Starting my search

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
A

AKboats

Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2021
Messages
7
Hello,
I put this in the wrong section earlier. I'm hoping one of the Californian experts I have seen on this board might be able to enlighten me. We are in the market for a 34-42' trawler style, I like everything I read about the Californian's so far. There are a few for sale in the Northwest. I've inquired on a 38 with a broker and I'm a bit confused by the engine and transmission combo. The boat is a '76, twin 6354m NA Perkins @135hp and it appears 1:1 transmissions. Broker says it cruises at 6.5kt at 1500, 3gph. Does anyone have any knowledge of this combo? Seems like the engines should be able to turn around 2400 so cruise RPM should be 1800-2000. I guess after reading about the Californian's I was hoping I'd find something with a little faster cruising speed. I just can't find much data on a 38 with the 135hp Perkins.

Thanks in advance.
 
AKboats said:
Hello,

I put this in the wrong section earlier. I'm hoping one of the Californian experts I have seen on this board might be able to enlighten me. We are in the market for a 34-42' trawler style, I like everything I read about the Californian's so far. There are a few for sale in the Northwest. I've inquired on a 38 with a broker and I'm a bit confused by the engine and transmission combo. The boat is a '76, twin 6354m NA Perkins @135hp and it appears 1:1 transmissions. Broker says it cruises at 6.5kt at 1500, 3gph. Does anyone have any knowledge of this combo? Seems like the engines should be able to turn around 2400 so cruise RPM should be 1800-2000. I guess after reading about the Californian's I was hoping I'd find something with a little faster cruising speed. I just can't find much data on a 38 with the 135hp Perkins.



Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
1:1 transmissions is not realistic. That makes anything else the broker says suspect. You should be able to get more than 6.5 kts out of her but your fuel burn will go up. And the stress on the engines will also be much greater.

I have a 42 LRC so any numbers I give you won't be a good comparison. There will be other Californian owners along shortly.

My best advice is if you're looking for speed a 76 with vintage engines is not the way to go.
 
I didn’t hunk 1:1 made any sense either. I agree that ‘76 NA diesels are not a high performance package either. Your combo and numbers would be interesting at the least, lots of 34’ data on here but not so much on the larger hulls. I would be pretty happy with a 10-12kt cruise but if that’s not possible with this particular boat it may be a reason to expand my research. Thanks for posting.
 
This question has been asked in so many different ways.
I think you are spot on for your selected length.

General advice:
Define:
your cruising style
your must haves
things you would like to have.

Final advice, storage will always be at a premium. Room for spare parts.
If you have a partner, you must satisfy her requirements. Take her along when you visit a boat. I can live out of a drawer and maybe 1/2 a closet. My 'house mouse' has 3 drawers and 1/2 closet+ a little bit of my half. :banghead: :lol:
Look for other opportunities for storage or maybe custom cabinets.
 
Last edited:
I know of a couple of boats that you might be interested that were for sale when I was last in Petersburg in Sept. One is the Makai, a 36'(?) CHB tri-cabin. Another is the Nugget, a 42' Nordic Tug. The Makai was on B float (probably has it's custom winter cover on now) and the Nordic was out in the shed at Scow Bay but might be back on B float. I don't know your price range and I'm not really knowledgeable of the condition of these boats.

Tator
 
Petersburg Boats

Hey Tator,
Thanks, I didn't realize the Nugget was up for sale. That was Phil's right? The Makai sold about 2 weeks ago, the day before we offered on her. Closer to home would certainly make things easier.

Are you still in Petersburg? Hope your F20 has been working well since we worked on it. Hope Winter is treating you well!
 
I heard that the Nugget was going to be put up for sale. May not of happened yet. I don't know the person who owns it now. It was originally owned by John (?) Martin the boat surveyor out of Wrangell. We are in our dirt home on Bainbridge Island, WA What's an F20?

Tator
 
AKboats said:
Hello,
I put this in the wrong section earlier. I'm hoping one of the Californian experts I have seen on this board might be able to enlighten me. We are in the market for a 34-42' trawler style, I like everything I read about the Californian's so far. There are a few for sale in the Northwest. I've inquired on a 38 with a broker and I'm a bit confused by the engine and transmission combo. The boat is a '76, twin 6354m NA Perkins @135hp and it appears 1:1 transmissions. Broker says it cruises at 6.5kt at 1500, 3gph. Does anyone have any knowledge of this combo? Seems like the engines should be able to turn around 2400 so cruise RPM should be 1800-2000. I guess after reading about the Californian's I was hoping I'd find something with a little faster cruising speed. I just can't find much data on a 38 with the 135hp Perkins.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I've got a 34 Californian LRC with twin Perkins 4.236 85HP NAs. These are the same engine as the 6.354 135 with 2 fewer cylinders. I get ~7 kts at 1800 RPM on about 3 GPH, another 0.5-1 Kt at 2000 RPM but it's much noisier. My Borg Warner trannies are 2:1.

Other than the broker's "1:1" claim, his numbers sound OK. Maybe you'd get another knot at 1800 RPM over the 1500 RPM claim, but I sure wouldn't expect to go much faster than 8 Kts on twin 135s.

I've been on a 34 LRC like mine with twin 250HP Detroits and it did 23 Kts.
 
AKboats said:
Hello,
I put this in the wrong section earlier. I'm hoping one of the Californian experts I have seen on this board might be able to enlighten me. We are in the market for a 34-42' trawler style, I like everything I read about the Californian's so far. There are a few for sale in the Northwest. I've inquired on a 38 with a broker and I'm a bit confused by the engine and transmission combo. The boat is a '76, twin 6354m NA Perkins @135hp and it appears 1:1 transmissions. Broker says it cruises at 6.5kt at 1500, 3gph. Does anyone have any knowledge of this combo? Seems like the engines should be able to turn around 2400 so cruise RPM should be 1800-2000. I guess after reading about the Californian's I was hoping I'd find something with a little faster cruising speed. I just can't find much data on a 38 with the 135hp Perkins.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...


I have a 42 LRC. It was repowered with M135 Perkins. 6 cylinder N/A. At 1800 rpm, I cruise at 7 1/2 - 8 knots at a 3.5 gph burn rate. Not apples for apples , but it may give you an idea.
 
Thanks for getting back to me Playin Hooky. I haven't been able to find a Californian with the combination of features my wife and I are looking for. Great looking boats for sure. We found a Uniflite in Seattle that met most of our needs for now and are going through the survey process with that boat now. Hopefully the surveys come back acceptable and we can continue the purchase.
 
Good luck on the search. The used market has gone haywire.
 
OldDan1943 said:
This question has been asked in so many different ways.
I think you are spot on for your selected length.

General advice:
Define:
your cruising style
your must haves
things you would like to have.

Final advice, storage will always be at a premium. Room for spare parts.
If you have a partner, you must satisfy her requirements. Take her along when you visit a boat. I can live out of a drawer and maybe 1/2 a closet. My 'house mouse' has 3 drawers and 1/2 closet+ a little bit of my half. :banghead: :lol:
Look for other opportunities for storage or maybe custom cabinets.
Click to expand...

Good points OD. I would also add to your list:
- Things that you absolutely don't want (deal-breakers)
 
AKboats said:
Thanks for getting back to me Playin Hooky. I haven't been able to find a Californian with the combination of features my wife and I are looking for. Great looking boats for sure. We found a Uniflite in Seattle that met most of our needs for now and are going through the survey process with that boat now. Hopefully the surveys come back acceptable and we can continue the purchase.
Click to expand...

Good luck! Hope it goes well.
 
AKboats said:
Hello,
I put this in the wrong section earlier. I'm hoping one of the Californian experts I have seen on this board might be able to enlighten me. We are in the market for a 34-42' trawler style, I like everything I read about the Californian's so far. There are a few for sale in the Northwest. I've inquired on a 38 with a broker and I'm a bit confused by the engine and transmission combo. The boat is a '76, twin 6354m NA Perkins @135hp and it appears 1:1 transmissions. Broker says it cruises at 6.5kt at 1500, 3gph. Does anyone have any knowledge of this combo? Seems like the engines should be able to turn around 2400 so cruise RPM should be 1800-2000. I guess after reading about the Californian's I was hoping I'd find something with a little faster cruising speed. I just can't find much data on a 38 with the 135hp Perkins.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Curious if there is any update on your search. I’m not currently looking, but I’m grateful to learn from others. In addition to the 37, there are a few 34s for sale in Seattle. It is fascinating to me that each one has a different engine build compared to the others. One has the Perkins (135hp each), another has the 3208s (210hp each) and the last one has Isuzu 6DB1(150hp each).

The years range from 1978 to 1984. Did those years all have the same hull? Quite a range of horsepower between the boats.
 
We found a 42' Aft Cabin Uniflite that met our needs. It has twin 6V71's in it and cruises quite nicely at 10kts. The Californian in Seattle with the 3208's would probably have been my choice to look at, but the boat didn't check enough boxes for our family. We purchased through Denison Yacht Sales and the process was smooth and the selling broker has been great to work with. I sell boats for a living and it was a pleasure to work with a very professional broker who went above and beyond. I'll PM his contact info to anyone looking for help buying or selling in the Seattle area.
 
I’ll soon be bringing a Puget Sound Californian with 3208s to market.. 1800 hrs..a 48CPMY which I cruise at 9.5 knots (the waterline length makes that easy) at around 1800 RPM.

She come with a transferable Anacortes Skyline Marina slip too!

With professionally installed end to end Victron lithiums, she will be a lot of boat for the price.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Boat Shopping
Replies
1
Views
792
Comodave
Comodave
Bustlebomb
  • Locked
1981 Californian 34 LRC, Huntington Beach CA $32,500
Replies
4
Views
2K
Bustlebomb
Bustlebomb
The Dread Pirate Robert
Oil pressure gauge pegs to max
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
MichaelD
MichaelD
mvweebles
5-mos Cruising Pacific Mexico Q&A
Replies
11
Views
1K
PNW
PNW
T
Seeking info on fate of Benmar Marine
Replies
0
Views
377
Tazling
T

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom