Tales from the Tarmac

In 2001, I sent this letter to a magazine’s “letters to the editor” in response to a previous query asking for comments on the Marine Trader 34. It was published at the time, but I don’t remember in which magazine.

Ti Lok is a 1977 Marine Trader/CHB 34 that I have had just over a year. I am very happy with it. I was told the following by the seller and/or the surveyor when I bought the boat. I cannot attest to its accuracy but have repeated the story several times, including to other MT owners, without serious challenge.

Marine Traders are built in Taiwan. The hulls, I’m told, are consistently strong and solid. The very early models reportedly had a wood deck and house. I’m not sure when, but at some point including my 1977, they were changed to fiberglass over wood. Problems can develop if holes are cut or drilled but not properly sealed. If this happens, the wood can get wet, warp, delaminate, or rot. Not pretty. In 1983, I believe, they went to a solid fiberglass deck/house, which solved that problem. Once the hull and deck/house were built, each boat was farmed out to a local group, usually a Taiwanese family, for completion of the interior and fitting out. Supposedly the carvings on the teak interior are family “signatures,” i.e., all boats made by the same family have similar carvings, and a few people who were closely associated with the boat in years past can identify the families by its woodwork. I presume any boat you might consider has the Ford-Lehman diesel. These things are bulletproof.

My surveyor summarized it this way: CHB/MTs have something of a bad reputation because of the variations in original design (wood/wood over fiberglas/fiberglass), inconsistent quality of the finishing work (the family), and improper sealing when penetrating the fiberglass-over-wood deck/house. If you find a good one, though—and it’s not difficult for an experienced surveyor to determine whether you’ve found a good one—you get more boat for your money than anywhere else.

My boat—again a 1977 with fiberglass over wood—was apparently well built and properly maintained and sealed. It had no hull blisters and no evidence of damage history. It’s equipped with good quality/state of the art VHFs, GPSs, and depth finders (two of each). It has 17,000 BTU Rotary Aire air conditioning (but no generator), a Lectra/San MDS, and a 1-year-old inflatable with a virtually new 5 HP Yamaha outboard. Batteries, shaft seals, and practically all “consumables” were less than 2 years old, and receipts were provided. The engine has 1800 hours, and both engine and transmission had good oil analyses. The surveyor remarked that it was truly a pleasure to evaluate a boat in such fine condition. I paid $57,500 for the boat in May 2000. It came with a full tank of fuel (300 g), and I’ve refueled only once, in November. I’ve spent 27 overnights on the boat and put 120 hours on the engine. The only malfunction to date was the alternator. I am most pleased with the boat and its value.