heritage or sundeck trawlers 36-40 ft

[kegger]

Gonna be buying quickly, single engine deisel, 1990-2005, would love some advice, problems with them, just anything off the top of your head, looking in the 150,000 range. Anything would be welcome! I'm 58 and new to big boats!

[N Coast Murray]

Welcome aboard.

A few quick tips:

Always be ready to walk away from a potential boat.

Don't rush.

Get a surveyor. Even when done by the same surveyor, a survey commissioned by the owner for insurance purposes is vastly different than a survey done for a potential buyer.

When you do buy, try not to make any big changes for the first year...too many expensive shiny things to buy that might not be needed!

Buy the service manual and parts catalogue for your engine.

There's a lot more, but you'll figure it out.

[tkeithlu]

Welcome to the forum, kegger.

Be aware of the limited deep water capability of production trawlers in that class. They are almost all good bay boats, but not get in a storm off shore boats.

For a first purchase, buy something that is ready to go, not a project. Projects cost more in the end, because the owner lowered the price because the repairs were going to cost more than that, and the time spent in the yard starts with weekends and becomes years.