gavin400
Well-Known Member
Am considering a Seastream 34 for the West Coast of Scotland (as an upgrade on my present 24ft boat which is just a bit small for comfortable weekending for a crew of 3) - does any one have any knowledge of these boats?
Seastream 34
- Thread starter gavin400
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Bat21
Well-Known Member
Ketch or sloop?
gavin400
Well-Known Member
Preferably sloop
Quandary
Well-Known Member
I have never owned one but have looked at a few from time to time because a friend said he wants one. There are a few nice examples about on Scotlands West Coast and the owners seem to keep in touch with each other. All I have seen have been ketches. My opinion fwiw -well put together,rugged and capable, most quite long in the tooth and an old duffers motor sailer suitable for two people, particularly if one is not that keen, slightly more of a sailer than a Fisher but less than a Nauticat. ( I would prefer either of above if I decided not to sail) Small easily handled sails if you decided to use them. If you like cruising but are not bothered about sailing they would be ideal but will not be a very fast passage maker. They were originally expensive and still seem to demand a high price, I would be surprised if there is not an owners association as they are quit a defined taste. The makers have survived for thirty odd years so they must be doing something right.
However just because it has rained since St Swithins day up here this year you should not give up, some of the Hallberg Rassys or Najads have good weather protection but can still sail.
However just because it has rained since St Swithins day up here this year you should not give up, some of the Hallberg Rassys or Najads have good weather protection but can still sail.
gavin400
Well-Known Member
Thanks for that good advice - I'm really looking for a sailing boat (preferably one that can handle the weather).
Currently have an Arden 4 which is great to sail - just a bit small on the accommodation front.
Currently have an Arden 4 which is great to sail - just a bit small on the accommodation front.
pendlecats
Well-Known Member
They were designed as a Ketch and need to be to go more to windward.
They stopped building them in 1979
Andrew
They stopped building them in 1979
Andrew
gavin400
Well-Known Member
Have seen one advertised with date of manufacture 1986?
pendlecats
Well-Known Member
They bought the hull some time after it's completion (built 1979) and finished it themselvs, This is the reason it's not a ketch as origionally designed, we have shown intrest ourselvs and a good freind has one, we would change it to a ketch though if we got it.
A good boat, Also they didn't finish it with the pilothouse steering but for me that's no down side as I would have removed it, it has a good deep aft cockpit which I would need a step to see over the roof.
All in all with the work a good boat.
A good boat, Also they didn't finish it with the pilothouse steering but for me that's no down side as I would have removed it, it has a good deep aft cockpit which I would need a step to see over the roof.
All in all with the work a good boat.
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gavin400
Well-Known Member
Do you think the sloop rig would give unsatisfactory sailing performance?
Like you, I'm not worried by lack of inside helm - you have to be out in the elements, otherwise it's not sailing!
Is the boat you're referring to Sea Fargo? - I see it advertised by two different brokers with a price difference circa £4000!
Like you, I'm not worried by lack of inside helm - you have to be out in the elements, otherwise it's not sailing!
Is the boat you're referring to Sea Fargo? - I see it advertised by two different brokers with a price difference circa £4000!
Tranona
Well-Known Member
Looks a nice tidy boat in the details and well equipped. Lot more spacious than the one I went on with ketch rig plonked in the cockpit and downstairs steering. However, 62 hp and nearly 8 tons on a 27 foot WL give good clues to its nature!
Similar money would get a range of other MS types some of which might sail a bit better - Voyager 35 springs to mind.
Similar money would get a range of other MS types some of which might sail a bit better - Voyager 35 springs to mind.
pendlecats
Well-Known Member
I was sure you were talking about that one, it's rig has to be unique.
Having been on one the pilot house does pick some windage up, with the ketch rig this allows you to overcome this and point a bit more upwind, as I said I would convert it (4k?). - it is it's correct rig.
Having said that our sailing intrests now are to cruise and stay for long periods at each stop, so the sailing aspect is slightly secondary, having said that any sailing that became a bit more challenging I would be happier with the ketch.
Don't get me wrong, I do like the boat type, it's good at sea, roomy (though I would modify the internals to make a double birth), with the cuttaway it's more manouverable than a full keel in the marina (watch the windage a tad) and it looks nice. - all IMO
The ideal would be to get out in one, the Dutch boat would be best as the one at Ipswich is on the hard I think.
Having been on one the pilot house does pick some windage up, with the ketch rig this allows you to overcome this and point a bit more upwind, as I said I would convert it (4k?). - it is it's correct rig.
Having said that our sailing intrests now are to cruise and stay for long periods at each stop, so the sailing aspect is slightly secondary, having said that any sailing that became a bit more challenging I would be happier with the ketch.
Don't get me wrong, I do like the boat type, it's good at sea, roomy (though I would modify the internals to make a double birth), with the cuttaway it's more manouverable than a full keel in the marina (watch the windage a tad) and it looks nice. - all IMO
The ideal would be to get out in one, the Dutch boat would be best as the one at Ipswich is on the hard I think.
EuanMcKenzie
Well-Known Member
re seastream 34
had a charter holiday on one almost 20 years ago round Skye and the hebrides and it was a good West Coast Boat that took the sea and weather well. It was a Ketch and it did sail but we had shortage of wind to get it going. i also know someone who owned one for a number of years. Its a cruising boat - it all depends whether your honest enough to admit you'd rather motor to windward and keep the family happy at times. I do!
That said I have a HR Rasmus now and I think it is also a high quality boat of similar Vintage but gives a lot more for your money (as do a lot of other boats).
Cabatach
had a charter holiday on one almost 20 years ago round Skye and the hebrides and it was a good West Coast Boat that took the sea and weather well. It was a Ketch and it did sail but we had shortage of wind to get it going. i also know someone who owned one for a number of years. Its a cruising boat - it all depends whether your honest enough to admit you'd rather motor to windward and keep the family happy at times. I do!
That said I have a HR Rasmus now and I think it is also a high quality boat of similar Vintage but gives a lot more for your money (as do a lot of other boats).
Cabatach
ALAN 34
New Member
Location Menai Straits.
As the owner of I believe the only other sloop rigged Seastream 34 not (Seafargo) may I add my comments based on 9 years ownership and cruising experiance of this boat.
My Seastream 34 is a deep draught (6foot) factory finished boat built by Wilson Manning on the Hamble in 1986 and fitted with a Perkins 4.108 engine approx 35 BHP.
I find the sailing performance is comparable to heavy cruising vessels of similar age i,e,Westerly Discus,Moody 34,Trident Voyager 35s etc.
I have sailed for a limited period in company with a ketch rigged Seastream 34
and found that in general my sloop rigged boat had the edge on most points of sail.
Having cruised this boat in the Irish Sea to the West Coast of Scotland,the South and West Coasts of Ireland,West and South West UK including the Channel Isles and Scillies and as far south as Southern Brittany I have to add that this Seastream 34 is a serious cruising boat that can handle the weather.
As the owner of I believe the only other sloop rigged Seastream 34 not (Seafargo) may I add my comments based on 9 years ownership and cruising experiance of this boat.
My Seastream 34 is a deep draught (6foot) factory finished boat built by Wilson Manning on the Hamble in 1986 and fitted with a Perkins 4.108 engine approx 35 BHP.
I find the sailing performance is comparable to heavy cruising vessels of similar age i,e,Westerly Discus,Moody 34,Trident Voyager 35s etc.
I have sailed for a limited period in company with a ketch rigged Seastream 34
and found that in general my sloop rigged boat had the edge on most points of sail.
Having cruised this boat in the Irish Sea to the West Coast of Scotland,the South and West Coasts of Ireland,West and South West UK including the Channel Isles and Scillies and as far south as Southern Brittany I have to add that this Seastream 34 is a serious cruising boat that can handle the weather.
mike S
New Member
As the owner of the only other sloop rigged Seastream34 (Sea Fargo) I agree with Alan of Menai Straits. If you want a serious heavy duty cruising yacht then the seastream is an excellent boat.Over 8 years my 34 has cruised the UK East coast,Holland to the west coat of France in all conditions and a heavier boat will always cope much better with bad weather conditions, speed is not an essential requirement for cruising,looking at my log shows an average sailing speed of 6.5 knots. Sea Fargo is for sale and with only ONE broker (Clipper Marine in Woolverstone, Suffolk) My own research showed that the 34 was built from 1979 to 1986/7. A Sea test was done by motor boats and yachting on the ketch model with an excellent write up,13 boats were built, the draft was 6 feet with iron ballast or 5 feet with lead ballast. A fire at Seastream International destroyed the 34's moulds, but the company continued to build 43, 50 and 60 foot luxury yachts until the untimely death of the CEO 3 years ago.
Mike S
Malo37
Well-Known Member
I had one on in Scotland a good few decades ago. The Ketch sailed suprisingly well. The hull is classic wine glass section with a pretty nipped in stern which does not generate a following wave. Mercedes engine in mine, 70hp I think it was. A good one should cost in the region of £40 - 50k ish. A lot better than many modern designs I would say. Avoid internal clockwork steering mechanism and use the autopilot,
Malo37
Well-Known Member
I notice there are two of these in Lossiemouth
BRIAN BLACK
New Member
I bought a Seastream34 as a 'project' boat last year and while there is still much to do, I had a great season sailing the West Coast this season. The boat js sea-kindly, comfortable and as a deck saloon, ideal for the vagaries of Scottish - and Irish - weather. She likes a bit of a breeze to get moving under sail but with anything over f4, goes like a dream. If interested I can come back with more info.
Luck
Brian
Luck
Brian
DaveS
Well-Known Member
I recently bought a Seastream 34. It was a bit of a distress purchase following a fire and write off of my previous boat of 21 years ownership (an Etap 30 which I had spent much time and effort on to get everything easily to hand and working smoothly). My Seastream "Slipstream" is sloop rigged (so that makes at least 3 of them) and was built in 1984. She has a lead keel, but the draught was quoted as 5' 6" not 5': I'll measure it once I have access. I wasn't present when she was lifted out for survey, so haven't seen anything below the waterline yet. I did attend the following day for sea trials, but it was blowing too hard to think about letting sails out. So, a bit of a pig in a poke; however a long defect list, including osmosis, got me the boat at a good price. She's currently due to be transported from Southampton to Argyll a fortnight from now, then lots of winter work!
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wully1
Well-Known Member
Happy new boat Dave!
BRIAN BLACK
New Member
Hello, got your reply and will respond more fully soon. We looked at Slipstream, good boat and well equipped but our offer was rejected. Went for a ketch rigged version Pavane instead. Very much a project, but now nearly ready for some serious sailing. Regards. Brian Black
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