2005 Mainship 34 trawler soon to be mine

[Jimtrawler]

Hi folks,
I am in the process of purchasing a 2005 Mainship 34. It seems to be in excellent shape. Are there some watch outs that I should look for before survey and closing? Less than 500 hours on Yanmar 370

 

[O C Diver]

Welcome to the forum!

Congratulations on the new boat if the deal gets done!

500 hours on an 18 year old boat is pretty low. Are you going to have someone like a mechanic check out the Yanmar. It would be helpful to know if the boat sat on land for a number of years without being used, or was just used less than 30 hours a year on average.

Ted

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. As with any boat that isn’t new check the engine as said above. Also check the decks for wet or soft core. Stringers are another thing to check. IMO those are the big things, the rest is going to be normal in a used boat. There will always be things to fix..

 

[Bacchus]

Welcome aboard TF and a potential new member of the Mainship family.
We live our 2008 34HT and have not had any significant issues, at least not expensive ones to fix.
You are likely to find evidence of water ingress (in eng rm) from the hull deck joint. It's common on many boats not only MS.
Checking batty condition would be on my list as that could be a couple of boat bucks if all weak.
I'd be asking for maint records. Has the tranny been serviced, coolant serviced, what has / hasn't been done re heat exchangers (cleaning/ servicing water, oil, after cooler, tranny cooler), gen service, cooler. All engine,ntranny, gen pencil anodes serviced regularly. Have thruster(s) been serviced periodically?
Are all accys, appliances, A/Cs working properly.
Does it reach proper WOT at sea trial w/o any overheating or unreasonable vibration?
Is the ER dry or show evidence of standing water.
My Bacchus website linked in signature has lots of info & projects I've tackled to make it work for us and improve storage & operation.
Good luck

 

[Nick14]

Hi folks,
I am in the process of purchasing a 2005 Mainship 34. It seems to be in excellent shape. Are there some watch outs that I should look for before survey and closing? Less than 500 hours on Yanmar 370

You might want to ask the surveyor to particularly do moisture meter readings on the flybridge sole (salon roof). I looked at some Mainship 34's in my search, and saw a couple that had substantial moisture intrusion in that area.

 

[DavidM]

Don hit most of the issues to look out for in his post above. Figure on an aftercooler replacement. Eighteen years is a long time with no service done more than likely. The shell is aluminum and it will corrode sitting in salt water whether the engine is run or not.

Also an easy test for excessive blow by: At a moderate cruise speed of 10 kts or so, put your hand behind the hose end that terminates just above the air filter. You might feel moderate pulses, but anything heavy is an indication of bad or stuck rings, stuck more likely with so few hours.

David

David

 

[Jimtrawler]

Excellent points everyone

Thanks to all of you for pointers and suggestions. Special thanks to Don. The Bacchus page is loaded with amazing information

 

[Bacchus]

Thanks to all of you for pointers and suggestions. Special thanks to Don. The Bacchus page is loaded with amazing information

Jim
You are welcome... glad it helped.
For all MS owners or wannabees... the Steve Cyr " Stella Blue" website has a wealth of in on Mainships and the 400 in particular.

https://scyr.org/stellablue/index.php
The Stella Blue website was my inspiration for starting the Bacchus website.
I have a link to it on my site but it's a little hidden in the "Useful Links" section.

 

[keith c]

Had mine for 4 years and have enjoyed it! Name a trawler type boat in the 36 ft range with a larger flybridge and salon.