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Her File, on a Grand Banks 42 Classic

This is what an owner's file would hold. It's built on our real Grand Banks 42 Classic page, so the watch list and the owner reports are live. The boat is an example. What you tick or type here stays on this device and nowhere else.

Example: a 1985 Grand Banks 42 Classic

Twin Ford Lehman 135 diesels

Her numbers

Measured once by the owner, these replace whatever the listing said. The Loop's lowest fixed bridge is 19'6", so her air draft comes first.

Air draft, everything up
Not measured yet
Waterline to the highest point, antennas up
Air draft, mast down
Not measured yet
With everything that folds, folded
Draft, loaded
Not measured yet
With fuel and water aboard
Her Loop, on her numbersNeeds her numbers

Her measured numbers, run through the same route checks every boat page uses. Fill in her numbers above, and log a fill-up or two below for the fuel leg.

Bridges, on her air draft

The Loop itself 19'6" The Illinois River bridge at mile 300.6. AGLCA calls it the lowest unavoidable fixed bridge on the Loop. There is no alternate route. src: AGLCA, charted controlling bridge
Needs her numbers
Chicago River 17'0" On the MAIN route, but the Cal-Sag Canal goes around it. Over-height loses the river, not the Loop. Unrelated to the Triangle Loop's 17', despite the identical number. src: AGLCA FAQ
Needs her numbers
Erie → Oswego 20'0" A route choice. Not binding, since the Illinois bridge is lower anyway. AGLCA publishes 20' on two segment pages and 21' in its FAQ. This checks against the lower figure. src: AGLCA segment pages / FAQ (they disagree)
Needs her numbers
Triangle Loop 17'0" A route choice: Champlain, the St Lawrence, the Rideau, Trent-Severn. The working figure depends on lockmasters LOWERING the pool at a ~15'6" railroad bridge north of Champlain Lock 3. src: AGLCA FAQ ✅ 17'
Needs her numbers
Full Erie Canal, west to Lake Erie 15'0" A route choice. Losing it costs the Erie, never the Loop. This route includes the Welland Canal, where Locks 1-7 upbound require three aboard (one at the helm, two on lines). src: AGLCA advises 15'; the Three Rivers Junction bridges themselves measure 15'6". Plan for 15'.
Needs her numbers

Depth, on her draft

New Jersey ICW (inside route) 3'0" The tightest published figure anywhere on the Loop, and AGLCA pairs it with local knowledge. Without both, the advice is to run outside in the ocean instead. src: AGLCA
Needs her numbers
Clear everywhere without a waiver 5'0" Over 5' needs a signed Trent-Severn waiver. That's a form, not a refusal. AGLCA: many boats drawing more have completed the Loop. The Rideau is maintained at 5'; Trent-Severn's controlled depth is 6'. src: Trent-Severn waiver · Rideau · AGLCA FAQ
Needs her numbers

Fuel, on her measured range

Alton to Paducah, without fuel 250 miles The longest stretch on the Loop without a fuel stop. A soft limit: Loopers short of it carry extra fuel on deck for that one leg. src: AGLCA, the same figure as the fuel range guide
Needs her numbers

Her checklists

Written for her systems, and every line says where it came from. You can add your own lines and put them in any order. Run it goes one line at a time, challenge and response. Ticks clear at midnight, so each day starts fresh.

Example: a 1985 Grand Banks 42 Classic. Twin Ford Lehman 135 diesels.

Morning engine-room check 0 of 12 checked
Scan to run it on your phone, one line at a time.

Twin Ford Lehman Super 135s, from Lehman's own 1987 owner's manual. Check the engine's serial plate first: many 1970s 42s have Lehman 120s, which differ.

Before you start

After you start

Lock-through brief 0 of 10 checked
Scan to run it on your phone, one line at a time.

Grand Banks 42 Classic: railed walk-around side decks, a starboard lower helm with a door to the side deck, and cleats on the bulwarks behind the hawse pipes.

Before the lock

In the lock

Printed from Her File on Can I Loop?, https://www.caniloop.net

Her watch list

The known trouble spots and open questions on her model, plus anything you add, to work through and mark off. Mark one fixed and it goes in her maintenance log.

CLAIMStock mast makes the boat too tall for the Loop's controlling fixed bridges until modified
QUESTIONHas the mast on this boat been shortened or fitted with a tabernacle, and to what attainable height?
CLAIMA Lehman 135 that stalled docking, then wouldn't start: the throttle governor had slipped past its stop screws From an owner's report
QUESTIONWhat is the condition of the teak decks and the plywood subdeck core beneath them?
Plus the items in her engines section, which members see in the full profile.

Her squawk list

Everything you notice that needs attention, dated the day you first saw it so you can see how long it's been waiting. Put the worst at the top and work down.

Nothing on it yet.

Her maintenance log

What was done and when, with her engine hours and what it cost. Anything you mark fixed on the squawk list lands here on its own.

Nothing logged yet.

Her service schedule

From her engines' own manual, counted against her hour meter. Check the serial plate first: many 1970s 42s have Lehman 120s, which differ.

Hour meter now: not set

If her two meters differ, use the higher one.

Lehman's full schedule (6)
Every 200 hours
  • Change engine oil and filter, and transmission oil
  • Check idling speed, adjust if required
  • Check exhaust components for leaks
  • Check condition of all coolant and oil hoses
  • Check all engine mount bolts
  • Replace raw water pump impeller
Not logged yet
Every 1,200 hours
  • Flush cooling system
  • Replace anti-freeze
Not logged yet
Every 1,500 hours, turbocharged engines
  • Check end play of turbocharger rotating assembly
Not logged yet
Every 3,000 hours, turbocharged engines
  • Remove and dismantle turbocharger, repair as required
Not logged yet
Every 3,600 hours
  • Replace thermostats
Not logged yet
Every 2 weeks, whatever the hours
  • Check the heat exchanger's zinc pencil, until you know how fast hers goes. Replace it after 50 percent deterioration.
Not logged yet

src: Lehman Power owner's manual (June 1987), p. A27, Summary of Regular Maintenance

Her fuel log

Fill her to full each time and log what went in, with the engine hours and miles since the last fill. It works out what she really burns at the speed you really run, and how far a tank takes her.

Her usable fuel: not set
What the Grand Banks 42 Classic page says on fuel (2)
CONTEXTAt Loop displacement speeds the boat is economical; pushing for speed balloons burn Reported figures cluster low at trawler speeds: twin Lehman 135s around 3.1 gph at ~9 knots, Cat 3208 naturals around 5–7 gph total at 8 knots, and a single John Deere repower near 2 gph at 8 knots. Published data cites roughly 1,000 miles range at 8 knots on the Lehman boats. Pushing to 12–14 knots drives burn up toward 18–20 gph. For the Loop, plan around displacement-speed numbers, not top-end. src: Trawler Forum, 'Engine choice on Grand Banks 42' and 'Grand Banks Fuel Consumption'; Denison Yacht Sales / Sea magazine review
CONTEXTTreat listing fuel-burn figures skeptically Experienced owners warn that broker-listed gph numbers are often unrealistically low; a GB42 will not achieve figures like 1.2 gph at cruise on any engine. Use owner-reported and published-test numbers as a sanity check rather than trusting the listing. src: Trawler Forum, 'Engine choice on Grand Banks 42'

No fill-ups logged yet.

The latest on her model

When another owner or a surveyor reports something new on her model, it shows up here, and the real file sends you a note.

A Lehman 135 that stalled docking, then wouldn't start: the throttle governor had slipped past its stop screwsOwner report: Douglas Wefer aboard Winelight, 1985 Grand Banks 42 Classic (Oct 2026)
Oct 06

Something broke?

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Her File is yours

Everything you've put in here, as a printout or a data file. Keep it, or hand it to whoever has her next.

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