New Member from Canada

Hello my name is Rebecca and I live in Vancouver, BC. I should start again hello i am Rebecca and my partner name is Dana.

Ok, welcome aboard. What is your boating situation? Do you have a boat or are you looking.

Hi Y'all my name is rebecca and i am new on here. My partner and i have been looking for the right boat to buy for the last 6 months and ant seem to make a decision. Here is a little info about us and what were looking for.

We live on the West Coast in Vancouver,BC so we get a lot of rain out here. We will be using the boat as a live a board and/or some extended overnight cruising. The boat is for 2 adults and a cat and for 2 extra guest once in awhile if that. Are budget is like $70,000ish and we are looking to buy ASAP.

Looking for opinions of what boat to buy. Right now we have are eye on 1965 Grand Banks 42 Classic in Van. For $68,000 and
1977 Ocean Alexander - $65000 (Richmond, B.C.). Which one would you pick or Neither?

Greetings,
Welcome aboard eh? An idea of budget is a good thing. Wanting to buy ASAP, not so much...
Do you or your partner know anything about boats?

I would not touch the Grand Banks with the proverbial 10’ pole since it is wood. Some people love wooden boats, but they are extremely labor intensive unless you hire the work done. The OA is a good line. It will be fiberglass and the maintenance will be easier if not less. I would suggest you get some boating classes and find some friends with boats to get a bit of experience on boats. Not saying don’t buy a boat, just saying do your homework. Good luck.

Sorry for my girlfriends lack of introduction,my name is Dana and I'm Rebecca's better half. I understand she would be lost doing repair on any boat. I've been working trades all my life off and on. I got some collage for lineman before i decided to get out of trade in my late 30's so, electrical is not problem. I've got limited experience with fiberglass other than patching a hull from hitting a dead head a few years back. I do have free time these days so mabe a wood boat would be more up are alley. I just keep reading about these boat blisters that have not been repaired by the time a guy pulls his boat there is water damage in structure .these repairs would be harder to me ..it depends on the old owner and his upkeep i guess in any used boat ...thanks for feedback my girl might ask some silly questions on this forum .so bear with her guys..

No problem. That is what the forum is for. Keep asking, we all love giving our opinions...

Before choosing a boat you must choose an anchor so what is your best anchor?

Oups what did I say???

L

Buzz off Lou! You don't need an anchor in all that shallow "water" you boat in!

Dana, read this forum, end to end. Come back in a week and ask some more questions!

Xsbank said:

Buzz off Lou! You don't need an anchor in all that shallow "water" you boat in!

Dana, read this forum, end to end. Come back in a week and ask some more questions!

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WHAT??? Shallow water??? Hey come on, my river goes down to more than 120 meter deep!!! Cheap disturber you are

L

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s3/boat-search-101-a-14905.html


NO such thing as a silly question. Now, silly answers are a completely different subject.

There are a number of brands to take a look at, such as Defever, Albin, Grand Mariner, Monk or even my favourite Tollycraft. Are you going to be happy limited to trawler speeds? We have the option of running at slow speeds, but also don't have to plan around tides when we are going through second narrows as an example.

We spent a long time looking at boats, decided what was important to us, and in the end bought something quite different.

Hello Dana and Rebecca:

Wish I had your electrical skills, Dana.

That said, the most important skill in buying a boat is choosing an accredited marine surveyor to survey the potential boat for you. They will spot blisters and much, much more. If you click on the link here

The Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors, Inc.® - (SAMS®)

and go to Find A Surveyor, then Canada, you will have quite a few to select. You can also post here on TF and ask the good folks here who they recommend in Vancouver. (Just make your subject line very specific.)

Finally, I would also advise against an older wood boat. I think the safe and seaworthy ones are very rare. To put it succinctly, wood expands and contracts and metal hull fasteners don't.

And, Welcome Aboard! There are many helpful people here.

You need a surveyor who is competent. Not all accredited surveyors are. Many simply “work” for the insurance company with the thinnest veil of wink, wink. But good ones are out there. A waste of money, you’re thinking. You are technical, mechanical you’re thinking. I get it, there are at this stage very few systems on boats I have not repaired myself. I could unofficially survey a friends boat, but not my own. The most important thing you will spend your survey money on is “independance”. In my data analysis world, it’s what we call “bias”, and you don’t really remove bias in analysis, you understand where it is present and account for it. Bias is simply a belief that you already possess and it shades all other truths that find. Your bias will be falling in lust for a candidate boat and wanting it to be “the one” and will willingly excuse all manner of warts and probable expenses. A surveyor won’t have that bias and will be able to provide a fact based and objective opinion that you will not be so capable of providing. Frequently, the best money you will ever spend, most especially when on a budget and feel you can afford the survey money the least. This, is why we survey.

Is that GB woody the one at Grand Yachts? If so Robb Butler is a stand up guy and will treat you right.

As far as a wooden boat goes, Western BC and the Pacific Northwest are about the best place in the world to own a woody. The wooden fishing fleet around here keeps the craft alive and well. As has been said in previous posts get a good survey and make sure you have them pull a fastener or two, both for your sense of security and to satisfy the insurance company requirements.

Lots of opinions on wood vs fiberglass on here. With proper maintenance both will treat you well. I like a wooden Grand Banks more than anything else.

Bob

Hundreds of tiny thru-hulls

I respect Bob's knowledge tremendously. Having learned a little about boating in the Pacific Northwest on this forum, I am sure he is correct.

My opinion on wood constructed vessels was formed in Florida. Here's the story.

When I was about 15, an elderly gentleman kept his wooden trawler (can't recall the builder) in a slip at our marina. When he passed, his son asked us to pull the boat and put her on the hard, because it was less expensive and the son only wanted to sell her. She didn't sell for almost 2 years, and the buyer did not do a water test.

My dad and I put her back in the water with the buyer there watching. We were on deck, and my dad said something doesn't feel right. He opened a hatch, and quickly yelled at me to jump down into the bilge.

The visual picture of hundreds of little powerful streams of water jetting up from the entire bilge floor is seared into my memory. Every tiny screw hole in the planking below the waterline had become a thru-hull.

We managed to get her back on the travelift before she sank.

Later, I helped the new owner replace every single screw. But it didn't work; once back in the water about a third of them still leaked.

Then, the new owner decided to fiberglass the hull below the waterline. He did a great job, and it took him about six months. The boat lasted about two years, and then we heard she sank somewhere up in north Florida.

The owner came back through the marina a few years later in another boat, and I just happened to be home from college. We were delighted to see him again and catch up.

His theory was that the fiberglass did not allow the wood to absorb water on the outer side of the hull, while the wood on the inside in the bilge expanded as it became saturated. He believes that the wet bilge wood finally expanded more than the fiberglass could take, and cracked the fiberglass below the waterline.

This is one of several wood boat experiences that we had at the marina, none positive. I have heard of wood boats going strong after 30 years, including several here on TF, and I always marvel at them. It has made me question my bias, but still... I just couldn't buy an old wood boat.

Welcome aboard. Name is Bob and also from Vancouver.

Neither without a real good survey. The Banks from the year is a woody if I remember my stats. But whatever you buy, a really good survey and a mechanical check including oil analysis is a must.

Hi from the right coast of Canada - NS.
Rent/charter before you buy. My wife and I chartered a GB 36 in VR (at a marina by the {Delta} hotel very close to the airport) with another couple more experienced than us and in those waters. We enjoyed it, so then went to Fla and chartered a GB 32 by ourselves, and survived. We decided to go for it and bought a 5-yr-old '02 Mainship 430 which we still have. Advice: try it a lot before you buy it; learn all you can before taking the plunge, e.g. CPS courses; budget to pay a lot more than you might expect and remember that every-thing everywhere associated with a boat is measured/ evaluated/ costed by the size of the boat, e.g. marina & docking fees, insurance, fuel, routine maintenance, etc. The bigger your boat, the more people think you can/will pay. Good luck!

Xsbank said:

Buzz off Lou! You don't need an anchor in all that shallow "water" you boat in!

Dana, read this forum, end to end. Come back in a week and ask some more questions!

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Yes i think that is a good idea. Sorry we havnt been around lately and do appriciate everyones responses. Lately we been looking at so many boats all across town are head's are ready to spin off.

Greetings,
Ms. mb. "...are head's are ready to spin off." Hmmm....I'm sensing some serious BO (boat overload). At this point, I would suggest you and your partner get comfortable, ice a bottle of your favorite beverage, a Chablis perhaps? and simply chill. Don't think about boats or anything for that matter. Maybe listen to some urhu tunes...Let your minds wander...

Guys i feel overwhelmed by the amount of travel and boats i know looked at .this was a long week over on the island.rebbeca picked two boats off craigslist and started this thread,i took her with me and i started having a laugh at looking for a boat through her eyes..its funny to hear her say hey check out that monk over there or ask a owner when they have pulled the boat last to paint and do you have a recent survey.i was a bit scared of how she might take to the water but after this trip she really is getting into this and its breathing knew life in to me,,the search goes on..weather it be wood or glass ,we cant afford new so i know all the boats i can get are a ongoing project some worse than others

mybeccca said:

Guys i feel overwhelmed by the amount of travel and boats i know looked at .this was a long week over on the island.rebbeca picked two boats off craigslist and started this thread,i took her with me and i started having a laugh at looking for a boat through her eyes..its funny to hear her say hey check out that monk over there or ask a owner when they have pulled the boat last to paint and do you have a recent survey.i was a bit scared of how she might take to the water but after this trip she really is getting into this and its breathing knew life in to me,,the search goes on..weather it be wood or glass ,we cant afford new so i know all the boats i can get are a ongoing project some worse than others

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Just be careful enough not to fall into a never ending project

L

Welcome aboard, ask away!

Welcome aboard eh?

Lou_tribal said:

Just be careful enough not to fall into a never ending project

L

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I think any boat is a never ending project. It is all a matter of degree.

What Dave said!! On a side note, we will be entering BC day after tomorrow and spending the Summer there. I hope we don't get blamed for our fearless leader's actions.

Good idea to come to Canada now, with all the things your "fearless" is doing to p*ss everyone off, we may need to build that wall after all.

Plenty of us aren't the least bit "pissed off" about lowest unemployment (blacks and women included) in decades, a 4.8% growth rate, efforts to stop the flood of illegal immigrants, attempt to get our deficit Trade balances under control, etc., etc., oh yea, there is the great likelihood that the Korean peninsula may actually become nuclear free.

Spweber said:

Plenty of us aren't the least bit "pissed off" about lowest unemployment (blacks and women included) in decades, a 4.8% growth rate, efforts to stop the flood of illegal immigrants, attempt to get our deficit Trade balances under control, etc., etc., oh yea, there is the great likelihood that the Korean peninsula may actually become nuclear free.

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And exterior teak is maintenance free.... ;-)