Trawler Hunting

[thekuz]

Hi, My name is Alan and I am new to this site. I live in Vancouver BC and am looking to get a trawler for coastal cruising. I grew up on the south shore of Long Island NY and lived on waterfront property. My days were spent boating throughout the years. As a kid I clammed in the great south bay for the summers. However, my career took over and now I want to get back into boating. I have been checking out various boats in the 40 foot range. My wife and I would like to explore the boating lifestyle together, she is all for it. I also have 3 adult children who could also enjoy. I have looked at a couple of Nordhavn 46, an Eagle 53 pilothouse and Grand Banks 36 and 42. I am taken by the pilothouse design and of course have read "Voyaging Under Power" so am also looking at Krogen as well. I am 61 years old and am starting to think about enjoying life rather than working so much! Any comments and suggestions are much appreciated. I am glad to be able to share with you on this site as I progress through my new boating journey.

 

[O C Diver]

Alan,
Welcome to the forum! Take your time and enjoy the hunt. Lot to be said for pilothouse boats.

Ted

 

[Marin]

As you narrow your choices a so-called buyer's broker can be a great aid in finding the right boat. We used one for our PNW cabin cruiser and we would not have found the boat we subsequently bought without him.

Finding a good broker to help you is an excercise in good character judgement, but when you get a good one they can make the process of finding and evaluating a boat a much less time-consuming and frustrating process.

 

[dhays]

Hi Alan,

I am to the South of you in Puget Sound and am looking at potential pilothouse designs in the 40' range as well. My budget doesn't allow me to look at Nordhavens, but there are a lot of very nice (imo) boats in our region if you have the cash. For example, there is what looks like a beautiful 2004 Selene 43 in Victoria. A bit overkill for coastal cruising, but nice boat. There is also a nice looking KK 42 in Sidney as well as some older ones around La Conner.

My favorites would be the American Tug 41s that are in Washington, but again out of my price range. Smaller yet, but still really nice boats would be the Nordic Tug 37s which are for sale.

Think hard about how large a boat you want and what you think you want to do with it. Long extended cruises? 1-2 weeks around the BC waters? Weekends away? As you are looking at the boats, also look at moorage. It is a LOT harder and more expensive to find good moorage for a 50' boat than a 37' boat.

Good luck.

 

[thekuz]

Thanks Dave, I cannot afford the Nordhavn 46 at close to 500K CND plus the 9.5 % duty! Although that would be on top of my list. I am looking at the KK 42 at Custom Yachts tomorrow in Sydney. They also have a pretty 40 Eagle Transpac there. She looks like a friendly coastal boat for me and wife. I will post pics tomorrow. Thanks for the advice.

 

[thekuz]

I sent you a reply but I see it was private. Sorry if I am not responding it the right format. I wanted to say that unlike when selling a home we don't seem to have anyone on our side as buyers. I am finding that I have to deal with the sellers broker directly. So I was thinking that the only one on my side would be my surveyor. I have a lot to learn about buying a boat. It seems a lot different than a house or car. Thanks

 

[User915]

Welcome aboard. Yes it's very much different than to buy a house or a car

 

[dhays]

Thanks Dave, I cannot afford the Nordhavn 46 at close to 500K CND plus the 9.5 % duty! Although that would be on top of my list. I am looking at the KK 42 at Custom Yachts tomorrow in Sydney. They also have a pretty 40 Eagle Transpac there. She looks like a friendly coastal boat for me and wife. I will post pics tomorrow. Thanks for the advice.

I'd be curious to know what you thing of that KK42 in Sidney when you look at her.

As far as the Eagle Transpac, if you are talking about the Ch'aak that also looks like a very nice boat. My wife wants a second cabin for the kids, or I would have considered it more closely but it seems like a nicely updated boat at a reasonable price. They have added a canvas cover to the aft cockpit because of our typical weather. Personally, I think I would prefer a design in which the boat deck had a long enough overhang to make that unnecessary. One of the reasons why I like the American Tug designs so much.

 

[bcam]

I hope your trip to Sidney went well. We bought a Nordic Tug from Rom in August. We found him easy to deal with. We had a broker from Seattle handle the approach and the offer. Our broker was very complimentary of the crew at Custom Yachts and their ethics and standards. Our concern was mostly about the technicalities of cross border purchasing. We felt better having a pro on our side.

 

[Lollygag]

Welcome aboard! Have fun looking!

 

[thekuz]

Hi and thanks Bcam and Dhays, I viewed the Transpac Eagle 40 yesterday in Sidney at Custom Yachts. Really nice broker Al helped me. She is a pretty boat for sure! Super well constructed and nice lines. The KK 42 has a lot of exposed wood everywhere and is substantially larger than the Eagle. Also the 2 heads and staterooms and the history, which is really interesting. Also twice the price of the Eagle. She would be great for a family as compared to the Eagle which is really a 2 person boat. The Eagle has half the range of the KK but sips fuel. At 6 knots, no wake and 1gph! I have not seen many boats yet and am just starting to get my feet wet. The journey begins!!

 

[dhays]

Yup,pros and cons for sure. My current boat has no exposed wood. I like that. Not a terribly pretty boat, but I don't spend time sanding and varnishing.

 

[Lollygag]

I have varnished wood on the window frames, toe rail and cap rail and I'm thinking of painting it grey, over the varnish, and simplifying maintenance. I've seen it done with grey in Mexico and it looked good. I painted the brightwork on our sailboat in Mexico but that was brown over a tan hull.

 

[Hawgwash]

I viewed the Transpac Eagle 40 yesterday in Sidney at Custom Yachts. Really nice broker Al helped me.

I don't know Al but Rom and Greg are first class and I can't see them employing anyone of lesser quality than themselves. If they have nothing in their inventory that suits you they would absolutely be worthwhile "buyer's brokers."

I would say the same thing about either Brian Kell or Brian Morris at Grand Yachts in Vancouver. Really good guys.

In fact, if you are thinking GB at all, get Brian Morris to show you Pelican.

Ocean Alex has some nice PH versions and if you ever get a chance to look at a 50 Mark II, don't pass it up. I also second the OA 42 Classico as a great BC boat choice, especially if you don't want teak decks.

 

[thekuz]

Thanks! I did look at Pelican, she is a beauty! I am torn because I do favor the pilot house design but still open to her. I am enjoying the process.

 

[Hydro]

Alan or Dave,


We have a 50' 1983 Ocean Alexander Mark 1 we are thinking about selling. She is in great shape & kept in a covered slip in Anacortes. The Mark 1 is a great NW pilot house cruiser. Let me know if either of you have an interest & I will get you some information. Thanks Randy

 

[bayview]

I suggest that you get on at least 50 boats before deciding. Eventually you will come up with a list of favorite features. Then you are ready to shop because the brand or what it is called, trawler, ACMY, express etc., becomes far less significant.


When we shopped our goal was to never get on a boat after we bought ours and say we wish we had seen that first. We did that and were happyowners for 15 years.

 

[yachtbrokerguy]

I have been told that if you import a boat into Canada from the US there is no import duty if it was built in the US, but there is a duty on boats built in Taiwan, China or outside of North America.
Sales tax has to be paid no matter where it is built, but do some research on the import duty to save some money.

 

[Ted]

When I checked with the Customs dept. here in Canada the info I was given was ;

If built in NAFTA country ( Canada, U.S.A., Mexico?), no duty, just the provincial
sales tax and GST.
Used vessels from other countries required duty of 9 and one-half percent;
applied by calculation of;
purchase price converted to Can$ at the exchange rate on the day of
importation times nine and one-half percent, pay and add this to the price of the vessel
in Can$. The provincial sales tax and GST (or HST) are calculated and paid on this total

Ted

 

[Hawgwash]

If built in NAFTA country ( Canada, U.S.A., Mexico?), no duty, just the provincial sales tax and GST.
Used vessels from other countries required duty of 9 and one-half percent;
applied by calculation of; purchase price converted to Can$ at the exchange rate on the day of importation times nine and one-half percent, pay and add this to the price of the vessel in Can$. The provincial sales tax and GST (or HST) are calculated and paid on this total

That's correct, Ted.
A non US or Mayheecan built boat, landed in BC, would be +/- 63% above the US price. It will likely get worse as our dollar tanks more.
Add to that, the number of quality boats going the other way and pickin' gets slimmer.

 

[thekuz]

Thanks, that is good advice!

 

[thekuz]

It's the reason i could not offer on a Nordhavn 46 in Anacortes, just too rich for me.