Sealine SC29 question

[Viscount]

Is it possible to uprate the 160hp Volvo diesels to the more powerful 190hp? If so, what's involved in doing this? Thanks for any guidance.

 

[Chris_d]

Are you sure you actually want that era of D3 they have a terrible reputation.

 

[U4]

Is it possible to uprate the 160hp Volvo diesels to the more powerful 190hp? If so, what's involved in doing this? Thanks for any guidance.

Couple of new engines

 

[Viscount]

Are you sure you actually want that era of D3 they have a terrible reputation.

Thanks for the warning; I'm at the very early stages of thinking about this model; I'll search a bit more to see what other diesel options were offered.

 

[Whitelighter]

Thanks for the warning; I'm at the very early stages of thinking about this model; I'll search a bit more to see what other diesel options were offered.

Your options were

D3
D3
Single D6
Or a couple of 4.3l petrols

 

[Jonmendez]

Although twins are nice the D3 is best described as 'hard work' and has not had a great reputation, the single D6 actually makes a good boat, great as you get more engine room just over 1/2 the service cost and better economy. Sadly they did not make many. Needs a bit of practice to manoeuvre and the now thruster is pretty essential!

 

[Viscount]

Thanks guys; I'm pretty well set on sticking to twin diesels so looks like I might have to rethink. I just fancied a newer boat now and the convenience of the sliding top was attractive. I might just plod on with the 285; had her over 10 years and know it inside out.

 

[hullabaloo]

Couple of new engines

:applause: :encouragement:

 

[Jurgen]

Thanks guys; I'm pretty well set on sticking to twin diesels so looks like I might have to rethink. I just fancied a newer boat now and the convenience of the sliding top was attractive. I might just plod on with the 285; had her over 10 years and know it inside out.

S34?

 

[Harpsden]

There seem to be some negative comments on here so want to give our experience.

The SC29 with twin D3-160s was our first 'proper' boat and gave us a great introduction to cruising over 5 seasons. We've been up and down the South Coast and all over the Solent. Round the island three times and flotilla and solo crossings of the channel. The shallow draft and stern drives gives the ability to get into some very shallow areas especially as we were in and out of Christchurch.

Full disclosure - our SC29 is for sale now with Ancasta as we have changed to a bigger slower single engine boat as we move to longer passage making over extended periods.

We logged:-

2008 480 miles 60 hours
2009 410 miles 56 hours
2010 708 miles 83 hours
2011 1008 miles 100 hours
2012 464 miles 51 hours (awful weather that year)

Cruising at 22 knots gave the best blend of performance and economy (typically a litre per knot per hour per engine at 22 knots). The channel crossing in flotilla was made at 25 knots to keep up with the SC35s and bigger boats we were in company with. We were still not at WOT.

The first season we had some intermittent engine problems which turned out to be a faulty battery isolator switch which was arcing and nothing to to do with the engine. We also had a problem with a 'sticky' turbo which was solved by a cleanup. With both problems the engine went into 'get you home mode' limiting the revs rather than failing. There was one other incident where one engine wouldn't come up to full revs which was traced using the engine diagnostics to a very very small air leak on the fine fuel filter solved by tightening it up properly and again was not a problem with the engine itself. Other than the proper regular servicing we never had to replace any engine components.

The SC29 is also good for single handing with easy access from helm to swim platform and good visibility. Lots of passages were single handed..

So there's our practical experience over 5 years of the SC29 with D3-160s.

Good luck with your boat search.



Harpsden

 

[Viscount]

S34?

Not sure that really improves the covers off/on hassle. They also appear quite a bit more expensive than SC29 albeit I recognise they're bigger.

 

[Viscount]

There seem to be some negative comments on here so want to give our experience.

The SC29 with twin D3-160s was our first 'proper' boat and gave us a great introduction to cruising over 5 seasons. As my experience grew we went up and down the South Coast and all over the Solent. Round the island three times and flotilla and solo crossings of the channel. The shallow draft and stern drives gives the ability to get into some very shallow areas especially as we were in and out of Christchurch.

Full disclosure - our SC29 is for sale now with Ancasta as we have changed to a bigger slower single engine boat as we move to longer passage making over extended periods.

We logged:-

2008 480 miles 60 hours
2009 410 miles 56 hours
2010 708 miles 83 hours
2011 1008 miles 100 hours
2012 464 miles 51 hours (awful weather that year)

We found cruising at 22 knots gave the best blend of performance and economy (typically a litre per knot per hour per engine at 22 knots). The channel crossing in flotilla was made at 25 knots to keep up with the SC35s and bigger boats we were in company with. We were still not at WOT.

The first season we had some intermittent engine problems which turned out to be a faulty battery isolator switch which was arcing and nothing to to do with the engine. We also had a problem with a 'sticky' turbo which was solved by a cleanup. With both problems the engine went into 'get you home mode' limiting the revs rather than failing. There was one other incident where one engine wouldn't come up to full revs which was traced using the engine diagnostics to a very very small air leak on the fine fuel filter solved by tightening it up properly and again was not a problem with the engine itself. Other than the proper regular servicing we never had to replace any engine components.

The SC29 is also good for single handing with easy access from helm to swim platform and good visibility. One of the round the islands was single handed as were lots of of other passages.

So there's our practical experience over 5 years of the SC29 with D3-160s.

Good luck with your boat search.



Harpsden

Thanks. That's very useful information. Have I got the arithmetic right and that your fuel consumption is just a touch better than 2 nm per gallon? (That's what my 285 achieves but going a little slower - perhaps more like 20kts).

 

[Jurgen]

Not sure that really improves the covers off/on hassle. They also appear quite a bit more expensive than SC29 albeit I recognise they're bigger.

Whats your wish list.

If covers on/off is an issue the Hardtop/Retractable is the only way to go.
If Accomadtion and extended stay aboard is important then bigger is better.
Once you go to twin engines then of course servicing and running costs increase but you get the benefits of speed and redundancy.
If you want bomb proof engines then from what I hear the Volvo option seems to be the D4 or Mercruiser D4.2L
Budget will play a part as will availability

There is an S29 in my marina and she looks like a very nice boat, not sure what the Accomadtion below is like but am sure it will be adequate for a couple of nights.

Either way good luck

 

[Harpsden]

Thanks. That's very useful information. Have I got the arithmetic right and that your fuel consumption is just a touch better than 2 nm per gallon? (That's what my 285 achieves but going a little slower - perhaps more like 20kts).

I've just done the math and come up with 2.3 nm per gallon so I think we agree.

Sounds like the performance is similar to your 285 as it will also vary through the season depending on how clean the hull and props are etc.


Harpsden

 

[Viscount]

I've just done the math and come up with 2.3 nm per gallon so I think we agree.

Sounds like the performance is similar to your 285 as it will also vary through the season depending on how clean the hull and props are etc.


Harpsden

Thanks for that confirmation; I have to accept that I'm not going to see a material benefit in fuel consumption by changing. Perhaps I just accept the inconvenience of the cover as everything else works for me with the 285.