Interesting suggestion, Bob. I think that 60' would be way more boat
than I would need

and my guess would be that the boat would not be
economical to run


Why say that? Commercial fisherman (fishers?) by nature are very
frugal people who need very simple boats. Simple to operate, simple to
fix underway, simple to maintain. Why????? Simple is as simple does,
to quote one notable shrimper. A 540 HP derated Cat 3412 sucks
20-25gph under 100% continuous load. Now I don't think you'll be
dragging no shrimp net so most likely fuel will be on the light side
of 20 gph.

When you get that white plastic recreational thing with twin what
evers shoveled under the deck, ask your self this:
How do you get 350 HP out of such a small engine?
How much fuel does TWO of those things burn?
How many hours before both need a top end rebuild?
How many hours labor will it take to_________ ?!?!??! Oh, small
cramped spaces cause high marina bills.
Go to any of the yards on the OR-WA coast that service the commercial
fleet. Astoria, Toledo, Reedsport, Charleston. They would be happy to
give you a very accurate estimate for maint and repair. I did and was
surprisingly pleased with their info.

Just because it is a commercial fishing vessel means its bad. Just
imagine all that HUGE, stand up straight space in the engine room.

Once I get to that golden age I'm certainly selling my cramped 39'
sailboat and getting a real boat. And when I get tired putting up a
river I can just stick the bow in the mud and call it a day.

Who knows, with that kind of space I might head down to San Francisco,
call it a B & B, rent out a room for $150/night on the boat for the
tourist. I'd go to my room that I put in way aft in the hold. Nice and
quiet but still on board. But of course on my run from OR to CA put a
deck load of cord wood I got cheep in southern Oregon. Then sell it
for $ 400 a cord to the city folks off the dock. Maybe try Christmas
trees one year. Lots of ways to cut fuel bills on a work boat. Try
that on a white plastic what ever.

Take this to the bank...................... people only know what they
know. If all they know is white plastic that is all they will
recommend and all that you will consider. So crawl out of that Miracle
Whip bowl and look around to ALL your options.

nor would it be cheap by the time I got it back to
the Pacific NW.

Buy one in down in the GOM, take it to a yard there, haul it and be
ready for a $10-20,000 bill and 3-4 weeks on the yard. Strip all the
fishing gear and ya might get some money for that, then fly the family
down and take them through the cannal and port hop up the west coast.
Sounds fun to me, no?


I'm also not familiar with steel vessals

Read a book.

If youre condiering a $150,000 recreatinal boat you have enough money
to buy and maintain 70' shrimper.

Bob