Trojan 9M - New Owner

zdek · Post by **zdek** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 10:05 am

Hi everyone,
I've enjoyed this site immensely and wanted to introduce myself. I recently purchased a 9M and love the boat. I've grown up on a lake in Oklahoma and have spent most of my life around Trojans. From the days of sanding teak on a 44 to looking forward to the sound of the exhaust of an international pulling in the cove, I'm at home on a Trojan. The local dealership was the marina I grew up at - they were the only Trojan dealer on the lake. All of our friends owned Trojans - from F-32s, F40's, 44's and many many 10m's. I think I spent more nights on a Trojan than in my cabin as a child. There are probably 75 or more Trojans on our lake - and most are still in service.

I've been into go-fast boats, but recently purchased a new lake house where I had extra dock space for a new boat and it had to be a Trojan! There are several F44's on the market here (and all very nice boats) but my covered dock isn't tall enough to accommodate the flybridge. I ran across several internationals as well and fell in love with the 9m. I've spent a lot of time on a 10m and am absolutely blown away by the performance of the 9m. It's night and day! She planes off at 2400 rpm running about 25mph. Most of my cruising is done around 1600 rpm at 15mph. I'm averaging right at 1mpg as well.

In addition to having the original 'blue binder' and manuals, I was able to obtain all of the original sales documentation for the boat from the dealer - along with all sales literature and work orders from the day it was sold new.

So far, I've done a lot of cleaning and she's looking great! I've been using her every weekend - thanks to enclosures with heaters, and bilge heat. We even participated in the Christmas parade. To date, I've put about 25 hours and well over 125 miles on the clock. (Purchased her on December 9th) Sadly, I see colder weather in the forecast and I don't trust my power service when we have ice / snow, so I'll likely be winterizing this weekend. I do, however have winter projects in the works.

She doesn't need a lot, but I'm going to have her as nice as I can. The genset (Onan 6.5) is off of the boat and I am tinkering with it. It has the aperture start and cranks pretty slow - even with a series 27 battery. I've gotten it to cough, but not really fire up. Getting the genset running and on the boat by spring is my main project as we really use the AC here in Oklahoma!

I also need to repack the stuffing boxes (with Gore-Tex packing) and some general maintenance. My starboard engine isn't getting any more than roughly 12* total advance. I'm betting that the springs / weights in that distributor are shot. It doesn't make much difference if I'm operating under 2krpm, but I plan to rebuild both distributors over the winter. I'll match the weights and springs up and curve them for a total advance of 30* at roughly 2750 - 3000 rpm. Sound right?

As you can tell, I'm eager to get her back into tip top shape! I have a bunch of photos, but don't know how to post them on here. I'd like to share the project as I go along. Also have some photos of the rear end of the boat out of the water. The transom on a 9m is very interesting. Rudders are all the way at the end of the swim platform and the props are under the platform. It's like they took a 10m and moved the transom forward while leaving the propulsion in the same location. Very interesting to say the least!

Tips / insight always welcome and needed! I'm not new to Trojans, but new to inboards / getsets / AC systems, so I'll be full of questions!

Joe Zaloudek
Tulsa, OK

gettaway · Post by **gettaway** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 10:39 am

Welcome to the Forum and we love to see photos,

btw, my family is in the Pauls Valley area of Oklahoma, I learned to swim, ski and boat on lake Arbuckle

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:22 am

Welcome Sooner!

zdek · Post by **zdek** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:49 am

Okay, I setup a photobucket account. Here's my album!

http://s1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd401/jzaloudek/

And some quick photos:

zdek · Post by **zdek** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:52 am

And a good conversation starter:

What other boat has something like this?!?!

>>> Looking for new name suggestions! I'm thinking Ho Sailor. I'm an insurance wholesaler.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 12:28 pm

Welcome Aboard.

"Ho Sailor". Where I'm from, the "Ho" brings to mind something quite different.

foofer b · Post by **foofer b** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 6:43 pm

Welcome aboard, beautiful boat. Wow 25mph at 2400 rpm. Keep posting the pics for us. I too was a marina baby, having grown up on cabin cruisers all my life. it gets in your bones, eh?

Big D · Post by **Big D** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 7:41 pm

Hey Joe, she's a pretty girl. I like the story....welcome home!

zdek · Post by **zdek** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 10:20 pm

gettaway wrote:Welcome to the Forum and we love to see photos,

btw, my family is in the Pauls Valley area of Oklahoma, I learned to swim, ski and boat on lake Arbuckle

I've always wanted to go down to Lake Arbuckle, but haven't gotten down there. My family has owned a Glastron dealer for decades and many of our boats end up there. A goal of mine is to take one of our Carlsons to every lake in Oklahoma - that'll take me a lifetime - there are so many lakes here. But I'm 27 so I've got plenty of time! If you are ever in OK, give me a ring!

zdek · Post by **zdek** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 10:44 pm

I'm not sure if this video will work or not, but here goes nothing!

Running at about 1500 rpm in this video.

Big D · Post by **Big D** » Mon Jan 09, 2012 11:13 pm

Worked just great. Nice ride.

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:18 am

Tulsa? MY uncle just retired (@88) , sold his business in Tulsa and moved to California. They really loved Tulsa, but needed to get warmer (although this winter has been mild).

You boat at Grand Lake of the Cherokees? Haven;t been there, but have been to Tenkiller and whatever the lake is west of Tulsa (they lived on that lake @ a placed called Diamond Head).

Love the 9m - great size, economical and good speed.

RWS · Post by **RWS** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 6:08 am

Welcome aboard to you and your unique vessel.

Interesting how the swim platform seems to double as a means of actually extending the planing surface of the hull.

Also, it appears that the base of the swim platrorm is extended at a different angle down compared to the rest of the hull?

Wow I'd love to see some real performance data on this hull and a report on how well/dry she rides and handles the chop.

Looked at tyour photobucket page and saw the tank sender - must have been some water in that tank.

Also, what are you using the propane for around that exposed gasoline tank?

Inquiring minds want to know.

RWS

zdek · Post by **zdek** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:08 am

rossjo wrote:Tulsa? MY uncle just retired (@88) , sold his business in Tulsa and moved to California. They really loved Tulsa, but needed to get warmer (although this winter has been mild).

You boat at Grand Lake of the Cherokees? Haven;t been there, but have been to Tenkiller and whatever the lake is west of Tulsa (they lived on that lake @ a placed called Diamond Head).

Love the 9m - great size, economical and good speed.

I enjoy Tulsa. It's probably the smallest big city I've ever been in. I've lived in London, worked in Chicago, KC, and some other places but really like Tulsa. As an avid boater, the area lakes make Oklahoma a great place to live. The cost of living is relatively low and it makes playing hard a lot more affordable!

Most of my boating is on Grand Lake of the Cherokees, but I keep two ski boats at home in Tulsa to trailer to various lakes during the week. As a marine underwriter, I get to do some 'loss control' visits.

During the summer we ski at least two nights a week and spend the weekends at Grand Lake. Your family probably had a place at Lake Keystone. It's not the prettiest lake (muddy water), but it has a lot of sandy beaches that are a lot of fun! Skiatook and Tenkiller are some of my favorite lakes because of the clarity of the water. Grand Lake is highly developed, boasting two large yacht clubs and many marinas. A handful of the offshore racers summer at Grand Lake and that makes the nightlife great! Kinda odd being in Oklahoma, but it's a big deal!

zdek · Post by **zdek** » Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:25 am

RWS wrote:Welcome aboard to you and your unique vessel.

Interesting how the swim platform seems to double as a means of actually extending the planing surface of the hull.

Also, it appears that the base of the swim platrorm is extended at a different angle down compared to the rest of the hull?

Interesting for sure! The platform lends nearly as much planing surface to the 9m as a 10m has. If you look, the props are actually behind the transom. You are right about the angle - it's angled down and I think this is the key to the 9m planing so quickly. Notice that she doesn't have tabs - you couldn't order a 9m with tabs.

So far, I really like the design and the performance is great. One thing that I have noticed is that it is possible to cavitate a prop. While sea-trialing, I ran each engine up to about 1200 rpm in gear with the other in neutral to listen to the transmissions. This caused cavitation because the props really aren't under the hull - they are out back a ways.

Wow I'd love to see some real performance data on this hull and a report on how well/dry she rides and handles the chop.

I will assemble a graph like you did with your 10m and share it on the board. We need to note that the transmissions are a different ratio (I think) and I'm running different props. I would have done this already, but I'm not getting the timing advance I should on the starboard engine and it's going to be spring before I'll get those distributors re-curved. I'd like to see 30* total advance at about 3,000 rpm.

She rides well in chop and the 12' beam keeps the pitching to a minimum. We do get some spray on the windshield though. I've been in some pretty sloppy water though. We had a couple days of 30+mph wind and some cruiser wake. I'm not exaggerating saying most of the swells were 3'-4'. The transom bench was wet, but cockpit dry. It's not as dry as the 10m, but not bad.

Looked at tyour photobucket page and saw the tank sender - must have been some water in that tank.

Also, what are you using the propane for around that exposed gasoline tank?

Inquiring minds want to know.

RWS

That sender was shot - I'd bet that the tank has stayed 1/2 full on average the whole life of the boat. Condensation is huge in our climate as we have quick, wide swings in temperature. Most senders around my house look like this when I replace them.

The propane tank is to fuel the Mr Heater Big Buddy that I've been using to keep warm. I have two enclosures - one that I call a 'pickup truck' enclosure and one that is a slant back. The heater has an O2 sensor, knock-over sensor, and is indoor safe. I'd recommend one for anyone looking for a good cockpit heater. Wouldn't put it downstairs though. It was, of course, off during the sender replacement project!