Future vessel suggestions

captdag · Dec 13, 2012

Looking to Purchase a used vessel in near future and any help or suggestions with brands and models would be greatly appreciated.

listed are my search criteria:

semi- live aboard trawler type in the 35 to 45 ft range
operating area will be limited to US Gulf Intracoastal waterway and Gulf coastal areas
fuel efficiency is priority
not interested in fancy accommodations and exotic wood. would like more of an expedition type vessel for exploring, fishing and sightseeing.

which brands to stay away from?

Regards,
CDag

Steve · Dec 13, 2012

Sent a PM message to your profile page
Steve W

Phil Fill · Dec 13, 2012

Steve said:
Sent a PM message to your profile page
Steve W

Well, that is not fair as others also want to know?

I think a bayliner is still the best bang for the buck.

GFC · Dec 13, 2012

I agree. It seems that if a person is going to either praise or badmouth a certain brand, that he'd have enough huevos to do it publicly. The only reason I can think of that he would not do it publicly is that he's afraid of taking some heat for his comments.

Transparency keeps us honest.

CPseudonym · Dec 13, 2012

Could he have possibly noticed the new member is from his home state and he had no desire to hijack his thread???

I tend to agree with Phil, bayliner in the larger size represent a tremendous value. Truth is there are many boats in that range to accomplish your purpose.

Welcome to the forum.

Art · Dec 13, 2012

Tollycraft - Need ! say more!

PS: BTW Forum Mods... I miss being able to utilize the face throwing pop corn in his mouth - That stands for a lot! What happened to him; he go to jail? Can ya bring him back on... please!! With sugar on top!!! :lol:

CPseudonym · Dec 13, 2012

Art said:
Tollycraft - Need ! say more!

PS: BTW Forum Mods... I miss being able to utilize the face throwing pop corn in his mouth - That stands for a lot! What happened to him; he go to jail? Can ya bring him back on... please!! With sugar on top!!! :lol:

This

little

guy

Click the [More] button at the bottom of the smile box and see where he's hiding

Art · Dec 13, 2012

CPseudonym said:
Thislittleguy

Click the [More] button at the bottom of the smile box and see where he's hiding

DUHHHHH - TY Craig! :popcorn:

Yeah - that's da guy. I never REALLY noted the "more" before! Again... DUHHHHHHHH

Steve · Dec 13, 2012

Phil Fill said:
Well, that is not fair as others also want to know?

I think a bayliner is still the best bang for the buck.

Well, since you ask, I sent this message,

"Hi, where in La. are you located.?
I live in Thibodaux and keep my boat in Houma
Steve Willett"

Steve · Dec 13, 2012

GFC said:
I agree. It seems that if a person is going to either praise or badmouth a certain brand, that he'd have enough huevos to do it publicly. The only reason I can think of that he would not do it publicly is that he's afraid of taking some heat for his comments.

Transparency keeps us honest.

Well, here goes again!
I'm thinking I have more huevos than some have brains?

Hi, where in La. are you located.?
I live in Thibodaux and keep my boat in Houma
steve Willett

ksanders · Dec 13, 2012

I have to agree that the Bayliners are hard to beat.

This isn't the boat I'd choose for heavy weather cruising, but they make a great coastal cruiser.

twiisted71 · Dec 13, 2012

captdag said:
fuel efficiency is priority

Get a nice fat sailboat. 44 Gulfstar or similar Morgan Out Islander. Put a house over the center cockpit with a flybridge atop or just put a hardtop over the cockpit with Eisenglass curtains for winter cruising. JMHO. these boats will make much better trawlers than sailboats.

GFC · Dec 13, 2012

OK, OK, that foot didn't taste very good and the egg on my face has almost dried and is hard to get off.

I agree with Kevin, Bayliner motoryachts offer more space for the buck than just about any other boat I've seen. You may not be able to find many of them in LA, but i'd bet if you checked in CA you could find them. It wouldn't be too spendy to have one trucked from CA to the gulf.

Woodsong · Dec 13, 2012

Can't go wrong with the larger bayliner but if looking for fuel efficiency as stated I would look at the Monk 36 with a single screw 135 perkins burning around 1.5 to 1.75 GPH.

Marin · Dec 14, 2012

captdag said:
Looking to Purchase a used vessel in near future and any help or suggestions with brands and models would be greatly appreciated.

Lots of boat makes and models will meet your criteria. A place to start narrowing things down might be David Pascoe's boat review website. Boat Reviews by David Pascoe, Marine Surveyor - Index

While he is very opinionated and biased, his evaluations of a wide variety of makes can be very useful as a single data point and can perhaps narrow the field for you.

I suggest you draw up a list of everything you want a boat to do for you, from how many guests you anticipate having on board, to whether you prefer propane or electric galleys, to how many heads do you think you'll need, to do you want a flying bridge or not, to what kind of waters do you anticipate boating in--- shallow, deep, exposed, protected--- to do you want to anchor out a lot or do you like going to marinas, and so on.

Once you have defined what you want the boat to have and do for you, then you can start figuring out what brands and models will do it.

If you start by looking at boats first, it could be a long and frustrating look.

ksanders · Dec 14, 2012

Marin said:
Lots of boat makes and models will meet your criteria. A place to start narrowing things down might be David Pascoe's boat review website. Boat Reviews by David Pascoe, Marine Surveyor - Index

While he is very opinionated and biased, his evaluations of a wide variety of makes can be very useful as a single data point and can perhaps narrow the field for you.

Pascoes books, are also well worth the money. I have his buyers guide on midsized power boats as well as his book on surveying fiberglass power boats. They are both very informative.

The big thing Pascoe pointed out in his books is that there is no perfect boat. He indicated that some of the best boats were models with a very long production run. Thats because over time manufacturers tended to improve the boats over the length of the models lifespan, fixing the little things that make or break a boats design.

He was especially harsh on manufacturers that change models every couple of years for the same reason.

FF · Dec 14, 2012

"offer more space for the buck than just about any other boat I've seen."

Space for the buck is not a good yardstick for a useful boat.

Phil Fill · Dec 14, 2012

Phil Fill said:
Well, that is not fair as others also want to know?

I think a bayliner is still the best bang for the buck.

I little more detail would help. Do you wnat the boat to look like a trawler, wht speed, what design/modle?

Wehn looking for a larger boat we use the 45 Bayline as our basic as we liked the pilot house layout, and we almost bought one.

ksanders · Dec 14, 2012

FF said:
"
Space for the buck is not a good yardstick for a useful boat.

Actually I would beg to differ on that.

We're talking about Coastal Cruisers here, and not blue water Passagemakers.

I would contend that for the most part space = comfort. In a Coastal Cruiser comfort is the key to a useful boat.

There will be exceptions to the rule, and of course other design criteria are very important, but in a Coastal Cruiser the more "space" you can have for a given length makes for a more comfortable existance, which makes for a more useful boat.

You can go overboard on the space thing as well, I'll admit that. For example a boat that you cannot dock comfortably is not a useful boat. A boat that you cannot board carrying sacks of groceries is not as useful either.

When we add the "for a buck" part of your post("Space for the buck is not a good yardstick for a useful boat") into the equation we get even more usefulness.

All other things being equal, the less you pay to enjoy boating the better. At least to me boating has never been about showing ones ability to buy a very expensive boat, its been about getting out on the water. If you can have as much fun out on the water for less money thats fantastic! Whats wrong with that?

So, I would contend that "space for a buck" can be in many cases be a very good yardstick of a useful boat.

GFC · Dec 14, 2012

FF, I'm another who would respectfully disagree with your comment. Captdag lives in Louisiana. Chances are he'll be traveling the Gulf of Mexico so he'd need a seaworthy boat, but not a passagemaker. I've been aboard a few trawlers and to be quite honest, I would get to feeling claustrophobic after awhile on most of them. But that's just me.

The more time I planned on spending on a boat the more room I'd want on it. I think most couples who spend a lot of time aboard would want to have enough space that they could get away from each other at times. All of us have our squabbles and if you're stuck in the same small space with someone you're angry at, it can make life difficult.

Speaking only for myself here, I'd gladly forego some fuel efficiency to have a boat I'd feel like I could spread out on. I'd want a boat that could handle most conditions I might encounter when coastal cruising, and do it comfortably. The last thing I'd want to do is scare the bejesus out of my Admiral if we were caught out in a storm.

Captdag I've always had two major rules when it comes to boat shopping....
1. Buy your second boat first. Most people don't do their due diligence before buying a boat. They get one they think is 'pretty' then find out later it doesn't suit their needs. That can get very expensive.
2. The wrong boat, at the best price in the world, is still the wrong boat.

captdag · Dec 14, 2012

Phil Fill said:
I little more detail would help. Do you wnat the boat to look like a trawler, wht speed, what design/modle?

Wehn looking for a larger boat we use the 45 Bayline as our basic as we liked the pilot house layout, and we almost bought one.

Thanks to all who have replied. I was not sure if anyone would bother with my request but this forum surly seems to be the right place my questions.
Here is a little more details of what I’m looking for:
favoring a smaller size, such as the Monk 36 that Woodsong posted.
single reliable engine and generator. prefer fuel economy over speed.
protected prop and rudder for shallows and debris in ICW, not interested in stabilizers
usable back deck/swim platform for water activities
no wooden hull
The longest possible open water run i would make is Panama City to Tampa.

thanks in advance,
cdag

alormaria · Dec 14, 2012

Hi,

I like my Marine Trader. I've had it almost 20 years now and it still fits.

The other Al

Steve · Dec 14, 2012

I have a Monk 36, 2003, I use it like you mention, lots of coastal cruising. Trips from Apalachicola to Tarpon Springs or Tampa, Down to the keys. I bought her in Annapolis,2008, and brought her home along the Atlaantic ICW and Okeechobee. I find it to be an excellent vessel for that.
I plan to make a couple of trips to the Bahamas before too long.
Steve W

Tom.B · Dec 14, 2012

captdag said:
Thanks to all who have replied. I was not sure if anyone would bother with my request but this forum surly seems to be the right place my questions.

That's because your original post got grabbed by the spam filter. You had links in the text that you copied and pasted from the Cruiser Forum... It took a little longer for you post to get cleaned up and approved.

twiisted71 · Dec 14, 2012

Dag, I grew up in S. La. Came over to Biloxi to buy my trawler, for the same uses as you minus fishing (not that high on my list to mention). If you wanna go outside the marked channels and poke around, get a single screw full keeled boat with a bow thruster (or budget to have one installed). Yes I can drive mine around pretty well but I learned on boats with a pair of 16' square nets acting like sails. I want to put a thruster on our boat at the next haulout so my wife can handle it easily. If this isn't an issue for you skip the thruster. Make sure you get wide enough side decks to easily maneuver on. Some here disagree but I highly suggest a flybridge on whatever you get. You will see more fish and wildlife and lots of times you can read the water up there when inside the cabin all you'll see is glare. One non optional item if you're spending lots of time aboard is more than adequate A/C. I brought my boat back from Mississippi to S. FL in September without A/C wanna guess how pleasant that was at night? Thankfully it turned out to be a $50 relay, but we were ready to shell out a couple grand to get a new "reliable" system. Exterior wood down here can be a nuisance with the beating the sun gives. Can't really tell you any specific brands to avoid but will tell you to carefully check black iron fuel tanks on any boat that has them, watch the cockpit floors under the sliding doors in early 34 Mainships, check the cabin walls esp under windows in any boat, watch for blisters on '70s Uniflites, basically just use a skeptical point of view when checking a boat over.

Marin · Dec 14, 2012

While the comments earlier about a larger boat having more room to spread out in are certainly true, there is another truism that can trump that in making a case for a smaller boat, and that's maintenance.

We are kicking around the idea of getting a larger boat in the not-too-distant future. But one thing that's in the "don't do it" column is maintenance. We like working on a boat as opposed to simply hiring everything out. And while we really like the two larger boats we are considering, there is also this:

Neither one of us wants to wax one more inch of hull than we have now. We don't want to wax one more inch of topsides than we have now. We don't want to maintain one more inch of exterior trim, handrails, etc. than we have now. We don't want to wash one more inch of deck than we have now.*

For the area in which we boat, 36 feet is plenty sufficient to handle just about anything the water and weather can throw at us. So it is very easy for us to make a case against moving up in size despite the fact that more room on a boat, especially down in the sizes most of us have--- 30'-45'-- can be a very nice thing indeed.

If one is going to hire out virtually all the boat maintenance, then size is not an issue from that standpoint. But if, like us, you like or need to do much of your own maintenance, size can be something of a disadvantage.

*Yes, we can buy boats that have no exterior wood to maintain, but Plain Jane boats like that do not appeal to us for aesthetic reasons, so we would never consider buying one regardless of size.

markpierce · Dec 14, 2012

twiisted71 said:
Get a nice fat sailboat. 44 Gulfstar or similar Morgan Out Islander. Put a house over the center cockpit with a flybridge atop or just put a hardtop over the cockpit with Eisenglass curtains for winter cruising. JMHO. these boats will make much better trawlers than sailboats.

Maybe that's the idea behind the owner removing masts from his motorsailer:

232323232%7Ffp63572%3Enu%3D3363%3E33%3A%3E57%3B%3EWSNRCG%3D37%3A3%3A33699336nu0mrj

twiisted71 · Dec 14, 2012

This is very tempting and right in my back yard so to speak. Yes it needs a complete going through but if solid this price would allow a complete refit of a BIG boat. I've spoken with some who say they suck at going to wind and others who said they really aren't much worse than 90% of cruising sailboats out there and you fire up the motor and just go where you need to. But they all said they like their boat.

1974 GULFSTAR SAILBOAT

RT Firefly · Dec 14, 2012

Greetings,
Mr. 71. While I can appreciate your sentiments, that interior shot in the listing did it for me. Way too dark like a number of more modern cruisers (some Bayliners, Searays and the like). Similar to living in a cave.

caltexflanc · Dec 14, 2012

A member here, Woodsong, has a beautiful Monk 36 for sale, good boats and lay out. My very favorite in that size range for comfort is the Krogen Manatee; such cool boats. As long as your truly committed to going S_L_O_W.

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