Project "Tri Fly"

[gettaway]

Looks great !
You might want to chain those boat stands

[snowman]

Well well well what an awesome forum to find and I have to echo everyone else on here and say, you deserve a pat on the back for a job well done! I bought a boat like yours in 2012 (first boat I ever owned, not even a canoe before lol) joined the forum last winter but time and tide have kept me from any posts. I hope to cure that negligence this winter

A little about me and "Sirene". I'm a retired airforce aircraft mechanic ( not engineer!) with aspirations to live on and travel back and forth from New Brunswick to the Bahamas. Being on a fixed pension I would like to do that economically. I know, I know, powerboat, boating in general and economics are hard words to have in the same topic lol. My better half actually picked this vessel from the ones being sold around here...... she has a fear of water and the size and stability makes her happy! I enjoy sailing but as my age creeps higher and with my spouses fear, I'm looking for calmer seas and propulsion at the turn of a key.

Sirene is a 1976 Tri cabin with 1994 454 Mercs, in pretty solid shape, engines work great. My fuel gauges and Seaport XR8000 aren't working correctly but I believe at 2000 rpm I'm burning 8 gallons per engine an hour. Since purchase I haven't really done much besides routine maintenance and we really haven't gone far with her, local favorite anchoring places and such. This season during winterizing I brought home most of the exterior wood trim and rails to sand and recoat, starters to rebuild, and of course Bimini to work on. My biggest project is the stern deck, it had soft spots around the access hatch so I had to remove a third of it. Not sure how we are going to finish that in the spring :/ all I know for sure is there will be new plywood there. It has the teak strips too btw.

My question to you Barrie, and indeed to everyone, has anyone investigated a diesel repower for this vessel? Did you consider it before staying with the gas? I believe someone mentioned before about the info that can be found on the net and I have spent considerable time searching and reading. I have read a ton of forums and seen some vastly different opinions about engine choice, fuel economy, hull speeds etc. My boatyard guru suggested with adapter plates I could bolt in a pair of Ford Lehman 120HP to my tranny and that would sip fuel at a gallon an hour each if kept at hull speed. But she wouldn't be able to plane. I'll buy used, reconditioned, whatever to save money so I think new engines wont be a thing. Just looking to see if maybe someone can point me in the right direction lol.

If I pull the pin on this repower project I guess I'll start my own thread and try to document it as well as you have!

Thanks in advance for any advice
I have soooo much to learn!

[gettaway]

Hi Snowman and welcome

The diesel dilemma- I had a 34' CHB with a single 120 lehman , 1.75 gal an hour at 7 knots, great engine but even the newest version is now old.
I am not familiar with the engine installation arrangement in a Tri- but the Lehmans are tall and heavy, so if you don't have v drives or a down angle transmission you'll need to change transmissions or they may be difficult to stuff in the same location as 454's.

You might think about looking for an older Taiwan aft cabin trawler and changing boats in lieu of the cost and effort of trying to make a trawler out of a tri-fly.

either way- best of luck in your boating endeavours and thanks for your service !

[Misty]

Welcome, but pls don't hijack Barrie's thread. Its a veritable textbook on Tri Fly restoration. You bought a wonderful boat, but absolutely not the boat for long range open water cruising, so maybe a new thread topic could include that with your intro. The members here are very helpful and insightful and will chime in.

[snowman]

Thanks gettaway and misty. Sorry I did not intend to hi-jack this thread and this will be my last post on it. But I wanted Barrie and other members with this particular boat to see it? Yep, new to all this forum stuff and the etiquette involved. I actually just finished reading about open ocean and this boat so ICW it is

[Barrie]

Hi Snowman, welcome to the forum, since you own a Trojan this is the place for you
gettaway beat me to it. Thanks for your service!
I'm relatively new here myself and new to boating, some here are old sea dogs (I mean that in the best way possible:)) and you will find they know everything LOL (I mean that in the best way possible, again:))

I sure hope you DIDN'T get a boat just like mine

We must be kin, I would love to also travel up and down the coast to avoid winter and my wife might join me
The diesel swap, I never considered, I know a little about gas engines and nothing about diesels. There is a least one thread here about a swap and many threads about everything you could ever want to know about getting the most out of your gassers.
From what I've seen here, a swap would be in the $15,000 to $20,000 range. That's a lot of gas and or rum.


P.S. post some pictures, everyone likes pictures

[prowlersfish]

.
From what I've seen here, a swap would be in the $15,000 to $20,000 range. That's a lot of gas and or rum.


P.S. post some pictures, everyone likes pictures

Can run more then that , I was in that range replacing 1 diesel . Repowering runs more as there is a lot to change . But that deserves a thread
read of its own . FWIW I plan on a diesel thread

[Big D]

......From what I've seen here, a swap would be in the $15,000 to $20,000 range.....

It'll be more than that for just one side. The cost of the engines themselves is only part of the switch. If you plan on using the generator, you'd need to repower that too or have a dual fuel system on board which I am not crazy about for a couple of reasons.

I certainly wouldn't be doing that kind of boating with 454 gassers on a budget. Diesel is the only way to go for that. The question is whether you're better off repowering or purchasing a vessel that already has diesel plants.

[snowman]

I'm planning to put a hardtop from the fly bridge back

I have visions of a hardtop as well Barrie, can't wait to see what you have in mind. The insight your build has provided is top notch. Certainly gives me hope for the relatively small stuff I have to do.

Can't wait too see your thread prowlersfish!

Sirene.jpg (43.9 KiB) Viewed 12774 times

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[jimbo36]

.
From what I've seen here, a swap would be in the $15,000 to $20,000 range. That's a lot of gas and or rum.


P.S. post some pictures, everyone likes pictures

Can run more then that , I was in that range replacing 1 diesel . Repowering runs more as there is a lot to change . But that deserves a thread
read of its own . FWIW I plan on a diesel thread

+1 on that. 7 years ago I estimated repowering my F36 tri cabin with the Yanmar YB series drop-ins. They were designed to replace big block gassers.They were lighter, same HP, and of course, new diesels. (5 year warranty) With doing a lot of the work myself including removing and rebuilding the aft bulkhead, bunk frames, wiring, among many additional changes, I was at 70K. Probably more today. I toyed with the idea of finding a pair of suitable used diesels until I thought about the prospects of having to rebuild even one of them. Very expensive. I also think this is good discussion for Barrie's thread. I am sure other Trojan tri cabin owners have considered this regarding their own project.

[Barrie]

ouch $70,000, that's never happening
Like the guys are saying I guess they are a must have if you're cruising a lot, that's not me at this point

I have considered replacing the 400s at some point with a couple 5.9 dodge hemi engines, that's a couple years away if even possible.

Snowman
Your boat does look just like mine only better and floating
This is along the lines I'm thinking, it's not our boats but close enough to get an idea.
leave a canvass top on like you have and add this hardtop

[captainmaniac]

I have trouble visualizing hardtops on a tri-fly.... on a flush deck aft cabin like the F40 I can see it, but it seems out of place to me on a tri-fly since bridge and upper deck heights are not that different. For most flush decks, there is more of a difference in elevation. I CAN see it on a regular tri cabin (over the helm area anyways, and perhaps canvas behind) like you sometimes see on '69 +/- vintage 42' Chris Craft Constellations.

Having said that, did a quick search to see if I could find any examples. Looks like the original listing is gone now, but here are a couple of pics I did find. Judge for yourself.

[snowman]

We are going to do the complete opposite. We enjoy the sun but after a couple hours we find ourselves looking for more shade. Our Bimini is always up with the sides off when out and about and we use the rear upper deck for sun. Our radar is also on an accessories pole that can be easily lowered to the stern for maintenance and winter storage, very convenient. So my plan is to hard top the fly bridge with sides that roll up and use my current frame for a folding rear Bimini, sorry I couldn't find an example pic of that configuration :/

[Misty]

Barrie that would be a tricky one on our model because there is only a 20" step down. But that didn't stop me from scheming (before I plopped down the coin on two level canvas. Beans and rice for the rest if the year is no big deal). Lets see if I can make my idea clear. But its sorta unconventional: Basically I arrived at a STRAIGHT hard top from front to back, elevated 5' above the command deck (6' 4-6 slope to rear) but with a sliding hatch (sailboat style) centered and in line with centered steps so you wouldn't hit your head when going up and down. During foul weather, slide it shut. Adding weight up high does mess with your center of gravity, so it would have to be made using lightweight stuff. Thats all I got.

[Barrie]

I think I get what you're saying Misty.
My problem is I'm a one man operation and everything has to be "one man able" that sounds like a big top!

In the mean time I've been puttering away painting, plumbing and built a frame to throw tarps over for the winter....again!
In the spring it's to the lake!

These are a couple of pictures of my set up and what a couple of hours of snow can look like!