36' Express Trawler

[Balboita]

Hi folks, I just took delivery of a 2002 36' express trawler. We bought the boat in Fort Myers and brought her home to St. Augustine via Key West. Your previous posts have been helpful to me in evaluating the boat. She ran great and I look forward to "tweeking" the many good systems on the boat.

Most of her life has been in fresh water and it shows. There are several small things on my list. For example I noticed you could only fuel at about 5 gal per minute w/o fuel backing up in the filler. The origional filler hose was installed to drop 1 foot down the side of the tank. I shortened the hose and now can fill quickly with the big guys. I can't help but feel sorry of the previous owners who took very good care of the boat but suffered with that every time they showed up to fuel.

I like the fuel tank set up with the "sump" below and behind the engine. I was concerned that the boat had been sitting for a while so I had the fuel cleaned before leaving Fort Myers. It is not possible to get the cleaning hose thru to that tank to stir up sediment. There is one Raycor Series 2000 filter. I want to add another parallel filter to make switching filters easy as well as a vacume gage. The boat has a single Cummins 6C with 450 hours. We go off shore a long ways and it makes like easier having those options.

Anyway, you have a great website and I am looking forward to your interesting post.

Michael
MV "Balboita"

[Elizabeth Ann]

Welcome!!!

[jcollins]

MJ,
Balboita sounds like a great boat! Welcome to the board and post some pics when you a chance.

[Balboita]

I posted my first message indicating I was a 26' boat. Balboita is a 36' Express Trawler. I wish the marina would call it a 26'.

I really like the boat. It is fitting the bill for my needs. St. Augustine is big on off shore fishing and it is really fun to watch all the "big guys" sitting on the back of their boats at the dock watching us motor out for a nice day on the water. The fuel prices are keeping most of them home.

The 6C Diamond Series is perfect for me. I can run at 1000 to 1200 rpm all day or scoot on up to catch the other guys if I want. I noticed on the 600 mile trip home that the ability to "match" the sea conditions with power made all the differece in the in the world.

It is ok to run this engine at low speeds for extended time. Many of the West coast fishing vessels have up to 10,000 hours on this engine running at low speeds their entire lives.
Their is a great site for all diesel marine engines "boatdiesel.com" that is a moderated by many professionals. It has a lot of free stuff but the $25 annual fee is a good investment.

[Mariner]

Great info. What kind of performance do you get out of that engine? What's the horsepower? What do you cruise at and what speed do you get? Do you have fuel consumption info? I'd like to gather as much of that kind of info on this site as possible.

Thanks, and welcome to the 36' ET club!

[Balboita]

The boat is configured with a single Cummins 6 "C" Series 420 HP motor. It is a commerical grade engine that should be trouble free for my lifetime.

The fuel consumpson is well documented and runs right with the techinal specs. I am just starting to look at the best cruising speeds and would rather wait until I have more data. I'm thinking I will long range cruise between 1200 and 1400 RPM. That speed give a speed of 7.5 to 8.5 KTS and fuel usage of 3 to 4.3 gal/ hour. Now I just need a little time to prove that.

I will take the boat to Maine next summer and that is 1300 Nm. so it really comes down to finding the "sweet" spot for both the boat and me.

I am having a great time.

I do need some feedback from you salty guys about what are the effects of putting a 600 lb. dingy on the back deck.

On Yachtworld there is a 1999 36' for sale in Seattle (Blue Moon) that has a nice looking arrangment with dingy and davit. The davit on that boat is made in Seattle and I am getting specs. and a quote from the company.

Again, I would very much like to hear about experiences with various arrangments.


Mike

[Mariner]

If you want to get an idea of how it will affect performance, just get three of your friends to go stand on the swimstep and cruise around to get a feel for it. My guess is that it will affect performance, but only slightly. You'll notice it at first, but you'll get used to it and forget all about it. In the end, it will be well worth it for the flexibility you gain by having a good reliable dinghy. We have a lightweight rowing dinghy (90#) that we davit up to the cockpit roof. It doesn't get much use. Instead, I sometimes tow my 13' Boston Whaler. It's certainly not worth it for short trips, but on an extended trip where it's worth having something that can do more than just tender a couple people into the beach, it's invaluable.

[Balboita]

Good thoughts.

The boat I had before this wat 40 tons and I carried a 13' Whaler. You could put anything you wanted on her back w/o knowing it was there. It was invaluable in the many boonie anchorages.

I have a larger dingy and I think I will try towing for a while..makes sense.

Thanks for the ideas.

[Veebyes2]

Welcome to the group & congrats on the 36. Were it not for my requirement to be able to trailer the boat home every winter i.e. fit under powerlines & have an airdraft of under 13' on the trailer, I mught have a 36 just like yours. I really like the 36 with the big single. The only drawback is the deeper draft. Can't be much more than our 32 at just under 4'.

Forgot about the dinghy part. We also drag a boat behind us most weekends. High speed is out of the question with a 14' Maritime Skiff with a 50hp on the back

[Mariner]

Towing the Whaler doesn't slow me down much. In rough conditions, I acutally find that it's better to go a little faster. The Whaler rides nicely in the wake of the boat, as opposed to being beat up by the chop. However, varying speed requires some adjustment of the towing line to keep it riding properly on the following wake. At lower speeds, you can maximize efficiency by placing it on the front of the second wave. But at higher speeds, you need to move it to the back of the wave to prevent it from "skating" from side to side.

In a perfect world, I'd have a hyraulic drum located in the transom that would allow me to pay out and draw in the towing line with the touch of a finger from the helm. Instead, it's a lot of trial and error and once you get it set up, you're kind of commited to a set speed for the bulk of your voyage.

[Balboita]

Great responces..thanks fellows.

You know towing the boat has a few complications but I can tell you that after 10 or 12 hours on a cruise many nights I simply did not "unload" the Whaler simply because it was too much work (It was more that I did not have the strength left to do it). So there I would sit looking across the water at everybody on the beach.

I will be towing a Novurania 360DL w/ 40hp motor. It is about 13' and weighs 700#, a little less than a 13' Whaler but otherwise about the same.

Help me again, tow line. what type and size are you using and what is the max length. I assume you are using a floating line to keep it out of the prop.

[Balboita]

Thanks Veebyess2 for the reply.

Actually I have never seen the offical spec. concerning the draft of the 36' single. I have measured mine while on the hard and I call it 5'1". That works fine where I boat. There is a saying "if you boat in Florida you will go aground". It is true. The reason is the bottom changes with each NorEaster we get. So, for me the scag keel is great. The only good news it that we don't allow rocky bottoms here.

The keel configuration is a little non traditional in that it is considerably deeper in the last 1/4 of the boat..in a way like a sail boat. The scag will be the first to touch and I think will do it's job. I will be a lot more carefull in the manouver to get it off. It seems to me it would easily dig itself in setting up the possibility of prop and rudder damage.

Maybe that is another reason to tow the dingy..use it to get off.

You boat and rig looks great..what a great place you live in to enjoy it.

[Veebyes2]

I like simplicity. I do not have a special line just for dinghy/skiff towing. The skiff has a substantial 8" cleat blocked & through bolted on the inside at the bow. It's bowline stays on it. The other end is looped & passes through 'mother ships' docking line which runs from one stern cleat to the other.

We also tow so that the skiff rides, sort of, on the front of the second wave behind us. The bridle line is long enough so that some adjustment can be made for speed. If we need to operate in tight spaces & need the Admiral for deck duty we will first put the skiff 'on the hip' so we don't have to worry about it hitting us or getting fouled.

[rt11002003]

Hi Mike,

Welcome aboard!

I wonder if your 36 is the one I looked at last year in Chatanooga. I saw in YachtWorld that it was for sale in Ft. Myers several weeks ago.

I kick myself for not buying that 36 at the time. But, the wife was drooling over a Mainship 390.

That 36 was the nicest one I've ever seen and I looked at several around the SE. The owner was a former Navy man and had owned a number of boats He had really taken care of it.

Best of luck and good sailing. Keep us posted.

Gene

[Balboita]

Hi Gene,

I think it might be the same boat. I bought it from a Tenn. fellow who bought it there only 6 months ago. He took it to fort Myers and decided to get out of the boating thing. Nice guy.

It is in great shape. Who ever speced the boat had experience. The electronics and other choices are well founded. the fack that it was in fresh water really shows. Many folks here ask if the boat is new.

By the way give you wife a hug for me. I owe her. The mainship you bought was made right across the river from me here in St. Augustine.

Mike