Eastsounder
Veteran Member
I would be grateful for some wisdom from the wonderful hive-mind that is TF (where I’m a longtime member and frequent lurker, but infrequent poster). My wife and I live in the San Juan Islands and have loved exploring both the SJIs and Gulf Islands for about 15 years, the last 10 of them in our Grand Banks 32 — a 1972 woodie (#304). Unfortunately, maintenance of the wood (rails and house, mainly) has gotten away from us. No matter how much time we spend sanding and refinishing/painting, it’s never enough! Come spring, we hope to sell her. In the meantime we are dreaming and scheming about what boat will better fulfill our needs for the next 10+ years.
Basic parameters are:
- A trawler-style vessel for cruising in protected waters on trips ranging from a few hours to a few weeks (possibly longer if the dream of going to SE Alaska ever materializes).
- Two cabins to give us more berthing options (either for an occasional family guest or as a “snora-bora,” as I’ve been told I’m a noisy sleeper).
- Sedan configuration. Before acquiring our GB 32, we chartered a GB 36 for a week. Great experience, but my wife has concluded that she prefers the openness of a sedan, with its easy access from the salon to a relatively roomy cockpit, plus more light/less claustrophobic feeling than aft-cabins.
- Single engine with bow thruster, for fuel economy and a less-cramped engine room for easier access to everything down there. (And, it may go without saying, direct-drive diesel — no stern drives). Does not need to be a “fast trawler” — moseying along at 6-8 kts is fine with us.
- Up galley — not isolated down in a pit.
- While I could conceivably live without a flybridge, I would much prefer to have one.
- Not a lot of exterior wood. I love wooden boats, but hope to spend more time out on the water, less dock time sanding teak rails for the umpteenth time.
- A budget of $150k. I know, the budget is low considering all our other must-haves, but we’re retirees who must live within a limited budget.
One boat we’ve been considering that checks pretty much all the boxes is the Mainship 34/350/390. We prefer the 390 “trim” because 1) the guest cabin has two twins rather than one full berth, and 2) we like the more streamlined look of the flush cabinets rather than the surface-mounted doors w/ raised panels. Problem is, the biggest selection of these boats is in Florida or elsewhere around the Loop; they’re fairly rare creatures in the PNW, but they do come up from time to time.
From what I’ve read on this forum and elsewhere, Mainship is no Grand Banks (or Kaden-Krogen or other top makers) in terms of overall build quality and reputation; but this is a compromise we might have to make (within reason) given our budget. A single-engine GB 36 Europa with stainless handrails would be lovely, but out of our price range.
Your thoughts welcome and appreciated on any of the above. Does the Mainship 390 (or 34/35, basically all the same boat, I believe, except as noted above) seem like a good fit with our requirements and use case? Are there other boats we should be looking at that check the boxes? Thanks for any input.
Basic parameters are:
- A trawler-style vessel for cruising in protected waters on trips ranging from a few hours to a few weeks (possibly longer if the dream of going to SE Alaska ever materializes).
- Two cabins to give us more berthing options (either for an occasional family guest or as a “snora-bora,” as I’ve been told I’m a noisy sleeper).
- Sedan configuration. Before acquiring our GB 32, we chartered a GB 36 for a week. Great experience, but my wife has concluded that she prefers the openness of a sedan, with its easy access from the salon to a relatively roomy cockpit, plus more light/less claustrophobic feeling than aft-cabins.
- Single engine with bow thruster, for fuel economy and a less-cramped engine room for easier access to everything down there. (And, it may go without saying, direct-drive diesel — no stern drives). Does not need to be a “fast trawler” — moseying along at 6-8 kts is fine with us.
- Up galley — not isolated down in a pit.
- While I could conceivably live without a flybridge, I would much prefer to have one.
- Not a lot of exterior wood. I love wooden boats, but hope to spend more time out on the water, less dock time sanding teak rails for the umpteenth time.
- A budget of $150k. I know, the budget is low considering all our other must-haves, but we’re retirees who must live within a limited budget.
One boat we’ve been considering that checks pretty much all the boxes is the Mainship 34/350/390. We prefer the 390 “trim” because 1) the guest cabin has two twins rather than one full berth, and 2) we like the more streamlined look of the flush cabinets rather than the surface-mounted doors w/ raised panels. Problem is, the biggest selection of these boats is in Florida or elsewhere around the Loop; they’re fairly rare creatures in the PNW, but they do come up from time to time.
From what I’ve read on this forum and elsewhere, Mainship is no Grand Banks (or Kaden-Krogen or other top makers) in terms of overall build quality and reputation; but this is a compromise we might have to make (within reason) given our budget. A single-engine GB 36 Europa with stainless handrails would be lovely, but out of our price range.
Your thoughts welcome and appreciated on any of the above. Does the Mainship 390 (or 34/35, basically all the same boat, I believe, except as noted above) seem like a good fit with our requirements and use case? Are there other boats we should be looking at that check the boxes? Thanks for any input.