T&T: Trawler features

[JHWardJr at aol.com]

revised:
 
This is a good idea.  My intended use is a 2 week per month liveaboard  (I 
am single and entertain overnight guests..) and coastal  cruiser.   For a 
reference point - I am an engineer, bit of a  gearhead, pilot and Cessna 
owner, and experienced tinkerer/navigator/weather  observer/watersports-fishing 
enthusiast.  
 
I liked my 42' Present Sundeck Motor Yacht for this:
 
    1.  price was right - great value.  fully depreciated (1984 model).  
    2.  lots of enclosed living space as year-round use in NC can get cold 
and  ugly.  I have ~800 square feet of enclosed area in a 40 foot class  
vessel.  It's the main reason I chose power vs sail.  
    3.  stoutly built and beefy features.  good sea manners.  hard  chined 
to minimize roll.  no expensive stabilizers.  very  traditional.  
    4.  separate galley from salon (down).  Full appliances.  
    5.  dinette across to starboard  
    6.  nice wide weather decks and top shelf 
bits/cleats/stanchions/hardware  
    7.  great ground tackle included, though all 4 anchors too small for me 
-  since upgraded  
    8.  large full width aft cabin and walkaround queen and no head numbing 
 overhang  
    9.  twin stacked bunks forward, one double and one single.  I have 
slept  there - very 'cocoon-like' with curtains drawn and restful.  My  teenage 
daughters call it 'sleeping on the shelves'!   Vanity and  forward head 
behind forward cabin door makes for privacy while they sleep all  morning and 
Dad is doing my boat duties...  
    10. low powered, readily serviced and inventoried diesels (T160 Ford  
Lehmans).  prefer a single, but got a twin.  prefer naturals.  
    11. sano engine room - good layout and decent condition.  inevitable  
sloppy repairs/mods done over 25 years not too bad.  
    12.     13. stand up separate shower aft, wand (removed) forward.  i.e. 
- heads  not overdone  
    14. enclosed aft deck with hardtop and dinghy davit/storage on top and 
rails  
    15. enclosed bridge - large enough to seat 10!  
    16. remote windlass controls both stations and chain for one-man  
weighing.  Ideal windlass beautifully built.  
    17. good genset  
    18. twin 16K BTU reverse cycle A/Cs  
    19. plenty of potable water (over 200 gals)  
    20. big holding tank  
    21. great water tank  
    22. good electric heads  
    23. traditional look and construction - will not go out of style 
because it  has none!  
    24. beautiful teak interior that was maintained really well.  I  am 
trying to maintain and improve it.  Does not stink like many  older diesel 
boats (but I am working to make better), probably due to the  liveaboard couple 
that included a woman owner/occupant that is  several notches above 'old 
boat geezer' standards!  
    25. lots of built-in lockers and drawers  
    26. limited external wood  
    27. buckets of spares, some not even for this boat, have saved me a lot 
of  money.  I have 25 spare fuel filter elements!  usually, however,  still 
buy new parts when needed.  this is typical of buying a used boat  that had 
an 'involved' series of owners.  
    28. a big thing - I bought it and four days later took it 700 miles 
from  Jacksonville to NC - only one small hardware failure (a leaking fuel  
hose).  Set the tone - no major issues since (I shouldn't have said that  - now 
I'm jinxed).  The PO put 50 hours on her in three years; I have put  over 
250 since then (two year anniversary this past week).  
    29.     30. Don't like:  
    31. lack of use - systems are dangerous when not used regularly.  I was 
 lucky.   
    32. tired plastic ports - need to replace them and want SS but big $$  
    33. drab gelcoat and lots of spider cracking - I think I'll have to 
paint if I  want real shine.  should include removal and rebedding of all deck  
hardware/rails.  big effort and $$!  
    34. electronics superb for 20 years ago - ancient now (I have a Sitex 
GPS  with a green screen CRT that probably cost $15,000 when new!).  they 
work  fine so it's hard to pitch them  
    35. bottom needs some work  
    36. soft spots in a few deck locations - not ready to tackle yet  
    37. tanks are black iron and will inevitably need work sometime  
    38. no cockpit - really wanted that feature for watersports and to 
pretend I  still fish.  the 46 footer has this - not willing to pay for it.   
could now as market is soft  
    39. swim platform normal sized but puny.  might make bigger  
    40. davit and winch not beefy enough for my favorite launch (600# 12' 
Logic  center console)  
    41. no separate house battery system nor inverter (working on this)  
    42. canvas was well done and is in good shape, but is vinyl instead of  
Sunbrella and gets stiff in the cold   
    43. any job turns into a 2-10x project.  corrosion, weird fittings,  
former cobb-jobs, etc conspire to make it worse.  many niggling things  that 
were ignored/deferred due to lack of real use.  
    44. props are mismatched and oddball size (need replacements!)  
    45. port tranny replaced way back with an offset one for  
contra-rotation.  resolution is kinda kludgey, but works.  
    46. 
There is my 2 cents.  I now know a lot more about big boats than  I did 
when I bought this one.  I wish I could snap my fingers and make it  'crisper' 
and prettier, but - the best thing - I would wholeheartedly buy  it again.  
That's not always the case - I am lucky.
 
This was actually a good exercise for me on a Sunday morning with coffee  
and baroque music welcoming the cool winds of Standard Time and November  
First.
 
Jim in NC, maybe FL soon.
 
In a message dated 10/31/2009 11:00:34 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
trawlers-and-trawlering-request at lists.samurai.com writes:

owners  posting on the features of THEIR boat that  
led them to purchase THAT  boat.