Orkney Orkadian Or Modern Equivalent

[Cbjroms]

Just trying to sell my daysailer with a view to buying a motor boat.

I have been looking at the Merry Fisher 625/635 as a compromise between something that is safe to take to sea (eg Southampton out to the Nab Tower), comfortable enough for my wife to enjoy coming along but also enough deck space to fish from.

Talking today to someone else looking for the same sort of boat an he mentioned the Orkney Orkadian. Searched online and shown some pictures to my wife and she is (almost!) hooked. Unlike the Merry Fisher the Orkney has a separate cabin with a toilet cubicle and an open wheelhouse. Old reports on this forum suggest that this is a very good and safe sea boat capable of making respectable coastal voyages as long as it has a decent sized outboard on the back.

But it seems that the Orkney Orkadian was not made in huge numbers and only around the late 1990s. So the prices for a 1998 Orkadian with a similar age engine look to be about the same as a 2010 Merry Fisher with a 5 year old engine. Is this a fair comparison? Also I cant think of any 2010ish boats (less than 7m) that would offer would offer the same sort of features as an Orkadian - am I missing something here?

Thanks

Chris

 

[aquatom]

My father has had an Orkney Orkadian 23 for about 20 years now. It has a Volvo Penta TAMD 31 engine. The boat has been excellent for trips around the Solent and has stood up to the test of time very well. They truly deserve their reputation as well built, good sea boats. That probably explains why the resale value is quite high compared to other similar sized boats.

Providing the engine or engines have been regularly serviced and are in good shape I would go for the Orkney over the Merry Fisher.

 

[Cbjroms]

Thanks for that aquatom.

The Orkney Orkadian definitely sounds like the boat for me. Sold my sailing boat yesterday so just need to find an Orkadian in good condition now.

Anyone know of any of these boats coming up for sale in the Solent area?

 

[AllanG]

I would suggest also looking at the Orkney Pilothouse 20, which I believe is the updated version of the Orkadian, though these will most likely be more expensive, but maybe more for sale.

 

[Cbjroms]

Trouble is hat the Pilothouse 20 doean't have the same standard of accomodation as the Orkadian and i is this that appeals to my wife. Indeed I cannot find any other Orkney or Merry Fisher type boats under 6.5m that have a seperate toilet compartment and I think this may be the 'clincher' to me getting company onboard.

 

[kevingreystones]

I have owned both an Orkney and a Jeanneau, I beleive that the Jeanneau performed better in a tasty sea.

 

[MarieK]

Take a look at the Rodman 747 - bit bigger than what you are looking at but has similar layout to Orkadian.

If you go for an Orkadian make sure you get 60hp or above - there are a lot of them with honda 50hp and it isnt enough for the boat