Seafred; Lets hope that someone can help you (and me as well). I am also looking for a trawler (I have been sailing for 25+ years and have learned a lot about sailboats and would share that information with anyone who wanted to get into sailing. Now I am in an all new world). If you live in a small town as I do with a very small town library, it is difficult to access a lot of data. I would guess that if you lived in Annapolis it would be a piece of cake. I will make a few comments based on my meager experience gained from looking a few trawlers and we will see what happens. Lets hope that there are as many comments as there were for the "Captains" thread. I think you can buy a well maintained Grand Banks, Willard, Camano, Albin, Krogan, West Indies, Chris Craft, Monk, Praire and Eagle (there are probably many others but I have not learned the names of all yet). The key is "well maintained." Although I have heard that the newer Marine Traders are OK, the older ones "seem" to have leaks. I looked at a 1980 Albin 36 which I liked but it was obvious that the teak decks had not been taken care of and leaking had begun with the decks on the flying bridge needing replacing. Apparently many of the Far East built boats have leaking teaks decks which can be an expensive item to repair. There are also a number of sliding salon windows that do the same. There were/are a number of sailboats from the Far East built in a similar fashion (I had one). I have heard that the double ended Willard is a good boat in a following sea whereas non-canoe stern types are not as sea kindly. The Willard is also ballasted and, therefore, has a sailboat "righting" characteristic. Having been a canoe stern owner, those two things eally hit my hot button. But, I believe that the Willard is the only trawler built with those specs in mind. There are other boats (early Marine Traders may be one so I have been told), that have areas where the builder used fiberglass covered wood. This may be no big deal but it does require additional care. I currently own a 34 year old 25 foot Hong Kong built sailboat with a glass covered deck and coach house roof (the hull is solid glass and the only solid glass piece on the entire boat. Coach house, cockpit and the mast and boom are varnished mahogany). The glass "cover" can crack and allow water to penetrate if not kept up. I have to do a bit of repair work everynow and then. The bright work must be kept up or you can have major repair chores during Spring commissioning.But, the boat is 34 years old and dry with no soggy or spongy spots anywhere. So, if you buy a boat of that type, spend time taking care of it and it should serve you well. As with any boat purchase, get the best surveyor you can find. preferrably one with power boat/trawler experience. Also get and engine survey and oil analysis; best insurance you can buy. You may still may have problems but..... FWIW, many trawler owners that I have talked to stated that they wished they had a single versus twin engine boat; easier maintenance (it gets crowed on any 32-to-36 foot trawler with two engines down below). I was on a twin Grand Banks 36 yesterday and the owner noted that if he had it to over he would look for a single engine model. Reliability does not seem to be a major problem as the estimates of engine life range from 8,000-to15,000 hours (depending upon who you talk to, the time of day and the phase of the moon) before major overhaul. Those figures presuppose that the engines were not abused, and that oil and fuel filters were changed religously, and the cooling system cared for (not difficult things to do). Though not the most important factor, the bigger the genset the better. >Fromwhat I hear, 5KW is the minimum and 8KW is better for the 32-to-36 foot boat with A/C. I understand that a 2.5-to-3KW generator will only serve very, very minimal needs. Paul Kruse gave some very good Bayliner comments. I remember from my sailing days, and when I was in the sailboat business, that many folks bad mouthed the Hunter and Catalina lines; "cheaply made boats that will fall apart." But, they served as good entry level boats and I never heard of one that fell apart so to speak. And, many if not most of the early 1970 models are still with us today. But, they were Fords and not Caddys and if you understood that it made life easier. They needed a bit more maintenance, and may not have sailed as well as those of recognized designers, but..... Well, that is it..lets see what responses this epistle causes. Paul Woche The "Patsy Ann" ---------- > From: seafred <seafred@home.com> > To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com > Subject: Trawlers 101 - Bayliners etc. > Date: Saturday, July 03, 1999 9:31 PM > > I noted with great interest the response to the comment about Bayliners > being "crap". > > Obviously different brands of trawlers are designed for different > conditions and it is difficult to find one which satisfies all needs and > tastes. > > I'm sure most of you experienced passage boaters know the brands and > where each shines. > > I'm not experienced and will be looking for my first trawler in the next > year or three (when I put aside a few dollars). There are probably > others like me who haven't learned from experience like many of you > have. > > Would someone tackle the job of listing the major trawler brands and > grouping them by their intended purposes? > > Which are calm water boats? Which are seaworthy? Which are entry level? > Which are luxurious? Which are good value for .....? > > A file like this could be invaluable for the inexperienced. I'm certain > many of you have a great deal to contribute. > > >