Doug Dotson wrote:
Anyone have experience with a Sundowner Tug.

Yes. My wife and I have had one for a couple of years now.

...Are they good boats?

Yep. At least, I think so, and I've had my hands deep into the guts of
the thing by now.

What is their lineage?


Well, they were designed by the West Coast NA Lynn Senour. I tend to
think of them as a sensibly powered take-off of the Nordic Tugs, which
came out first. They were built in Taiwan which is a mixed blessing, the
workmanship is outstanding in many ways and surprisingly primitive in
others. The hulls are built stronger than anything I've ever seen
before, I wonder if they thought they were building battleships. OTOH
they did things like cut out a big triangle of 1" plywood and jam it in
place as the forepeak sole, no access under it. The wiring is about
average for production boats of their era (which makes them terrible by
modern standards but outstanding for Taiwan boats). The joinery is
gorgeous. They have far far too much exterior varnish. The Ford Lehman
engine is a workhorse. I could go on and on.

Are you looking at a Sundowner? Look at a bunch of comparable aged Albin
trawlers and Grand Banks, crawling through the bilge etc etc. Then take
a close look at the Sundowner. We looked at a couple dozen trawlers and
thought the Sundowner was outstanding.

Hope this helps.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King