Bayliners

[blobby47]

Hi all, never owned one but being retired marine engineer I was every one's friend in my boating community, in demand for free assistance ,as said basic mechanicals tend to be fine ,standard of fit out some times basic, my only real negative thought when working below decks you can see through hulls ,,,computer aided design of modern boats .other marques seem thicker ,seen a few with holed hull repairs, but horses for courses. Bob

 

[Elessar]

OK Gang. What are your thoughts on Bayliners generally. Not having ever owned one nor even had a pal who owned one I really don't know much about them other than their nicknames.
My own thoughts are that they can't be that gruesome otherwise they wouldn't sell in such large numbers world wide.

I've owned 2.

They have budget fittings, you see that when you buy. The GRP and mechanicals are as good as anyone else's. Unnecessary thickness in GRP is not necessarily better, proper design and mass production using the right amount of material is a good thing.

They don't all have walk through windscreens, and you see that when you buy too. They all do however have less of a deeper V than euro boats and are prone to slapping. Having said that my 28 footer brought me back from st peter port in 6 ft waves, and I had her in a force 8 (yes 8) in the north sea on a southampton to Thames trip once. So they are capable, just a little less comfortable in the rough stuff.

They have (had? its a fact up to about 10 years ago) one construction design weakness and that is the hull/deck joint. It is not glassed over on the inside. Look for leaks or sealant trying to fix leaks. The only way to fix a leak is to take the whole rubbing strip off, rake out all the sealant, replace with sika and bolt the rubbing strip back on - the bolts got through the hull, deck and rubbing strake and hold it all together. With sika, they just hold it whilst the sika cures so it is a proper fix.

I had a huge amount of fun in my bayliners, and that surely is what a boat is for. On that measure, they are great boats.

 

[russ]

I have owned my 05 Bayliner 265 for over 5 years both on the Thames and now on the Solent. I still love it as it ticked all the boxes for me and is an excellent starter boat.
Yes at slow speed tracking straight was a learning curve but you soon master that. I had looked at many similar sized boats before buying this one and I can honestly say there isn't that much to choose between this type in the price band. Fuel wasn't an issue at a gallon an hour on the river, just kept it topped up for any longer trips out. No diesel bug issues or costly service parts. Always changed bellows every two years and serviced annually.
Fittings inside are all as new, nothing falling off.

I am looking to sell her one day but thats just for a natural progression to a larger boat.