Opinions wanted - I am looking for a 45 Conv.

[mmacauley]

There are two I found that I wanted owners (current or past to comment on the good, the bad and the ugly. I am looking for a liveaboard/fishing vessel that I can keep in Southern Maine may-Oct and then bring her south to MD for the winter months. I am a gas engine guy and have much to learn which is why I want comments. I lean towards the CAT engines (I use CAT generators in my data centers and they are super reliable) but is it worth a $40K difference?

yachtworld.com/boats/1984/Hatteras-Cat-Repower--Full-Tower-Convertible-S-f---Must-Sell-%21%21-2254802/Southern-New-England/NY/United-States

and

yachtworld.com/boats/1985/Hatteras-*45-Convertible*-1731077/Wilmington/NC/United-State

[OBXTucker]

I'm not an expert on the bigger Detroits or Cats, but I'd want to know how many hours are on the DD's. I don't think it said in the ad.

There are quite a few folks here that know these engines well - so hopefully some will chime in.

Nice boats that can be had at a great price these days!
Whichever way you go, make sure you do a hull and engine survey. Don't skimp on this expense - and make sure you're there for the entire survey. You'll learn more about your new boat in 48 hours than you'll learn over the next year (with a couple of good suveyors).

Good Luck!

Oh....and head further south than Maryland in the fall!! It can get downright COLD on the Chesapeake in the winter!

[jim rosenthal]

Yes, you need to get at least to Florida and you might even need to go further than that...;).

I took a look on YW to see what's out there. In Series II 45Cs, there are about twenty or so boats. Most of them I would not bother with. There is one in CT that looks pretty nice, has original DDs. If you look at 1989 and newer boats, you get the island bed up front which is a plus- the boat was restyled for 1989, I think, and the interior updated. These are very nice boats, probably the best 45C they ever built.

In vintage cars, which I unfortunately fool around with a lot, the general feeling is to buy the best one you can afford to get. And since restoration seldom results in a vehicle that appreciates as much as it cost to restore it, the expression is "buy the restoration, get the car for free" I don't know if this applies to older boats, but I would make these suggestions:

-look at the brochures collection in this web site- very good information on what they looked like and when changes were made.
-buy the best one you can afford, and survey the daylights out of it. And bring your own surveyors, for at least engines, genset and hull, and maybe even an electrical system surveyor as well.
-if you buy a boat which has had its engines majored, find one that someone has used for a season or two AFTER the engine major- you don't want "zero hours on freshly majored engines!!!" No, thanks. If they have a couple of hundred hours on them, you are more likely to find that the majors were done right.
-don't pay for what you don't need. If you don't need a tuna tower, for example, it's a lot of upkeep and no benefit to you.
-the cheapest thing to replace on a boat is the electronics package. The second cheapest thing is all the interior soft goods. Which you're probably going to change anyway.
-boats tend to be cleaner in the Great Lakes, the mid-Atlantic- don't neglect those areas. Some of the prettiest used boats I have ever seen came from the Great Lakes areas- it is fresh water, the season is short, and a lot of them winter over indoors.

And finally, plan on keeping whatever you buy for a long time. There is no upside anymore in these boats, so get one you REALLY like, plan on getting to know it very well, and think about buying a very good older boat with DDs and repowering it yourself in a year or two. Cummins M11s, the engines of choice for these boats, are available in a factory "reman" program at a considerable discount. A 1989 or later Series II 45C with those engines would be my dream boat. I would think I had died and gone to heaven.

[saltshaker]

The Cat boat you listed has '00 3196 Cats. That is around the time Cat had major problems with these engines. They should be fine since they made it this far and have 2500 hours on them but you need to find out what their history is. Find out if they had all the Cat upgrades done or better yet if they were built came from the factory with all the mods already done. Price is good for a repowered 45C provided she is otherwise in good shape. The second boat is under contract and should be closing any day now. They have been through surveys and sea trials and are now addressing a few issues before closing. The asking price on most of the 45C's on Yachtworld are much higher than they will ever bring.

[jim rosenthal]

I totally agree. Which means you should find the boat you like best, regardless of price, and see what it will really sell for. The worst thing they can do is say no.

If I were doing this, I'd look carefully for the best 45C from 89 up that I could find, and plan on repowering it. More than likely, the genset would have been done already.

Not everyone wants the island queen bed up front. If you are going to fish with your friends, you may be better off with the V-berth layout and over and under bunks in the second stateroom. In which case, the boat will cost you less.

There is also a Series III 46- a much later boat built in the early 90s. I am not familiar with them, but I would imagine they bring more, and have more complex systems. I don't know how many they made- they were only produced for about three or four years.

[Scope]

I know of a series 1 45 that was completly refit in 2005 cat 3196 660hp
northern lights generator, aprox.400 hrs. One of the nicest I have seen.

[Genesis]

I'm not a fan of the 31xx series engines, but that's my 2 cents and it's mostly anecdotal; I've never owned a boat with them in it but know several people who either do or have. A repowered boat with 4-strokes is going to be faster and burn less fuel though - no matter what color they are.

Were I picking and choosing on a repowered 45C I'd want one with Cummins M11s in it. I've been on two of them and that, in my opinion, is the PERFECT power package for that boat. Big, big difference in fuel burn, speed and social issues (noise) But the DDs aren't bad motors - I owned on with them, and they're fine, provided they're in reasonable condition.

As noted don't expect these boats to be investments and buy the best one you can find and afford at the time. Take your time - there's a lot of trash out there, unfortunately.

[Scope]

The later 3196E. are very releiable,and cooling issues were addressed by cat.These are 12 liter engines.Newer models include C12,C15,C18,etc.
I manage a fleet of C12,13 and 15's all in idustrial applications many with12000 plus hours.Its hard to decide in this range 12 liter 660 hp.
All players Cat,Cummins,Detroit build a quality product.Even the fuel burn and performance is attractive on these power plants. You can buy alot of fuel for the amount of money a repower will cost.
I ran my 46c with 8v92ti's 650hp at 1900rpm 20mph. for 7hrs burned 200gals. not to bad? I enjoy the 2 strokes run them at 1900 to 2000 rpm range,due your maintaince and due not run them hot!!! and you will get many hours of service from them.And if you have to major one it will only cost you an arm you can save your leg for fuel.

[Tim Powell]

There are two I found that I wanted owners (current or past to comment on the good, the bad and the ugly. I am looking for a liveaboard/fishing vessel that I can keep in Southern Maine may-Oct and then bring her south to MD for the winter months. I am a gas engine guy and have much to learn which is why I want comments. I lean towards the CAT engines (I use CAT generators in my data centers and they are super reliable) but is it worth a $40K difference?

yachtworld.com/boats/1984/Hatteras-Cat-Repower--Full-Tower-Convertible-S-f---Must-Sell-%21%21-2254802/Southern-New-England/NY/United-States

and

yachtworld.com/boats/1985/Hatteras-*45-Convertible*-1731077/Wilmington/NC/United-State

You buy a45 with cat engines for 40k diffrence you better buy it on the spot

[cap10rob]

Have you bought a 45' conv. yet?If not,I know of one in fla. that just might be one to look at... cfcap10@yahoo.com...if you would like more information.Thanks and good fishing...or hunting if you are still looking.

[tgpclub]

Not sure if you are still looking at 45's but you really need to know a little more about the 45 and 46 models.

I looked at over 40 of the 45 and 46 convertibles and finally found my boat in NC. The 46 is a lot better boat than either the early 45 or series II 45's. It rides like a 50 and 53 but is much more economical than the bigger boats.

When I looked for a boat I did not want anything with Detroits, they where great engines in their day and a lot of boats still have them but the parts are really getting to be an issue, they leak and are not very fuel efficent. No matter what someons says about "x amount of hours since overerhaul" yu will be amazed how much money you can go thru do to their age.

Mine was the only one with Volvos and they are GREAT, very well built, simple to maintain and their parts are not any more expensive than any other brand, in fact, in many cases they are less expensive. They use far superior material than either CAT or Cummins and do not have any issues.

My plan was to live on the boat and charter it which we have done but now I'm looking to downsize and the boat is available. It needs absolutely nothing -everything was replace in the interior, plumbing, mattresses, flooring, appliances, seating etc. The 600 HP motors, will trawler speed at 7.5 knots at 2.5 gallons per hour on one engine or 29 Knots top speed.

If you are interested in more info let me know, I have put more than 3,000 miles on the boat with nothing but great experiences.

I'm in Florida but it would be worth it for you to contact me.

Capt. Steve
checkmatefishing@aol.com