After looking for two years flying all over the United States I finally found one close to home it’s a 79’ 40 ft DeFever it’s definitely a fixer upper bought it for 15k but it has twin Perkins 130’s But I am getting close to getting ready to beautify homeport is Slidell La if y’all ever get close You can dock behind my house hope to be cruising soon
Hey guys, very informative video. I’m casually shopping for a trawler or (maybe) a powercat for cruising the Pacific Northwest coast and islands. Budget is yet to be determined… kind of open ended for the right boat and the right timing, but I’m definitely not in a rush. While doing the great loop doesn’t really appeal to me, I find your videos informative and fun to watch. Dream boat would be a used Fleming 55 or 58, but that’s not happening anytime soon. Detroits are pretty good engines with parts readily available. They’re less fuel efficient than a modern 4 stroke engine, much more polluting, but also very robust and very powerful in some configurations. The biggest downside is the noise, especially if you’re just trawling around on a trip like this. They sound great but it’ll wear on you over time.
Thank you my wife and I are wanting to do the Great American Loop and want a Trawler for our boat I am an auto/diesel tech getting ready to retire and live outside of St Louis MO and will probably take you up on your offer for advice. Thank you both
We have a 1973 Bertram 42 motor yacht, that we bought 4 years ago for steal. It had been repowered with yanmars just a few years before. The only mistake you can make with these boats is buying them with no money in the bank to do the maintenance and repairs. And if you buy a good brand like Hatteras Bertram Viking, Grand Banks, etc , you at least know you've got some good bones to work with.
100% agree starting with a solid platform is always better, and those deals like found can be found. And yes I make sure I always have money to work on the boats because there going to need it for sure.
Got 💘 a yanmar for power .I replaced 2 gas k305 with one 4lhste 230 hp 30 foot Chris .trade even up for 1978 44 thompson trawler single screw ford layman .in need of a lot work .the layman is a good engine but Yanmar are a great engine .
Great video that is pretty inspirational when it comes to looking in to this lifestyle. Some due diligence looks like can pay off with a better priced boat, allowing for that financial buffer.
Oh, and I sold my Grand Banks 42 classic woodie for $59k. Without a broker. Any really well-cared-for trawler from a reputable manufacturer should sell for a bit more than your opinion. You know how to get rock bottom dollar deals. Liked and subscribed. Good Luck.
Hi Pete and Paul, I live in Florida and have been looking online only for live aboard trawler. I've pretty much decided on diesel only. For no reason other than reliability. It's a necessity to have A/C and heat as well as a generator. I plan on following your advice in my search for the boat that I can see myself living on comfortably. I'm no mechanic and not looking for a money pit. It's going to be quite the journey. I enjoyed your video BTW. It's all timing in life. ❣️👍 What part of the country are you from?
Really appreciate the information and perspective. I'm on the east coast and considering buying something to cruise the coast down to FL. You provided a lot of ideas of what to consider when searching for a "bargain" boat. I wish I had you experience with diesel !
@@NoRegretsLifestyle yes, new mattress, remodeled port bed for more foot room, trailer work, as you know with a boat you always have a to do list. We are enjoying your videos and I listen and take notes.
Hi good discussion , I tried to find the fuel filter change over video , can you point me in right direction? You mentioned septerate about growing channel. For me a quick picture ant beginning or end of where you were that day , may just a page from a chart book or cruising guide would help . Maybe also get a large scale chart and stick it on the wall and draw a red line on it every day (or some electronic version!). I enjoy 'following the story' and you have a great one to tell! Cheers Warren Oh PS you know 'talking heads' is a total no no to grow channel but I don't know the solution to that apart from a podcast.....
I had a broker Serveyor still ended up with a 82 Californian soaked in diesel in the floor. I had to gut the back of the boat. All new floors bulk head. So much work. It’s almost broke my will to live.
Hearing you say that the John Deere’s are good engines was a weight off my shoulder. Got a Willard Vega 36 with a 4045dfm50 for 17k. Mostly asthetic stuff to do. Thanks for the info here
I like those Trawlers; been looking at sailing boats but at age and sailing alone i think i might prefer a motor boat; given that I would like to do the great loop and then some runs from La to Fl maybe up the east coast. So yea considering trawlers or other livable boats.
A LOT more room on a trawler than a sailboat. My 56 foot steel tub has less than half the living space but tons more room on deck. 25 foot clear foredeck, 12 foot cockpit, 16 foot beam, and a 16 x 25 poopdeck with tender over part of cockpit. Crane deployed, motorcycles also stowed on poopdeck. Has a washer/dryer, terrific feature! Need...watermaker, bow thruster, stabilizer birds, aux generator, kneeling mast w crows nest. Mine only has one stateroom & one head. Fine for a bachelor or a couple.
Can you expand on the physical condition of the boat and the engine room of your trawler at the time you bought it? Neat, clean, junky, stuff lying around, dirty, etc. even if the engines ran good what was condition ? Thanks
I am curious you mention old canister fuel filter up date I think your talking about CAV filter sys as found on a lot of older dieses cat deer case ford tractors and gen sets I have never known any problems .so I do not see why you would change them out cheep easy to service and can be found easy
I did not like them at all on my last trawler very hard to get to on the starboard engine and it seems like they always leaked on me, I personally will never have them again
I’m looking to buy a 1983, Ocean Alexander 43 Double Cabin out of Everett, WA currently priced at $55k. It’s a “40 year old trawler” with two 8.2 Detroits with 576 hours on each. Boat seems in immaculate condition with a spotless engine room. This would be a first boat purchase for me and I decided to take you up on your offer of any advice you would have.
Cash is king!! Money talks, bullshit walks!! My most recent boat, listed for 199,500 asking, bought it for 144,000, all cash. I walked away 3 times, seller finally called me 2 months later & I got the boat
during the pandemic a lot of folks found cheep fixer upper boats to spend time on water instead of being cooped up, that is one reason all the marinas are full, a lot of youtube cruisers are reporting full marinas along east coast...fixer upper boats are getting harder to find on craigslist etc
@@NoRegretsLifestyle I use a ziploc baggy hold it under the drain hole of the injector pump, there isn't anything you can get in there to catch the old oil a baggy flexes right in there, no mess
Love those boats, if someone can maintain one I personally love seeing them, absolutely beautiful boat. You have to love them and can’t worry to much about money maintaining one of them.
I am looking at a 38 Marine Trader if you guys have any advice for ocean cruising or on that make, please share! It also has the Ford engine, 120HP single.
They are usually in faster trawlers and there fuel burn is much higher, also the engine rooms are not quite as clean older Detroit’s like there oil. I have never owned one and there are lots of them out there and they last forever and parts east to get, just not my favorite. Would not stop me from buying a boat
@@NoRegretsLifestyle Detroit diesels are also used in bigger boats like Hatteras 55 and 65 footers..never seen any in Grand banks boats which usually run caterpiller 3208's which is comparable v8 diesel and maybe even better for cruising economy
I'll take a shot at that Detroit engine engines are pretty efficient when referring to the older 2-stroke Detroit's they had a conversion done by an outside firm JT who are known for building horsepower high performance diesel engines those are normally the engines you find in the Hatteras Viking .. and we're design for Speed not fuel efficiency then they came out with a 60 series which the four stroke diesel MTU started converting 60 series for marine use very good expensive engine and not uncommon to get 750 horsepower out of a 6 cylinder the newer Detroit's the horsepower and fuel burn is set up by the computer and control the older 53 71 72 and 92 series 3 4 6 8 12 cyl engines all speckled very different 6 72 can be any where from 165 325 hp depending on how it is set up and seriously changes the fuel burn and life expectancy
One engine is cheaper to run, so it depends on what your doing with the boat. If you don’t care about speed and you want to run as cheap as possible I am not afraid of a single screw boat at all.
Love that phrase “patience and time” but when you reach retirement age you may still have some “patience” left but not much “time”, these two words are quickly running out of “patience and time”. An old man was asked: why you don’t buy green bananas? Old man answered: I don’t have “patience and time” to ripen the banana
I live 75 miles North of Mobile AL and 25 miles West of the Tenn-Tom Water Way. I am hoping to find a trawler in the 25 to 32 foot range so that I can trailer it. I am planning on getting experience headed North into Tennessee and Kentucky for a year or so before I start on the Great Loop. What is your opinion on the Yanmar outboard engines? Any other advise would be appreciated!!! Thanks for all the knowledge you pass along.
Different class of boat, those boats are really hard to find under 100k but they hold value and good boat finding one of those under 50 or 60k would be a great deal depending on shape. Great boat
I bought a 40 foot DeFever 79 with twin Perkins 130 hp needs a little work but it has nice electronics and all the comforts of home and I only paid 15k for it
Howdy, thank you for the videos! How hard are these fixer-upper boats to insure? I don't mean sunken or structural issues, but the ones that need a little elbow grease to shine back up. Do you need a skipper's license or is there any advantage to getting one? Thanks in advance!
It’s like anything else, anyone can get insurance it’s all about how much your willing to pay. And there is no license required. A captains license has nothing to do with driving a boat. Anyone can get a license.
@@NoRegretsLifestyle I must not be looking in the right places. I can't find anyone to insure me yet. Either the boat is too old, or the hull is wood, or they require prior ownership for 5 years. Doesn't matter how much experience I have operating a similar size vessel.
Your opinion is surely not reflected in the real-world market. In the PNW prices post covid soared to ridiculous heights. There was a shortage, I guess. I bought a '74 Cheoy Lee Pilothouse Trawler with paravanes and twin Lehmans. I thought I stole it at $35k and you surely did at $25k. Just finder sellers that have gotten to a point of simply "don't want her" is doable, but had they listed her with a real yacht broker they could have gotten double.
I wish sellers agreed with that. Lots and LOTS of people buy these boats as summer houses and never leave the dock. They could care less about fuel prices. I think the current economic situation might bring prices down though.
Quit watching at 3 1/2 minutes. As soon as I heard him say,"Because I can work on those engines." Reality check.... The only boat/s I will ever own, SOMEONE ELSE will be servicing it. This fact will dictate the type of boat I'll own. Thanks for QUICKLY letting me know I will not soon be buying any fix upper 40' twin engine inboard boats.
Yes if you have that kinda money your better off. But the reality is sometimes you might have to wait 30 days to get any work done.I had my first boat gone though and I was on the list for over 30 days just for them to change a couple of oil coolers and engine check
@@NoRegretsLifestyle I could feed Jacksonville with the fish I've caught in my 12' Sun Dolphin Pro with a 9.9 inshore saltwater. But I've had new dreams of living on the ICW in Florida from J-Ville to the Keys. So far??? A C-Dory 22 with a NEW 115 looks to suit me best. But your title caught my eye.... Thanks again.
When are American owners going to wake up to silver? I've been trying to buy with silver for years. What I've offered a couple of retiring owners, will soon be worth 5--10X the ask. When the $ goes, so do I...to the new boat dealer. Looking at 44' Defever, 1983...asking $179,000. lol They about to eat it.
