Thoughts on the Sundowner Tug?
 

Anyone have experience with a Sundowner Tug. Are they good boats?
What is their lineage?

Doug
s/v Callista

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

"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

Doug Dotson wrote:
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'.


You're welcome. We got a 36' and it's not really big enough, partly
because of my wife's reading habits and partly because of my tools. I'm
thinking of sawing it in half and lengthening it by 5 or 6 feet.

http://community.webshots.com/album/73345252UJzhAS

BTW you all still listening to that Jethro Tull cd, or ready for the
next one? ;)

DSK

Can't comment on the Sundowner, but boy, do we love TUGS. Bought a Lord
Nelson Victory Tug 37 last May, having finally had to say goodbye to our
dear old dowager Westsail 32. We can't say enough about going slowly,
comfortably, and traditionally. Just stay away from those hot
twin-gas-engine 30 knot screamers.

Cheers,

Dick Behan
LNVT "Annie"


"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in message
...
Anyone have experience with a Sundowner Tug. Are they good boats?
What is their lineage?

Doug
s/v Callista