Krogen 42 total refit (time, money, and ability restricted) of course

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Very nice, nothing like a clean engine room and rebuilds completed, and your priorities are correct.
 
Thanks, Best thing I did was to paint the engine room white and light it up. Down side is you find EVERYTHING....

The thought was to keep the yearly expenses down while cruising, and not have our destinations dictated by needed repairs. Besides, we plan to live on the boat for 10 years, no sense in battling 30 year old equipment, and replacing 2 years before selling
 
Well.....now you have a very stout boat! Congrats and good luck! More projects than I would want to have.
 
The project list grew exponentially as one might expect. It's "well while I'm here....", and "well wasn't expecting that"' and "well that turned out so nice, now this looks like crap...".

It is nice to know every, wire, pipe, valve, surface, etc. of the boat though. I cant imagine doing something similar without time and money constraints, as I'm sure it would get crazy, at least for someone like me!
 
Congratulations on a job well done! And finally getting out and cruising.

I must say I was a bit surprised at how poorly that boat was built. Especially based on how they are touted as a real offshore cruiser. It just goes to show you that poorly constructed boats can cruise for years and years without their flaws showing up. Not to mention changing hands while commanding top dollar at resale in some cases.
 
Bill, most of whatbwas found wouldn't have if not for the destructive investigation and a bit of neglect from previous ownership. This hull has already crossed the Atlantic! I have always felt the pricing was high on these, but it is supply and demand. Obviously, I did a thorough survey, and was aware of the expenses involved to bring her up to my standards. The price was negotiated accordingly.

Scott
 
Scott, I'm signed up to the blog and stand at attention sir. That is a wonderful job!! And as you mentioned, having dealt basically with every nut, hose and component, you will will be the obvious choice to handle small repairs that are needed in years to come. Very well done!!


Forky
1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's
✌️
 
Wow! Congratulations! That is the kind of thing that I have dreamed of doing, but do not have the skills and so would never tackle a job like that. But it gives me a great deal of pleasure (and yeah, some envy too) to read about someone else doing it.
 
Your refit was quite an undertaking. There is a substantial satisfaction in knowing where every wire, hose, duct, cable and everything else comes from and goes to.

Enjoy your cruise!

Ted
 
What I find amazing on these boats is that upon "destructive investigation" they all have these same set of problems. Aside from an almost cult following I just dont get it. Not only the KK42 but lots of other top name or brand boats suffer (benifit?)from the same thing. Hatteras and Bertram come to mind. Albin maybe ? I can tell you that the KK42 was not built here in the good ol U.S. and suffers the consequences of being built where and how it was. Allbeit purportedly built in the better yards. Just how much better is that ? All of this is coming from a fellow Krogenite.
 
kulas44 said:
What I find amazing on these boats is that upon "destructive investigation" they all have these same set of problems. Aside from an almost cult following I just dont get it. Not only the KK42 but lots of other top name or brand boats suffer (benifit?)from the same thing. Hatteras and Bertram come to mind. Albin maybe ? I can tell you that the KK42 was not built here in the good ol U.S. and suffers the consequences of being built where and how it was. Allbeit purportedly built in the better yards. Just how much better is that ? All of this is coming from a fellow Krogenite.
Click to expand...

The KK42 is a Taiwanese Tub just like my Fu Hwa. The early models were built in yards owned by the same boat group but all were built in Taiwan. They were supposed to have had quality control oversight by KK personnel. Obviously, the bar wasn't set very high.
 
You have more fortitude than I think i could have mustered in your situation. Like you said, lots of surprises as you "meandered" through the guts of her. STELLAR job of bringing her up to snuff. My best wishes for many years of safe and minimal maintenance cruisin'.
 
I think we should go a bit easier on the builders of years ago. Naturally as a Krogen owner I am a bit biased towards them. But, the reality is that Scott's boat is 31 years old. The boats were built using the materials, technology and techniques of the time. It is hard to really say whether Scott's issues with his boat had to do with less that good boatbuilding, lousy maintenance over time or just the natural aging of the boat and the materials. Certainly, KK 42s, 200+ built, have earned their reputation over time and have more than justified their prices on the used market. After all, people still buy them. And, it should be noted, that as problems arose with the boats, and materials and standards changed, the KK 42 production changed with them, among other things moving from a cored hull to a solid hull, from teak decks to overlaid and then to non-skid decks. Until his death, Art Kadey supervised the construction of every Krogen and after his death, Jim Krogen's son moved to Taiwan to do the same. Their reputation for quality and attention to detail is well deserved.
 
This refit is pretty impressive. You folks have some real guts. Lots to be proud of. She looks fantastic.
 
A cored hull is not a problem, building it correctly is the problem. Cored hulls are stronger, lighter, quieter, etc. Done correctly its a more expensive way to build a hull. And much better. Done poorly its a recipe for disaster. Plywood bulkheads tabbed into the hull and painted with gellcoat is just asking for water intrusion and rot. And the ply used was of questionable quality. Hull penetrations (hatches, portlights, side windows, etc) were not finished properly. All of these "holes" should have been planned for and layed up with solid glass in that area, not just hacked out of the cored hull (poorly I might add) and then gooped up. High density foam stringers layed up with 3/4 inch f'glass laminate instead of wood and 1/4 inch of glass. Lots of little (?) things like these makes the difference. My 50 foot Krogen designed trawler was built in St Petersburg Fl. The specs were written by James Krogen that covered all of these aspects. They dont seem to have been carried over into the Kadey era of Tiawanese boats. Maybe to expensive ? Cut into the profit margin ? Didnt really need to be all that good anyway ?
 
I think the "pull" is the design. You just simply can't get a full displacement 2 stateroom, 2 head model with the cockpit and raised wheel house anywhere else close to the money. Not to mention the layout and handling is superb for this small a boat. My boat actually has Chien Hwa Boatyard on one of the electrical panels and the title. So yes same yards, same quality.....But not even close to the same architecture.
 
Transpacific Marine built the tooling for KK 42. Transpacific began building sail boats in 1969 and then moved into building power boats. They built our Eagle 32.
 
Just noticed your dinghy or should I say motor boat. I always wondered what the load limit on the boat deck might be. Where you transporting the boat ?
Bill
 
That is the "dinghy". I've had it for years, and couldn't part with it. Shaded, protected from spray, steering wheel, etc. It will eventually be featured on the blog in detail. I custom made it from a 1963 aluminum boat.

According to my research the mast/boom combo was rated at 500 lbs. I know of people putting in larger cranes, but thought if the original was designed around 500, it's because he didn't want anymore weight than that up top! It weighs in at 500 lbs. I have added te foam collar etc. to prepare it for tender duty.
 
After following the FL 120 rebuild thread, I thought this would be a good time to mention that my fuel tanks are 1/2" fiberglass, so they didn't need replacing during engine room refit.
 
Sealife said:
After following the FL 120 rebuild thread, I thought this would be a good time to mention that my fuel tanks are 1/2" fiberglass, so they didn't need replacing during engine room refit.
Click to expand...

I assume that means they were replaced by the previous owner.
 
I'm #61. Hull #66 there were several changes. The lehman was a 135, there are several one piece fiberglass molds incorporated,walls etc. foam filled, steel tanks....
 
That's interesting information, why do you think the change was made. I think I would prefer the f/g tanks. I 'm fairly sure the Manatee's all came with stainless steel water, fuel and holding tanks, at least the three or four I've seen where built that way. Not a good choice for a holding tank, ours was replaced with plastic during our purchase survey because the tank top was corroded and leaking.
 
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Don't know. All tanks on mine are glass except holding. I believe it was SS, but previous owner changed out for 40 gallon plastic. I did have alot of custom made SS elbows in various system piping I replaced as well. I have heard rumors off various Krogens with leaking fresh water tanks. Mi believe they crack if filled to quickly and/or the vent becomes plugged. Maybe the same for fuel was the thought?!?
 
This thread and the one on 42 KK Scout are an interesting comparison. It would be enlightening to get the two owners together to discuss their approaches to refreshing and rebuilding their respective 42s.
 
HiDHo said:
That's interesting information, why do you think the change was made. I think I would prefer the f/g tanks...
I think it was a production decision to go to metal fuel tanks. As Scott mentioned (he's hull #61 and built in 1984), on hull #66, Krogen made some changes as they ramped up production. The metal tanks were manufactured off the boat and dropped in as the boat was assembled. Our hull is #120 (1987), but the back of the instrument panel indicates it was to go into hull #125. I can't imagine what a zoo the yard must of been when they built and completed 20 plus KK42s in one year for 3 years running. QC?

Here's an aproximate list of the KK42 during the high build years.

1984 16 to 18
1985 20 to 26
1986 24
1987 26
1988 11
1989 3
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 

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The change to steel fuel tanks may have come at the time Krogen moved production from Chien Hwa to other boatyards due to his concern over quality. He is reputed to have said "no more Hwa yards for me".

It is surprising he went with the black iron/steel tanks.

I found a 1997 Yahoo post some time ago that is attributed to Bill Kimley, the owner of Seahorse Yachts, that discusses some of the history of Taiwanese boat yards. Not sure how accurate it is and in some cases it conflicts with the Aug 1998 PassageMaker article on "Taiwan's Venerable Trawlers". For example, the PM article attributes ownership of Chung Hwa, Chien Hwa and Fu Hwa to Sinclair Wen. The Yahoo post says the yards were owned by Y.F. Lee. Possibly, they were co-owners or partners.
 
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