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In article .com,
says...

Without knowing anything particularly about the condition of the
vessel; if the hull is sound and the cosmetics aren't just completely
shot she might be an OK buy at $100k. Probably not a bona fide "steal",
however, unless it's a lot fresher and cleaner than it appears in the
photos and it's major sale-proofing is solely the result of some very
high engine hours. Unless there is some well documented major overhaul
work and/or unless Norm from Pat's Marine Engines surveys the stink out
of the engines and pronounces them in good shape I would figure on a
repower, for sure. (Just because some people will live to be 105
doesn't mean we should all expect to). Figure $50k for a rough number,
(if you can get a decent deal somewhere) but get a more detailed
estimate before finalizing an offer. The listing represents the boat as
a displacement, rather than a semi-displacement hull which would make
it somewhat unsual (ergo the paravanes). There wouldn't be any reason
to go for a lot more power than the current 120's, as you could double
the HP, maybe triple the fuel consumption and perhaps get another knot
or two as a result (maybe).

With 6000 hours, there's a good chance this has been a charter boat.

My impresssion from the listing and without inspecting the boat, is
that it is probably something of a fixer-upper. If you ultimately wind
up with $200k in the boat, you could have bought something a lot newer
(but not with new engines) in the same size category for that same
money. For somebody who wants to wind up with a freshly repowered,
cosmetically resurrected boat for something around $200k, a boat like I
envision this DeFever to be could be a good starting point *if it is
structurally sound*. If she needs a total exterior paint job as well
as a repower, {see Florida UV damage}, you will be in the game well in
excess of the $200k. If you've got stringers, fuel tanks, or house rot
to deal with you will be in the game probably way too much based on
what you'll have when done. On the other hand, if the boat is as tired
looking as the poor quality exterior photo suggests, you could make a
relatively modest investment, just boat around cheap and dirty for a
while, cross your fingers and hope the machinery doesn't come akimbo.
If something major conks out, you could always take a $40-50k bath and
just walk away- but I would never really personally recommend taking
the minimalist approach or trusting engines in less than top condition.

Arthur DeFever rather likely supervised the layup and construction of
this vessel, but it is still a Taiwan trawler with all of the
associated "isms". :-)

Call Brent Whiteman at Oviatt if you're seriously interested and you
can use my name if you'd care to. Brent and I worked together at
another brokerage in the past. He'll give you a no BS account of the
boat. I wouldn't worry too much about the broker in FLA with the lower
listing price. He may not actually have a legitimate listing on the
boat (could be just fishing for leads with another broker's listing-
maybe not- I don't know) but if the sellers will really accept $99k
presented by a broker in FLA they would certainly take the same price
presented by a broker in Seattle. There's a chance that the boat was
for sale for a while in FLA at $99k, didn't sell, and has been trucked
to the Pacific NW where trawlers are a much hotter commodity than they
are in FLA. The seller may be trying to recover some of the transport
costs as well as start a bit higher due to the market differential in
the PNW. Since you're in Seattle, talk to Oviatt.

I emailed the Florida broker last night, he referred me to Niel at
Oviatt and Niel just emailed me saying that he's changing the price on
the website.

The precipitous drop in price would likely indicate the boat needs new
engines.

jps