lisilou
Well-Known Member
It's been a while since I've posted but for anyone interested...we owned for 5 years (ish) a much loved & perfectly suited to us Sealine SC35 which happily took us wherever we wanted to go and we've had many a happy cruise on her as well as her being the perfect floating 'home away from home' at the weekends. However, a little over a year ago we moved house to be closer to the Hamble & The Solent where we do our boating so now, being just a 3 minute drive from the marina, we decided the sensible thing to do would be to sell Lisilou and downsize as our boating needs have changed quite dramatically.
It was a really tough decision to make & I really didn't want to let her go but we just don't need the space the 35 afforded us anymore and as Chris quite fancied a 'fisher type' boat, we bit the bullet and bought a MF 895 with a single 300 Yam OB. She was delivered end of January and yesterday, being the first decent day in what felt like forever, was our maiden trip.
In pretty much perfect conditions, we took her for a quick blast over to the IoW. I have to say...boy can she fly & was surprisingly smooth. We knew she could do around 35kts but I really wasn't expecting such ease of pace. The weight difference (perhaps unsurprisingly) really tells. 30knts without effort (and without me even noticing tbh!) and would happily have gone faster but I was more interested in getting the trim & balance right & just basically getting used to a different boat so I dropped her to around 26 where she seemed equally as happy until you hit a bit of ferry wash...then you realise the difference & very quickly learn to drive her a bit like a rib. No problem...just a case of adjusting accordingly.
Berthing is going to take a bit more practice tho' because on that score she is totally different. We knew it would be but any wind & tide and you know it. Practice, practice, practice.
With regard to the accommodation, it's ideal for our needs with two cabins, a toilet & shower facility downstairs with sink, twin gas hob, fridge & microwave up top.
We've had her spec'd to maximise comfort & useable space with 'U' seating in the exterior cockpit so we can adapt that area to a good sized sundpad if & when we want & the sunpad on the bow.
All in all, much more spacious than we expected and she'll do us perfectly. She's is ideal as a weekender altho' you could happily spend longer onboard as long as you stay organised.
Yet to name her but I think we'll stick with 'Lisilou' once we've decided (IF we ever decide!) where the name should go.
Anyway...that's my update now bring on summer! Happy boating all.
L
It was a really tough decision to make & I really didn't want to let her go but we just don't need the space the 35 afforded us anymore and as Chris quite fancied a 'fisher type' boat, we bit the bullet and bought a MF 895 with a single 300 Yam OB. She was delivered end of January and yesterday, being the first decent day in what felt like forever, was our maiden trip.
In pretty much perfect conditions, we took her for a quick blast over to the IoW. I have to say...boy can she fly & was surprisingly smooth. We knew she could do around 35kts but I really wasn't expecting such ease of pace. The weight difference (perhaps unsurprisingly) really tells. 30knts without effort (and without me even noticing tbh!) and would happily have gone faster but I was more interested in getting the trim & balance right & just basically getting used to a different boat so I dropped her to around 26 where she seemed equally as happy until you hit a bit of ferry wash...then you realise the difference & very quickly learn to drive her a bit like a rib. No problem...just a case of adjusting accordingly.
Berthing is going to take a bit more practice tho' because on that score she is totally different. We knew it would be but any wind & tide and you know it. Practice, practice, practice.
With regard to the accommodation, it's ideal for our needs with two cabins, a toilet & shower facility downstairs with sink, twin gas hob, fridge & microwave up top.
We've had her spec'd to maximise comfort & useable space with 'U' seating in the exterior cockpit so we can adapt that area to a good sized sundpad if & when we want & the sunpad on the bow.
All in all, much more spacious than we expected and she'll do us perfectly. She's is ideal as a weekender altho' you could happily spend longer onboard as long as you stay organised.
Yet to name her but I think we'll stick with 'Lisilou' once we've decided (IF we ever decide!) where the name should go.
Anyway...that's my update now bring on summer! Happy boating all.
L
