Re that Tassie cray boat it is actually an ex Qld prawn trawler that ended up in Tassie.
Typical Qld timber sharpie very similar to my own hull.
The tassie cray boats are a very good buy /conversion but one must remember they are a very full bodied carvel hull and will roll on wet grass but an un beliveable sea boat.
Before I built Tidahapah I sat on a 50 ' aft wheel house cray boat down in Portland for about 4 days before deciding to go the new boat option and build from scratch mainly due to the fore mentioned trait and this was a beautiful Hueon Pine boat.
Doing the conversion can vary in costs , depends on what you want, I have sen expensive conversions that resulted in an incredible boat and very minimilist conversions that have resulted in a quite comfortable cruising boat with hlf decent accomodation.
One recent buy of ex trawler the guy sold the old trawl gear, winches etc to actually get back half the 40 k purchase price so he was streets ahead very quickly.
G'day Ben,
I don't need anything special or fancy on a boat I would convert, I would extend the wheelhouse to create a saloon behind, then leave around 6' x beam width behind the saloon as a after-deck/cockpit for fishing/crabbing. I would also like a walk-through transom and swim platform for ease of boarding while on the hook but I'm not sure if installing a walk-through transom would be a big or small job on an old timber trawler...Or even if doing so is possible.
In the saloon forward section I would have the galley and eating area, behind that area I would have an area to relax in, watch TV, listen to music or read a good book, with a door to the cockpit, so nothing fancy there, just a space to be comfortable in. The conversion would have a curved roof so that I could catch rainwater that would be diverted down to the potable water tank/s. I would also install two or four 200W solar panels and a 200W wind generator to charge the battery bank/s.
The sleeping area would be down below...Somewhere
I have no plans to circumnavigate the globe but I would like to cruise the QLD coast and Islands, the Top-End with “perhaps” a trip to SE Asia and a trip to NZ, in summer, could be on the cards. NZ is one of the few places I've never been, and I would love to visit Fiord-land in the South Island. Heck! I would love to cruise all the coast of NZ, that's why I also considered buying a boat in NZ but mostly I would be found in a quiet spot somewhere on the Oz coast.
I have also considered a Ferro-Cement cruiser/launch like
this one but I have no idea on how good they are as seagoing boats. Anyway, I have not wiped timber trawlers for conversion of my list of boats to check (I enjoy working with wood and have the tools and knowledge to do so) and, as I would be doing all the work/conversion myself, I now don't believe it would cost me anywhere near $150,000AU to buy the boat and do the conversion but...I could well be wrong
Thank God I don't need the boat in a hurry, I have time to keep looking for the right boat.
Cheers Ben
Bill
Hi Bill,
I've been scouting around at ex trawlers as well. I'm inexperienced but learning fast. Luckily I did have a good surveyor for the last boat I was considering. It turned out to have some serious issues, and the guy spelled that out very clearly. It was money well spent, even though I received notheing in return other than a lesson on what to beware of next time.
When choosing a surveyor, one potential problem is finding one that has your interests at heart, especially when buying from a dealer. The surveyor probably will get limited repeat business from you, but may be more concerned with keeping the dealer happy, hence some issues might be glossed over. I would defineitely avoid a surveyor based in the same marina as the boat broker.
And - as Benn said - ensure they have timber hull experience. Get him to forward you an example of a previous timber hull survey, with the details blanked out to protect the innocent.
A tip - When looking at a timber hull boat. Be prepared to spend the time below crawling around on your guts with a good flashlight. The most inaccessible part of a boat is where you may find the biggest problems.
Best of luck with your search. Its all a learning experience.
G'day mate,
Thanks for the advice, it's all much appreciated.
My dear old departed Dad taught me as a nipper, when checking a timber boat, always have a little sharp knife along, try sticking the sharp blade into the planking and if it goes in easily, then the plank needs replacing. I still reckon that's a good way to do a first check on the hull of a timber boat. As for:
Be prepared to spend the time below crawling around on your guts with a good flashlight. The most inaccessible part of a boat is where you may find the biggest problems.
If I were ten years younger, twenty would be even better
Doing as you advise would not be a problem, been there done that many times but as I'm no-longer a spring cockerel, I would need to find a young/er bloke to do that for me. Finding a young bloke who knows a bit about timber boats could be, I guess, like finding a needle in a haystack, so I'm seeking advice on this forum.
Cheers and good luck in your search mate
Bill