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sj8070

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Hi again all

Thanks for everyone's help on my earlier thread.. helping me narrow down the cuddies & cruisers

Absolutely beaming as I write - totally fell in love with an '88 Sunseeker Mexico at the weekend... the 15th boat we've seen and the only one that really blew us away, despite the fact we've seen some for twice the price and have a very flexible budget of £10-25k in honesty

Here is the broker link
http://www.boatshop24.co.uk/speed-boats/sunseeker-mexico-24/110982

She has the most stunning dash and teak doors, and I love the very spacious cabin with classic upholstery. Big fan too of the sun deck at the back that can fold to a bench ... imagine she carries 5 fairly comfortably

Engines are very grubby and we have a lot of room in our budget to fix this - perhaps even replace. This is where we need most help!

We have a deposit down subject to sea trial and survey, which hopefully we'll get Will at River Shack boats in Christchurch to do who used to work for sunseeker and is an immensely knowledgable chap

We'd probably keep her on the trailer and in the Solent for the next month while we make upgrades and check her over properly before moving her to a marina near Barcelona. I am confident that with a big overhaul of safety equipment and a lot of running her in on the coast of spain, she'll be able to handle the trip to the balearics which was much discussed on the prior thread!

Other known issues / likely upgrades:
- Dry weight currently unknown... we are estimating probably close to 3 tonnes... so if you've been on the other thread you know i probably need a new car too!
- Precise size of fuel tank unknown... broker estimating c. 200litres ... how feasible is this to upgrade? Would like 300 ideally. could carry jerrys worst case and try to get comfortable with jigle siphons or even a pump
- Replace stereo .. only has tape inputs
- Replace bimini - tired and has the odd tear
- Not sure whether to go life raft or tender ... advice welcomed!
- Replace a couple of the trailer tyres and perhaps wheels if damaged / rusted
- Little bit worried about the state of the bilge pump and likelihood of many small leaks across her transom

Here are some more photos ... i know she'll get ripped apart for the state of the engine bay!
But i also hope you'll agree she is a stunner
https://anonimag.es/image/JT9s5me
https://anonimag.es/image/JT9s5m1
https://anonimag.es/image/JT9s5mV
https://anonimag.es/image/JT9s5mW
https://anonimag.es/image/JT9s5mm
https://anonimag.es/image/JT9s5ma
https://anonimag.es/image/JT9s5m8
https://anonimag.es/image/JT9s5mC
https://anonimag.es/image/JT9s5mO
https://anonimag.es/image/JT9s5mF
https://anonimag.es/image/JT9s5mz
https://anonimag.es/image/JT9s5ms
https://anonimag.es/image/JT9s5mh
 
I like these old sunseekers, the exterior/interior looks very shiny and clean, the hull looks brand new, has it had a recent polish and newly applied stripes?

it'll also need antifouling if its going to live for any period in the water.

Engines - well they're a bit scruffy, but they are nearly 30 years old and as long as they run fine you should be ok. I'm thinking if the previous owner kept the hull and interior in such good condition , why wasnt he also so thorough with the engines - maybe he thought they ran fine, and you dont have to look at them, so leave them as is? That would be a fair enough approach. The engines look like a very tight fit in that engine bay, so maybe thats why they're so scruffy, it just isnt feasible to get at them to tidy them up?

Not sure about the economic viability of replacing them though if thats the route you go down. If they run fine then just keep them.
 
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Yep lots of questions still to ask the owner as broker didn't know a lot
Agree strange that it's so immaculate externally but engine bay so mucky ... is a bit of a worry as to whether she was just done up superficially to sell
But yes the volvos are absolutely wedged in and there is next to no space to work on, another small negative

Further questions to ask owner

- Has she had an anti foul coat... how could do you tell she hadn't Julians?
- the volvos were put in in 2007 (so unlikely 30yrs old?) but don't know their actual age or hrs
- what was done prior to listing her on the hull
 
The problem with trying to clean engines in a confined space is that you can't reach anything and it's a pain in the butt. If you have the budget, have them lifted and professionally steam cleaned and painted, that's the only way to get a proper job done. Whilst their out your engineer can have a good prod about and it will be easy to change or fix any issues whilst they are out.
Otherwise, looks a cracking boat for the money and will be a really good solid little boat for the Med.
 
Re the antifoul,initially i thought it had no antifoul at all,but on closer inspection of the photos, it does like there is some. its quite hard to tell from.your photos ,but zooming in does seem to show it,so depending how old it is you might not need to do that for a year or so.

Mind you, whatever antifoul works in the solent (or whereever she is now) might not work so well in the med, so you might need to re antifoul anyway.
 
Looks lovely :)

I wouldn't worry about the aesthetics of the engines - there's some corrosion I would address (power steering pump pulley and brackets) but otherwise who cares? I don't on my boat, but she gets and annual polish and wax - and full engine service, although the paint isn't in great nick on them!!

Re tender v life raft - in the med, your going to NEED a tender! Anchored in a sunny cove and want to visit the beach?

Hope you have fun, and don't find too many gremlins!
 
Congrats on the new boat..

Best way to determine the weight is to get the rig to a weigh bridge.. We discovered our setup was much heavier then we "estimated" and we needed a higher capacity trailer..

In your budgeting plan to have the trailer serviced and if you are not sure when it was last done look at replacing the bearings anyway.. I can highly recommend Ben from Compass Trailers (http://www.compasstrailers.com/page3.htm) on that score, good price and great service..
 
With regards to a tender, i have a similar sized boat to that sunseeker, and a normal inflatable tender would be too large to fit anywhere without getting seriously in the way,but i find an inflatable kayak to be perfect, i store it deflated in the cabin under the bed out of the way, and have a hand pump to inflate it when i want to use it. It takes about 10 mins to inflate.

The kayak i have is a sevylor adventure similar to this one

http://www.tcschandlery.co.uk/mobil...eE-nhj4b0xwj8r4U4sY1a1Pnn2OKlzE54EaAr1s8P8HAQ
 
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Congratulations. Hope it all goes smoothly and all you need to do is add water :cool:

We may be able to help with a couple of suggestions above.

We are changing our tender and will have a surplus Excel 230 within 6 weeks. It rolls up quite small - that's in Spain but would easily fit in the boot of a small hatchback

We also have 2 single and one double intex inflatable kayaks at home which we have only used a couple of times - but to be honest they haven't been out of their bags for a few years so not sure what state they are in.

Rather than having a twice a year tow - there and back would a cheaper option in the long term be to get someone to transport it for you and and leave it there all year - and look at the possibility of hiring a tow car (not sure you can) to tow her yourself to a launching site? A round trip for you would be at least 4 or 5 days.... twice a year

Again not sure of details / costs but I know someone who did a 6 months in / 6 months out deal with Sant Carles, so that type of deal would be worth exploring with a marina where you intend to keep her, and if you keep it in the med permanently they could launch it and berth it for you the day before you arrive and retrieve the day you leave. No change of car and no anti foul to worry about :encouragement:

Again, congratulations.
 
Andy Bav said:
Congratulations. Hope it all goes smoothly and all you need to do is add water :cool:

We may be able to help with a couple of suggestions above.

We are changing our tender and will have a surplus Excel 230 within 6 weeks. It rolls up quite small - that's in Spain but would easily fit in the boot of a small hatchback

We also have 2 single and one double intex inflatable kayaks at home which we have only used a couple of times - but to be honest they haven't been out of their bags for a few years so not sure what state they are in.

Rather than having a twice a year tow - there and back would a cheaper option in the long term be to get someone to transport it for you and and leave it there all year - and look at the possibility of hiring a tow car (not sure you can) to tow her yourself to a launching site? A round trip for you would be at least 4 or 5 days.... twice a year

Again not sure of details / costs but I know someone who did a 6 months in / 6 months out deal with Sant Carles, so that type of deal would be worth exploring with a marina where you intend to keep her, and if you keep it in the med permanently they could launch it and berth it for you the day before you arrive and retrieve the day you leave. No change of car and no anti foul to worry about :encouragement:

Again, congratulations.
Click to expand...
Congrats from me too. It sounds like a dry port could be a good alternative for you, if they have them in that part of the world
 
Great choice and hope you have a fantastic time with her. I love these 80's classics and looked at a few of the Mexico's (and the Portofino 31's) before we bought the Portofino 25 just a few weeks ago. The main advantages of the Portofino for us were a much newer engine (2002 with just 207 hours) and a separate heads. That said, the peace of mind having twin engines is a factor if you're going to be any distance from port. Downside of course is the extra service costs and minimal access. I'd agree with the post above in that if there's any doubts, I'd want them lifted out, cleaned and overhauled, but expensive job if you're not doing yourself!

Look forward to reading more! :cool:
 
Very smart boat, nothing more to add that hasn't already been said apart from a thorough service of the trailer is essential before towing that distance.
Have lots of fun.
 
found out they're 89s... so nearing their 30th birthday
I do wonder whether we should think about replacing them - surely power-to-weight ratios and efficiencies have improved a lot since then such that there would be a lot more room in the engine bay
That said, the price of two twins plus installation would probably be upwards of 10k?
 
sj8070 said:
found out they're 89s... so nearing their 30th birthday
I do wonder whether we should think about replacing them - surely power-to-weight ratios and efficiencies have improved a lot since then such that there would be a lot more room in the engine bay
That said, the price of two twins plus installation would probably be upwards of 10k?
Click to expand...

£10K?! My guess would be nearer £30K, or more.
 
longjohnsilver said:
£10K?! My guess would be nearer £30K, or more.
Click to expand...

£30k Each if you are talking new! I briefly looked at the price of replacing AD41's with equivalent current units, was over £40k each just to buy the engines and drives.
Suppose you could change to single engine of same power as the existing two.
Might be best to give it a season or two to see how they go, before deciding what, if anything you will do.
You wont gain much room from fitting newer twins I dont think, they seem to have more bits bolted on as they get newer!!
 
If the existing engines /drives are fine then just use it as is, if the engines/drives are not fine then dont buy the boat.
 
many thanks appreciate the advice
Had only got to the £10k number when looking at kad 32s online that were around £5k ish
Agree it wouldnt be economical but it would at least be a backup
 
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