Max1
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2021
- Messages
- 404
- Vessel Name
- Bermuda Belle
- Vessel Make
- Marine Trader 36 Sedan
Hi everyone. I've been contemplating whether or not to do a build thread on the work that we will be doing on our 1976 Marine Trader 36 Europa sedan.
While this is definitely a project boat, it will be needing a lot of work that I consider Sweat Equity. There will be some cost, but my wife and I are quite handy do-it-yourselfers, and we thoroughly enjoy renovating and restoring projects. We consider it “a hobby” so we figured by purchasing this project boat at a great price, we could be enjoying a summer on the water in 2022.
Before I get into the boat, little background about my wife and I:
My wife and I love the adventures of being outdoors, and travelling. Since we met and married, we have gone up the slope to overnight RV’ing. We started with tents and campsites when our children were young. Eventually we got tired of sleeping on the cold or wet ground, and moved up to a pop-up trailer. After a few years of that, we got tired of the limitations of a pop-up trailer, especially during the commute, so we graduated to a small camper trailer. A few years later we got something larger, a couple's trailer which we still have today. We travel quite a bit in the summer with it, mostly local due to the covid situation, but in years prior we have travelled extensively in the US, each trip being an amazing adventure.
My wife and I enjoy overnight RV’ing, especially around the water. Our favorite destinations are any of the Great Lakes. We are always happiest when we can be near the water or the beach. It makes the RV lifestyle so much more enjoyable. Michigan is one of our favorite destinations. So many beaches!
Last summer we were doing a trip around Ontario and Quebec, and we're very disappointed by the lack of beach time, especially in Quebec. Somewhere during that trip my wife and I started discussing the option of renting a houseboat for a week or two every summer in order for us to get Beach time that we so much enjoy.
The conversations and searches went from renting…to buying a house boat. Then we talked to our boat friends, and all strongly advised against houseboat. Along our travels we stopped at many marinas and were surprised at how many strangers we met that were willing to allow us to look in their boats and talk. By the end of each visit with the strangers, we left as friends. Needless to say we ended up deciding that we wanted a trawler with a diesel engine. We spent the end of summer and beginning of fall looking at trawlers. We saw the entire gamut of quality and cost.
Ultimately, we had to decide between breaking the bank, or starting off economically. Now I don't want to get into a debate with anyone here about the virtues of buying a good quality boat and not having to do anything versus the amount of cost, time and money that will be required to restore project boat. We've already made up our mind and have decided that a project boat is what we want. Emphasis on “What WE want”….
As I stated at the top of this post, I was debating whether or not to start this project thread. My main reason for not starting a thread is because I'm “a get ‘er done” kind of guy. I belong to several other forms(not boats) and have chronicled a few of my other projects there, but I do find there are times when I get so engrossed in the work, that I forget to stop and take pictures. So in the end I have a project that I started with bare bones here and end up with a finished product there, with very few photos or posts in between. LOL. That's just the way I roll.
On the other hand I do enjoy chronicling what I do, especially when I'm proud of the before-and-after situation. So after much debate, I've decided that I might as well start the project right here.
So the next few posts I make here will be the history of the boat, as well as trying to catch up on what we've done so far. I hope you hang on, grab a drink, and enjoy our thread.
M&H
By the water. That's how we like it!
While this is definitely a project boat, it will be needing a lot of work that I consider Sweat Equity. There will be some cost, but my wife and I are quite handy do-it-yourselfers, and we thoroughly enjoy renovating and restoring projects. We consider it “a hobby” so we figured by purchasing this project boat at a great price, we could be enjoying a summer on the water in 2022.
Before I get into the boat, little background about my wife and I:
My wife and I love the adventures of being outdoors, and travelling. Since we met and married, we have gone up the slope to overnight RV’ing. We started with tents and campsites when our children were young. Eventually we got tired of sleeping on the cold or wet ground, and moved up to a pop-up trailer. After a few years of that, we got tired of the limitations of a pop-up trailer, especially during the commute, so we graduated to a small camper trailer. A few years later we got something larger, a couple's trailer which we still have today. We travel quite a bit in the summer with it, mostly local due to the covid situation, but in years prior we have travelled extensively in the US, each trip being an amazing adventure.
My wife and I enjoy overnight RV’ing, especially around the water. Our favorite destinations are any of the Great Lakes. We are always happiest when we can be near the water or the beach. It makes the RV lifestyle so much more enjoyable. Michigan is one of our favorite destinations. So many beaches!
Last summer we were doing a trip around Ontario and Quebec, and we're very disappointed by the lack of beach time, especially in Quebec. Somewhere during that trip my wife and I started discussing the option of renting a houseboat for a week or two every summer in order for us to get Beach time that we so much enjoy.
The conversations and searches went from renting…to buying a house boat. Then we talked to our boat friends, and all strongly advised against houseboat. Along our travels we stopped at many marinas and were surprised at how many strangers we met that were willing to allow us to look in their boats and talk. By the end of each visit with the strangers, we left as friends. Needless to say we ended up deciding that we wanted a trawler with a diesel engine. We spent the end of summer and beginning of fall looking at trawlers. We saw the entire gamut of quality and cost.
Ultimately, we had to decide between breaking the bank, or starting off economically. Now I don't want to get into a debate with anyone here about the virtues of buying a good quality boat and not having to do anything versus the amount of cost, time and money that will be required to restore project boat. We've already made up our mind and have decided that a project boat is what we want. Emphasis on “What WE want”….
As I stated at the top of this post, I was debating whether or not to start this project thread. My main reason for not starting a thread is because I'm “a get ‘er done” kind of guy. I belong to several other forms(not boats) and have chronicled a few of my other projects there, but I do find there are times when I get so engrossed in the work, that I forget to stop and take pictures. So in the end I have a project that I started with bare bones here and end up with a finished product there, with very few photos or posts in between. LOL. That's just the way I roll.
On the other hand I do enjoy chronicling what I do, especially when I'm proud of the before-and-after situation. So after much debate, I've decided that I might as well start the project right here.
So the next few posts I make here will be the history of the boat, as well as trying to catch up on what we've done so far. I hope you hang on, grab a drink, and enjoy our thread.
M&H
By the water. That's how we like it!
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