Any trashy Trawlers out there?

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I have one.

I have a prairie trawler 29. I don’t have any current pictures, but you can see it all over the Internet. Just google prairie 29. The boat is named Mischief. She runs great and is sea worthy now. I started to update the interior and gutted the salon. My father died and my plans changed. Now she is sitting on the hard. I want $30k for her.
 
https://www.passagemaker.com/cruiser-reviews/something-old-something-new-restoring-life-to-vagabond
This is a link to an old Passage Maker article about restoring an old boat; the "before" photos certainly fit the "trashy" description you are looking for.
As a more serious suggestion, although they are not trawlers, check out some of the boats for sale on sites like the Downeast Boat Forum; you will find a number of older boats that have been used by commercial fisherman, who took good care of the mechanicals because the boat was their livelihood, typically have good electronics, but aren't very concerned with fancy looks. If nothing else, it may help zero in on what you are looking for.
 
Read the last Power and Motor Boat magazine piece about the truly ugly European designs now the rage. Many with up to five outboard motors.
 
Prairie 36

My 1981 Prairie 36 is just about ready to go on the market.
Doc@barnaclestop.com for information.
Lbeckham1
 
Old boats

floater said:
I guess I should have been clearer in my original post. I'm actually looking for pics from owners who have a 'work in progress' boat. Maybe a few before and after pis. I'm looking for an older boat in reasonable shape that may look like a bad movie prop but can still fire up and cruise away. I really have no budget in mind yet as I am about 5 years away from retirement. I was just wondering if all boats look so good as the ones I've seen here.
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I’ve seen two posts here that I completely agree with. I’ll paraphrase; a boat that is a wreck on the outside is probably a wreck throughout. An owner rarely lets his boat go to seed while maintaining the engine, transmission, generator and other requisite systems. The second post that you should consider seriously is “There is nothing more expensive than a cheap or free boat”.

Even a well maintained 80s or earlier vintage Trawler requires a lot of time and money, but not knowing your budget it’s hard to advise what to buy. I will say this, however; Unless you are a diesel mech, electrician, HVAC tech, carpenter, plumber, fiberglass tech, rigger, painter, have a lot of money and are looking for a large project for the sake of resurrecting a derelict, stay away from “bad movie props”. Make an honest assessment of your budget and assume annual cost of ownership will be 10% of that amount and buy a well maintained boat of the size that you can afford. Believe me, you will still have plenty of work to do on it that will keep you busy.
 
Lots of great info and tips guys and girls. I am saving my money and after this Covid blows over I can start to look around seriously. A little harder up here in Toronto but I don't mind driving so I will be hitting the east coast for a look at as many marinas I can find.
 
Figure out how much money you have to spend up front on a boat. Buy the best boat you could afford in the best condition you can find for 75% of that $$ amount. Plan on spending the remaining 25% on stuff you didn't see before you bought it!:thumb: If that's all you spend, you really lucked out!:D
 
Arc said:
This Trawler has not moved in over 20 years. And I mean not moved
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From my beginning, being on pleasure boats for 68 yrs, and, being an accomplished masonry contractor for over 40 years; an observation:

I find it interesting that 4 concrete blocks [of 4 different block models - believe me I can see the incremental design differences] are seemingly for no reason lined up at edge of board walk, too near against the poor ol' boat.
 
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Trashy trawler

Five years ago, I bought my 1978 37' Canoe Cove with twin Caterpillar diesels with about 2000 hours on them for less than $30k in Canada. It really could use some "cosmetic work," like paint on the house and some real serious fiberglass polishing, etc., but I want to enjoy my boat, not spend all my time working on it (plus as a 75 year old woman, I don't have the strength to lean into a sander or polishing wheel,) and I already have to hire people to take care of mechanical maintenance and repairs so don't want to spend a ton of money on those cosmetic issues, so my boat is always the ugly duckling next to the yachts at the docks, but I love my boat and my boating friends. Go for it! Find your own ugly duckling and enjoy the life.
 
I know this is a sailboat but it could be refloated and converted to a trawler.
Just don't mention Biden when you negotiate.
 

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Alaskaflyer said:
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men...
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Couldn't make Bozo funny again!

Woops - Sorry RT - your post came in to my email after I'd posted. My fingers are still form here on out!! I think!!

Afterall - I'm not talking politics - I'm just talking clowns...
 
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:D can always join the bad boys club....
 

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project boat

Here is a good project boat. I bought her two years ago. I bought her for 40,000 and understood she needed some cosmetic work as well as possibly new fuel tanks down the road. Twin Lehmans and transmissions and hull all checked out good. She's been a joy to own and work on. I am still going through old records and recently found some information from the Lehman Warranty card that it's a Marine Trader Pacific 45 where I was told it was a Marine Trader 43. Anyway here are some pictures of her and some projects.
 

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Derik said:
Here is a good project boat. I bought her two years ago. I bought her for 40,000 and understood she needed some cosmetic work as well as possibly new fuel tanks down the road. Twin Lehmans and transmissions and hull all checked out good. She's been a joy to own and work on. I am still going through old records and recently found some information from the Lehman Warranty card that it's a Marine Trader Pacific 45 where I was told it was a Marine Trader 43. Anyway here are some pictures of her and some projects.
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Nice boat! Enjoy!! 43' may save a bit o' docking $$$... 1974/75 I lived in LaMesa. Worked construction downtown SD.
 
/
RT Firefly said:
Greetings,
My mom always said a house should be clean enough to be healthy and messy enough to be comfortable.
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Nonsense. "Everything has it's place!" "Tidy up son before you go out and play."
These were not maxims in your household? But alas, I had the good fortune of an English mother.
 
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If maintained correctly wooden boats are a great choice. Don't be to quick to discount them.
 
My experience with some classic wooden boats suggests to be careful about wooden boats moved from one extreme climatic area to the next.


Say in the USA....Maine boats do better up north than in the Bahamas, than boats built down there. Wood material types according to their owners make the difference.


Always exceptions due to exceptional vigilance and care...but as a generalization.


Composite an/or modern wooden boat building techniques are different.
 
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Here's a "fixer upper" trawler! Could probably be had for cheap. A little wax and she'll be good as new. The sailboat next to her comes complete with the tarps as well!
 

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I would not call this trash, but a good start if you like to spend hours on a boat tinkering like most of us.
But it comes down to how much time do you have? How much time do you want to work on a boat? How much do you want to spend?

The last 3 boats we have bough all needed work, most ended up around 20-25% of the purchase price in the first year. This time it was 25% in the first Month.

But I still feel this is a good boat for the $$ pending what the engine rooms looks like
https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/boa/d/puyallup-48-foot-1973-pacemaker/7252370045.html
 
There was this one boat, it had a butterfly on its lower transom. It was getting all the attention until the boat with Miami Beach style open transom showed up.

Oh, not that kind of trashy?

It depends on your interests. I have zero desire to do anything structural fiberglass, but I am happy to hack and saw at the interior and lay some fresh glass there. More than happy to re-do all the plumbing, wiring, etc... Not really interested in repowering or playing with engines unless the boat is discounted the same amount as a repower quote from the local engine magician. Maybe you are willing to do a short block rebuild and deal with bad core?

Either way the advise is the same as for any boat purchase: get a really great survey - so you have the most accurate idea of what needs to be done. If you want to play Diesel mechanic, also research parts availability/buildability of your engine/running gear. Have a plan for who you are going to call when you can't figure it out, don't have the time, or maybe don't want to do the work. Finally, make sure you have figured out where you are going to work on the boat as some stuff is better/must be done on the hard - but not all yards will let you do all the work you may want to do.
 
Donsan, welllll, it does have potential if the inside is stripped of everything and start all over.
I wonder what is below decks, fwd of the pilot house.
I do not see any stove top nor mention of shower or head.
Wooden hull? Not interested.
 
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