Trojan Boat Forum

I'm looking to buy a 1987 10 Meter Midcabin (I think).

The boat needs some work, but appears to be in decent condition.

I've agreed on a price and it is subject to a survey.

I was wondering if there is anything particular to this boat that I need to be aware of. If so, I'll give that info to the surveyor.

I've enjoyed reading your posts and have learned a bunch about these boats by doing so.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Tom

sorry i dont have your model boat i have an f32. i think you will enjoy a trojan if you end up purchasing. hopefully someone will chime in here with the particular model and give you some insight. anyways good luck with your survey. i was with my surveyor when he did my boat and learned alot. i would suggest you be there with yours. theres alot of good folks on this forum

Tom,

I have a '90 10M M/C. This October will be 2 years and the only problems I've dealt with have been 20 year old equipment issues.

The biggest issue I can thing of is water intrusion from deck hardware, which would be on any 23 year old boat. I think a couple of 10M owners have had problems with wood rot inside the radar arch.

Bob Dunne(BOBCT) has spent a lot of time going thru his 10M. He may be able to give you some insight.

I hope the deal goes thru, we need some more 10M M/C owners on here.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your purchase.

Hopefully your survey will result in a new Trojan owner with a great boat.

Thanks for the welcome.

I'm going to be selling a 1976 Mako 25, which I've redone over the last 12 years, so I understand the issues with an older boat.

I know on the Trojan, as with the Mako, there are a lot of little holes all over the place from prior things. I know there have been water intrusion issues below deck from some of these holes at the helm. They are now covered with blue tape, and I will need to deal with them.

The wood in the radar arch is rotted and the covering pieces have fallen off. I'd love to hear what others have done with that.

The survey is scheduled for Monday, and I plan to be there for most of it.

I'll post how it went when I get the report.

Tom

Tom,

There are significant differences not just in the layout, but also in the construction of the earlier 10 meter express cruiser/convertible/10.8 meter based boats and the later mid cabin models.

Both designs are well done and far superior to thier contemporaries.

This enduring design, solid engineering and quality workmanship and build techniques results in a series of boats offering tremendous value that remains contemporary and appealing today.

Good luck with the survey.

Here's a link to some information specifically on the International series vessels built out of Lancaster, PA.

http://sites.google.com/site/trojaninternational/Home

Nine years ago I discovered the International Series and similar to your experience moved from a Grady White Seafarer 22' to the 10 meter and never looked back.

There are several of us on this forum with good knowledge of the 10 Meter International series.

Feel free to ask specific questions, and welcome aboard.

RWS

As Sherman said, I've been through every system on my '88 since I bought it late last year.

Scott Gardner rebuilt his radar arch, I'm pretty sure he posted some pics of the process.

Structurally, make sure you check all the stringers and bulkheads. The engine intake vents leak when it rains so there's always some water in the bilge. This matters because the limber holes in the stringers weren't sealed very well from the factory which cause water to wick up into the stringers.

Pay particular attention to the innermost ones since that's the low point in the bilge. The limber holes have round sections of fiberglass which look like PVC pipe. Short term, I knocked them out and rebedded with 4000. I think I might remove them all for the winter and really let those areas dry out.

Shoot me an email if you would like to talk... I've gotten plenty of help here, happy to pass that on.


Bob

Met the seller and captain (had to hire one for the sea trial/survey) at the boat this morning. The starboard engine wouldn't start. They drained the fuel/water filter and it had some nasty rusty water in it.

I think the boat is very low on fuel and needs to be refueled and run through a few times.

He called me later to tell me that he thinks the fuel pump has quit and the mechanic will be there before the survey on Monday morning to fix it.

I'm not sure if this is a sign from above, but we will see what the results of Monday are.

Tom

The mechanical systems on these boats are 20 - 30 years old.

Engines, bilge pumps, HVAC, water heaters, icemakers, thru hulls, hatches, windlass, electrical, portlite seals, etc, etc, etc.

It's a BUYERS MARKET!

Why not find something better maintained.

You will have less bad surprises.

Just ask PK, here on this forum.

RWS

Ok, had my survey/sea trial today. I can say it was a rather long and odd day.

We left the dock for the marina to have it hauled. We made it 10 mins before the starboard engine quit. No electric to that engine at all. Couldn't start it and it wouldn't even click.

5 mins later the generator died. They could get it started, but it couldn't handle a load. (now it did run the a/c for me earlier in the week a couple of times for more than 30 mins.) Why it won't do it know? I think it too could be fuel related.

Once at the marina, the boat was hauled and the owner's mechanic arrived. Bottom and running gear looked fine. Bottom paint and growth weren't bad.

Mechanic got the engine working and we left for the sea trial (we took the mechanic with us.)

We weren't out the inlet before it died again, this time it was not electrical, but maybe fuel related.

Got it started in time to push it up from 1000 to 3000 rpm.

At 3000 rpm, port engine begins to smoke real bad and the mechanic wants to know where the fire extinguisher is.

We stop and now the starboard engine quits again..so we're now drifting a few hundred yards off the beach.

Of course the windlass doesn't work and the anchor and chain aren't connected to the anchor line. After we got that problem resolved, we dropped anchor.

Also, it sounded like there was some sort of electrical arching going on down there. I'm not sure what else could have been popping.

We let the port engine cool a while and it ran w/o smoking. We hauled anchor and headed with just 1 engine back home.

So, 1/2 way home in the intracoastal, it starts spoking again. We ended up diverting to another dock at the home of a friend of the owner. Took a cab from there back to our cars.

So, I'm thinking this boat has some issues.

I think most of it seems fuel related, but I'm not going to be the one who pays to work that out.

I haven't talked to the owner yet, I'm waiting for the rest of the survey, but If he can get it all fixed and we take a couple hour cruise up the coast w/o any problems, I might still consider it.

In the mean time, there is a 1988 for sale in the area. I've emailed the broker on it. I really liked the boat. I'm just not up for major engine issues.

Tom

Sounds like a lot of trouble on that boat and a wise decision to pass on it. That's why a thorough survey is very important and always warranted.

There are many good boats available and, as has been stated, its a buyer's market.

Would have been nice for the owner to tell me it wouldn't run before I spent the money below.

Surveyor $750
Captain $200
Haul $317 (included pressure wash)
Cab Home$ 20

Engines problems that aren't mine = Priceless

I just bought a 1977 F-32, our sea trials are similar with the engine stalling and backfiring.
I had the engines/ mechanical surveyed prior to the sea trial, I figured that if the compressions - base engine and transmissions were decent, then it would be worth pursuing.

The engines are GM 305 mercruisers with about 1200 hours, compression on both engines average about 155psi on all 16 cylinders, no oil leaks and heat exchangers were in good shape as were the manifilds and risers, so off to the sea trial

The boat started and ran great until we got her past about 1500 rpm, then the backfire began on the port engine, the engine continued to run so we made a few rounds at sea with a very nervous owner(previous). at idle she ran fine but then began to hiss and run very badly
We made it to the the boat yard for the haul and the port engine died and would not restart but cranked fine.

We hauled the boat, bottom was great, needed paint but not a blister, crack or soft spot,metal is sound.
Back in the water and we limped her to her slip, and I had the hull survey performed.

The boat was neglected or maintenance was defered, but the surveyor said she was a very solid boat and worth the price. (he offered to buy her if I walked away)

At the end of the day, I counter offered with a price reduction or to repair the port engine or the seller could back out, he took the price reduction and I wrote a check.
The problem, there was a vacuum leak on the carburetor and there was water in the ignition coil wire receptical.
I did complete tune ups on both engines, rebuilt the carbs and changed all of the hoses - raw and closed cooling and cleaned the heat exchangers

I took her for a sea trial again and stopped 120 miles later when I reached my slip in san diego.
While she has been a labor of love over the past 6 weeks, she is a great boat and it was a good gamble, but, I had her surveyed in the order of expense of repair.

This may not be all bad.

Hopefully you had a compression test done as part of the survey.

I did in 2001, whenI got my International.

This boat was purchased from th eoriginal owner who owned her for 18 years. She was cosmetically in amazing condition for her age, however mechanically the list of major items was a mile long and I almost walked.

What the survey did was to expose the numerous issues that the owner was unaware of. When a boat is for sale it's natural for the owner to delay maintenance and repair. The longer she's for sale the worse it will be.

Your issues may not be as serious as you think, the survey report and compression test will tell the story.

I believe you have a dirty fuel issue. Tank may need cleaning and or filter issue. Could be phase seperation with ethanol getting stirred up when you left the dock. Possibly serious, possibly not.

Now you are in the position of strength.

That survey allows you the ability to reduce your offer based on the anticipated cost of repair.

This is huge if you are willing to invest some sweat equity and have the time and ability.

If there is a broker involved, he will work on bringing the parties together and take the emotion out of it for the seller. He will demonstrate that the seller has a serious buyer and that no other buyer went as far as to do a seatrial and survey. How long is the seller willing to wait for the next one to come along?

Post your survey here and ask for comments from the Forum.

On the other hand, if you are seeking a boat that you can wash, wax, turn the key and go on a cruise, you are probably looking at the wrong boat and age of boat.

RWS

RWS is exactly right on, this is what happened to my 32. The story goes something like this, The owner got into financial trouble like many people today and moved the boat about 40 miles away to a cheaper slip, so, now, tight on money, the boat is an hour drive away (LA traffic) and wilmington harbor is an industrial port.
He puts the boat up for sale so he has now mentally seperated himself from the boat, emotionally. so it sits, not wanting to put any money or effort into maintaining the boat, drops the price , waits, drops the price again, most people could not see past the junk inside the boat, or the dirt on the decks,
I could, and the survey revealed solid engines and a sound tight hull.

I had the knowledge of the engine survey before the seatrial, i was now in a position to make a good decision. had the mechanical survey been bad, I would have walked without hesitation. carburetors, manifolds tune up parts, alternators are bolt on items and in a sense, "wear parts" The 32 has pretty good engine access and gas engines are fairly simple and inexpensive to work on.