Looking at buying a 76 f32

[Hbt sportfishing]

Hello all and thanks in advance for any advice or response.

I am looking at possibly purchasing a 76 f32. I am not new to boating born and raised at the helm. Current boat is a sea ray srv240 and I have no complains. Need to move up in size as my fishing charter business has grown. I am on Lake Ontario, port of Rochester. As I have been doing my research I have found issues with handling in rough seas. I am trying to get to the truth in the matter, as many of you may no Lake Ontario can be a nasty beast at times. I need a boat that will troll 3mph in a nasty chop" 3-4' with breakers"with little issues and get my passages/crew out to the fishing and back to port without worries. All the comments I have read have been rough seas off shore, this does not apply to me on Lake Ontario. Waves and flowing seas are 100% different in my world than the one of an ocean captain. Any input is greatly appreciated.

[prowlersfish]

There are a lot of F32 owners here on the lakes , two are in the charter business I believe . So hopefully they will have some input . I am on the by and ocean so I won't comment . Oh expect mostly negative comments on the other forum you posted on ,they are against anything old or inboard . it has to be the latest and greatest Center console w/outboards LOL . Most comments will be from folks the have never seen or been on one .

[bjanakos]

You probably posted over at the Dull Truth....

I am on the west side of Lake Michigan. I have a new to me '78 Trojan 32 Hard Top. I moved up from a 28' Slick Craft for the very same reason you have. I bought it from the family of a semi-retired charter captain who passed away. He ran the boat for about 12 years prior. There are dozens of 32 Trojans in my port and I can think of 6 others (not including mine) that are used for charter operations.

Although I am just getting started with mine, I have worked as a mate on a few others and driven them in various conditions. They handle very well heading into rough seas up to about 45 degrees port to starboard. They get a little rocky in 3' seas coming at the sides, controlling the vessel is manageable, but its uncomfortable for the guests. They do get a little squirmy in following seas over 4-5 feet. There was one trip last year where we were taking one last pass towards the harbor in 5 foot following seas. The boat would fish-tail enough to throw off the auto pilot and I needed to be at the helm.

The hull is very solid. I installed a transducer right down in front of the battery tray and the core was about 1 1/4". I was very impressed by that. I am curious how mine will handle as I don't have the added weight of the fly bridge and I have HUGE custom engineered rudders.

Good luck with your decision, I truly believe that these are better Great Lakes boats than people give credit for.

[gitchisum]

I have an 88 F32 on the west side of lake michigan. I will echo what was previously stated. I love mine, but I don't charter. I have several friends who do, and all have moved out of their 32's after a few seasons. They went to F36's, and either removed or want to remove the FB. ( one late friend of mine went over so far that one of the props came out of the water, the boat recovered, but the charter never came back for another one!)

If you want your guests to be comfortable in 5' seas, you need more displacement that 15,000 lbs and a full V hull. My $.02

[bjanakos]

I will echo that above... There are plenty of F-32's in service in Great Lakes fishing charter operations, but the F-36 is much roomier for 6-packs. The 11 Meter is the ticket.

[CaptG]

I have been chartering with a 75 F32 for the last 15 years on lake Michigan. I learned not to go out on rough days. It rocks and rolls and can be a handfull. Making your customers power puke does not encourage them to come back. Really tough to handle well in following seas. If you do get it, do like Bjanakos and get the rudders made larger. I just switched to a 10 meter express to get more stability. Good luck with your endeavor.