Rich . . . . We owned its little brother, a 1976 Gulfstar 36 trawler, for 11 years and shed more than one tear back in 2001 when we sold it before getting our new American Tug 34. Both boats were nearly identical in almost every way, the 43 being merely an inflated version of the 36. In fact, Gulfstar built a 55 foot trawler (only about five were ever built) that, in turn, was a big brother to the 43. At a distance, one could hardly tell all of them apart. All three boats had an impressive amount of inside space for their size, a characteristic of every boat the Lazzara family built, and were about as inexpensive to run and bullet proof as one could ever ask for. Construction and about everything else on the boat was no nonsense and straightforward. We did, however, have problems with hull blistering, a fairly situation with most Gulfstars. Our 36 relished heading into the rough stuff but true to the reputation of all round hulls, could get very uncomfortable with more than about a two-foot beam sea. Having been built between 1972 and 1976, all Gulfstar trawlers now have whiskers. Still, their design is classic and will turn heads. For sure, they have long since bottomed out in terms of depreciation. By now, I suspect that because of their relative scarcity, they may even be easing back up the other side a bit. I relished my Gulfstar years because it was such a great learning boat. I could fix things and change things and correct mistakes made by previous owners fairly easily and without feeling as if I was adversely affecting the boat's integrity. On top of that, we logged more than 20,000 miles on ours without her ever letting us down. I strongly urge you to get serious if you believe the Gulfstar you are looking will meet your needs, if it is fairly priced and if mechanical and cosmetic deficiencies can be brought back at a reasonable cost relative to purchase price and market worth. A valuable resource in those respects would be members of the Gulfstar Owners Club. But be on guard. For whatever reasons, it's very easy to get delightfully emotional about Gulfstars. Please contact me offline if you wish to discuss this further. Fred Myers CruiseGuide Author & Publisher **************Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car listings at AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/used?NCID=aolcmp00300000002851)