T&T: Buying our first trawler-Advice?

[Faure, Marin]

>Almost complete now with a new engine that was installed 11/2yr. ago
and not run since;

I'm curious about the engine.  So far as I know there have been no
marine diesels produced under the "Lehman" name since the 1980s.  Lehman
Bros. in New Jersey did not make engines, they developed marinization
kits, mostly for Ford of England base engines.  If the implication is
that the new engine that was installed a year and a half ago is a
"Lehman," that doesn't seem right (or possible).

However..... American Diesel markets a new marinized diesel that's based
(I'm pretty sure) on a currently-manufactured 6-cylinder diesel similar
in size and shape to the old Ford Lehman 120s and 135s.  In fact this
engine is a drop-in replacement for those older engines.  Is this what's
in the boat you're looking at?  American Diesel is headed up by Bob
Smith who was involved in the original marinization projects at Lehman.

I am hoping that you have had the boat thoroughly surveyed by
professional hull and engine surveyors.  Unless you are very experienced
with this general type of boat and have a huge range of knowledge
regarding their systems, professional surveyors are the only means
possible to get an accurate assessment of the true condition of a boat,
old or new.

Your comments about corrosion would ring immediate alarm bells with me,
and since I don't know enough to judge these things on my own I would be
reaching for the phone to call in a pro.  And not a pro associated in
any way with the yard, the boat's seller, or the boat's broker (if there
is one).

Boats new or old never stop costing their owners money even under the
best of circumstances.  A boat with major hidden flaws will not only
continuously cost their owners even more money but they can easily make
the boat-owning experience a frustrating one rather than an enjoyable
one.

______________________________
C. Marin Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham, Washington