A newbie here considering moving up to a Blackfin from my 1994 Mako 243 can't take the rough head seas in this old Mako anymore. I have fished several mid size boats but have never owned one so I have several questions that I would like to ask those of you familiar with Blackfin.
There is a local 1988 29 FB with low hours on Crusader 454XL's the engines were installed in 1996 (Don't think I can afford diesels at this time). First I am not familiar with Blackfin other than the stellar reputation of a great fishing boat. My use will be some cruising and offshore fishing 90% Trolling, it is about 55 miles to the Gulf Stream where I fish I typically burn 100 gallons of gas fishing all day, what can I expect with this BF 29FB? I have heard the Crusaders have a good reputation.
I have located a private dock to moor at for a reasonable price but what can I expect to pay to haul and store over the winter months so that I can do some maint. and yes I am pretty mechanical. When looking at a boat this age what should I look for before determining if this is the boat that I want to get a professional survey on. Is the FB the way to go or should I look at the combi? Educate me on going from a trailer boat to a bigger boat? Is the 29 trailerable for a couple hundred yards to pull out of the water for the winter?
Please tell me the good, bad, and ugly so that I go into this with eyes wide open.
I posted this on the other Blackfin site and just got one good response with good info on what to expect about fuel burn on this particular boat but not answering the other questions, hoping for more information.
Thanks in advance for the education that I am about to recieve.
Tony
I am on a smartphone in a crane in NYC, so for a short answer, take your pick of flybridge or combi, both trailerable, you are definitely going to love them after u had a Mako??
Couldn't understand, r u asking how much more fuel you will burn above the mako, or if the Blackfin with gas motors has the range, yes they have that range, you will be using 75-100 gallons more though to do that then the mako
..38 under construction.....Getting better
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/re-doing-my-salon-lay-out-38
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/38-blackfin-re-power
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/38-blackfin-refurb-thread
Mainly looking for what kind of problems to look for on a hull this age, trouble spots to look for, will banks finance a boat this age?
Well some of the older Blackfin's might have some problems, but you can look at them and find out where things are not good
Then look at others, that don't have any problems
Survey's will show the problems
Look around this whole forum to see what some problems very easy to fix
If the owners never maintained there boats, (re-chaulk all the thru bolts) may have some little core issue's.. Remove, dry-out, squirt some 6-10 epoxy in there, re-chaulk, your done
Don't worry to much, just let the surveyors check with moisture meter, the stringers would be the only problem that I would back out of buying one (only if it was rotten, wet can be dried)
Inboard boats don't have any wood in the transoms, you won't find any soft floors either, these are not Mako's.. Much better built, high tier boats
..38 under construction.....Getting better
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/re-doing-my-salon-lay-out-38
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/38-blackfin-re-power
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/38-blackfin-refurb-thread
Hey look under my threads 36-40 section, 38 Blackfin refurb thread, Blackfin upgrades section, re-doing salon layout, and 29 section, re-power to 370 hp cummins
You will see, I fear nothing about Blackfins
And yes, because they were top tier boats, they are one of the ones that banks will still finance (only the banks that will finance older boats)
Last July I bought my 38 with a loan from a pain in the ass bank
..38 under construction.....Getting better
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/re-doing-my-salon-lay-out-38
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/38-blackfin-re-power
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/38-blackfin-refurb-thread
Tony
I am the one that gave you the info on the "other" blackfin site. you will get a much faster response on this site and a lot of times Mike will call you from the crane (work). Listen to what Mike tells you as he is always rebuilding his boat / boats. Post the link to the boat you are thinking of or send him a PM with the link to the boat. Also MachMike on this site is already going through a decent amount of upgrades and fixing on his 29 FB and can give you some good info on fixing stuff as well. I know the boat you are looking at as I mentioned but I wont put the link up to it unless you tell me to. Actually I think Mike and I had a brief conversation about it a while ago. I have been looking for a long, long time as Mike will tell you for my BF. I happened to find a clean Combi right in my back yard here on Cape Cod that I should be closing on next week. Just remember everything is fixable especially if you are handy. If those engines check out and there are no big rot issues the boat you are looking at is a no brainer if you can deal with the fuel bill. I got my boat for almost 6K less than the asking so don't be afraid to start with a low number and go from there. I am actually financing my 1986 Combi with Sterling Associates (financed last 3 boats with them) and the loan is not an issue. They will even pre approve you. IMHO the 29 BF is the best head sea boat in this size range. I have owned a 28 Bertram and have fished on a 28 Carolina Classic and the BF rides better. Good luck and keep us posted.
link to Sterling Associates
http://boatbanker.com/
Jon
Jon, sterling is who I used before, but they told me they couldn't finance older boats, so I used someone else because that?? Shawn lost my loan??
..38 under construction.....Getting better
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/re-doing-my-salon-lay-out-38
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/38-blackfin-re-power
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/38-blackfin-refurb-thread
Really, Shawn has financed my last 3 boats and the service has been great. Just found out that my boat will be CG documented and the documentation service company told me that the CG has a 16 week back log on documentation. They are going to give me a "running letter" to carry on the boat.
U won't believe this, something got screwed up with mine as well, I might get mine when u get yours if I am lucky?? I am fighting like hell to figure a way I can get my HMS angler permit, bummer
..38 under construction.....Getting better
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/re-doing-my-salon-lay-out-38
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/38-blackfin-re-power
http://www.blackfinforums.com/content/38-blackfin-refurb-thread
U won't believe this, something got screwed up with mine as well, I might get mine when u get yours if I am lucky?? I am fighting like hell to figure a way I can get my HMS angler permit, bummer
Shit, I didn't even think up the permit! let me know what you come up with if anything.
Thanks guys this is the kind of information that I was looking for, and I have been reading a lot of post on this site, which brought up another concern which is the age of the fuel tank, if it has never been changed out it should be at the end of its useful life shouldn't it?
Have the tanks pressure tested. You can do this yourself or pay a professional. Mine passed. That being said and this a gasser like mine.....yes...the main is encapsulated in foam which gets wet and eats at the aluminum. I am considering replacement of the main next haulout.......if I can get brave enough to take the chainsaw down the sides like Mike did his LoL! Those crusaders will go many hrs if taken care of.....keep the cooling system in good shape as big block chevys don't do well with high oil temps. Season ticket and others in the know can tell you of the service life. I'm not sure on the fuel burn as my boat is still on the hard but we are hoping to splash her by the 4th of July. I've been told by other heavy boat owners (NOT Blackfins) to expect approx 1mpg at trolling speed of 8 knots and .7 at cruise....not into secondaries. I was told by P/O that my boat does best at 2900 rpm but my boat had some serious bottom paint issues which have been fixed. LIsl32 is very knowledgable about power/fuel burn numbers and Season Ticket has owned a 32 with 502's which probably were thirsty punks....
Just read the 96 XL's ... Fuel injected? Forget the comment about the secondaries LOL!! Mike is a wealth of info on the 29....he is just REALLY into his 38 now...
Machmike
boat he is looking at is not Fuel Injected
I had 350 (454's) Crusader's originally in our 32' FB before repowering to 435hp/502's, and they are great engines if you take proper care of them. In my opinion they (Crusader 350's) are the best marinized Chevy Big Blocks on the market and would chose them over the Gen 5-6 502's, as well as 454's from any other manufacturer, any day of the week. These engines are usually good for 2-3000 hours with proper maintenance. The biggest cause of failure is due to overheating, so always make sure your belts and cooling system are in good condition, and plan on replacing your risers about every four years.
I would burn approx. 18-20 gph per engine cruise ( I would cruise them closer to 3200{into the secondaries} even though recommended cruise is around 3000 rpm {2/3 of WOT} as the boat rode better at that speed), and easily exceeded 25 gph, per engine, at WOT.(4200-4400) I picked up quite a bit of speed with the 502's but was burning close to 50 gph at cruise! Keep in mind, this was with 405 gals of fuel and a tower.
As far as the boat itself...Check the usual areas around cleats, chocks, hatches, gunnel mounted rod holders,etc.... for moisture, especially if they mounted a Liferaft to the deck. On boats's w/towers, check the area behind the side windows above the engine boxes, under the flybridge. On the boats with towers, this area tends to crack. Also look at the cabin door, a lot of times you see towers that are not braced properly and they tend to rack the door opening. You can sometimes see daylight thru the jambs and the header will have opened in corners. Actually looked at boats that they had beltsanded the door so it would close. Also inspect the welds on towers for cracks at stress points. The hulls are pretty much bulletproof.
Good Luck!
1995 38' Convertible
6v92 DDEC'c 565hp
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