Johnson yachts opinion

I ran a 2003 70 Johnson skylounge for about 8 racking up thousands of miles up and down the east coast and the Bahamas. My personal boat is an old 53 Hatteras so how does a Johnson compare to a Hatteras? Not even close

I remember the first time I crossed a small wake with the Johnson at an angle… the whole boat shuddered. If you just take a look at the bows you ll see why right away. The hatts have sharp deep entry whereas the Johnsons have a bloated fat bow. The upside is that the forward stateroom in the Johnson is huge with a centerline queen.

the 70 I ran was a skylounge and top heavy especially with the tender and jet ski up top. Without stabilizers it was handful.

definitely a boat you want to pick your days in open waters…

quality wise it was ok. ER was very tight with the optional 3412Es. Systems were pretty well layed out and built. Not a fan of the aluminum fuel tanks outboard of the engines… Taiwan stainless steel leaves a lot to be desired. Be ready to buy Rust stain remover by the gallon

Another issue of the 70 was the draft of just over 6’

Performance was good… with the 1400hp 3412Es it would top at 31kts and cruise anywhere between 20 and 25kts burning about 85GPH at 21kts at 55% load

amazing layout especially the huge aft deck and swim platform

Altogether a good boat for protected waters. Ok for near coastal, if you don’t mind waiting for good conditions

Melbourne, Victoria??
Yes, re-read that last line of that last post.

Thinking back I remember a couple of rough times…. One was leaving the cape may canal and heading up the Delaware with 15/18kts on the bow. 4 hours of banging.

another no so sweet memory was leaving Woods Hole into Vineyard Sound with three footers on the beam. Plastic latch on skylounge uline fridge broke and the fridge content spilled all over incl broken beer bottles.

then was the time on the exuma bank between Norman’s and Nassau where one roll was so bad that it tripped the oil safety on the gen. And moved all the furniture across the salon.

oh and that night approaching Nassau in mild conditions where the Ubolt on the jet ski ripped out along with a chunk of fiberglass and I had to secure it with lines while rolling back n forth.

Am I understanding correctly that you are looking for a used boat to buy, with the plan to enjoy her in the Med?
If so, you can do worse than looking at an Italian boat. I mean, when in Rome...!
In the 55' to 65' bracket, I can think of at least a dozen of good builders (and several models for each of them!) worth considering.
Depending also on your budget, which ultimately triggers the boat age, hence the models.
If you don't mind sharing a ballpark amount, I'd be happy to name the better builders and models I can think of.

The Italian builders that I would consider the top five in this size bracket actually depend on the boat age.
Which is essentially budget-driven, hence my previous question.
But assuming, based on what you told so far, that you are looking at 20+ years old boats, some brands I would start with are (in no particular order):
Sanlorenzo, Ferretti, VZ, Uniesse, DP, Antago, Posillipo.
All of them had more than one model in the 55/65 size bracket, and of course the difference between the two extremes are somewhat substantial.
Pick your poison!

Couple more things I remembered…

window leaks: I’ve the 8 years I ran the boat we spent a lot of time fixing window and porthole leaks. And repairing the damaged wood…. Especially the front windshield.

We also had to deal with a few exhaust leak in the fiberglass tube behind the cabinetry in the master. For some reason it would develop pin holes resulting in wet carpet. Had to cut numerous access holes in the back of the lower cabinet to get to the tube.

She must have been a solid boat (and dishwasher too!), if nothing else...

One of the worst mistakes on the one I ran was that they forgot to put a limber hole in a frame right before the transom where the stern thruster was installed. After a few months bilge water rose and drowned the thruster motor…. Never bothered fixing it as access was awful. Who needs a stern thruster on a twin diesel anyway. When the boat sold, I made sure the broker didn’t mention the stern thruster to avoid a post survey adjustment