Best boat for family - 36' Tri-Cabin?

[Barrie]

Welcome here, I've had my Trojan for a year now and maybe it will see the water late this summer.
I picked up a fixer upper and have gotten into it pretty deep, just couldn't stop tearing it apart.
Only you know what you are capable of (engines/drives, fiberglass, paint, plumbing, 120v, 12v, carpentry, etc...)
I spend about 30hrs a week working on my boat which is in my back yard, for as I said a year now.
Also my family is grown and my wife incredibly understanding.
I say go for it, get the best boat that you can that won't break the bank, and fix what needs fixing.
If you end up with a Trojan, use the search function on the forum, there is a lot of information here for Trojan owners.

Good luck and have fun!

[P-Dogg]

'

[P-Dogg]

^^^^^^^^^ Mom said that if I didn't have anything good to say, to say nothing.

[Freality]

I had the normal Tricabin style rain water leakage at the point where the marine plywood, rear wall of the aft cabin meets the teak sole of the rear cockpit. The only sensible solution is to tear it all out (it supports only itself) and replace it with new marine plywood and re-seal. Trojans were real dummies when they built it this way. But then again, they probably never planned on these boats being around 41 years later.

The new aft cabin wall of marine plywood was covered by a white plastic substance called puckboard which is used to cover NHL hockey boards. It is very close in color to the original fiberglass of the hull and it is virtually indestructible.

Stupid question, when you say the new aft cabin was covered by puckboard, do you mean the post-1977 models, or do you mean your specific refurb?

The only other unfortunate issue I experienced was the fact that both cast gas tanks bit the bullet at the same time. This is apparently not uncommon. They both developed pin-hole leaks virtually all over and I had to replace them both. Unfortunately, that meant taking out the salon's entire plywood salon floor and the teak walls - then re-installing when finished.

Thanks for that, I knew gas tanks might be an issue due to age, but that got me to researching it a bit more. Sounds like some people have a pretty easy (relatively speaking) time of replacing, and others don't (and not just because of different model years).

But looking into that I came across information that sometime in the 80s Trojan started using aluminum gas tanks. Anyone know when that was? Found one post that said early 80s, another said their 84 had aluminum tanks. If I knew all Trojans past a certain year had aluminum tanks, I could skip the "have the tanks been replaced?" question.

I made a lot of changes over the years. I widened the port aft berth to that of a single bed. I did this by taking out the false wall that is there for no apparent reason other than to provide a shelf. This gained 14 inches and then I added 6 inches to the outside (moved the boarding steps bracket six inches toward starboard). So, this operation increased the size of the port berth by 20 inches.

What size was the bed originally? I thought it was already a twin (single)? Or did you mean to say you widened it to a full bed? If I got an aft cabin with two twins, I'd love to put a full or a queen (would likely be a short queen); if I can put a full on one side and keep the twin on the other, that'd be perfect. Bonus if I can put a bunk above one of the beds.

I tore out the L-shaped galley and installed a bar shaped galley with a corian counter top. This added two feet in the salon for the two chairs I located there. In doing this, the fridge swing around and was installed by the window facing forward. The back of the L-shape is mostly wasted space because it's almost too far to reach back there.

May ask for pictures later. I'm having trouble picturing it, mainly because I keep finding different galley/salon configurations (even just looking at pre-78 models).

Your mention of the converted Bookmobile RV tends to make me think that you and your family aren't afraid of an adventure and can live in fairly close quarters. I wonder though if there is enough storage on board for a live-in family of 5 (no basement storage like an RV)

Didn't have any basement storage, but did have plenty of bookshelves

Thanks!

[Freality]

^^^^^^^^^ Mom said that if I didn't have anything good to say, to say nothing.

...and make sure everyone knows exactly what you're not saying, and why you're not saying it.

[Freality]

Learned a lot here, thanks!

About to email some feelers about specific boats. With the Trojan Tri-Cabin, what would be the top three things you'd ask about? Yes, of course I'd ask about more, have someone check it out, etc., I don't want to bog the seller down with 30 questions when I could have crossed it off the list after just one.

Here's what I'm thinking:

#1. Engines. How recently have they been serviced? Have they been rebuilt or replaced? When? Any issues you know about? Same question for generator.

#2. Fuel tanks. Has it been replaced recently? If so, when and with what? If not, when was it last inspected?

#3. Any moderate/major water damage? If so, has it been fixed?

#4. Any other major issues? (Not a specific question, so I don't count it as one of the three)

I figure questions like these would weed out a lot of the obvious duds without wasting a lot of my or the seller's time.

Question about the gas tanks, when did they switch to aluminum? I don't think there's a quick and easy way to tell a steel tank is about to fail, but an aluminum tank would have corrosion on the outside, no? So that should be easier to spot.

[RWS]

^^^^^^^^^ Mom said that if I didn't have anything good to say, to say nothing.

...and make sure everyone knows exactly what you're not saying, and why you're not saying it.

SERIOUSLY ?

RWS

[Freality]

^^^^^^^^^ Mom said that if I didn't have anything good to say, to say nothing.

...and make sure everyone knows exactly what you're not saying, and why you're not saying it.

SERIOUSLY ?

RWS

Hrm, maybe it was just my mom who taught me that.

*Looks at Facebook feed*

I take that back.

[rickalan35]

Hi

when you say the new aft cabin was covered by puckboard, do you mean the post-1977 models, or do you mean your specific refurb?

I was only referring to the repairs on my particular boat.

I came across information that sometime in the 80s Trojan started using aluminum gas tanks. Anyone know when that was?

I don't know when and if Trojan switched to aluminum tanks

What size was the bed originally? I thought it was already a twin (single)? Or did you mean to say you widened it to a full bed?

My mistake, sorry. I widened the original berth to that of a double bed.

May ask for pictures later. I'm having trouble picturing it

Give me an email address on a private message and I can send you photos

I would also like to reset the tendency of some of the members to be somewhat critical of your plans. It may be due to the fact that you mentioned everything from a low purchase price to living on board with a family of five and finished up with the idea of crossing the Gulf Stream. All in all, it's an ambitious bouquet of plans and it probably caused them to doubt your ability to put it all together. That being said though, I will admit to doubting the plans of Barrie and Christian on this site because of the sheer amount of work required on their two tricabins. I was located at Christian's marina and knew his boat prior to his purchase and believe me, I didn't think that anyone could resurrect that unit. But, both men have proven me (and many others) to be totally wrong. The fact is that both men were the perfect guys to come along and save those two boats. We are all enjoying their work as it progresses. Maybe you are the perfect guy to do this project that you are planning, only time will tell. But I do believe that unless you steal a real jewel, you will be facing a problem "time line" trying to restore an "inexpensive" tricabin in time for living aboard in the near term. Nothing wrong with dreams and its doubly nice when they sometimes become reality.

Cheers

Rick

[scct54]

I have a 81 tricabin, it has a full size bed w/mattress in the aft cabin along with a small bathtub/shower. Aluminum 220gal fuel tank underneath bed. How that would be replaced is beyond me. Water tank hold 66 gals and waste tank holds 40. engines are 360 chryslers. To replace engines, fridge or sleeper sofa the giant overhead hatch has to come out, it is screwed down and doesn't need to be cut out. I took it out this year to recaulk as it had been sealed with roofing crap, its heavy,but manageable. forward cabin is nice,private access to head. it has 2 30amp circuits, dual ac/heat,6.5 genset. I have lived aboard by myself for the last 2 summer/fall seasons and its a great boat when I spend the week on the hook with my 2 boys at block island.

[Freality]

Currently have a deposit on an 83 tri-cabin, and an application at a near-ish marina that allows liveaboards. It's just east of Baltimore. Naturally, I have more questions. I'll try to keep it short.

It needs to be inspected by someone who knows what they're doing (i.e., someone other than me). At this price point (under $15k), is a professional survey going to be worth the premium vs finding someone (not a pro surveyor) that is familiar with that model boat (perhaps a different unbiased owner)?

I saw one surveyor (Williams Marine Services) that offered $300/day shakedown cruises, is this a pretty common service? I'm thinking we could pay for a couple days and learn how to operate the boat while moving it to the new marina.

If anyone knows of a good, reasonably priced (remember, this isn't a $100k boat) surveyor who's familiar with these particular boats and is east of Baltimore (around Middle River), I'm all ears. Even if they're not in that specific area, because we're looking at other boats in the same general vicinity (i.e. Virginia/Maryland/Delaware).

Many, many thanks.

[gitchisum]

I had a full survey performed on an boat once that was a 9k asking price. Saved me 3 thousand, as they found things the the seller wasn't aware of.

If you are sure this is the one, get a SAMS sureveyor. Worth every penny!

[RWS]

Glad to hear you are getting the survey.

Smart move.

RWS

[WayWeGo]

The stuff you really care about will not be evident on a quick shakedown cruise. Unless you are an expert, you should bite the bullet and get a real survey. You will also most likely need a survey to get insurance.

We are on the Bay just south of Annapolis and used Butch Immediato, who is a member of this board. He is SAMS and ABYC certified and did the survey for us a year ago when we bought our boat. You can reach Butch at 302-750-6745 or https://plus.google.com/110549785953167353488/about. Butch is thorough and thoughtful in how he works and I would use him again in a heartbeat.

[prowlersfish]

X2 on Butch !