I need to know.....

[Bluemac]

We are currently looking for out first proper boat, and in particular we are looking at a Sealine 350 Flybridge. However, I have come to the conclusion that the more I get to know about boating, the more I realise that there are always more questions than answers! And that one of the most difficult tasks is to find where to obtain the answers!

Is there anywhere on the web, for instance, that I can go to for a 'boat test' for a particular make and model such as the above? And, as we intend to go on at least one journey through the French canals (where air draft will be critical), where do I go to find out what the air draft of the above model will be when the radar mast is hinged backwards (as I believe they do on this boat)? I have emailed Sealine's but no response to date. Does anyonehappen to know the answer?

Also, why is it that when looking on different brokers sites and in 'for sale' adverts at identical models and years of craft from the same manufacturers, there often seem a large discrepancies as regards dimensions. It's not really confidence inspiring is it?

Can anyone help re: the second para please? Thanks

<hr width=100% size=1>Is this the real thing, or is it just fantasy?

 

[mainshiptom]

Ron

You have come to the right place , I do not know about the s350 much but some one here will !


The french canals are great done them lots of time !

Welcome to the club,


Tom

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[Nauti Fox]

No Tom, French canals not muddy Kent ditches.
Al.

<hr width=100% size=1>No dear,the water goes in the other one.

 

[mainshiptom]

Al
Are you better now? Or have you got yet an other cold on that bike?

All Canals are great since you do not care about the wind or tides !

Tom

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[Nauti Fox]

Always care about wind Tom.Still got it I'm afraid,I'm hoping to go and stand in a soggy field on Sunday and look at piles of rusting toot.You going to the boat jumble?

<hr width=100% size=1>No dear,the water goes in the other one.

 

[Nauti Fox]

Sorry Ron, waffling away here. If you click on Magazine Indexes they've probably got it on file there.
Regards, Al.

<hr width=100% size=1>No dear,the water goes in the other one.

 

[Wiggo]

Well, the 350 Statesman (as was) became the 360 Statesman in about 1993/4, around the time they switched from grey formica and some rather duff fabrics to wood and some rather different duff fabrics (I put this bit in before anyone else round here does ;-)). AFAIK, the only real difference was that they extended the flybridge overhang a foot or two, which allows the cockpit canopy to stow in the underside.

The 360 Statesman then got renamed the F36, and eventually got a makeover and a new topsides and cabin layout to become the F37. MBM/MBY ran both F37's and F36's, so look for the F36 review. Or talk to Suncoast, who runs an F36 as a school boat.

Dimension-wise, the F37 is 38'9" overall (if I remember correctly), and the 350/360/F36 will be around a foot shorter, courtesy of a more squared off bathing platform. Underwater sections, and hence performance, should be identical, although I'm sure I remember Kim saying he thought they felt slightly different.

Air draught is another matter, though. The Sealine website gives the F37 as 14'0", though the owners manual states something like 13'8". Then again, the website gives the F43 as 13'11", which is crap, as it is a good deal taller than the F37.

All of which is academic, as at 13' odd, I don't think you can get one through the French canals. Although, you can fold the 'bomber arch' down temporarily, which I reckon will save you 18". Check that you can fold it on the 350, though...

<hr width=100% size=1>Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione.

 

[mainshiptom]

I should ! where is it?

Tom

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[Wiggo]

I found a note somewhere to the effect that the max air draught on the French canals is 13'4", so you might just get away with it. Then again, you might not.

The highest point of the boat will be the flybridge windscreen, but quite how you would measure it is an interesting question. Anyone know?

Now, you could do it against a high quay wall with a laser spirit level, and someone hanging over the edge of the wall with a tape measure... Any civil engineers/surveyors out there?



<hr width=100% size=1>Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione.

 

[Bluemac]

Thank you Graham for the info (and also to Tom and Alec for their welcome).

It was interesting to confirm that the 350 is the direct ancestor of the F37. From your reply you seem to concur that getting information on the right dimensions is a bit of a lottery!

I have actually seen the SunCoast F36 as my wife and I were there on a Day Skipper Course recently, in fact it was that one that turned me onto looking at Sealines, which I had dismissed until then due to the unkind remarks of a broker about Sealines in general. It just goes to show that you should keep your own counsel in this world, and make decisions with the help of people who do not have a pecuniary interest in the topic being discussed. I assume that you are not a Sealine salesman!!!

By the way, have you been happy with the F37? And who is the 'Kim' you refer to in your post? Thanks again Graham, and I'd still like to hear the offerings of anyone else familiar with the Sealine 350 such as, for instance, why are there so few for sale on the internet or in the press? Were they not very popular, or did they not make many, or maybe they're so good that no one is selling?!!!


<hr width=100% size=1>Is this the real thing, or is it just fantasy?

 

[oldgit]

And do not forget the boat will float "higher" in salt water than in fresh canal water.

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[Bluemac]

How much higher??

<hr width=100% size=1>Is this the real thing, or is it just fantasy?

 

[capsco]

If you have over 3.5m forget the French canals

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[Wiggo]

Delighted with the F37. Kim is the legendary Kim Hollamby of MBY forum fame. There aren't many 350's around for the simple reason that I don't think they built very many of them before stretching the flybridge and calling it the 360...

Dimensions are a bit of a lottery, as even the manufacturers seem to give different versions. Actually, they are all irrelevant except one. The one that counts is the one you claim is the LOA when arguing the toss with the marina over the bill.

<hr width=100% size=1>Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione.

 

[miket]

I would suggest that if things are that close you are too tall.

I once took my Fairline Turbo 36 from Nieuport to Dunkirk, having been assured that bridge heights would be no problem at all. They were. The problem was that various "bodies" had slung pipes and cables under the bridge spans reducing heights by up to half a metre.

If you are just looking to take the boat through the French canals to the Med' it can be done with a flybridge boat. If you wish to cruise generally through the inland waters buy yourself the right boat. i.e. Dutch steel with single engine and command bridge (folding windscreen in place of moulded flybridge) or similar styled Brooms.

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