[The_3_Bears]

Help -

I sold my boat. Now we want a 42-44' boat to replace "Bad Tuna".

The wife wants plush and I want a fishing machine...go figure. We have three boats that fit the budget.

1994 Tiara 43; 1989 Chris Craft 422; 1988 Bertram 43. All powered with 6 V 92.

The Tiara is the most expensive and the Chris is the least. The Chris has all the goodies, the Bert is in Florida and the Tiara is here and very basic.

I am leaning towards the Chris. Reason - goodies and budget.

Am I making a mistake? Or is the 422 Commander a good boat. The sister to the one I want is in San Diego, but I can not get that one because I port in HH and the tower is 29' and HH at high tide is 23'.

Thanks,

Chris.

 

[tanglefoot62]

Sounds like you already have a CHOICE made, but keep wading through specs to find any more hidden pearls!
Luck Matey!

 

[Long Beach Bob]

Chris is a good choice..I think they bought the Uniflite molds when Uniflite went under due to putting fire retardants in the layup which caused massive blistering...It is a good hull design and solid layup..would like to trade up my 38' Uniflite for a 42 or 46' Uni or Chris-Craft....just remember, it is a disease that never is satisfied until you have a 70'er or die, whichever comes first....

 

[C_McCann]

if it's a Bert on the east coast, be careful of a boat that old back there. The sun pounding and the age are suspect, having been on three boats of that vintage from Florida and Texas. The Chris is a great design, there is a clean one named Gadzukes in Alamitos. Get those Detroits looked at with a fine tooth comb, many have had top ends on them and the bottom ends are shot, but a trained eye can find that out for you. Also- the exhaust installations on some of the turboed DD's are bad and kill the turbos by the weight of the exhaust hanging off them improperly supported. Retain 10% of your budget for the first year's surprises and outfitting. Try and look for models that have Vaccuflush, it sounds silly but they are preferred by 9 out of 10 wives and are pricy- fresh water keeps them from smelling and you from having to see that bitter lemon look that kills trips. Good luck!

 

[Wideopen]

Great advice, Chris is good.....married up with Radovich years ago, and very tough hulls, you won't be disappointed! With the 6/92's, you may not get the speed you are expecting, guessing about 19-20 knots at 1900 RPM's. Good news is the 6V's are much more efficient than the 8V's. Those east coast boats usually have some pretty tough hours on them and have been beaten up, especially the charter boats. Our calmer Pacific seas are more friendly on longevity of boats. Great advice from the former, and hopefully more to come to assist in your fun decision! Keep us aprised as to your development, so we can all experience in the process! Bill

 

[C_McCann]

If you are leaning toward the Chris- there is a recently rehabbed one that I moored by in Cat this summer for a couple of days, Tuna..- something was it's name. Sweet ride, had a bunch of money dumped into it. That hull is the Uniflite hull and this one looked as fair as the day it was launched. Good boat to check out if you are looking for ideas, good/bad and budget questions on outfitting the one you are looking at buying- it seemed to have it all.

 

[first_watch]

That's probably Tunanator, she's out of San Diego and I think that's the sistership with the tower he's referring too... Nice ride..

Cheers, Bill

â??If your not part of the solution... you're part of the problem"

 

[Wils]

RE: What those guys said.

Plus:
Throw into the hat the Chris has "all the goodies". if you had to buy and install them yourself, that adds up to quite a bit of $$,$$$s

In addition to a picky surveyor and diesel man, if the boat is local, call sergio/expert marine to give the electrical a quality look-over. An upgrade re-wire will EASILY run 5 digits.

BTW: Is this a Trawler Board discussion?

 

[C_McCann]

RE: What those guys said.

It's all Trawlers! Oh, I mean ball bearings!!

 

[The_3_Bears]

RE: What those guys said.

OK - Cat's out of the bag...I am looking at the TUNANATOR. The tower is too tal for HH, but I just found out that I can have it rebuilt for $12,000 so that it will make it into HH.

I would appreciate it if you guys know the owner, not letting him know that I am the guy sniffing around his boat. I am going to be making an offer on Monday - after escrow closes on my boat.

So, Bill - you say it is a sweet ride...have you fished it? My wife hates a boat that "BOBS" like a "CORK". That was the main reason for the sale of my boat. I had nearly $200K into mine and I only got $120K for it....she still hated it.

Why, it was not a stable platform. I bought "Bad Tuna" because it had strong ribs and was a safe and fuel efficient vessel that could handle up to and beyond small craft advisories.

Any more input would be great!

Thanks,

Chris.

 

[TAURUS]

darn the luck...poor guy has to choose between a blonde , a brunette, and a redhead...i'm hearing violin music somewhere off in the distance..

 

[first_watch]

RE: What those guys said.

Chris,

Congratulations on having to make such a hard choice...

If family comfort is a key requirement and then value, out of the three, you are probably making the best choice.

The Bert is a great rough water boat. It's a deep V all the way to the stern (17 degree aft deadrise) which is great for rough water conditions, but it's also a wet boat and due to the deep V, a rocky one. My wife is sensitive to a rocking boat, which ruled the Bert out when I was searching.

The Tiara is a modified V hull, but almost as steep as the Bert, (16 degree aft deadrise), so it's a good rough water ride due to the hull design, but it's the lightest out of the three due to balsa cored sides, so, you'll have the roll of the Bert and a bit less weight for punching through the waves.

The Chris-Craft hull is solid fiberglass, like the Bert and weighs in at 34,000 vs 39,000 for the Bert and 31,500 for the Tiara. It's has a modified-V with an aft deadrise of 8 degrees. The shallower deadrise at the stern will reduce the roll of the boat and should make her quicker out of the hole than the Bert.

This Chris-Craft hull is also considered a pretty dry ride compared to the Bert, which will also be a plus for the wife.

In terms of interiors, the Berts are less lady friendly in their layout and choice of materials, the Tiara much nice and the Chris-Craft a good choice in-between. When taking your sea trial, with the tower on the boat, you will want to test the roll of the boat under various headings, especially with a following sea as the shallower deadrise sterns can get pushed around. 8 degrees isn't bad, but with the added weight and higher center of gravity that tower adds to the boat, you will want to gauge the pitch and roll under several different headings to address your wife's concern.

The bright side, is the deadrise is not as shallow as the Oceans (2 degrees), which were a concern to more than a few owners I've known as they can be a handful with a following sea.

There is also a pretty large Chris Craft user group out there and more than one owners forum you can research to get more information on Chris Crafts. Here's a link to one. There are a few more, I just can't find my old bookmarks.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/424840/
http://www.network54.com/Forum/503931/thread/1149537911/last-1149537911

In regards to the surveyor we discussed over the phone, his name is Lee Frame and he's out of Newport, but he has a Uniflite in HH.

His contact info is as follows and hands down was the best I've worked with.

Maritime Consultant, Inc
Lee Frain S.A.
151 Shipyard Way #A
Newport Beach, California 92663
(949) 675-2881

Good luck and let us know...

Cheers, Bill

http://momentoffame.com/pho]

â??If your not part of the solution... you're part of the problem"

 

[first_watch]

RE: What those guys said.

Chris,

On a side note, the downside to the Chris Craft will be the resale price when you're ready to sell it. The Berts will always retain a solid value as there's a core market that buys just based on it's hard core reputation. The Chris Crafts also have a core market, but they are buyers that tend to target value and are looking for an all around family boat. But, you probably already figured this out.

I hope it all pans out...

Cheers, Bill

â??If your not part of the solution... you're part of the problem"

 

[The Right Kind]

I assume these are all convertibles, right?
My vote would be for the Tiara. It's newer and would have a better resale value.
There's one up here in Santa Barbara for sale that is listed for a lot less than the one in Newport but it isn't on Yacht World. I think the owner is selling it on his own. He's already got a newer bigger boat so he might "deal". If your interested I'll look into it for you.

 

[Mike JB]

Well,
What happend, Did you buy the boat, did he, was he, better yet did you, whaa ?

Mike

My-Tie
Bertram 28

 

[The_3_Bears]

Well:

Someone from here called the guy and the broker and let him know that the offer was comming. We are finalizing our negotiations and I just countered his counter to my counter of his counter to my offer. I think we settled on a price, just terms of closing and how the sea trials will take place and where the boat stays while I arrange for work to be done.

The cool part is that my wife loves the boat! So, stay tuned!!!

Chris.

 

[Mike JB]

Pictures please !!

Mike

My-Tie
Bertram 28

 

[Sick Puppy]

>Pictures please !!
>
>Mike
>
>My-Tie
>Bertram 28
>
>

>
>

Dont be so pushy Mike! LOL

 

[first_watch]

Chris,

That's one of the dangers of the internet..., you never exactly quite know who's reading.

Anyway, I hope it works out for you guys. Please keep us posted and let us know how the sea trial goes.

Cheers, Bill

â??If your not part of the solution... you're part of the problem"

 

[Mike JB]

Ok Mando,now your considered dangerous, Man rule- you talk about, think about-or put an offer on a boat and were gonna demand pictures and details, lots of pictures, we need to see what it is your thinkin. we all live vicariously the life of buying and selling any BOAT.Good or bad we gotta see it, man rule. done

Mike

My-Tie
Bertram 28