Happiest day of a boat owner’s life

[-Waypoint-]

Be very careful when wishing to go bigger. Nothing wrong learning new systems.

We owned a 35 ft boat for 18 years and down graded to the 22 Cruiser. I'm calling it a huge upgrade to a smaller/ simpler boat. The larger boat cost us $12,000- 14,000 dollars per year just to have her! Lots of memories but more pain than fun. (deep water dockage, bottom paint, yard fees, hurricane hall out, and insurance!) Never was worth it.

We are having way more fun with the 22 C-Dory!
We are practicing the motto: "Go small, live large."

Loving C-Dory life,

[Micahbigsur@msn.com]

Localboy, The pre smog diesels are really simple. Most problems are fuel related. Air in the system or bacteria goop pluging the system. The injection pumps last almost the life of the diesel with CLEAN FUEL, change filters often learn how to bleed the system and it will be trouble free. Keep the fuel tank full to keep water condensation out and use a bacteriacide additive.The other common diesel failure is having salt water back up through a badly designed exhaust system a survey can rule that out, the maintenance on the suction air break loop is basic when you understand the system also replacing the exhaust elbow and water injector if it is old and corroded.
My step daughter bought her first boat ten years ago knowing nothing, now she is on her 8th, with one in SF and one on Santa Barbara. She is now a captain and charters both boats part time and leads charters on rented boats all over the world. I coached her through diesels over the phone and now she is confident with them so they can'tbe that complicated. It sounds like you are starting out well ahead and a trawler with a simple diesel, transmission and shaft log should be very easy for you. We have most of the other systems on C-dorys.

[thataway]

It is not just the technical aspects of dealing with diesel engines--which is relatively simple. For me, it was the access to parts which need replacing. If you are 70#, 4'6" tall, and have an arm span of 8 feet, it would be ideal to access those water pumps, starters, shaft logs etc.

I found the larger the boat, generally the better the access. A stand up engine room is even better: if, the parts are accessible.

[Micahbigsur@msn.com]

Bob is right, bad access can turn an otherwise nice boat into a nightmare. You will note that in my earlier post MECHANICAL ACCESS was first on my list. Sailboats can be the worst, I spent hours helping a friend remove 2 bolts that should have been seconds on routine maintenance on a badly designed engine compartment. Trawlers tend to be better though our Ranger Tug was terrible. (Unless of course, you can afford to have a mechanic on retainer). If you can easily reach every bolt and hose clamp from the front of the engine all the way to the shaft log you have a keeper.
The wife may love that extra interior space, but a happy husband comes first! (The mistake I made with the Tug!)
I have mostly been sad to see a lot of my boats go as life changes, but seeing that Tug go was one of my happiest days!