Trojan Boat Forum

murray1886 wrote:here's the scope on this boat. Besides the above mentioned problems and maybe needing the upper fiberglass buffed and a generator tune up, its all there and working. The current owner is kinda stuck, he already bought a new boat and the slip lease on this one is due. He told me he'd let her go for 10k. This sounds pretty good to me..... is it in the ball park? or am I looking at 20k in hull work.

No one can awnser thouse questions with out looking at the boat .
thats why we are stressing a survey . and the boat must be hauled out for a complete survey . Better to spend a grand now and walk away then to spend 10k and find out you got stuck. and you will need the survey for insurance anyway

so I talked to multiple surveys and the manager of the marina where the boat is today. The manager said she wouldn't pull the boat at her marina because she only had a 2 strap lift and the boat has bottom rot.... I asked.. "You know the boat has bottom rot?? she paused for a full 2 seconds and responded; "well they all have bottom rot". sounded suspicious to me... Then I started calling surveyors. One know the boat sense his personal boat is docked at the same marina. He told me that he hasn't seen that boat move in 4 years and with the amount of water its taking on while sitting, he was concerned that once it got moving and flexing it might not make it across the lake to be pulled at another marina. Plus the shaft packing could start leaking. Sounds like a losing bet at this point, I can't fix it where it is... and I can't move it to somewhere that I could fix it. On top of that, none of the marinas will allow me to work on it myself once its pulled....

I hate to say it but, "walk away" in my opinion. Seems more and more marinas are not allowing folks to work on thier own stuff, just a sign of the times. And if you can't work on a wooden boat at the marina you're berthed at, you're in for one huge expense everytime you want some woodwork done. Not many marinas are equipped or have the know how, and will hire an outside person and take a cut. It'll get expensive fast. Too bad, sounds like she may die where she is, and I hate to see that. Sounds like it will take someone with big bucks and time to rescue her from the fire pit. These days, that's not very likely.

I agree, even if the problem was something simple, like a shaft seal, He has let the bilge sit under water possibility for years. I wrote the seller and told him I wouldn't consider buying it until he paid for a survey. I'm not throwing any money at it, and I'm sure he'll need it in order to sell the boat to any competent buyer. Even a free house isn't free if you end up paying someone to tear it down because its past the point on return.

That turned out to be a sad story, that's to stinks

On a good note, you are still able to buy another boat! If you are in the 30K area, consider a Trojan F36 tri cabin. For 20K take a look at a F32, and 10K gets you a really nice F26. If you start looking at any of these boats let us know, we can help.

Good point . I was going to ask what he is looking for in a boat. There are some real deals out there .

I'm not really looking, this just kinda fell in my lap and on the surface looked like a good deal. Its killing me to know this boats headed for the bottom.... I'm absolutely positive its going to sink in the slip. If I could get the thing out of the water and moved down the road to a storage facility that would let me work on it, I'd think about throwing the guy an offer.... but its just cost prohibitive to have a marina touch it... [/img]

Its a shame for sure . But I see it all the time ,walk around any marina and you will see lots of them .The last boat I had has sat since I sold it .( it was turn key ) Maybe been out 3 times in the first year , then never again . ( sold 7 years ago ) . I would love to buy it back and save it . But I know that would not be a smart thing to do .But still........

murray1886 is the boat in a harbor on the Mississippi in St Charles ? Whats the name on it? I may be able to dig some info up.

If you want it bad enough, and there is a place not too far away that will haul it for you and let you work on it, you could always put a few crash pumps aboard and have it towed... But from what you have said about it I think running away is the best option.

rvrrunner wrote:murray1886 is the boat in a harbor on the Mississippi in St Charles ? Whats the name on it? I may be able to dig some info up.

No, its down at the lake. Why, do you know of one on the Mississippi for sale?

captainmaniac wrote:If you want it bad enough, and there is a place not too far away that will haul it for you and let you work on it, you could always put a few crash pumps aboard and have it towed... But from what you have said about it I think running away is the best option.

I may have found a guy who will pull it on a trailer, bring it to his yard where he'll rent me a spot to work on it..... he's calling me back. The thing is, we have no idea whats going on below the water. Could be a single seam opened up a bit..... or the whole hull could be rotten.....

Can you put some photos up on photobucket and Post a link? We
May not be able to tell you what it is worth but we might be able to let know what you will be looking at repair wise.

murray1886 wrote:...I may have found a guy who will pull it on a trailer, bring it to his yard where he'll rent me a spot to work on it..... he's calling me back. The thing is, we have no idea whats going on below the water. Could be a single seam opened up a bit..... or the whole hull could be rotten.....

Don't know the type of trailer you're using but a wooden hull must be supported on it's keel even when the hull is in perfect condition. If the hull has issues and not transported properly, rollers or pads only may punch through. It could be worse than taking it by water!!