"DSK" wrote in message
.. .
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

Thanks for the info Doug. I remember that you were talking about maybe
getting a trawler when you stopped by for a visit. What model do you
have? The one that is for sale in Baltimore is a 30'.

Doug
s/v Callista