Recent content by Bob328

I am about to turn 74 in two weeks, I just went 62 miles off St Augustine 2 days ago to fish the gulf stream and ledge. After each trip I take, I wonder how many more I have left. After about 16 hours rest, I stand a bit taller and feel pretty good again. As many are saying, the loss of muscle...

Welcome. My wife and I sailed Lake Erie and the Bass Islands for years. We also sailed Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. We brought our trawler from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin to Florida last summer and fall. As you're probably aware, the trawler doesn't take the waves on the beam like a sailboat, but...

I, too, have a Marine Trader 34 DC in St. Augustine. I have been doing many upgrades and just brought it from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin to marineland Marina. It did the 3,000 mile trip very well. PM me if you'd like to grab a beer and discuss your project sometime. My boat has a Cummins 6BT, but...

I have been delivering boats for many years and learned the importance of using prop walk and honing your docking skills. I now own a Marine Trader with bow and stern thrusters. It is wonderful. It allows you to look professional when docking and takes so much stress off the captain and crew...

After 50 years of owning and sailing boats, we bought a Marine Trader 34DC. My wife has a bad knee and just didn't feel safe on a heeling deck. After traveling more than 3,000 miles at 7 knots from Wisconsin to St Augustine, she is just in love. Likes the view from the flybridge and as...

genset It was exciting to start the new genset the first time. We got the sound enclosure and it is very quiet, We turned on every appliance and a/c one by one and we were able to power it all easily. It was a month well spent. Anchoring with a/c was great when the temps hit 93! The trip was...

Last year my wife and I left Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin with our new to us 1997 Marine Trader 34DC. We brought it around Mackinac to Toledo beach marina and I installed a new Nexgen 5.5 kw genset myself. It was a challenge and took me a month, but well worth the labor. We took the Erie Canal from...

aft cabin roof

I had a start solenoid short to it's case and trip the breaker. Removed the solenoid and isolated it from the mount. It ran fine, so I replaced the start solenoid and has worked fine since. The vibration caused the problem. To diagnose, I did a voltage check from the solenoid case to the engine...

Fuel burn I have a 97 Marine Trader 34DC with the same engine and burn about 1.2 gallons/hour at 6 knots. Depends on transmission and prop as well as bottom condition. I usually cruise at 7 knots on open lakes and burn about 1.8 gal/hr. Not sure if yours will be the same, but probably close.

Steps Don't mean to hijack this thread. My wife and I have a MT34DC and she has trouble with her knees when she climbs the steps to the aft or forward stateroom. We have 2 steps at 11 inch rise each. I was thinking of adding a step and changing the spacing to 7 inches rise to each step...

I chimed in earlier to give my thought. My wife says that it seemed when we took long voyages it felt like the men made it a challenge against nature. She loves the privacy, double private staterooms, showers, fans, cooking amenities and not trying to walk across a boat heeling over at 20...

I installed a new nextgen 5.5kw genset on my Marine Trader 34dc last summer. The main concern per the engineers is that you have a gentle slope from the water lift exhaust to the thru hull exhaust fitting without any looping or sagging. Works great in all seas I also was told to make sure the...

Captains Courageous! Starred Spencer Tracy. It was made in 1937 and was based on a book by Rudyard Kipling. The fishing and sailing scenes were amazing!

I sailed for 50 years. Loved it. Cruised the Keys and the Bahamas numerous times. I went offshore less the last couple years. My wife has not been able to move about on deck while healing any at all. She loves having enclosed helm areas and air conditioning. She wanted to continue to cruise...