Go Big or Go Home?

[Hurricane]

Plus you have access to the flybridge from the rear and also from inside which is a great design really as you will spend quite a bit of time moving cutlery and food upstairs.

Here we go again - the internal stairs.
Why did they ever remove them.
If you REALLY use a boat like these, you would understand just how useful those internal stairs are.
Remember JFM's big Squaddie build - he had one put in as an extra.
Our P67 has one which, not only joins the three dining areas to the galley but, at sea, it is virtually the ONLY way that we move between the flybridge and the rest of the boat.
It is one of the big features that we like about our boat.

 

[GravyStain]

Here we go again - the internal stairs.
Why did they ever remove them.
If you REALLY use a boat like these, you would understand just how useful those internal stairs are.
Remember JFM's big Squaddie build - he had one put in as an extra.
Our P67 has one which, not only joins the three dining areas to the galley but, at sea, it is virtually the ONLY way that we move between the flybridge and the rest of the boat.
It is one of the big features that we like about our boat.

I've never understood the rationale in removing them from 55fters upwards...

 

[Hurricane]

Squaddie 58 for sale in your Marina Hurricane.

Fairline Squadron 58 Used Boat for Sale 2008 | TheYachtMarket

Yep - that was the boat that I "linked to" earlier in this thread.
We walk past it to get to our berth.
From the outside and from what I have heard when I have spoken to the owner, it sounds like a really nice boat.
I've not been on the boat though.

We were there when those photos were taken - click the sixth pic (bottom right on the first page - flybridge helm view).
In that pic, Jennywren is the boat in front and we were swimming in the swimming pool in the background at that exact time.
We were in the pool leaning over the end of the deep end wondering what they were doing on the Squadron at that time.

The boat is currently on the 20m pontoon berth closest to the shore - next to the paniols.
Paniols are small lockup sheds that we hire from the marina.
That berth is a bit difficult to get into but I think I know the long term leas holder.
Not sure but I think that the current owner of the boat sublets.
If he does sublet, I think I know the actual lease holder who would probably want to continue to sublet after the boat has gone.
Not sure what the berthing cost would be - perhaps a little more than the 20m Med style one mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

[GravyStain]

Yep - that was the boat that I "linked to" earlier in this thread.
We walk past it to get to our berth.
From the outside and from what I have heard when I have spoken to the owner, it sounds like a really nice boat.
I've not been on the boat though.

We were there when those photos were taken - click the sixth pic (bottom right on the first page - flybridge helm view).
In that pic, Jennywren is the boat in front and we were swimming in the swimming pool in the background at that exact time.
We were in the pool leaning over the end of the deep end wondering what they were doing on the Squadron at that time.

The boat is currently on the 20m pontoon berth closest to the shore - next to the paniols.
Paniols are small lockup sheds that we hire from the marina.
That berth is a bit difficult to get into but I think I know the long term leas holder.
Not sure but I think that the current owner of the boat sublets.
If he does sublet, I think I know the actual lease holder who would probably want to continue to sublet after the boat has gone.
Not sure what the berthing cost would be - perhaps a little more than the 20m Med style one mentioned earlier in this thread.

Superb condition...

 

[Hurricane]

I've never understood the rationale in removing them from 55fters upwards...

Aesthetics, I believe.
Apparently, people like to look right through the boat from the cockpit without any obstructions.
This meant making the main decks higher and removing stairs that go up and over the mid cabins.
As a result, I think that the internal stair would have further to rise with more steps and probably looked out of place.
Here are a couple pf pics of our internal stairs.



And this is taken with the cockpit behind so you can see how central the internal stairs are to the galley.
IMO, the P67 is a master at this - 3 eating/entertaining areas - outside cockpit, flybridge with BBQ and the internal dinette - all close to the galley.

 

[GravyStain]

Aesthetics, I believe.
Apparently, people like to look right through the boat from the cockpit without any obstructions.
This meant making the main decks higher and removing stairs that go up and over the mid cabins.
As a result, I think that the internal stair would have further to rise with more steps and probably looked out of place.
Here are a couple pf pics of our internal stairs.

View attachment 102775

And this is taken with the cockpit behind so you can see how central the internal stairs are to the galley.
IMO, the P67 is a master at this - 3 eating/entertaining areas - outside cockpit, flybridge with BBQ and the internal dinette - all close to the galley.

View attachment 102776

Looking through the boat (which one might occasionally do) loses hands down to the convenience of accessing the flybridge internally IMHO!

 

[Hooligan]

All the new boat designs put the kitchen aft which i actually think makes a lot of sense as it is more sociable for the cook so as to speak. The internal staircase though is really good. I wouldn’t want to comment specifically on the S58 for sale but you can probably pick up a similar vintage at a little less than this one is advertised for. If you do start looking at the 58 of this vintage there are a few things to look out for so PM me or indeed ask JRudge if ok to PM him as he is the real expert and pretty much does everything himself on his.

 

[Hooligan]

That one isn’t suitable for the Med. It doesn’t have underwater lights

I wont go into why

 

[jrudge]

The S58 in the link seems mildly dear - but I have not got shopping for a while and as we all know boats sell on condition. At that age they need new teak, linings etc and this all costs.

I am in a minority but I never use the internal steps and wish the damn things were not there!

Mid cabins as other says are all well and good, they look great but you do get very hot over night and in our case the water pump ( which was huge on the s65) is behind your head. The plus side is no wave slap.

The 58 is a good boat - I love the thing hence I have just paid for a gyro. Post 2004 the port holes were more square, but more importantly all the gold fittings became chrome!

 

[GravyStain]

The S58 in the link seems mildly dear - but I have not got shopping for a while and as we all know boats sell on condition. At that age they need new teak, linings etc and this all costs.

I am in a minority but I never use the internal steps and wish the damn things were not there!

Mid cabins as other says are all well and good, they look great but you do get very hot over night and in our case the water pump ( which was huge on the s65) is behind your head. The plus side is no wave slap.

The 58 is a good boat - I love the thing hence I have just paid for a gyro. Post 2004 the port holes were more square, but more importantly all the gold fittings became chrome!

How much was the gyro if I may ask. Around £30k? (I could easily be wrong)...

I won't go into after market fin stabs as already done on here (and an amazing refit that was).

 

[Hurricane]

Each to their own choice.
I don't find our mid cabin noisy or hot.
I do have the A/C on most of the summer and when at anchor, I give the batteries a boost before we go to bed so with the generator running, I sneakily switch the Aircon on for a few minutes before going to bed.
That said, I have fitted fans over all the beds which run all night and the big side windows in the main cabin do ventilate nicely.
As said above we DO use the internal stairs all the time - particularly at sea when it is safer to do so.
The other big one for us on this boat and the previous one was that Galley.
SWMBO just didn't want any of the offerings where the galley was on the lower deck.
Our previous boat was a Sealine T51 which like the P67 has the galley on the same level as the dinette/saloon.

Actually, the OP should also add the Sealine T51 or the more recent T52 to his list.
Ours was a great boat - we did the whole of the UK South Coast - Holland to the Scillies.

When considering the Squaddie 58, the OP might like to have a look at the Princess 61 - older ones now seem to be in the same cost ballpark.
I had my mind settled on a second hand P61 but at the Southampton Boat Show in 2007, I was persuaded to go bigger and went for a new P67.
The P61 almost has a mid cabin - mid but not full beam.

And whilst on Princesses - have a good look at the older Princess 57 or its younger sister the Princess 58.
The P58 is the same vintage as our P67 - built in the same shed in Plymouth.
IMO, the older P57 is better - internal stairs and galley like the SQ58 (at a mid way level in the main saloon)
The P58 has no internal stairs and the galley is down on the accomodation deck.

Just some ramblings.
But, generally, my point is to go as big as you can.

 

[Hurricane]

How much was the gyro if I may ask. Around £30k? (I could easily be wrong)...

I won't go into after market fin stabs as already done on here (and an amazing refit that was).

We get along nicely without any stabilisation but then again, it is a personal thing.
I just don't like running the generator all the time.
I know they are quiet but when you are in a nice peaceful anchorage you don't want the dam thing running.
And most of the time it isn't necessary.
I know - we've done this subject to death!!

 

[Hurricane]

OK - so here is another plug for the islands.
This one was a quick dash over (well pootle really) a week or so in Mallorca and Ibica.
Picked up some UK friends in Mallorca and they flew back from Barcelona a week later.
So, in a short cruise, we managed to get to the usual really nice anchorages.
Hope I'm not boring people with these videos but you don't have to watch them.

 

[jrudge]

Gyro is £60k fitted. I agree you dont need it all the time and I have survived for 15 years without, but when you need it the choice is go in or stay in or keep having fun.

Most who have had it say they would never go back. I will report when I am allowed to play with it.

The mid cabin has a simple solution - run the AC all night . We do that on the s58 most of the time now anyway. Everyone prefers it so I just leave it on. Last summer get was on for I guess 18 hours a day = which is probably 50-60 lt of diesel.

 

[GravyStain]

OK - so here is another plug for the islands.
This one was a quick dash over (well pootle really) a week or so in Mallorca and Ibica.
Picked up some UK friends in Mallorca and they flew back from Barcelona a week later.
So, in a short cruise, we managed to get to the usual really nice anchorages.
Hope I'm not boring people with these videos but you don't have to watch them.

You're not boring me, I know that!

 

[GravyStain]

Each to their own choice.
I don't find our mid cabin noisy or hot.
I do have the A/C on most of the summer and when at anchor, I give the batteries a boost before we go to bed so with the generator running, I sneakily switch the Aircon on for a few minutes before going to bed.
That said, I have fitted fans over all the beds which run all night and the big side windows in the main cabin do ventilate nicely.
As said above we DO use the internal stairs all the time - particularly at sea when it is safer to do so.
The other big one for us on this boat and the previous one was that Galley.
SWMBO just didn't want any of the offerings where the galley was on the lower deck.
Our previous boat was a Sealine T51 which like the P67 has the galley on the same level as the dinette/saloon.

Actually, the OP should also add the Sealine T51 or the more recent T52 to his list.
Ours was a great boat - we did the whole of the UK South Coast - Holland to the Scillies.

When considering the Squaddie 58, the OP might like to have a look at the Princess 61 - older ones now seem to be in the same cost ballpark.
I had my mind settled on a second hand P61 but at the Southampton Boat Show in 2007, I was persuaded to go bigger and went for a new P67.
The P61 almost has a mid cabin - mid but not full beam.

And whilst on Princesses - have a good look at the older Princess 57 or its younger sister the Princess 58.
The P58 is the same vintage as our P67 - built in the same shed in Plymouth.
IMO, the older P57 is better - internal stairs and galley like the SQ58 (at a mid way level in the main saloon)
The P58 has no internal stairs and the galley is down on the accomodation deck.

Just some ramblings.
But, generally, my point is to go as big as you can.

I've been looking at the P57. ... two good sized double cabins. Lovely boat.

Mind you, the Squaddie 52 has 2 good sized double cabins, without the internal stairs.

 

[Hurricane]

Or this one that I refer to as the Scary Movie
As said before, life isn't easy all the time.

A few summers ago, we got caught out in Formentera with 50 knots of wind forecast.
I've fallen out with the marina at San Antonio because we knew that the bad weather was coming and had planned to go into San Antonio (probably on a buoy) during the storm.
But when the time came (even after calling them every day during the week) they suddenly said that they didn't let motor boats on the buoys.
I won't deliberately go there in principal now.
We were on a buoy in Espalmador in relative safety but with that strong wind coming, we still decided to leave and try to find somewhere safer.
Everybody had the same idea - this was the AIS picture of the south side of Ibiza.



Still, we pressed on - into Poroig - in fact, the pic shows us in there.
Tied back to the rocks with two lines - a bout 90m of chain out in a shallow anchorage.

And then it hit - a massive storm.
Torrential rain and lightening hitting all round but the sea in Poroig remained calm so we felt that we had picked the right spot.

This was the view from the cockpit in the evening but the storm got worse as the night progressed.

After midnight, we felt safe enough to go to bed.

The following day, I took this video footage - everything is fine until you see under the water:-

 

[TonyR123]

Hurricane - always enjoy watching videos. In the "Porroig" it looks like you don't have much clearance from the weed/rock!

Gyro - I could not have a boat now without some form of stabilisation. £60k fitted for a gyro for a 50ft boat is about right although might be nearer £80k now (inc vat). Am looking at around £120k for one fitted to a 65ft boat - getting expensive!

Internal stairs - with more aft kitchens now, maybe thats why internal stairs are no longer there??

 

[Bouba]

Or this one that I refer to as the Scary Movie
As said before, life isn't easy all the time.

A few summers ago, we got caught out in Formentera with 50 knots of wind forecast.
I've fallen out with the marina at San Antonio because we knew that the bad weather was coming and had planned to go into San Antonio (probably on a buoy) during the storm.
But when the time came (even after calling them every day during the week) they suddenly said that they didn't let motor boats on the buoys.
I won't deliberately go there in principal now.
We were on a buoy in Espalmador in relative safety but with that strong wind coming, we still decided to leave and try to find somewhere safer.
Everybody had the same idea - this was the AIS picture of the south side of Ibiza.

View attachment 102810

Still, we pressed on - into Poroig - in fact, the pic shows us in there.
Tied back to the rocks with two lines - a bout 90m of chain out in a shallow anchorage.

And then it hit - a massive storm.
Torrential rain and lightening hitting all round but the sea in Poroig remained calm so we felt that we had picked the right spot.

This was the view from the cockpit in the evening but the storm got worse as the night progressed.

After midnight, we felt safe enough to go to bed.

The following day, I took this video footage - everything is fine until you see under the water:-

How did you get out? It looked shallower going forward and too close to the rocks to go back

 

[AndieMac]

I never thought of myself as a boater "of the third type", but it's a classification I can live with!

.......and live with it you do, .