Buying a 1984 43' Double Cabin

[Minordraco]

Hi, I'm new here, and new to 'larger' boats, but not boating, as I have a 20' Sea Ox used for salmon fishing on Lake Michigan, and which was also made in North Carolina.
The boat I'm buying, I will have surveyed, but in general from every thing I've looked at seems in remarkable shape for being a 1984. It's a 43' Dual Cabin, powered by 2 Detroit Diesel 6-71 TI's with 390 HP each, and about 1400 hours, or at least the what the hour meters say. As I'm near Chicago, the boat is on the hard and inside (non-heated) storage. A lot of the instrumentation seems original, but there is some newer Raymarine stuff, along with a new autopilot. Also, the boat has NIAD Stabilizers, which is one of the features that drew me to this boat.
The boat has been out of the water for two years, prior to that it was mostly used as a 'floating condo', but was run regularly, just not for long periods, probably rarely leaving the outer harbor.
I plan on using this boat for the Great Loop, and think it will be excellent for the purpose, but I'm giving myself at least two years to get used to it before starting that, plus I need to wait until the wife can retire.
The boat cost a bit more than some other 43' Hatteras DC's on the market, but I think that the stabilizers are the reason, also the '84 is the last year for this version of the DC, but it has the centerline Queen bed.
Other than cooling pump impellers, the standard oil and coolant changes, oil and fuel filter changes what am I most likely to encounter as issues the first year? Also, I'd like some idea of what the fuel burn rate is going to be, just so I have an idea of range. Also, what the heck is the mast on the Foredeck for, just looks? I'm also interested to know what others might think of using this boat for the Great Loop.
Thanks for your help.

[Freestyle]

I had one. Sounds like a strong pick with the DD's at 390 and stabilizers. The price premium is the stabilizers which are too expensive to add to that boat at this time so maintain them. That stabilizers make that boat significantly more comfortable in quartering and beam seas. The stabilizers will give you several more safe comfortable cruising days

Expect 1nm per gallon at 8.2 knots.

Your house systems will be where you spend your initial time and money. A dock cruised boat will have put them under some stress. Generator and AC compressors are the biggest ticket items. Freshwater and heads are not expensive to upgrade if they are still Galley Maid original. A Mach 5 freshwater pump will make that system bullet proof. I am a fan of redundancy for heads but not a practitioner with a Head Hunter system.

For the loop, basic navigation stuff will suffice.

That is a great boat for your mission and the peak of that model's production.

Bruce

Freestyle
1986 62 CPMY (54 with ext)
Former owner 1976 43 DCMY
Tampa

[Jims43DC]

We bought our first bigger boat, a 1980 43DCFB awhile back also with the niad stabilizers and the 671 ti engines, It has so far been a great boat we will be starting our 3rd year on her this spring. you will love the boat, The forward mast is the highest point on the boat and the top has the 360° anchor light mounted on it. Handy for going under the bridges on the canal systems. Our boat also had been a dock queen for some time, and was on the hard in cold dry storage several years before we bought her. Our biggest issue has been the generator which is a constant pain and not in an easy place to work on. I'll agree with around 1NMPG or maybe a better at 8 knots which we see at around 100-1200 rpm. Things that we had to work on the first summer were Upper helm didn't respond at all just turned freely, needed to be bled out and the little reservoir in the engine space (NOT ROOM) had to be pressurized with a bicycle pump. Starter on the Generator, fresh water pump on the generator, Battery covers not at all well designed so we made a one piece cover to go over the 4 separate covers that they came with, much nicer to work off of when in the engine space, the Glendenning synchronizers did not work, Our AC's did and do not work as of yet but we are on Lake Champlain so not really top priority for us yet (We hope to loop) so they are on the list. windless was in-op but a new foot switch got it going. little things like lights all over. Lack of use is the hardest thing on any piece of equipment.

Learning the boat and all the systems is a long process. They are extremely well made and I found very easy to handle single handed.

One of your best assets will become this web site forum and Sam's for all your parts needs. Keep us posted on your progress in getting your boat.

[brettportzer]

We also have somewhat recently acquired a 43DC, our is a 1972 with no stabilizers and natural 6-71s.

What I have found is that mostly anything that is original is pretty well done, and nearly anything that had been modified or updated somehow was not nearly as well done.

The big job that we have done is that we actually removed our flybridge. It wasn't super useful for us and simplifies the boat a lot.

I am currently remodeling the bathrooms a bit, new heads and floors.

I have been trying to go through the boat at a pretty basic level and get things ship shape before moving on to fancy stuff like electronics and such, as we don't really have much of a need for that right now.

The waste system plumbing was kind of a mess and I removed that in its entirety, replumbed to one of the built in holding tanks, and removed all of the ancient non function pumps and in a month or so will actually remove the old thru hulls, bringing my thru hull count down from 10 to 5.

Where we are, getting things serviced is not as much of an option as it is where our boat previously lived, and as such I am planning to replace a lot of things with things that are able to be serviced, more or less, by me.

Starting with the heads and plumbing, next year I expect to replace the ac and heat and then most likely the Onan MDJE generator.

The major thing that I haven't investigated too much yet is the non functional windlass, hope to get into that this summer.

Oh, I also had the hull blasted this fall and am going to fair and barrier coat that when it warms up.

Something to keep in mind is, our boat was not a project boat, in my estimation, the thing I always tell people is that it looks very original, but I am certain that the previous owner of 42 years did everything I am doing at least once already.

It's just that these boats are a lot of work to keep up!

Oh yea, I also replaced the batteries, battery boxes, all of the 4/0 battery wiring and switches, engine room gauges, and the charger is next!

[cww]

A 43 with 671ti's probably flies, that's a lot of power for that size and weight. What's the top end? Just curious.

[brettportzer]

With 6-71 naturals it does not fly!

A 43 with 671ti's probably flies, that's a lot of power for that size and weight. What's the top end? Just curious.

[cww]

With 6-71 naturals it does not fly!

I'm with you, neither does my 53 with 8v71ti's. She will do 16 knots at +/- 2000rpm and 18 knots or so flat out. Unfortunately 60,000+ pounds of boat with 435x2 horsepower doesn't make for much of a speed demon. This 43' that he's looking at buying though, is half the weight and has the optional 400hp 671ti's. I bet that one will really get up and go.

[Jims43DC]

I'm with you, neither does my 53 with 8v71ti's. She will do 16 knots at +/- 2000rpm and 18 knots or so flat out. Unfortunately 60,000+ pounds of boat with 435x2 horsepower doesn't make for much of a speed demon. This 43' that he's looking at buying though, is half the weight and has the optional 400hp 671ti's. I bet that one will really get up and go.

Our 43 weighs in at 34,000 pounds and I have seen 20 knots at 2350rpm I don't run that hard very often or for long cause she has a fuel drinking problem. I do like to run her up a bit at the end of the day to clean it out.

[cww]

Our 43 weighs in at 34,000 pounds and I have seen 20 knots at 2350rpm I don't run that hard very often or for long cause she has a fuel drinking problem. I do like to run her up a bit at the end of the day to clean it out.

You aren't kidding. It's about 70gph on plane for me, so I stick to 9 knots hull speed. I do put it on plane occasionally just to blow the oil slobber out of the airboxes, and I swear you can feel the boat getting lighter as you go along. Last fill up was almost 600 gallons at $4-something a gallon, it was like $2500. Prices have only gone up since then, it's back to 5-something now. If you're not in a hurry she turns in a solid 1mpg at 9 knots, and you can run around for a year on the same fillup.

[Rustednut]

You bought a great boat I have been watching it. Let me know if you ever move up from her.