Prancer - We, Jim and Deb, first met Dave aboard Prancer on our first trip down the Tenn-Tom Waterway. This was Dave's third season cruising on Prancer and he quickly became a friend. The boat to the right is the one Dave built himself. Dave was a mechanical engineer and as you will read in the survey, he did exceptionally fine work constructing this all steel boat.

You can read all about the survey by clicking on Prancer. This will open a Word document and you will be able to read a professional opinion about the quality of construction and the condition of the vessel. To contact someone about this boat, you may email Gary Mott at Gary.Mott@fleetlease.com or you may call at 561-266-8709.

Unfortunately, Dave passed away before he was able to complete all of the interior of the boat. As unfortunate as it is that Dave was unable to complete his dream, this presents you with the opportunity to make this boat exactly the way you would like it. You also have the benefit of knowing that there are thousands of miles on the boat which means all of the installed systems are completely tested. In addition, at 7 knots it only uses 1.5 gallons per hour making it a perfect crusing trawler.

As you can see in the picture to the left, anchoring in a small creek isn't a problem. Dave would many times beach the bow on the bank and then build a big fire to roast marsh mellows and cook a few hotdogs after a day on the water. Having a steel boat has many advantages when it comes to getting ashore. Of course there is a lift on top and a place on the back to place a dinghy too in case that is more of your style.

Having a 55 foot boat means there is much more space on the boat than we would ever dream of having on our own boat.

The surveyor appraised the boat at $250,000 however in talking with an expert, I understand the hull replacement value would be more in the range of $400,000. If you are a project oriented person and looking for a wonderful way to get into a huge boat for a resonable expense, this may be for you. The pictures below should give you a better idea of what is in the boat and the space you have to work with.

Below are pictures of the boat out of water during the bottom job completed this year.

Master Stateroom - This is a Queen size bed which you can enter from either side. In addition, you can see there are plenty of options for cabinetry that could be mounted on the walls.

The pictures below are of the main head with a full size shower and an electric toilet.

Powerplant, drive system and stearing system - To the right is the hydraulic steering cylinders connected to the rudder post for steering. Below are they hydraulic lines running forward for the steering. Below right is a picture of the frames and stringers to which formed the shape for the plate steel which was all welded.

What you don't see is a huge space that could easily hold another two berths along with a second head.

You can see the drive shaft connects to a set of forward and reverse thrust bearings to take the load from the shaft connecting to the prop.

Below are pictures of a new Kabota engine which drives the generator for the boat.

Fuel System - There are two huge fuel tanks on-board, right and below, which can feed the day tank. You can read more about the tankage in the survey just suffice it to say you will have plenty of fuel to go anywhere you might want.

In addition to these fuel tanks, there are also large water and holding tanks aboard too.

Below left is a picture showing the ceiling and how easy it will be to install wiring in the boat as you choose the additional options you would like to install.

The picture to the lower right is an example of the doors which are installed on the boat. These are very high quality doors and would be capable of taking a major wave head on. The windows are of the same high quality.