Sealine S38 - a couple of questions:

[DazzyWoo]

Hi,

after looking at quite a lot of boats, I've verbally agreed a deal on a used 2004 Sealine S38 with D6s, subject to written contracts survey and sea trial. We've looked at lots of other boats, and this layout is just about the perfect compromise for our needs. It will be used as a floating apartment with lots of harbour hopping, rather than a regular cross channel rocket ship. It will mainly be used by myself and my wife, with occasional overnight guests. We have friends in the area who have their own boat, and it will also be used as a "floating drinks platform" for up to 8 people in the evenings.

The boat has been surveyed by a previous buyer, and a seen a copy of the survey, and agreed to purchase the report from the surveyor (subject to agreeing contracts) - and have agreed a list of items to fix with the broker (again subject to deposit and contract)

I do have a couple of doubts: there is the design fault with the hull, and the Seaplex electrics system

This boat has had the hull modified by Destys Marine. Does anyone know how robust this fix is? Have there been cases of boats experiencing further problems after the fix was done?

Apart form testing every single piece of electrical equipment, is there any other way of testing the electric system?

Any thoughts / advice would be welcome.

kind regards
DW

 

[halcyon]

Apart form testing every single piece of electrical equipment, is there any other way of testing the electric system?

Any thoughts / advice would be welcome.

kind regards
DW

Phil Hutchins ( Hutchins Marine ) can now check SeaPlex I think he said in recent conversation, try the Sealine Forum on hull as a alternate source of info.

Brian

 

[Whitelighter]

I'd also check if the engines are original. 2004 is very early for an S38 to have D6 motors.

Much more common at this age were AD41/KAD43/44 lumps.

I'd want to know the history and/or check the builders certificate and compare engine details. If they have been changed it's not always a bad thing (it may have just been an owner upgrade) but I'd want to be certain I knew why.

Also, if they are original D6 engines they will be 280hp/310hp/350hp - these had a few mods done by VP early on and I'd want to check all these have been completed

 

[mm1]

Hi as a floating apartment this is a good boat! People will say the repair / modifications will be stronger than the original but it is still fastened to the old hull @ some point(possibly a weak point). On our boat both Water & fuel tanks split within the first year & we had a few electrical problems. A surveyor told me that the wiring was not up to the job! Needless to say we didn't keep the boat very long(1yr) so my advice get as much info as possible but as a floating apartment great!
So do I assume you have not commissioned your own survey yet?
Regards MM1.

 

[jrudge]

If you are relying on another buyers survey make sure it is very recent. Anything void happen in the mean time.

I had d6 310s on a 2004 targa 40 so not sure what the d6 issue is. Good engines. Outdrive leg has hose / ram issues.

 

[DazzyWoo II]

Slight change of User name - as I appear to have messed up my YBW account.

I've checked the paperwork, the boat was supplied with D6 engines 310hp in 2004.

I have a survey from October 2014 - and have spoken to the surveyor. I will have the survey assigned to me once contract wording is finally agreed. Since October it has been on the hard stuff.

thanks all
DW

DW

 

[Whitelighter]

D6 issue with early lumps was to do with a) the water strainers - originally plastic with caps that were pron to popping off and b) exposed drive rams on the DPH legs

 

[DazzyWoo II]

Hi, DW here under new name, and managed to mess up my previous password.

The boat was sold with D6s. I'm not a technical person; would the water strainer / exposed drive ram issues have been resolved by now? (I am getting a separate engine inspection).

The boat was surveyed in Oct 2014. It has been on the dry since then.

thanks for the replies
DW

 

[volvopaul]

Hi,

after looking at quite a lot of boats, I've verbally agreed a deal on a used 2004 Sealine S38 with D6s, subject to written contracts survey and sea trial. We've looked at lots of other boats, and this layout is just about the perfect compromise for our needs. It will be used as a floating apartment with lots of harbour hopping, rather than a regular cross channel rocket ship. It will mainly be used by myself and my wife, with occasional overnight guests. We have friends in the area who have their own boat, and it will also be used as a "floating drinks platform" for up to 8 people in the evenings.

The boat has been surveyed by a previous buyer, and a seen a copy of the survey, and agreed to purchase the report from the surveyor (subject to agreeing contracts) - and have agreed a list of items to fix with the broker (again subject to deposit and contract)

I do have a couple of doubts: there is the design fault with the hull, and the Seaplex electrics system

This boat has had the hull modified by Destys Marine. Does anyone know how robust this fix is? Have there been cases of boats experiencing further problems after the fix was done?

Apart form testing every single piece of electrical equipment, is there any other way of testing the electric system?

Any thoughts / advice would be welcome.

kind regards
DW

My input would be, employ a surveyor that is familiar with the Desty marine mod, I have seen many S 38 both prior and after the hill repairs, I have not seen any with faults after in that area although you will see hairline cracks in many places on Sealine boats , which is mainly down to the lay up method used by the builder at the time.

As for the D 6 I doubt it's been re engined unless it was an insurance claim , drop me a PM with the sale advert as I may have worked on it in the past years. I'd also employ an engineer that knows the motors and drives to check the correct mods have been carried out and there overall condition, at that year the D6 motor is starting to show its weakness . I can help with this depending on its location.

 

[jrudge]

I had never heard of S38 hull issues so googled it - found an old YBW forum article and one for sale

http://www.mgmboats.com/help-info/boatdetails/detail/boat-4733368

2006 boat, £75k, estimate £18k to repair.

So it comes in a £95k ( assuming the estimate is correct and nothing else is found - i can't have my car service without them finding something expensive to add to the list). I have nothing against Sealine, but given (a) Sealine - in the guise of the people who built it - are no longer in existence AND (b) it has a known hull problem, repaired or other wise - I can't really see the attraction as the discount is simply not big enough for the risk / hassle.

 

[Jurgen]

As an owner of a S37 I am very impressed with the quality and attention to detail, that said you will always find a bad idea 1 from any boat builder.
Re the engine's as previously mentioned check the build document to see if they match . Also get your own independent survey if the current one is older than 6 months. An independent engine survey is a must, get it wrong and your looking at circa 50k to replace them.
If it all checks out then happy days.
good luck with the process and happy boating

 

[Greg2]

As I understand it the issues with the hull related to insufficient stringers under the saloon and the 'fix' was to install more stingers. Never heard of problems with a boat that has had the fix done by Desty's. With regard to the Seaplex system I understand that it is common to have problems. We looked at several of these boast and virtually every one did strange things electrically i.e. wrong lights turning on and off with particular switches.