Outlaw---
I don't know anything about the troller White Cloud or the Dock Street brokerage so I can't add to the controversy and bickering*swirling around them.* I can say that in the past ten years of trawlering in the PNW I have seen a number of outstanding troller/seiner/longliner conversions, both wood and glass.* So if you have the wherewithall to take on a project like this, or buy an existing conversion, they can be very nice boats indeed.
Wood is every bit as good a boatbuilding material as glass, aluminum, or steel.* All four materials rerquire different construction, maintenance, and repair techniques, but I don't believe that one is superior to the other as a blanket statement.* Anyone who doubts the longevity, maintainability, or repairability of wood*has only to visit the Grand Banks Owners forum to see that wood boats that were well made to begin with can give every bit as long a service life as glass or metal boats.* But I suspect you know this already.
The one thing I would suggest investigating as you pursue the acquisition of an older wood*"fishboat" is the question of insurance.* While I don't know if the practice has spread to all marinas in the Puget Sound area yet, proof of insurance has become a requirement for acquiring or retaining a slip at many of them, including Squalicum Marina in Bellingham where we keep our boat.* No insurance, no slip.* Not a problem for a newer or glass boat, but it can be a challenge for an older wood boat.
Several years ago the owner of an immaculately maintained 1940s, 36-foot, double-ended salmon troller was forced to leave our marina because he could not obtain insurance, or at least not at a price he was willing to pay.* He moved the boat to a private dock in a waterfront community north of Bellingham where exposure to the winds and*weather took quite a toll on the boat.* "Donna," was gone from our marina for two years*until last year, when she reappeared.* I was telling the owner how nice it was to see" Donna" back and he said he was finally able to obtain the required insurance and return to the protection of the marina.
If you plan to keep your boat where having a specific type of insurance coverage is not a requirement then it's not an issue for you.* But if you are intending to keep the boat in a marina then the insurance question is something you might want to have answered sooner rather than later.
Finally, others have talked about the importance of getting good hull and engine surveys.* Good advice but make sure you get a surveyor who REALLY knows wood boats.**There are some great surveyors in the Puget Sound area but many of them--- perhaps even most of them--- deal almost exclusively with fiberglass boats.* This makes sense since that's about all most surveyors encounter these days.* So take the time to determine if a surveyor who's recommended or who you hear about really understands the characteristics of wood, how it's affected by time, neglect, etc.
Good luck with your search and remember, boating is supposed to be fun.
(currently in Xiamen, China, at the other end of the bridge from the Nordhavn plant)
-- Edited by Marin at 03:50, 2009-02-09