Wooden GBs have a tremendously variable quality, and I know whereof I speak. I would have walked away from the piece of junk Art spoke of above. It takes a special kind of dedication to keep them up and an unafraid and knowledgeable buyer to take one on. I sold my 1972 woodie 42-foot Grand Banks three years ago for 63,000 dollars, and the new owner (whom I hear from several times a year) and I still think we did a deal everybody was happy with. At the time there were wooden GB 42s for sale for 90K-plus, but I would assume they went for somewhat less, maybe not. I owned it for 29 years and took darned good care of it 25 of those years in a covered slip, which makes all the difference, no matter what material was used to construct the boat. I did find some dry rot in the cabin plywood in the early years, but I permanently fixed them and the sources of the moisture which caused the rot many years ago with no problems since - you can smell the rot in a boat so afflicted as soon as you open the door. Many original fasteners were still in my boat's underwater hull, and I removed a few of them for the survey - looked good. Never had to replace a plank and no evidence of chine issues. Boat was hauled every 18 months to ensure the bottom was good. Once in a great while I would have a bit of caulking redone to keep the bilge dry - dripless shaft packing helped a lot. Electronics were upgraded through the years. If I were younger and looking to make a buck, I would take on that 32 in the original post, spruce it up and resell it for a tidy profit. Other than for such a purpose, given my advancing state of laziness, I would not consider a wooden trawler.
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Rich Gano
FROLIC (2005 MainShip 30 Pilot II)
Panama City area
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