Bayliner 2755

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lofc2909

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Hi,

I currently own a Viking 21 which I bought as a starter boat to learn the ropes on. I'm moored on the Great Ouse and am just river cruising.

I was looking for something a bit bigger as the 21 is a bit cramped for an overnight stay and I'm not in love with the chemical toilet and not having a shower. I've been offered a Bayliner 2755 which I've not clapped eyes on yet but apparently has a new engine fitted and quite a lot spent on refurbishing the interior etc over the last couple of years.

My concern is that I don't really know the make and from what I've seen on the internet, the Bayliner doesn't sound particularly suited for slow river cruising - AFAIK, there's a 5litre mercruiser V8 which I can't see being fully extended at 5mph!

Does anyone here own a Bayliner which they use for inland crusing only? Do they really handle that badly at slow speeds?

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Many thanks
 
hi there, had a bayliner 2455 at slow speeds was a pig to handle went which ever way the wind blew,put a bit of speed on and it was better but still wandered mine also had petrol v8 at tickover in gear speed would be about 5 to 6 knots.
 
I have a Bayliner 2655, with a 5.7 V8 which I use on the Thames. On the downside it can wander a bit, but on the plus side there's a lot of room and you get a lot of boat for your money.

You're right, the engine wont get extended at all at 5mph, as it will barely get over idle speed, but that said mines around 25 years old (10 years+ on the river), runs great, and has had no major problems. I've fitted one of those Ruddersafe things on the outdrive to minimise the wander, and in honesty it helps a bit but isn't perfect, but I'm used to it now.

Without question there are boats that are much better suited to slow speed river cruising, but in the end it's about balancing out cost, how much space you want, and how much the steering issues of a single outdrive boat bother you.
 
abraxus said:
I have a Bayliner 2655, with a 5.7 V8 which I use on the Thames. On the downside it can wander a bit, but on the plus side there's a lot of room and you get a lot of boat for your money.

You're right, the engine wont get extended at all at 5mph, as it will barely get over idle speed, but that said mines around 25 years old (10 years+ on the river), runs great, and has had no major problems. I've fitted one of those Ruddersafe things on the outdrive to minimise the wander, and in honesty it helps a bit but isn't perfect, but I'm used to it now.

Without question there are boats that are much better suited to slow speed river cruising, but in the end it's about balancing out cost, how much space you want, and how much the steering issues of a single outdrive boat bother you.
Click to expand...

The easy way to stop the slow speed wandering is to put some ballast in the bow. Get someone to stand at the bow whilst you are driving the boat and you will see an immediate improvement.
You will need to remove the ballast before venturing out to sea!
 
lofc2909 said:
My concern is that I don't really know the make and from what I've seen on the internet, the Bayliner doesn't sound particularly suited for slow river cruising - AFAIK, there's a 5litre mercruiser V8 which I can't see being fully extended at 5mph! Does anyone here own a Bayliner which they use for inland crusing only? Do they really handle that badly at slow speeds?
Click to expand...

I've spent many hours for many years cruising down various rivers to the Solent in our Bayliner 285, which is not that much larger.

In terms of steering, I never felt that she handled badly, probably because I was used to her, but I found that at 6 knots I needed to steer / counter-steer every 20 seconds or so to keep going in a straight line. In fact, it became second nature to find the sweet spot where she would keep going in a straight line for as long as possible, without having to think about it much.

In terms of the big engine being used at low speed, she always seemed to purr approvingly despite us doing 6 knots and she could go slow enough to do precise maneuvers. I can't comment on the impact that has on the engine's lifetime since we spent quite a lot of time at 25kt+ as well.

The nice thing about Bayliner 2755 is that you're getting quite a lot of boat / value for your money. It's not as upmarket as some brands but you can actually spend your time in the same location enjoying the same G&T just without worrying about the boat mortgage. New engine sounds particularly attractive, other big thing to check for would be the outdrive. Apart from that, anything else would be relatively cheap to fix and/or replace.
 
Hi one thing that will help to keep the boat in a straight line is to set both trim tabs in the down position ( if fitted of course) also check what is new about the engine! If it was a short block then it could have old rusty risers & so on. They do corrode from the inside out. The Bayliner is built to a price but if looked after is a good roomy boat. No semi/deep vee hull is suited to river use but will work ok.
Regards MM1
 
If it's a Mercruiser outdrive, fit a large rudder to it - this will simply be a large piece of Aluminium, through bolted to the cavitation plate. Bend it into an upside down L shape - the small "leg" sits on top of the cavitation plate the long leg hangs vertically. Put one each side, parallel.

If your river ever gets shallow, you can bend another piece to fit under the bottom - thus you'll encase your prop completely.

Make sure it doesn't foul prop.

If you want, then bend some rod / bar around the end of the plate round the back of the outdrive - this will push weed to the side and prevent it wrapping around prop.

Finally, if you want to be really posh, you could drop the trim tabs if fitted - OR - fit some metal plates to the back of the transom with T shaped aluminium on them - again, flat part paralell with the stern bottom part sticking down into the waterflow - this will act like a rudder as well to stop the back being blown about.

My dad did this on an old boat we had on the canal - makes a world of difference. He didn't bother with the bottom bit (should have) but the two sides worked wonders - boat tracked true on tickover.
 
Thanks to everyone for the really helpful replies - I must admit I thought there'd be a queue of people shouting "don't do it"!! Obviously, it'll come down to a test and to see how the boat handles when I get to see it next week - if it's a complete nightmare, I'll just walk away as there's no point owning a boat I cant navigate.

A couple of other things came to mind though - I'm assuming that Petrol usage is going to be pretty high? I'm not particularly on a tight budget but it's also the practicalities of refuelling - the marina I'm moored at doesn't stock petrol and I'm not sure how many other marina's on the Great Ouse (I'm near St Ives) stock it either.... the idea of constantly worrying about how much fuel I've got left and where I'm going to re-fuel doesn't appeal much either. The next boat I buy is going to be a long-term purchase so resale doesn't really bother me now but likewise, I don't want to be stuck with a pig of a boat I can't shift on. Can anyone give me an idea of how often they need to re-fuel if just using for inland.... ?

I am looking at the same time at a couple of diesel Seamaster 27's - another family member has one and they seem to do exactly what it says on the tin although I prefer the modern looking Bayliner and it's space layout. Obviously, I'm not going to buy a boat on looks alone which makes me think the Seamaster could be a better bet overall....
 
Bayliner is a brand I know absolutely nothing about, after reading this thread I did a little bit of Googling and found a 3270(?)for sale. Hell of a lot of boat for such a low price and pretty nice it is.
 
The Seamaster will be "better" on a river as it's a river boat - BUT it all comes down to what's best for you. If you like the Bayliner more then buy that - and make it work.

Fuel use won't be bad - after all you're on tickover all the time - but yes it will be vastly more as a percentage than a tiny diesel - But it still won't cripple you. What do you call acceptable??

If £60 for a weekend is ok, then yes you should be fine - don't have figures for a boat at tickover - but here are the figures for that engine in a roughly similar 27' boat - look at the lowest speed figure - then ask if that's acceptable.

http://www.fourwinns.com/upload/Documents/Catalogs/2010/FastFacts_2009_2010.pdf - That's suggesting a Fuel injected motor will burn around 23 litres an hr at 2000rpm - I'd expect around half that at tickover?? So perhaps 12l per hr approx - so that's about £15 per running hour - say you did 5 hrs a day that's about £60 per day perhaps less?

Reliability wise you might need / want to give it a blast sometimes as it's on tickover all the time - can you do that where you'll be based?
 
Thanks ontheplane. I was thinking £60 - 80 per weekend based on say 4-5 hours cruising.... obviously still a big step up from a 15hp Honda outboard but an expected one!

Giving it a blast though is going to be pretty impossible - speed on the Great Ouse is limited I think to 4-5 mph and I can't think of any stretches within a reasonable distance where the throttle can be opened up....
 
I think I've pretty much come to that conclusion now.... whilst I really like to the look of the Bayliner and don't mind a bit of compromise, I can't justify buying a boat on it's looks and then ignore the other issues....

Thanks again to everyone - it really has helped me look at this clearly.
 
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