It's (Semi-) Official

I introduced myself a couple months ago, but now I can introduce my new (to me) boat. 2006 Mainship Rum Runner Classic II Pilot.

The boat arrived at the local boat yard this morning after a long tortuous trip from Fort Myers (I've had easier times and less stress buying a house).

I guess the boat isn't a "true" trawler -- that's why I said "semi" in the title of this thread. But the way I see it, this is a good stepping stone from my previous life of owning fast planing boats to my eventual retired life in a full-blown, full-sized trawler.

The boat is sitting on blocks now, waiting for new bottom paint and zincs, and I hope to polish up the hull sides before she gets dropped in the water. I've learned a lot on this forum so far and I'm looking forward to learning (and contributing) more in the future.

Congratulations on the purchase!

Congrads! Nice lines. I'd love to see a F350 pulling that down I10.

Classy looking boat with great lines!

Congratulations!

Ted

MrJim, congrats. She's a fine looking craft. Does she have the 315 or 250 Yanmar? Please give us a write up or your trip. Sounds interesting.

ddalme said:

Congrads! Nice lines. I'd love to see a F350 pulling that down I10.

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Well, actually, a F350 did pull it down I-10, but I didn't get to see it either.

Congrats!!!! I sure liked my Pilot II. The one thing I would say to keep your eye on is the strut and the sand shoe. I don't know if they got isolated from the bonding system but mine went pink on me...stray current somewhere I guess. It wasn't so bad that it ate too much metal. My solution was just to slap some zincs on them. Sounds easy but not exactly if you take a look at that strut. That is a serious hunk of metal. Anyway, that stopped it in its tracks. No issues after that.

Moonstruck said:

MrJim, congrats. She's a fine looking craft. Does she have the 315 or 250 Yanmar? Please give us a write up or your trip. Sounds interesting.

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She has the 315 Yanmar. First order of business is to clean the filters and change the fluids and engine zincs. The oil test from the survey indicated high sodium level (probably due to very little use over the past 2 years), so I'm going to have the aftercooler disassembled and inspected per the surveyor's recommendation.

Nothing interesting about the "trip." Smitty's Haulin' hauled it up here from Fort Myers on a trailer behind his F350 dually. His price was very reasonable and he got the boat here unharmed, so no complaints there...

Other than that, I made two trips to Fort Myers: One was a long weekend boat shopping car trip with my wife to look at this and a few other boats. The other was an airline trip by myself for the survey and sea trial. Nothing remarkable about those trips, but I can recommend the Crow's Nest restaurant in Venice for dinner, and Rumrunners in Cape Coral is a great place to get a beer and grouper sandwich.

Baker said:

Congrats!!!! I sure liked my Pilot II.

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Thanks Baker. Your reviews and other posts about your boat sure helped my decision.

Nice looking boat. Great hull color, especially for Florida.

Congratulations!

You took the words right out of my fingers, BlueYonder!! That is a great shade of blue for a hull.

Great boat choice! While you're working, you need the speed to make up for the little time you have to enjoy the boat. In retirement, speed doesn't matter because you've got the whole day to enjoy the trip and maybe a little less money to throw into the fuel tank.

Welcome to the forum and keep us posted as you enjoy the hell out of that boat this honeymoon year!

Cheers!!

MrJim said:

house).

I guess the boat isn't a "true" trawler -- that's why I said "semi" in the title of this thread.

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Very nice looking boat. And no need for "semi." Not a single boat on this forum is a trawler, including ours. They're all just cabin cruisers.

So you and your boat will fit right in just fine.

Very nice looking boat

Congratulations - enjoy her!

Richard

Congrats, Jim maybe we'll cross paths this summer. Looks like you're pretty close by! We're hoping to make a trip on over to Shell Island once the weather warms up a bit more.

nicolasalan said:

Congrats, Jim maybe we'll cross paths this summer. Looks like you're pretty close by! We're hoping to make a trip on over to Shell Island once the weather warms up a bit more.

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Thanks. And congrats to you, too! Let me know when you're coming this way and maybe we'll meet you over at the island. Our marina is only a few miles away from there. That would be sight to see two of these boats anchored next to each other. Great photo op!

Sweet boat!

Outstanding!

Great color!

MrJim said:

The oil test from the survey indicated high sodium level (probably due to very little use over the past 2 years), so I'm going to have the aftercooler disassembled and inspected per the surveyor's recommendation.

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High sodium is a big red flag and shouldn't be taken lightly.

On my Pilot 34 I got the oil analyzed after I bought it and trucked it home. Hi sodium- 700 ppm. Should be less than 10 ppm.

I concluded that the travel lift operator raised the stern first and allowed seawater to slosh forward into the engine from the exhaust. Or the truck's starting and stopping sloshed it forward. There was no exhaust turbo corrosion or rusty valve train so the sodium hadn't been there long.

I reworked the exhaust to add another 8" of height to an existing 8". Spec is 12" or better. I also serviced the after cooler.

So look at your turbo outlet. It is easy to do. Remove the insulation blanket and loosen the clamp on the turbo exhaust piping. Look into the turbo throat. It should be clean, no roughness with only a light soot coating. Any roughness or rust indicates seawater ingress.

Or it might be a leaking air cooler letting sea water into the air stream, and a rusty valve train is an indication of high sodium being in the oil for a long time. But I would put my money on the exhaust. I don't know how much clearance there is for a fix on the Pilot 30. Mine had enough room to extend the dry riser 8".

PM me and we can discuss.

David

ddalme said:

Congrads! Nice lines. I'd love to see a F350 pulling that down I10.

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1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

Northern Spy said:

Great color!

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Dark hulls are great. All-white boats are ubiquitous as well as booooring.

Congratulations on a great purchase. I also agree on the great color choice - but then I'm a bit biased that way. May you have many great trips with her.

Ken

markpierce said:

Dark hulls are great. All-white boats are ubiquitous as well as booooring.

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Geez, thanks Mark....and after all the nice things I've said about the "Coot."

markpierce said:

Dark hulls are great. All-white boats are ubiquitous as well as booooring.

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I agree...but white is very practical.

The worst color we use to see on the lake was a silvery grey. At dusk, those boats became almost invisible.

Then there are most of the sport boats like Riva or Sunseeker or Pershing, and it is what it is so you just accept it. Oh and on those, since they're mass production boats, generally not an interior choice either.