posted 09-04-2010 10:46 PM ET (US)        

I have run boats of the size but never owned one. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with these boats?

It would be a big investment but something I think I would enjoy, except that my Outrage runs 54 and the Grand Banks probably 7 knots.

posted 09-04-2010 11:12 PM ET (US)            

I've been living aboard my 1978 Grand Banks 42 Trawler on and off for about 6 years. She's been a great boat, we have done everything from cruising to offshore wreck diving (found and recovered the bell from the navigation bridge of the Andrea Doria from her this summer, in fact). They are well built, can be found sensibly priced, and are the standard bny which other trawlers are compared. They do 9 knots no matter what. Autopilots are a friend on these.

Dunno what else to say... you need to want a lifestyle if you buy a boat like this. You will be looking at it or thinking about it daily for as long as you have it.

Where are you? I could arrange a day of Trawlering if desired.

posted 09-05-2010 11:29 AM ET (US)            

Any 42 foot boat has the same "care and feeding" costs. Slip, Insurance, etc. Cost of mooring/slip is highly variable based on location. It can be expensive, or cheap.

I budget $10K/year for insurance, slip, and winter storage (dry) in Rhode Island. ' typically launch at the end of March or early April, and stay in until mid-December. I actually brought EXPLORER down to New York Harbor two winters ago and lived aboard in Liberty Landing (Right where the annual "circumnavigation of Manhattan" for us takes place) for the winter. I had a million-dollar view of NYC for six months. Cost for the slip for that period of time? A whopping $2500.

I budget for one "Project" per year. each year I have done one "discretionary improvement": I've added a new genset, dive compressor, SSB radio, had a new heavy duty mast made (for lifting shipwreck goodies), etc. None of these have been required.

I budget $5K/year for "unexpected fixing" and often don't spend it.

This is based on years of doing it with a 42 GB. Not thinking about it, talking about it, or dreaming about it.

Dave

posted 09-05-2010 02:15 PM ET (US)            

That is great information and kudos to you for your very generous offer. What better way to to get information than from the source.

I would love to have an opportunity to try living on a boat at some point. It will have to wait until the kids are all grown, and then I will need to work on the wife, but it is something I would love to try.

DNH - best of luck to you as you investigate this

posted 09-05-2010 11:44 PM ET (US)            

I appreciate the information. We have the tender for one that's for sure!!

More info and testimonials would be appreciated.

posted 09-06-2010 10:05 AM ET (US)            

misspell

posted 09-06-2010 06:58 PM ET (US)            

Buying a wooden Grand Banks or any wooden yacht for that matter is a major commitment.

In order to enjoy the experience of owning a large "woodie" one most possesses a large reserve of money or the skills of a master shipwright and finish carpenter.

If you don't have either of those resources a wiser course of action may be to not take on a large wooden yacht.

If you are possessed of the required resources or wish to give it a try anyway you'll need to avail yourself of the services of a fully qualified marine surveyor with particular expertise in the make of yacht you wish to buy. These fellows are not found in the Yellow Pages of most cities. A place to begin your search could be the Wooden Boat Magazine or the sister publication the Wooden Boat Builder.

I would love to own a wooden 42 Grand Banks double cabin yacht. Unfortunately I've decided that I lack the required resources to enjoy the experience.

posted 09-06-2010 08:52 PM ET (US)            

The fact that they are among the best built boats out there won't spare you from the inevitable maintenance expenses Dave Sutton is so familiar with. I owned a Hatteras 58 Yachtfish and experienced the same thing.

A Grand Banks 42 is among the several boats I chartered in the Pacific Northwest before buying a boat. I liked it a lot-everything about it in fact

Every boat design has its pros and cons. One thing I heard from more than one expert about the Grand Banks is to be careful on survey about window leaks causing rot in the cabin sides. Except for the Europa models there isn't much overhang above the windows.

And then there's all that beautiful exterior wood.

good luck

posted 09-06-2010 10:05 PM ET (US)            

I really appreciate your comments/concerns and look forward to the search which I expect will take some time. The other thing is we are not quite ready and at a very preliminary point right now.

posted 09-07-2010 04:07 PM ET (US)            

You would not want to bring a wooden boat to Florida. In case your thinking about that. The worms down here love wood and eat it up pretty quick.

posted 09-07-2010 08:37 PM ET (US)            

What else is right is that Whalers and Grand Banks boats are the gold-standards by which all other boats of similar design are compared. When talking about Trawlers, every boat in the world is compared to the Grand Banks 42. When talking about small open center console boats, everything is compared to a Boston Whaler Montauk. Are there better and worse boats in each family? Sure there are. But knowlagable people use both as the yardstick for comparison. "How good is a Wahoo" Uhh... "It's not as good as a Montauk". "How good is a Marine Trader?" Uhh... "It's not as good as a 42 Grand Banks"... you get the drift.

Personally, I would stay away from any wooden GB's. What many people don't understand is that in 1975 GB splashed a mold from a wooden hull, and the classic 42 GB glass hulls were laid from this mold, showing plank-lines and all. With the veneer of teak on the transom, teak over glass decks, and teak a go-go every other darned place, many people don't even realize that they are looking at a glass hull! I've had guests aboard for a week who never figured it out. "Wooden" and "42 Grand Banks" are not synonyms. Glass hulls outnumber the wooden ones by many fold.

Required Whaler content: "When towing your Montauk behind your 42 GB, put the motor up and tow with a 50 foot piece of 5/8 line. Adjust to place the Whaler 'just barely climbing' the third wake-wave". Trust me here... ;-)

I'm not a "Certified" Surveyor, but I have looked at a heck of a lot of GB's for a lot of potential buyers, and know them cold, both strong and weak points. If anyone needs a hand sorting them out before having a real survey done, ping me.

Back to listening to the Montauk gently bruashing her fenders up against the hull of EXPLORER. Life is good.

Dave

.

posted 09-07-2010 08:44 PM ET (US)            

"To see if the trawler pace is right for you, spend a week on your current boat going no faster than 7 or 8-MPH"

As I would say:

"To see if a Boston Whaler is right for you, spend a week living on one ... "

Sorry, low hanging fruit, but fun to pluck from the vine anyhow. Apples and Applesauce methinks.

Dave

(who often camps quite glady under the bow dodger of the Montauk, sleeping on top of the casting platform in a sleeping bag, cooking on a MSR stove, and peeing off the transom, but who does not confuse this with living on the Trawler)

posted 09-08-2010 03:43 PM ET (US)            

I laughed my ass off when I read this.

it ought to read:

"For weekenders/vacationers who need more speed, *and who are willing to spend about a Half $ Mil on one of the newest GB 42's with turbocharged engines* the GB 42 is a great boat"

Yes, the 42 GB is a semi-displacement hull. With enormous enmgines they can 'sort of' plane... but they don't really do so.

Insofar as the vast majority of GB 42's have 125 HP Ford Lehman's in them, 9 knots is about it. My 210 HP Cat 3208 powered one does 9 knots too.... no matter if I run on one engine or two. Go figure. Yeah, it can do 14 if I push it... with triple the fuel burn. Bottom line is that GB 42's are *operated* as displacent hull boats, and that the vast majority are run that way because the owners have no choice, they not having sufficient power installed to do anything else.

Bottom line: The full keel, *very* low deadrise V hull of the GB hull was chosen for seakindliness, not speed. The "true displacement" KK 42's roll like a pig, BTW, although they do have their other merits, being a very low drag hill. Build quality of the KK's is highly variable, ranging from excellent to absolute crap. GB's are all the same... excellent.

One thing for sure: The KK 42 is one of the boats about which people will always ask "Are they as good as a Grand Banks?" And the answer is... endlessly debatable. Mirror Image of thatg is that nobody ever looked at a GB42 and asked if it was as good a boat as a KK, and there lays the truth regarding what is used as a yardstick, and what is masured by that yardstick.

Dave

.

posted 09-08-2010 04:11 PM ET (US)            

The boat is fiberglass.

Has been re-done. Has bigger engines in it and will do 16 knots.

Appears to be on good shape.

Does not have a dinghy, so for Whaler content, it would tow either my 15 Sport or my 21 Outrage.

I did not have time to find a crusing website, and register for it, and all that stuff.

But, I got some good info here, and I am more than happy for you to shut this thread down now or delete it.

posted 09-08-2010 04:15 PM ET (US)            

I may look again in a couple of years time when my last and youngest finally goes to university

I often day dream and look at nordhavn their community/website is very good and may give you some good back ground info

posted 09-08-2010 05:05 PM ET (US)            

--Sailboat
--Motorboat
--Motor home
--Rest home

I can relate, though I'm still at stages One and Two, notwithstanding my gray hair--what's left of it--and my swiftly-accumulating years.

Tony

posted 09-08-2010 07:33 PM ET (US)            

My sailboats are gone.

I have a Whaler to buzz around in.

Martha thinks we need a motor home.

This ain't good is it.

posted 09-09-2010 03:44 PM ET (US)            

As an owner of a larger boat (2003 36' Albin), I don't think you have to be a millionaire to own one, nor do I think they're too much work. Yes, it is very much like owning a second home, complete with the added costs, time commitment, and responsibility. However, if you use the boat regularly, and enjoy spending time on it, it is worth every bit of it.

posted 09-09-2010 06:03 PM ET (US)            

very cool,