Trawler Stability - 2nd Opinion Wanted

[psneeld]

One offs don't mean they weren't designed by one of the best NAs.... and there have been cases where production boats weren't built to the designer's exact design.

And certainly used boats can always be a question mark because of uninformed previous owners.

 

[Taras]

If I were looking at the boat and a slow roll was noticed, I would look closely at:
1) Any unusually heavy things on the flybridge i.e. heavy dinghy, heavy hardtop, possible water intrusion into the deck and superstructure, etc.. causing the boat to be top heavy
2) Look at the draft of the boat relative to the top sides (waterline down vs. structure waterline up). Is it truly a "trawler" or it is more of a "planing" hull.
3) Does the boat have large fuel tanks or water tanks that are empty?
Finally, yes, if you're really interested in the boat, get a naval architect involved to really determine if the boat is truly seaworthy.

 

[Aurelia-Lang]

Again, thanks to all for your comments. It was helpful for us going through this process.

Here is an update:
A few days after the survey/sea trial we received the full report from the surveyor. After thoroughly reviewing that we decided to back out of the purchase. There were any items found in the survey that needed repair and (in our minds) pointed to poor maintenance of the boat, along with the finding about stability. Out of respect for the seller, we will not be stating which boat this was.
Since then, we have found another boat that meets our needs and have an accepted offer on it at this time. Next up, survey on this 2nd boat!

 

[Mako]

Good job A-L. You did your due diligence and were objective enough to walk away

 

[tiltrider1]

I won't go so far as to say it's common to survey multiple boats before finding the one. It is however not uncommon to survey and walk from the first boat.