The Mainship 34 Trawler that was built from 2004-09 is a different model from the Mainship 34 that was available from the 1970s until the 1980s in various incarnations. When shopping the brokerage market, you might find boats called the Mainship Sedan Trawler, Mainship Motor Cruiser, Mainship II, Mainship III or Mainship 34 Trawler. They’re all different.
Some 900 of the earlier designs were built, and sometimes, their model years overlap, making it even harder to tell them apart in some brokerage listings. And those 900 or so hulls do not include Mainship 34s that came out in the 2000s.
One way to differentiate among the listings is that a number of Mainship 34s went to the Great Lakes, meaning they may have lived their entire lives in fresh water—a distinction that can make them far more valuable than their sisterships of any age.
Another tip is to look at the cockpit size or beam for a clue as to which model you’re seeing. The earliest Mainship 34 designs had cockpits barely six feet long, while the Mainship II extended the cockpit to nearly nine feet—stealing perhaps too much space from the saloon. The Mainship III cheated about a foot out of that extended cockpit and put it back into the saloon, for more interior creature comforts.
By the time the builder reimagined the Mainship 34 in the 2000s, interior space was coming more from beam (the newer 34 was nearly two feet wider than her predecessors) and owners had nearly 360 degrees of outside views through glass panes that, by then, were replacing old portholes and smaller windows in cruising-boat design. The newer 34 had opening Lewmar ports, too.
All of the Mainship 34 models were designed for a cruising couple, with one stateroom and one head. Also in the single category was the engine. Early models came with a 160 HP Perkins that provided a 10- or 11-knot speed at the top of her continuous rpm operating range, while later versions might have had a 200 HP Perkins or a 220 HP Johnson and Tower. The newest Mainship 34s came standard with a 370 HP Yanmar and was considered a “fast trawler” that could hit 21 knots with the Bennett trim tabs properly set.
Base price on the Mainship 34 in 2005 was $187,600. Today, brokerage models range from about $21,000 for a 1979 build to almost $200,000 for a Mainship 34 built in 2009.
The top-priced boat on the market right now is listed with Mike Levell at Atlantic Yacht & Ship. She has 1,400 hours on her engines and, he says, has never touched salt water during her years of use with maintenance-obsessed owners in the Great Lakes region.
“The owner who has her now, I sold it to him in 2012,” Levell says. “He came from a Hatteras 63 that he owned for years, so he’s a very experienced yachtsman who downsized to something for just him and his wife. He bought it from a pilot, and they of course take good care of mechanicals. This boat has been kept in top condition, including inside heated storage every winter.”
The features that made the Mainship 34 so popular for so many years are what continue to make Timika a good choice for a cruising couple today, he says.
“The saloon is spacious,” he says. “It has a real couch and two barrel chairs in it. The stateroom is a great layout because you can get to the foot of the bed and both sides of the bed. So many of the smaller boats, you have to get into the bed on the side. When you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, on this boat, you aren’t climbing over another person. And the stairway to the flybridge is huge for older cruising couples who don’t want to deal with ladders. Then you have the side decks and bulwarks plus handrails, so that also feels very safe.”
“The other thing that’s important for cruising is the lower station with the door right there,” he adds. “You can open that door while you’re docking, and you can get to the side deck from the helm really easily. The owner who had it before these people bought it used to cruise single-handed, and that door made it possible.”
In fact, Levell says, the current owner of Timika actually started out looking for a larger Mainship. He was surprised to find that the 34 met all his needs.
“Someone had this boat listed the wrong size, so we accidentally found this,” he says. “It was in Ohio. It was beautiful. The lines were really nice, and part of the reason that sold the owner on this boat was that it’s a trawler, but it’s a fast trawler. He cruises this at 15 or 16 miles an hour, and most people would probably cruise it at eight or nine knots. On a regular trawler, eight or nine knots is all that the boat will do. That’s what was unique about these Mainships. They also make a great 15- or 16-knot boat.”
See all Mainship 34 Trawler listings.
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