Thanks to all who answered my hypothetical question about the water maker. It
stems from seeing beautiful old boats with what seems excessively large
amounts of water tankage.

This question is very specific and will help me
decide if I want to buy a Grand Banks 32, Hull #35, a woodie. Crew
accommodations are in good condition, interior well kept, exterior needs new
paint and varnish. I can deal with it.

Hull seems sound, can't see through
where the caulking ought to be, no standing water in the bilge. It will get a
full and proper survey, and by a fellow who was service manager for American
Marine when this boat came through.

Boat is distress sale, widow wants
nothing to do with it, nor the children, asking is all ready low and no takers
and so:

To the question. For all the care given to what he could see, little
to none was given to the engine. A previous prospect put down $500 for an in
the water engine survey and we were given a copy of the report. It isn't good.
Most serious thing is leaking head gasket, least bothersome is reseating the
through hulls, if not replacing them. In between is, well, the engine appears
to have overheated, minimal maintenance throughout. Estimate to fix the
obvious, more than $5000. This engine is 41 years old and I am not sure it is
worth repairing. What I read and understand about marine diesel engines is
that non-use is every bit as hard, and maybe more damaging than continuous
use.

So, the thought occurs to replace it with a more suitably matched
engine. 80 hp moves the 31' Lein Wha Sea Horse fine, so it seems reasonable
that the GB32 would respond well to that. With a new modern engine, I should
get a quieter, less vibrating engine that weighs less and consumes less fuel,
and will be a known quantity for resale value.

Here in San Francisco Bay,
this afternoon we had 30+k winds blowing from the great Pacific, through our
lovely Golden Gate right down onto Berkeley This is a typical summer
afternoon, and better than some, the chop was minimal since the tide was
flooding and the current was moving along with the wind. A fine day for the
rag men, and not a stink potter in sight. Assuming I had to power into that
wind, and take it on the nose, would 80HP really be enough to make "hull
speed" or even any foprward progress, does the wind not play into the equation
of actually moving the boat through the water? Would 60 still get us to 8
knots water speed?

Now, please help me make the decision to repair or
repower, and, if your thought is repower, please make a suggestion to what
brand. I know Yanmar is big on marine engines these days, no experience, the
sweetest engine we've powered along with was an Izusu, smooth as silk.

thank
you all so very much

Mike
San Rafael, California

I have GB 32-340 with the Ford Lehman 120 and just completed the loop, a
trip of over 7300 miles.  The head gasket started leaking slightly when I
went above 1700 RPMs about 2,000 miles before I finished the trip.  When I
reduced to 1500 RPMs, no leaks, so just finished the trip at 1500 RPMs.
Your head gasket leak could be bad, or not so bad.  If there is water in any
cylinder, you may have major problems, if it just leaks out the side, it may
be a simple head gasket replacement.

Since it appears that you will be buying the boat, why not take off the head
and have a look see as to how much damage there actually is to the engine.
The Lehman is a tough engine and even at $5000 for repairs may be very
inexpensive as compared with replacement.  (think about take out, install,
realign, replumb, rewire etc)  The Lehman can be worked on in the boat.

I read with little interest the hull speed discussions.  On my Grand Banks,
we set the throttle and go.  I do not power up if there is a wind or
current.  The boat seems to go the same speed thru the water.  When we were
on the loop we tried to take advantage of tidal currents, but did not
"gigger" the throttle because of the currents or wind.  We have a lot of
time in chop over 5 feet and still do not change throttle settings because
of the chop.  What we loose climbing a wave we gain on the backside.

Vance B. Nelson
Superior Dreams GB32-340

To the question. For all the care given to what he could see, little
to none was given to the engine. A previous prospect put down $500 for an in
the water engine survey and we were given a copy of the report. It isn't
good.
Most serious thing is leaking head gasket, least bothersome is reseating the
through hulls, if not replacing them. In between is, well, the engine
appears
to have overheated, minimal maintenance throughout. Estimate to fix the
obvious, more than $5000. This engine is 41 years old and I am not sure it
is
worth repairing.

Mike,
I am sure that 80 hp will be more than sufficient for your woody GB32.  80
hp has been more than adequate for my 46', 33.000 lb sailboat conversion for
11 years now.  I can highly recommend the John Deere 80 hp at 2500 rpm
naturally aspirated engine.  Mine now has 6500 hours; it cost $9600 with a
Velvet Drive 5000 transmission in 1997.  Only repairs have been raw water
pump rebuild(of course), alternator rebuild, fuel lift pump ($52), and
rebuild coolant circulation pump ($300).  I use Shell Rotella-T synthetic
5w40 oil, and change it every 250 hours or twice a year.  The engine runs,
sounds and looks like new.

The Yanmars are good engines for sailboats and planing boats, being lighter
and faster-reving.  But I wouldn't expect to get as many hours as on the
slower turning heavier engines.  There are a lot of 20 to 30 year-old orphan
engines out there that are hard or  impossible to get parts for.  You can
still get parts for a 1903 John Deere tractor engine; that's their policy.

Mark Richter, m/v Winnie the Pooh
lying Lockport, NY on the Erie Canal