Aquastar 38 - what are they like?

[Hacker]

I saw both boats 2 weeks ago. We had been sent the latest survey and list of jobs done on the VP engined boat. Looked perfect. Drove all the way over to view it and was so disappointed. The inside was quite tatty, 3mm holly/walnut ply had been laid on the floor (without being fixed) and was just laid over the original carpet in the aft cabin. Console had been wrapped/covered with ply, Engine room looked ok on visual inspection but the bilges stank. He had accepted a provisional offer before we set off. Went to see the Cummins one the next day. To be fair to him the insides were taken up as he was replacing the exhaust elbow on the port engine. It was obviously a well used boat with lots of TLC require to the trim/soft furnishings to bring it upto our desires. The one positive was that it made us review a boat that we had seen previously but was outside our budget at the time.

 

[ianc1200]

Hacker - very interesting - thanks. Was there a generator on the Cummins one? Couldn't it noted in the particulars or the walk around video. Also noticed appeared to be one very small fridge only (others we've been looking at/much more expensive/newer seem to have two).

 

[Hacker]

Not sure on the genny. Yes the fridge was the only one I saw and was small. The VP one had a larger fridge which I guess could be replicated in the other. I got the impression that the Cummins one had been loved and money spent on the oily bits. Like most things, we own over a long time, we stop seeing some of the dinks/worn interiors.

 

[ianc1200]

Many thanks again.

 

[Bandit]

I have an Aquastar 48, we have worked on several 38's and know the brand well.

The 38 is a good solid boat in aft cabin and aft cockpit or flybridge boat.

The Volvo Penta 43, 44 and KAMD 300 engines are good solid engines providing they are correctly propped and they are well looked after.

Over the years the hp installed in a boat and the desired hp has gone up considerably. See Aquastars On Tour

 

[ianc1200]

This guy in Blackpool has a 118, and before it a 33, lots of videos on his channel but this one, his trip to Piel Island, the walkthrough and how he does engine servicing are good.

 

[Colvic Watson]

Hacker’s and Oldgit’s replies confirm my thoughts. It’s very, very rare to find a cherished 70’s, 80’s or 90’s boat. It might have been loved at one time. Then they gradually morph from loved to merely maintained. It just costs so damn much to bring a 30+ year old boat from maintained to loved and cherished.

It’s time I widened my search. I need to find a 35-39 footer that’s had love and care lavished on it by someone else’s wallet

 

[ianc1200]

Agree wholeheartedly. As blue one is so poor, my argument about needing 20-25k spent on the white one to bring up to standard of blue one is wrong. Nevertheless, say you got the white/Cummins for 75k (perhaps unlikely) I'd want stern/bowthrusters, generator, radar arch to be hinged, plus the soft furnishings. Would end up spending far too much on a 30 year old boat which would last me 10 to 15 years of boating I have left if I'm lucky.

Really appreciate the advice given here.

 

[oldgit]

Those with an unlimited budget need read no further.

The boat you need is out there, it might not be the one you think you want.................. finding that boat is the problem.
We searched high and low for a replacement for my old Princess 35, with weekend trips to the desolate wastes of the North (Hartlepool )**and that Gulag of boating, Wales.
The delights of the UK motorway system do start to pall after a while as does the traffic jams of the Thames Valley.

The further we went afield the worse the overpriced worn out old rubbish turned out to be.
The boat we eventually purchased appeared after we stopped looking for a particular Marque and/or model and started to look at boats that might do the job we wanted.
An interweb search lead to a "Why dont we go and have a quick look at this" one drizzly Sunday morning.
A boat was bought back home about a week later.


** Did like the statue of the monkey and explains a lot about the politics of the North.

 

[ianc1200]

Good strategy - wrong to just decide you want a particular model. There's a Birchwood TS37 which seems to have everything in Southsea, plus I think really a re-engined (or at least Volvo's, not HT 6354's) Broom Crown would be pretty much ideal. If only one would come up for sale.

 

[oldgit]

Good strategy - wrong to just decide you want a particular model. There's a Birchwood TS37 which seems to have everything in Southsea, plus I think really a re-engined (or at least Volvo's, not HT 6354's) Broom Crown would be pretty much ideal. If only one would come up for sale.

How about a Broom Monarch ?

 

[Corona Mia]

How about a Broom Monarch ?

Corona Mia?

 

[Greg2]

Not a bad strategy to keep an open mind instead of focusing on a particular make / model but for those of us without unlimited funds it is also important to be happy with what we end up with.

Our preferred type of boat is function over form, decent accommodation and capable both at sea and inland so that puts the likes of Broom, Aquastar, Nelson, Grand Banks and, of course, Hardy within scope. We have owned two Brooms (great boats) but last time round it was a trawler style that was our preference with retirement in mind. We set our sights on a Nordic Tug but when that didn’t work out quickly switched to a Hardy. It wasn’t perfect but it was good enough for us to buy. Since then we have done lots of work to improve and upgrade and whilst we will never get that money back I feel more connected to this boat then any of our previous five boats and I have enjoyed getting her as we want and, importantly, I know her inside out. Sometimes it is about more than just the money.

@Colvic Watson we are just the sort of owner you want to buy from and actually the sort of owner I would like to buy from but unfortunately we are few and far between
.

 

[Flynnbarr]

The cherished,loved and meticulously maintained boats are usually sold before they even come onto the market.

 

[oldgit]

The cherished,loved and meticulously maintained boats are usually sold before they even come onto the market.

@Colvic Watson we are just the sort of owner you want to buy from and actually the sort of owner I would like to buy from but unfortunately we are few and far between


A cynics view............................

Owners having spent their entire period of ownership getting the boat into good working condition with the resulting impoverishment, in order to then sell it and repeat the process.
The skippers significant other having long ago given up hoping to see him at home doing something useful to stop the house falling down ?

Q.What are you doing today , Dear ?
A,Just popping down to the boat for an hour or two, wont be long.

 

[NBs]

Cummins is definitely the better choice. Maintenance is easier e.g. valve adjustment, oil filter change. With proper maintenance and use, the life span of these Cummins is about + 20 000 hours, if the propeller is correctly sized.

The Kad300 is a good engine in itself, but according to the maintenance program the valves should be checked every 200 hours, and job is very big. Dismantle the fuel lines off and before doing this on the oil filter leg, it's a lot of work before getting to adjust the valves. I have cummins qsb 5.9 and valve service time 5000 hours.

The VP oil filter is horizontal and always a bit messy. Also the Cummins is 5.9l vs vp 3.4l and highly tuned.

 

[Greg2]

@Colvic Watson we are just the sort of owner you want to buy from and actually the sort of owner I would like to buy from but unfortunately we are few and far between


A cynics view............................

Owners having spent their entire period of ownership getting the boat into good working condition with the resulting impoverishment, in order to then sell it and repeat the process.
The skippers significant other having long ago given up hoping to see him at home doing something useful to stop the house falling down ?

Q.What are you doing today , Dear ?
A,Just popping down to the boat for an hour or two, wont be long.

There is an element of truth here inasmuch as we have improved most of our boats to greater or lesser extent only for others to have ultimately benefitted BUT it has always been with SWMBO’s agreement and the house too is in tip top order

The Hardy is a keeper so I won’t be embarking on a new project but there are still one or two things to do with this one
.

 

[ianc1200]

Just to report we bought the white Aquastar 38 with the twin 250 (not 370 as the advert said) Cummins. Brought home to NE Essex Thursday and Friday - not without some excitement. We picked up a fishing net between Beachy Head and Dungeness and limped into Dover Marina. They were brilliant - lifted us and cleared the net, removed broken parts of the Spur ropecutter, and we were back in the water 35 mins later.

 

[Tranona]

Claim on your insurance and replace the cutter with a Stripper which will not break Obvious why Spurs break when you look at the shape of the blades - one of their major weaknesses

Nice boat - well done.

 

[superheat6k]

I nearly bought one, but decided it was not for me during the sea trial, although I am still not sure it it was the boat or the owner who clearly seemed not to want to sell it to me !

He certainly did not want me to drive the thing, which for a sea trial with his purchaser I found very strange.

I found the central main cabin quite dark and depressive. Having admired them for many years still no regrets that I did not buy one.