Been lurking a while here, now made an offer on an old Hatt

[Bernd1972]

Hello all, I guess after reading here for a while it´s time to introduce myself. My name is Bernd, I´m from Germany and just sold my last boat, a 65ft. wooden classic. Now I just made my first visit to an older Hatteras 58YF and I made an offer for it.

However, there are, of course, a good number of details that nee attention or replacement. For instance the boat was repowered some time ago with, from my point of view, a pair of really powerful, more recent engingines that are certainly more desireable than the old Detroits.
However, that lead to the funny fact that the boat is now 24V for the engines, for some weird preference of the now selling owner the hotel load is 12V and the fresh water pump and heads are still original Galley maid stuff at 32V which are now operated on 36V since over here in Europe 8V batteries are rather exotic stuff.

Some windows are leaking and some electrical solutions are requesting for qualified attention.
Besides that I´ll certainly find a good number of other details that will have to be taken care of. If every bit would be done by a yard that project might be beyond reason, but I´ve been in the boat business for 17 years now and am qualified to do most of the jobs myself.

Am I crazy to venture into such a project? I hope not and I believe the boat is well worth the required love and care.

However, apart from that and some dull paint on the superstructure the boat is pretty nice and I guess it´ll be my next boat and project.

[wpc691]

Wilkommen an bord, Bernd, und viel Glück! You’ll find lots of very knowledgeable help here.

[longhrnfan]

Hello all, I guess after reading here for a while it´s time to introduce myself. My name is Bernd, I´m from Germany and just sold my last boat, a 65ft. wooden classic. Now I just made my first visit to an older Hatteras 58YF and I made an offer for it.

However, there are, of course, a good number of details that nee attention or replacement. For instance the boat was repowered some time ago with, from my point of view, a pair of really powerful, more recent engingines that are certainly more desireable than the old Detroits.
However, that lead to the funny fact that the boat is now 24V for the engines, for some weird preference of the now selling owner the hotel load is 12V and the fresh water pump and heads are still original Galley maid stuff at 32V which are now operated on 36V since over here in Europe 8V batteries are rather exotic stuff.

Some windows are leaking and some electrical solutions are requesting for qualified attention.
Besides that I´ll certainly find a good number of other details that will have to be taken care of. If every bit would be done by a yard that project might be beyon reason, but I´ve been in the boat business for 17 years now and am qualified to do most of the jobs myself.

Am I crazy to venture into such a project? I hope not and I believe the boat is well worth the required love and care.

However, apart from that and some dull paint on the superstructure the boat is pretty nice and I guess it´ll be my next boat and project.

Lets see some photos!

[oscarvan]

Gruss Gott Bernd. Is it crazy to put more money than it will ever be worth in a MB W100 (600) ? Yes, but it's a lot of fun to drive and that is priceless. These boats were built well and have a level of character that is not for sale otherwise. It's worth it in enjoyment to do them up, and gründlich at that..... Have fun with it!

And that's my story and I am sticking to it!

[Bernd1972]

Thanks to everybody here for that nice welcome.

The boat I´m most probably going to buy (if nothing serious fails during the sea trial which is still to happen) is 45 years old now, looks structurally sound, but has lots of minor things that´ll need attention. Pretty questionable electrics that have been frankensteined with dubious home depot and self-built parts, but unspoiled interiour except for one panel in the salon that has been ruined with lots of screw holes, cables through it and other weird stuff.

The engines are certainly something to be happy with, a pair of MAN 8-cylinders with about 650 bhp each and only 1200 hours on them. Real beasts, even compared to the original Detroit 8-71 Ti (even though they´re aboout the same weight).
The boat is stabilized, unfortunatelly with a system from a dutch manufacturer who ran out of business about a decade ago and spares for their electronics are no longer availeable.
Got three autopilot systems of which 2 are functional (one aging Furuno and one recent Raymarine)
Bathrooms are candidates for a refurbishment, but the galley is excellent except for upholstry.
However, there are so many "little" and not so little things that need attention, some urgently like the hose clamps of the exhaust piping (not good on a boat that partially floats on it´s exhaust sytem), some rather unimportant or mainly cosmetical.

But once done it´ll be a nice vessel. I am just a little concernend about travel resttrictions during the upcoming month over here in Europe due to that nasty Covid-story...

[jim rosenthal]

All of our boats are old at this point, some older than others. I'm not sure Hatteras expected them to be around forty or fifty years along... some of the systems age better than others.

If you buy the boat, get organized, work from the keel up with safety first and then mechanicals and last of all appearances. Good luck with it all, and if you buy the boat, welcome to the asylum.

[Bernd1972]

Allready started sourcing stuff for some minor refit work. By the way, has anybody here an opinion about non-Detroit engines on old Hatts?
MAN D2848 here, 680hp each 1250 hours so far and much stronger shafts and slightly bigger props... Same weight as the detroits though.

[Pascal]

Welcome

Biggest issue with MANs is maintenance and service cost. Usually much higher than MTUs or Cats. Have the engines surveyed carefully along with oil analysis.

The butchered electrical system is a concern. This is where most boat fires start. I can’t understand why anyone would convert the house side down to 12v instead of 24v. If they kept the original wiring, 32 to 12v is a big step down which the wiring may not be able to safely handle.

Electrical work can get VERY expensive when contracted to a yard...

[krush]

Maybe MAN parts and mechanics are cheaper in Germany?

Where do you boat, on the rivers or on the Baltic?

[jim rosenthal]

What Krush said... some of the cost differential between MANs and Caterpillars or Cummins might be due to the fact that all that stuff has to be shipped over here.....

In any case, more than likely you'll have the fastest one of that model. Wish you many years of enjoyment with her.