Do you mean for "GS" to stand for Gulfstar?
Stephen, We purchased a 44 MC back in July and have hull number 114 out of the 115 that appear to have been made. 1980 was the last year for the MC. There are actually quite a number of differences between the MC and MY, that came out in 1981. The MC was built on the Gulfstar 44 ft sailboat hull and is a full displacement-hull. Ours has the twin Perkins turbo diesel engines T6.354 series. The 44MY is a semi-displacement planing hull. The layout is similar, but the MY has a combined engine room/gen room that is accessible via a stair well. The MC has separate hatches inside the cabin for access to the two work areas. Your best bet is to go on-line and look for some 44 MY boats that are for sale and compare photos/videos. My wife and I actually like the layout and wood work in the 44 MC better than the 44 MY. Hope you are enjoying your boat. I would be glad to share experiences, etc. Carleton
I've been going over this boat intimately the last couple weeks. And in doing so, I came across a BIG bag of paperwork. Spent a few full evenings going through most of it. So far it looks like 95% of this boas history is here, included is all original documentation from Gulfstar ! Delivery sheets and all. A 3rd party performance report with detailed data was done on this model and mixed in as well. All this has answered a lot of questions and raised plenty more new ones. I'm a detective now too I guess lol... And what I really learned thus far is that this is one hell of a boat thats been kept up & used fairly well for 45 years. A new journey has begun ! More than glad to share experiences as well Carleton.
Thanks for posting these as they do go to answering my original question. In my mess of docs are the original detailed spec sheets for this particular build with all the options that were included. One of the now cleared up points was finding out that a single 250 gal water tank listed on the general spec sheet was not the case here. This boat also has the 2 optional water tanks and holds a total of 443 gal. Was puzzled at first seeing 3 water holes on deck when you're expecting only 1.
It sounds like you are well ahead of the game. The engine manuals and a hand-drawn electrical diagram are about all I have found from the original documentation. What helped me was having to address a checklist of items needing attention before I could get insurance. I ended up going through most of the systems sorting out things like hoses and electrical issues. Nothing was really that critical, except for one hose the surveyor failed to find that actually could have been bad. Our boat is now Loop-ready if there is ever a need!
You are so fortunate to have that much documentation about your boat. Most older boats have been through two or more changes of ownership, after each of which a tremendous amount of valuable info simply evaporates. But the older the boat, the more important it becomes to know its past, and unfortunately old boats don't start talking to us until they are already in a lot of distress.
Those hand written electrical diagrams are a nightmare waiting to happen LOL. Can't imagine trying to decipher and apply them.... Jesus. Zero electrical issues for me so that nightmare stays in check... for now. My hoses have all been very recently replaced everywhere with the exception of the 2 shower drains which are toast and leak. Next to impossible to change due to access. Aft shower was doable relatively easy. Forward shower, after cutting the corner of the floor out in the generator room to try gaining access to the drain and hose end, theres just no way to get under the shower to the hose end from there. Maybe cutting some of the wall out might give access to it but even then, not sure it would be enough. Its really tight right there with the fuel tank. Hose looks healthy enough to leave that first foot on anyway and go new from there to the pump so thats how its getting done. And Carleton, if you're looking for any docs let me know. More than glad to send pics of anything I have. I have all the OEM docs !
Still trying to figure out exactly what number owner I am. Seen 4 or 5 different names on receipts thus far. Not sure if all were owners but I'm blown away that with so many involved over the years that all this info made it this far with the boat ! And all involved also kept up with the maintanance logs of everything. The last 10 years are a little thin but what I'm seeing is the boat mostly sat for the last decade.
Thanks for the offer. I would be interested in any drawings of systems, etc. plumbing, or a list of original equipment suppliers if that information is available. I seem to have an issue with either the sink drain from the forward head or the galley sink that dumps water into the bilge if the fawcett is on for a while. Have you had issues with those or know where they discharge?
The only system drawings i have are the hand drawn electrical ones. And there was no "list" of oem suppliers in the Gulfstar factory binder... but there is oem supplier manuals/spec sheets on all oem equipment in the boat and everything added to it over the yrs ! Any of the equipment that was replaced and no longer there, those manuals/spec sheets have been tossed.
That makes sense and is what I expected. I need thru-hull locations for the sink drains. Thanks
Nice looking but I would add covers on the battery terminals, at least on the positives. If you drop a wrench in there you could short out the batteries. That isn’t good, ask me how I know. Also I would put some spacers in between the batteries and the battery box. ABYC says a battery can move one inch but I like mine to have no movement so I put in Starboard spacers so they don’t move at all. Imagine your batteries going back and forth on each wave. After a while the connection can work loose due to the movement.
Those are good suggestions. I had already planned to put spacers in there for the smaller Group 31s. The terminal covers will be added as well - that will make the insurance provider happy! last task will be to label all those cables so the next owner won't have to figure it all out.
