Princess 33's and 37's

[Fire99]

Princess 33\'s and 37\'s

Hi All,
I've posted something similar on the Liveaboard forum as its what i intend to do without much success yet so i thought i'd ask you people..

Does anyone have any experience of the old Princess 37 and 33 (Both Mk1 and Mk2)? They seem to have pretty decent space inside. Does the 37 pose a significant advantage over the 33?

Obviously im trying to keep costs down and planning to be living on her for a while but she does need to be able to cruise coastally plus channel hops.

I will be handling her single handed at times so that is a consideration too..

any thoughts gang?

rgds,

Nick

 

[Divemaster1]

Re: Princess 33\'s and 37\'s

With boats take each ft extra length and square it ... then you get an approx estimate of how much bigger the 37 is when compared with a 33..

Two hull shapes ... Y and V ... Y is for displacement/semi-displacement speeds, V's with planning speeds..... with engine HP ratings to match...

P33's were delivered with shafts, and sterndrives, 37's with shafts only.... 37 came with double installations, 33's with single and double.

Look out for window leaks, but should be sound and quite popular boats....which is reflected in the price when well maintained.

 

[Fire99]

Re: Princess 33\'s and 37\'s

Thanks for that.
I'll obviously take a look at both as nothing beats a visual.
Are there any 'competitors' that immediately spring to mind of similary quality?
upto around £50k mark

regards,

Nick

 

[volvopaul]

Re: Princess 33\'s and 37\'s

Hi owned p33 mk1 way back was ok for sea but slow with 2x 80 mermaids, look out for leaking windows and osmosis rife by now in some models.

Look at mk2 33 loads more room for same length and you will find them better with planing hull with 165 hp volvos, will do about 20k max.

37 is good size had various layouts too with double in side cabin and v berths up front, good in a head sea too but not good in beam sea.

Watch out for rotten water tanks in both 33 n 37 as the fuel tank is aft of engines, side or engines in later 33 and 38.

I would personally look for a cheap 38 the room is fantastic for an old model, get one with 188 mermaids and you wont go wrong, they still look good too.

 

[hlb]

Re: Princess 33\'s and 37\'s

I used to have a P33 MK1 with a fly bridge. I would think the outdrives would be getting far to old by now, especially for sea work. THey were an excelent boat in there day, though maybe not quite up to livaboard.

Have you thought about the much newer, far more sea worthy and much better accomodation of a P35. You will have to pay a bit over your budgit, but far superiour.

 

[muckypup]

Re: Princess 33\'s and 37\'s

Nothing wrong with a P37. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Sig has a link to some pics.

I looked at P33's and P37's when buying and I found there was quite a lot of extra space on the P37, including wider & safer side decks without compromising cabin space. 2 separate cabins, and 2 separate heads, both with showers.

I can't comment on how well the original fitments like engines & tanks etc last as our boat had new larger ones installed before I bought her.

Handling wise, the Y hull handling great and have no issues with it. I can't comment on the v hull. Max speed on 135hp engines on the Y hull is about 14 knots.

I went out last last week on the river, and just cruised slow, averaged about 7.5 knots, did 12Nm and she returned 8mpg combined consumption from both engines.

S.

 

[hlb]

Re: Princess 33\'s and 37\'s

Yes the 33, 37 will be fine on a river. They were good in there time on the sea. But not so good in a following sea, dont think any 70's boats were. It took Bernard Olsinki to sort the job out.

 

[oldgit]

Re: Princess 33\'s and 37\'s

Think you will find the P33 a bit squishy as a liveaboard and for not much more money the P37 gives loads more space,however buy a P37 with the daft extra cabin which takes up valuable interior space and you are worse off than in a P33 with its dinette..
My P33 has stainless tanks and the olde 40a engines in it go on forever,not so the ****** outdrives which need constant attention.Its not really the window frames that give problems but the canvas sliding stuff in the grooves that rots happily away.A half decent P33 should be around £30K ish and a bit,but loadsa overpriced stuff on the market considering its a boat that started out life 30 years ago.Ideal for river and estuary work and short coastal hops,but too slow for extended cruising unless your are really not in hurry and can pick your weather.
just for interest, the ancient pix below is off the original spec sheet which came with my boat for the Y and V hulls.

 

[muckypup]

Re: Princess 33\'s and 37\'s

[ QUOTE ]
P37 with the daft extra cabin which takes up valuable interior space and you are worse off than in a P33 with its dinette..

[/ QUOTE ]

Depends on what you are after. I quite like having 2 cabins (unless you mean there was an option for 3 cabins?) as it means that we can have guests staying over.

[ QUOTE ]
Its not really the window frames that give problems but the canvas sliding stuff in the grooves that rots happily away.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd second that. Ours could do with replacing, but a squirt'o'silicon spray sorts them out nicely.

The engine bay on a P37 is big. Ours has 2 big ford mermaid mariners in, an 8kw generator, 2 x 200 gallon water tanks, diesel heater, large hot water tank and various other gubbins and still have room to move around.

These boats have huge lazerette lockers with loads of space (well, mine would be if it wasn't full of junk).

S.

 

[Fire99]

Re: Princess 33\'s and 37\'s

Thanks everyone for your replies..
Certainly gives you a much better insight when there are people who have actually owned the boats and have first-hand experience.

i'll certainly take all info onboard (so to speak) and take a good look at a few.

rgds,

Nick