Hello from Charleston

[Davy Jones]

Hello from charleston!

I am new to the forum and have an interest in trawlers for my future retirement vessel. I hope to live aboard at some point but I struggle with the type of boat to end up with.

I currently have a 45' Chris Craft Commander. She is a nice old girl with good space and 871 detroits. I usually cruise at around 10 knots or so. So I figure why waste all that fuel running two large diesel engines whe I can do the same in a trawler on one or two small engines.

So that is what brings me to this site so I can get some education on trawlers. I have heard through the years that a Grand Banks seems to be the boat of choice. I have no clue

I need education and a gentle push in the right direction. I have had a good deal of time on the water through the years so I am not new to the boat thing. So please feel free to throw out some pros and cons of trawlers like, single vs twin screw, bow thrusters etc. I do want a boat that my wife and I can handle. I also intend it to be 45' or larger. I really want to keep it under $200K or less.

Anyone near or in Chucktown come by and sit a spell sometime. I am located at the Charleston harbor marina.

Davy

 

[Blue Heron]

Davy,
Welcome! Youre way ahead of the power curve! You already have a boat that is bigger than most! Grand Old lady you have! I am sure you could teach me some things! Welcome!

 

[Eastcoaster]

Welcome to the Forum Dave,
Lots of good info here.
These guys are great!

Michael

 

[Marin]

Davy--- Grand Banks are good boats and hold their value if they are well kept up, which most GB owners tend to do. If you are interested in them particularly, I'd suggest joining the Grand Banks Owners forum http://www.grandbanksowners.com It's free and there are people on that forum with both wood and glass GBs who collectivley know more about the make than any other group on the planet.

What Grand Banks brought to the table starting in the mid-60s was consistency of build quality. There are other designs and configurations that I personally like better, but unless a GB has been seriously neglected they are almost always in good to great shape, be it a late 60s woody or a mid-90s glass boat. Other makes can be very good. too, but due to their manufacturing methods may have a lot of inconsistency in build quality from boat to boat. This was more a problem in the 70s and 80s than it is today, I think.

All that said, there are other makes out there that are just as good as GBs.

More important than the brand or model at this point, however, is to define just what you want to do with the boat and what attributes you want it to have. You're not new to boating, obviously, so for you I think it's more determining what you want in this style of boat which may be quite different than what you're used to. Once you define that you can start finding out what makes and models will meet your requirements.

 

[Davy Jones]

Welcome to the Forum Dave,
Lots of good info here.
These guys are great!

Michael

Thanks Michael,

Here's a couple pics from Saturday of us cruising in Charleston harbor.

 

[psneeld]

If you like your present boat...I would think about keeping her and possibly a repower.

If your 871s are in decent shape you can sell them as working takeouts and get a couple of 80-100 or so hp diesels and run her just like a trawler....that's what I was gonna do if I couldn't find a trawler at the right price.

I like the layout of your boat better than most trawlers anyway. She'll be almost as efficient as most of the older trawlers if you keep the speed down and she's probably built a little better than most of the older trawlers anyway.

I'll be down that way this winter..my buddy that lived in charleston just took a year assignment in Saudi Arabia , but I like Chastown so much might stay a month this winter.

 

[Eastcoaster]

Dave,
Who's that guy Cheezing standing behind you... OH that's Me!!!!

Great day for a cruise to Fort Sumter it was!

Short but sweet. At least we got those engines exercised.

 

[Woodsong]

Welcome to the forums. I love your current boat- love the classic chris crafts!
There are tons of options out there. If I was coastal cruising and wanted to be $200k or less, I'd probably be looking hard at the 49 defever. I always liked the 49 Albin tri-cabin as well but not many of them out there here on the east coast.

 

[Marin]

I recognize the bridge in the background of your second photo. Beautiful design. Don't remember the name of it but we shot some stuff on it and in the harbor in Mt. Pleasant during a two week shoot all over the state earlier this year. We were shooting for the videos I produced for the rollout ceremony of the first Charleston-assembled 787.

 

[Davy Jones]

If you like your present boat...I would think about keeping her and possibly a repower.QUOTE]

I do like her but being a fush deck she is a bit tall for most docking. From the gunwale to the dock is pretty far to hop on and off or and can be challenging in the wind and tide. I can handle her with a couple of mates on board to handle dock lines.

Davy

 

[Edelweiss]

Welcome aboard Dave, I love the old Chris Craft's and the 8-71 too? Wow, love the engine sound and what a great boat.

I'm personally not an advocate of full time live aboard. I almost gave up boating after living aboard my trawler for 18 months, (not my choice, divorce made it necessary!!) I could do a few months during the summer, but I need a dirt place from time-to-time, the space of a house and someplace to keep all my toys. But to each their own!! Give it a try and see if it works for you, but don't give up the house until you are sure.

I always thought about maybe a pilot house style as a part time live aboard. Something wide and stern level with the dock, step on, step off. Half of the pain of living aboard is the inconvenience of boarding, moving around the cabins and lack of storage. If you're looking for a single, many of the 50 foot pilot house trawlers have single engines, thrusters and gen sets.

Lots to look at and a good time to be buying a boat.

Best of Luck
Larry B

 

[psneeld]

If you like your present boat...I would think about keeping her and possibly a repower.QUOTE]

I do like her but being a fush deck she is a bit tall for most docking. From the gunwale to the dock is pretty far to hop on and off or and can be challenging in the wind and tide. I can handle her with a couple of mates on board to handle dock lines.

Davy

The price you pay for cramming the most boat you can into that kind of footage...many trawlers will present the same issues docking one way or another.

I chose the tricabin style so as I get older...less challenges from steps, no ladder to the flying bridge, walk around decks, etc..etc...

But if you are a good boat handler...the flush deck with properly rigged lines and a modified boathook should make most docking situations manageable.

 

[BruceK]

Hi Dave, Welcome aboard.
I was a bit with psneeld on the changeover,but see the issues you experience with docking etc. The term "trawler" is a broad one, I think of it as a comfortable live aboard cruising boat, not having a planing hull, which proceeds best at hull speed. There are no end of different definitions, like I say, it`s a broad term.
The hassles of selling and buying, and getting the "new" boat the way you want, or to the condition you thought it was when you chose it, would make me hesitate, especially as you already have a really nice boat which cruises at relatively moderate speed.
But if changing circumstances and needs call for a more "trawler" like replacement, with lower and walk around decks, I hope it goes well and you get a great "new" boat so you and "the Admiral" enjoy cruising even more. BruceK

 

[Davy Jones]

Welcome aboard Dave, I love the old Chris Craft's and the 8-71 too? Wow, love the engine sound and what a great boat.

I'm personally not an advocate of full time live aboard. I almost gave up boating after living aboard my trawler for 18 months, (not my choice, divorce made it necessary!!) I could do a few months during the summer, but I need a dirt place from time-to-time, the space of a house and someplace to keep all my toys. But to each their own!! Give it a try and see if it works for you, but don't give up the house until you are sure.

I always thought about maybe a pilot house style as a part time live aboard. Something wide and stern level with the dock, step on, step off. Half of the pain of living aboard is the inconvenience of boarding, moving around the cabins and lack of storage. If you're looking for a single, many of the 50 foot pilot house trawlers have single engines, thrusters and gen sets.

Lots to look at and a good time to be buying a boat.

Best of Luck
Larry B

I love the sound of those detroits too! But the can get a bit noisey after awhile.

We will not be giving up a house when we retire because we have a farm and too much stuff! I just want to live aboard for awhile to run the ditch and tour around for a few months at a time.

I have been looking at a 62' pilot house that I saw about 17 years ago and it just came on the market.

I saw it cruising up the ICW and the closer it got the more beautiful it got. there was an older couple 70+ That was older to me back then.... anyhoo it was silent on approach and all you heard was water rushing around from the Cummins N855M and the hydrolic bow thruster as he slid up next to the dock. After they tied up I asked what kind of boat it was and she replied "well my husband started bulding it in the back yard in the 70s he was a retired yacht builder". That boat has stuck with me every since! I am scarred for life. In agood way. Here is a pic of her. I would post a link but I don't want someone to buy her out from under me!

She is a wood boat but it was built and each board was epoxy coated and the bottom is copper sheathed to the waterline. I need to stop typing now before I talk myself into something!

Here is a teaser pic

 

[Woodsong]

Davy,
Looks awesome! What beautiful lines. You clearly have good taste in boats.

 

[ben2go]

Welcome from the upstate.

 

[BruceK]

Lovely looking boat with great history. But will it be easier for two, to park? BruceK

 

[Peter B]

I hope Charleston is in better shape than it was left when we saw it last on the most recent episode of "Falling Skies". Sorry, of topic I know, but hey, we were just seeing it after the aliens had trashed it - in the serial, that is.

 

[Davy Jones]

Lovely looking boat with great history. But will it be easier for two, to park? BruceK

You hit the nail on the head Bruce.

It also has high rails but the actual deck is much lower and it has walk through door ways. It will still be a bit of a challenge in some situations and that is a big part of my decision making process. I try not to let my eye for beauty out weigh my sense of practicality.

Davy

Here is starboard the side entry.