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A little help please.....

Discussion in 'General Trawler Discussion' started by camandbev, Aug 29, 2008.

  1. camandbev, Aug 29, 2008
    #1
    camandbev

    camandbev New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2008
    Messages:
    2
    Location:
    Southern Missouri
    First let me say this is a great site. I have been looking around for several weeks now and have found it to be very informative and entertaining. I have searched for this information in previous threads without finding much relevant information. I have also purchased a couple books to try to lead me in the right direction, but again haven't had much luck. Now, to the point;

    My wife and I are contemplating buying a small yacht. We have a very modest budget on which to operate. We are looking at spending no more than $100,000 on the original purchase. Is there a quality resource available to research older boats in this price range? (While this site is full of very valuable information, it seems to focus a little above my bottom line. :D )

    I am going to provide some information about what we have discovered about our desires so far, just in case someone finds it helpful.

    We live inland; the boat would be on Kentucky Lake or a similar lake in Southern Missouri/Northern Arkansas. However, we are seriously considering doing some coastal and possibly blue water cruising when we retire/vacation, and we want to make sure the boat is very capable in this environment. We would not be living aboard, but would probably spend most weekends on the boat. We are looking in the 40 foot size range. Speed is not important at all. The journey is as important as the destination. So, we are really leaning towards the efficiency of the displacement hull vessels. We do not want a wood hull and diesel engines are a must. We have a couple of models which we like, but it has proven difficult to find the information necessary to determine if they are solid choices. Any help you all can provide would be very helpful.
  2. KCook, Aug 29, 2008
    #2
    KCook

    KCook Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2005
    Messages:
    1,160
    Location:
    Phoenix
    There are 40' displacement trawlers and tugs. But there are lots more 40' boats that are faster than a true displacement design. For an ample assortment to choose from, I wouldn't limit my shopping to displacement types. Here are links to more threads that may help -

    http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/general-yachting-discussion/1069-45-foot-yachts-whats-good.html

    http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/f...s/3436-looking-some-advise-boat-purchase.html

    http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/f...-questions/3683-advice-request-new-yacht.html

    Kelly Cook
    PS - my family is originally from southern Missouri
  3. NYCAP123, Aug 29, 2008
    #3
    NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2008
    Messages:
    11,210
    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    40' is a lot of boat to move from inland to the coast (unless there are connecting waterways). Trucking something like that require wide load permits & trucking, etc.; not something you'll do for vacation. It sound to me like you might want to consider a trawler. Mainship has been putting out some interesting boats in recent years, but there are others. You might want to look at something in the 32' to 38' range, single screw with a bow thruster. That's comfortable, cheap to run & easy to handle. I'd look for a boat about 3 or 4 years old with about 5 to 800 hours. There are several good publications and websites listing boats. The closer to home you can find it the more you save bringing it home. This is a real good time to buy. These days I wouldn't offer anything near the asking price.
  4. camandbev, Aug 31, 2008
    #4
    camandbev

    camandbev New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2008
    Messages:
    2
    Location:
    Southern Missouri
    Thanks for your responses.

    KCook,
    Thanks for the links. They were a very valuable source of information. We've looked at many of the planing hull boats, and even beyond the fuel economy aspect, we just aren't as excited about the overall look and layout of the boats. Plus the low horsepower diesels can't be beat for maintenance reasons.

    We just moved to Southern Missouri a few years ago. We are currently in Cape Girardeau, Mo. and couldn't be happier. We tend to relocate a lot for my job and so far this our favorite place we have lived.

    NYCAP123,
    The lakes we are looking at all would lock to the Mississippi River or one of its tributaries. So, no need to tow the boat. We are considering keeping the boat by us for the next few years while our daughter is still home then moving it down to New Orleans when she goes off to college. A trawler is right where we are looking. We've found several that we are interested in, but it is difficult to find information about build quality.

    Specifically, we are drawn to the Gulfstar 43 Mark II and the Marine Trader 44 (both models were built in the late 70's to early 80's). We also located a 36' Albin Trawler that we liked. The Albin is of less interest because I would prefer to stick with a twin screw, only because of the enhanced maneuverability that they offer.

    Again thank you both for your responses.