Advance Planning PDQ 32/34

Greeting all,
Wifey and I are planning on a future purchase of PDQ power cat. We currently have an older Albin 36 which we love but its time to up grade , plus I like the idea of a bit more speed. These pop up from time to time and seem to have a following. Not everybody's cup of tea but it ticks all the boxes for us, one of which is the ability to sit on the bottom when we lose all the water out of our creek on the rare super low tide and a beam of under 17'.

We would love any sage advice on what issues in particular in look for , hands on experiences from current or past owners, opinions on pricing , and any knowledge in general. We are looking in all the usual places but if anyone is thinking of selling in the next 6-12 months please make contact. We anticipate a budget needed to be around $175k.



Cheers Carl & Joan

cjcarljohnson1@gmail.com

As an Albin owner I am interested in how you market your Albin, the price and pictures. Supposedly the market for nice old trawlers is pretty good right now.

Keep us posted.

pete

Don't really have a hard fast plan on a sales strategy yet. Boats in good order, its at the back of the house , based on what's out there $60k seems about right.
cheers Carl

Boathead said:

Greeting all,
Wifey and I are planning on a future purchase of PDQ power cat. We currently have an older Albin 36 which we love but its time to up grade , plus I like the idea of a bit more speed. These pop up from time to time and seem to have a following. Not everybody's cup of tea but it ticks all the boxes for us, one of which is the ability to sit on the bottom when we lose all the water out of our creek on the rare super low tide and a beam of under 17'.

We would love any sage advice on what issues in particular in look for , hands on experiences from current or past owners, opinions on pricing , and any knowledge in general. We are looking in all the usual places but if anyone is thinking of selling in the next 6-12 months please make contact. We anticipate a budget needed to be around $175k.



Cheers Carl & Joan

cjcarljohnson1@gmail.com

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What do you guys want to do with the boat? My wife and I are shopping for something to spend a couple years doing the loop aboard. We started looking at conventional trawlers but after spending some time on a friends GB36 we decided watching the world pass by at 7-9 knots wasn't for us. We thought the PDQ34 might be an attractive option but after looking at one we aren't so sure. We liked the idea of traveling at 13 knots with low fuel burn numbers but there were many other features we didn't think we could live long term with. PDQ did a good job of making the salon look open but it really isn't. The lower helm has standing headroom but you cannot run the boat without sitting down. You cannot see out when standing. The galley down to port and dressing area to starboard so narrow 2 people can't pass each other without getting friendly. The biggest turnoff for us was the sleeping quarters. They feel like you are sleeping in a piano crate. You have to crawl up into bed and slither down to get out. There is no floor space and it's up 2 good steps. The women killer was storage space.. There isn't much. There is no floor space to store a 48 qt cooler without stepping over it to move around the boat. I'll take that back... You could keep it on the bow! The fly bridge also disappoints. You have duck down to get to the helm. It's in a well. No standing on the bridge deck except at the wheel without folding the top. Last but not least.. You can get to the front of each engine through an opening under the steps to the bed but I don't think a grown cat could get through either side. There is a hatch over each engine but you have to somehow roll up the bedding to get to it. I am betting everything was installed before gluing on the decks. If you guys are young and just harbor hopping it would be a fine boat but for cruising months on end it would get small in a hurry. My wife never liked to camp.

Well, we've got an mv32 with the 75 hp yanmars. We cruise at 12 kts on glass calm waters, but generally do an honest 11 when we're at speed. If it's lumpy, we'll pull it back to 8 or so.

Lots of steps, I won't argue that. And engine access is tight. But the only thing I can see that is a pain is the water pump. To change the impeller you either need to do it blind, with a mirror, or simply remove the whole pump housing.

We moved to this from a 40' mainship. Overall we're pretty thrilled. We've snuck into some really shallow water without fear, extended our daily cruising range for less fuel, and have enjoyed the layout as a whole. Different strokes I guess.

Of note, you said "under 17' hear". These are only barely that, 16.5' or so

Gabe n Em said:

Well, we've got an mv32 with the 75 hp yanmars. We cruise at 12 kts on glass calm waters, but generally do an honest 11 when we're at speed. If it's lumpy, we'll pull it back to 8 or so.

Lots of steps, I won't argue that. And engine access is tight. But the only thing I can see that is a pain is the water pump. To change the impeller you either need to do it blind, with a mirror, or simply remove the whole pump housing.

We moved to this from a 40' mainship. Overall we're pretty thrilled. We've snuck into some really shallow water without fear, extended our daily cruising range for less fuel, and have enjoyed the layout as a whole. Different strokes I guess.

Of note, you said "under 17' hear". These are only barely that, 16.5' or so

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Gabe, I didn't mean to bad mouth the boat. They are neat boats just not for our purpose. Like you said,, Different strokes.

Super to hear from a current owner. Always good to hear a different point of view also , as a relative of mine is fond of saying "there's an ass for every seat" . We have 17' between some of our pilings on our dock so it will fit. We just starting our research but we are pretty boat savvy and are sold on a PDQ but never say never so we need to look at other brands capable of sitting on the bottom without any damage. We do our own maintenance soup to nuts.
thanks everyone.
Carl

From my research, production powercats with a beam equal to or under 17 are:
- Fountaine Pajot Greenland 34
- Fountaine Pajot Maryland 37
- Fountaine Pajot Highland 35
- Fountaine Pajot MY37
- PDQ 34
- Aquila 38
- Aspen 120
- Endeavour 440 and 450
(and our non-production powercat, but isn't for sale )

For your price range, the Greenland and Maryland may be possible. Not sure if any Highland's made it across the ditch? Maybe some in the Caribbean?
Aquila 38 perhaps, and surely some of the older Endeavour's...