Advice please on Sealine senator 220

[PirateMark]

Have looked at a 1990 sealine 220 today for sale and liked the general layout, can I ask if any one has any user information on this boat or has owned one, the engine is a Volvo Penta 431 v6 petrol the same engine in our wellcraft so I'm rely familiar with up keep and servicing of the engine.

But I am not able to find any more info on the boat, is it a sea worthy vessel, my plan is to trailer the boat to its location in Torquay in April and pick it up in oct/nov bring it home work on it and drop it back the following year.

Is it a worthy purchase, is the build quality good,

Really any advice would be a help in deciding the final purchase.

 

[GRR]

I've had a Sealine 200 with the same engine for around 5 years.
Great boat and although I've only used it in and around the solent.
She is solid and well built and handles well. The cabin & head are a bit tight for taller people but otherwise the available space is well used.
Not very economical but no boating is.

hope that helps

 

[rosssavage]

I had a Sealine 255, which is the slightly bigger but older version.

Loved that boat (maybe cos it was my first proper boat!!) but it was definitely fit for purpose. Seaworthy on a nice day - same sort of weather you'd take a speedboat or SeaBayLinerRay of similar size out on. Wouldn't want to get caught in big waves, but great on a good / average day.

Standard Sealine build quality - i.e better than yank plastic of similar vintage, but not as good as Fairline.

Engine is pretty standard fit for these size boats, parts and expertise in abundance.

The main electrical switch panel can tire with age, some of the touch switches will go iffy and mine had problems with the battery state of charge indicators - good news is that a member of this very forum manufactured all the Sealine panels of this vintage, and again, parts and repairs are available.

Structurally not as heavily laid up as the earlier Sealines, but still up to the job. Have a good poke around internal mouldings behind panels etc to check for stress cracking or delamination, but no known big problem areas.

Pay attention to the petrol tank condition (located under the mid cabin bed) as replacing an old / leaking one involves major GRP surgery. Same with the water tank, located just behind the petrol tank in a false wall in mid cabin.

 

[oldgit]

As you climb up the slippery pole of boat ownership the number of things to check goes up considerably.The hull on a smaller speedboat is a fairly simple item with the rigidity simply in the hull thickness and shape.A larger vessel has a considerably larger wetted surface area and needs a net work of ribs and other bits and pieces to give the hull strength.
A smaller hard driven speedboat is unlikely to suffer greatly from the crash and bash of bouncing on the top of waves,it can however cause damage to large flat areas such as the chines of a bigger hull without sufficiant internal support.Chine cracking is where the glassfibre flexes as the boat hits the water hard,this results in cracks in the gelcoat.Bigger boats tend to be anti fouled.Anti-foul is neat a cheap method of covering up stress cracks.
When you check boats of this type keep and eye out for this problem perhaps you may well now be into the world of "a survey" with this boat.

 

[PirateMark]

Thanks for comments, is this more a suitable boat for rivers and in coastal conditions, what style if boat makes a seaworthy vessel, did notice this boat rock slot when stepped on to rear of boat, but our current vessel feels solid and does not move about like this one, sorry I know it sounds stupid.

We only keep well with a few miles of shore.

 

[oldgit]

First of all you buy what your money will get you .

All boats of this style will be lightly built,hence the movement when you climb aboard,this is no problem when boat is moving and everyone is sitting down,these boats are really all about the journey from point to point.
The problems appear when you stop and folks want to move around.This really becomes apparent when trying to moor up or even worse when this sort of boat is used on rivers with locks and the need to clamber around etc takes place.

 

[halcyon]

Thanks for comments, is this more a suitable boat for rivers and in coastal conditions, what style if boat makes a seaworthy vessel, did notice this boat rock slot when stepped on to rear of boat, but our current vessel feels solid and does not move about like this one, sorry I know it sounds stupid.

We only keep well with a few miles of shore.

Depends what the weather and sea state are, plus your experience, all boats have there limitations.

My mate had a Sealine 185 for over 10 years, spent Whit up Scotland, summer down the south coast. He launched in Poole, came down the coast to Falmouth, had few weeks here, caught the train to Poole, picked up car and trailer and slipped here and went home.

One owner with a 218 used to go to France each year.

Probably the boat will go were you wont, but you must feel comfortable with it.

Brian

 

[PirateMark]

Thanks guys really appreciate the advice. Our boat and caravan now up for sale to fund this step up to a larger boat, lets hope this sale, bern told boat asked is very difficult at moment, but caravan sales are rocketing.