fractalphreak
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2018
- Messages
- 318
- Location
- United States
- Vessel Name
- Northwest Dream
- Vessel Make
- Davis Vashon 42 Trawler (Defever design)
We did it; a dream we've had for years has finally happened.
Y-von (my wife, her nickname) and I purchased a 42 ft trawler. We closed Aug 29, got the keys on the 31st. We brought the boat "home" to the Anacortes area during the Labor Day weekend, coupled with nights out at several local bays.
We absolutely love her. From her lines, seakeeping ability, size, features, and OMG the teak interior. She's amazing.
Hull has no blisters, frames and tabbing is intact and secure, interior damage from previous window and other leaks minimal (with the exception of the aft cabintop, which will be a recore job. My son and I rebuilt a Bayliner cuddy from the bare hull up, so recoring arched deck will not be prohibitive for us and might acutally be a little fun.) Fuel tanks are in great shape, mechanicals are also in great shape. The engine exhausts are a little funky, there are adapters to a non-standard Lehman exhaust system that we are going to replace as one of our first projects. The hull and mechanical surveys had very little that Josh and I hadn't already identified as issues during our own pre-survey inspection we did prior to making our offer, so we feel good about our knowledge of the boat's condition.
We're not wealthy, and had a budget. But we kept a significant reserve based on what projects our final boat would need, and have the funds to fix issues we have, some we may not yet have found, and to make some improvements to make her ours.
Here she is:
She is a 1980 Davis Yachts 42' Trawler. We have a brochure that she was called a Davis Vashon 42. The boats locally are marketed used as "Davis-Defever", I'm guessing because they appear to be nearly identical to the 40' Defever Passagemaker boats.
The boat has been in Sequim for a number of years under the care of our PO, who was active in yacht clubs and the USPS. He make a number of improvements and upgrades during the 10 years he owned her. Due to medical issues the boat has not been well cared for the past year and a half.
The boat currently bears the name Rejoice; a new name is coming soon along with the requisite ceremonies.
As explained above, we have some work ahead of us. I'll be starting a thread in the Custom Builds and Refit area to document that and possibly solicit some opinions on work ahead of us.
A few more pics:
After her first bath the night we finally tied to a temporary berth in Anacortes. We've moved to dry storage for the next few months to do a few projects and wait for some marina dock work to finish before moving in to Shelter Bay in La Conner.
Our PO left ALL of his boating gear on the boat, including the mate's command chair. Here Y-von is digging how the boat is handling during our crossing (south to north) the east end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We crossed just after a small craft advisory ended, and had 4-5 ft beam seas during the trip. The full keel, hard chines aft and 15t-16t displacement do wonders for handling - especially coming from a 30ft powerboat with NO keel. Add an autopilot to that and, well, we are incredibly thrilled to have a boat that can handle a little chop.
Stern tied with bridle set on the anchor. Never had an windlass/winch before or (obviously) all chain rode. The gear from our PO made it easy. For this anchorage we even tied to a boulder on shore.
View from the porthole during my first shower on the boat. We've never had a full shower, either. Y-von was right in wanting a bigger boat! Do you recognize where this is?
It turns out we don't have border collies. They are boater collies.
That's it for now, as I said we have some projects to work on - lots of brightwork, cabin and deck finishes to renew, aft cabin top core to replace and engine exhausts to replace. That will all be in the aforementioned thread I'll be starting in the next few days.
I'd like to thank you all for everything you've shared in the past: I've spent a LOT of time on this forum and others, scouring for bits of information to help me commit to this boat informed and ready for what I would find.
-David
Y-von (my wife, her nickname) and I purchased a 42 ft trawler. We closed Aug 29, got the keys on the 31st. We brought the boat "home" to the Anacortes area during the Labor Day weekend, coupled with nights out at several local bays.
We absolutely love her. From her lines, seakeeping ability, size, features, and OMG the teak interior. She's amazing.
Hull has no blisters, frames and tabbing is intact and secure, interior damage from previous window and other leaks minimal (with the exception of the aft cabintop, which will be a recore job. My son and I rebuilt a Bayliner cuddy from the bare hull up, so recoring arched deck will not be prohibitive for us and might acutally be a little fun.) Fuel tanks are in great shape, mechanicals are also in great shape. The engine exhausts are a little funky, there are adapters to a non-standard Lehman exhaust system that we are going to replace as one of our first projects. The hull and mechanical surveys had very little that Josh and I hadn't already identified as issues during our own pre-survey inspection we did prior to making our offer, so we feel good about our knowledge of the boat's condition.
We're not wealthy, and had a budget. But we kept a significant reserve based on what projects our final boat would need, and have the funds to fix issues we have, some we may not yet have found, and to make some improvements to make her ours.
Here she is:
She is a 1980 Davis Yachts 42' Trawler. We have a brochure that she was called a Davis Vashon 42. The boats locally are marketed used as "Davis-Defever", I'm guessing because they appear to be nearly identical to the 40' Defever Passagemaker boats.
The boat has been in Sequim for a number of years under the care of our PO, who was active in yacht clubs and the USPS. He make a number of improvements and upgrades during the 10 years he owned her. Due to medical issues the boat has not been well cared for the past year and a half.
The boat currently bears the name Rejoice; a new name is coming soon along with the requisite ceremonies.
As explained above, we have some work ahead of us. I'll be starting a thread in the Custom Builds and Refit area to document that and possibly solicit some opinions on work ahead of us.
A few more pics:
After her first bath the night we finally tied to a temporary berth in Anacortes. We've moved to dry storage for the next few months to do a few projects and wait for some marina dock work to finish before moving in to Shelter Bay in La Conner.
Our PO left ALL of his boating gear on the boat, including the mate's command chair. Here Y-von is digging how the boat is handling during our crossing (south to north) the east end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We crossed just after a small craft advisory ended, and had 4-5 ft beam seas during the trip. The full keel, hard chines aft and 15t-16t displacement do wonders for handling - especially coming from a 30ft powerboat with NO keel. Add an autopilot to that and, well, we are incredibly thrilled to have a boat that can handle a little chop.
Stern tied with bridle set on the anchor. Never had an windlass/winch before or (obviously) all chain rode. The gear from our PO made it easy. For this anchorage we even tied to a boulder on shore.
View from the porthole during my first shower on the boat. We've never had a full shower, either. Y-von was right in wanting a bigger boat! Do you recognize where this is?
It turns out we don't have border collies. They are boater collies.
That's it for now, as I said we have some projects to work on - lots of brightwork, cabin and deck finishes to renew, aft cabin top core to replace and engine exhausts to replace. That will all be in the aforementioned thread I'll be starting in the next few days.
I'd like to thank you all for everything you've shared in the past: I've spent a LOT of time on this forum and others, scouring for bits of information to help me commit to this boat informed and ready for what I would find.
-David
