like a good boat for a decent price for a single guy to live on. I'll definitely eyeball it harder once the house closing is complete. I've kinda paused the shopping til I'm in a situation to buy.

BruceK said:

The Manual for my L120s said 200 hours! Had to post a copy to convince Marin. Compromised @ 100 hours, no problems arose.

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What happened to Marin? He hasn’t been on here in half a decade?!

bowball said:

What happened to Marin? He hasn’t been on here in half a decade?!

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It`s messier, but effectively, as I read it, Marin reached a self determined number of posts and didn`t want to post anymore as Marin. By then, he had generously shared his knowledge and views.