sealine 195 or Bayliner 2455 Ciera

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seapiper

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Hi
Thinking of buying a Sealine or Bayliner cruiser late 1980's vintage. Just wondered if anyone could advise if Sealine or Bayliner are best and what are pros and cons of buying such a boat?
Sealine has a single 146hp Volvo petrol and Bayliner has a single 230 hp OMC Cobra petrol.
Both boats will cruise at about 20kts. Any estimates of fuel consumtion at cruise speed? Don't want to spend more than £10,000
Thanks in advance
 
Personally I would go for the bayliner but am biased I think the Bayliner is better value for money ie more boat per pound

mind you some might say the sealine has a better build quality

as per fuel consumption I am usless with this but the sealine should be better
 
our first boat was a sealine 195, great boat and the fact that we are now on our 3rd Sealine surely says something.

Loads of room fo rit's size and good fun to play with. Only weak point on ours was the engine so have aclose look at that.
 
I to would go for the sealine i am also on my third one now had 190 with volvo 171 which is basically DOHC version of the 151 (146hp)things to watch on these engines Exhaust Manifold ,cylinder head if manifold goes corrodes ports in head have to get liner put in then. Raw water pump seals leak on back this in turn lets water go onto cam belt and corrodes pulleys i always made it part of my winter service to change rear seal easy job to do.Still got points in the distributor bit of a pain but on the whole very easy engine to maintain and work on.
i have never yet heard any glowing reports on OMC only bad.
 
I am with Chuckaduck, Bayliners have more boat to the pound
but the Sealine has a better built quality.
If you are willing to spend a few pennies and some time on those small fixings and fixtures and you can get the boat for a few pounds cheaper than the Sealine, I would go for the Bayliner.

Good Luck
 
I would be suspicious about the OMC Cobra, how about service and spare parts for this engine ?
I guess the Volvo is a six cylinder and the OMC is a 8 cylinder? Fuel consumption on the OMC will be a lot more then the Volvo, but max speed in the Volvo is lower I guess, If you don't care about max speed, and the boat is planing well with the normal load, the Volvo would be the best choice.
Personally I don't like american Boats, and I notice that all Sealine users are very loyal with this brand, so ....
 
I'd take the Sealine, smaller engine will be much better on fuel and its made in the UK (I'm told by my Grandfather that this used to mean something /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif?)
 
Same opinion ,happy with Sealine. on our second. Dont worry about points in the 151 or 250 which ever it is if its the four cylinder Volvo. You can get electronic ignitions very cheap from the states which make it much better to set up and the performance does not go off.
 
I'd go for the Bayliner... oh, I did.

1988 2455.

Great boat for the money. IMO more boat for the money with the Bayliner. We looked at a couple of Sealines but went for the Bayliner. It will depend on a lot of things though - personal taste, budget, your requirements etc etc etc

Also in our case it was a boat that fitted the bill, at the right time (well I thought so!)

To early to say with any substance what fuel consumption is like but in the region of 35 l per hour cruising 22-24 mph (GPS) ish. Like I say though we haven't used the boat enough to give accurate consumption figures. All the usual things will affect too such as load, sea state etc etc

Parts availability for OMC is apparently not as great a problem as some people make it out to be. Having said that i've not needed anything other than service parts but looking and asking around most parts seem to be obtainable.
 
Anyone got an opinion on price trends. Are boats of this type falling in price due to increased petrol prices? Is it a buyers market?
 
Parts on a omc or mercruiser will be cheaper than volvo, even more so if you get them shipped over from the states even with postage and vat, That said there are more and more companies shipping the yank stuff over in the crate load which seem to be reducing uk prices.
much more boat for your money in my opinion from the us
 
I think a lot will depend on your intended usage. Day boating with max 4 or 5 people then the Sealine. If you intend to overnight or want a couple more people on board then the Bayliner.

If you are going to tow it then it will depend on your experience and tow car. Sealine will tow behind a big saloon, Bayliner will need a decent 4x4.

At the age you are looking at condition will be far more important than original build quality (When new Sealine was better than Bayliner).

In terms of fuel consumption the V8 is likly to do about 30-40% more than the 4 pot.

And lastly but more importantly get Swimbo on board both and see which she prefers. Without a happy partner you wont be going anywhere on either of them. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 
Have owned a Bayliner 2255 & a Sealine 240, main difference is the build quality, sealine's build is much better, usually mouldings rather than glued carpet interior etc.

The attention to layout & detail of the sealine will be much better but the bayliner will feel bigger.
Weight of layup will be greater with the sealine & it's sea keeping ability will be better than the bayliner.

You need to get aboard both before you make up your mind, I know I have recomended the sealine but our bayliner took some beating, I wouldn't hesitate to have another.
 
Can't speak for the Bayliner, however I had the misfortune to own an '87 Sealine 215. The build was dreadful. However others have clearly had better experiences of Sealines of that era. From previous threads it seems that there was a degreee of inconsistency with Sealine build back then. All I'm really saying is condition is everything, look, check, look and check again would be my advice.

Anyway not knocking Sealine, I traded by 215 for an S24 which was an absolute delight and had the build I'd always hoped for with Sealine.
 
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