Storebro Royal Baltic 34

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Billy_Mizzen

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I’ve got my eye on a Storebro Royal Baltic 34, built of timber in the sixties, she’s fitted with twin Iveco’s putting out 135hp each which date from 1998. She needs a bit of work to get back into commission but nothing drastic, just a bit of updating and catching up with some lax maintenance.

Having not owned a dedicated motor boat before, but an eclectic mix of sailing yachts I would be interested to hear any views, opinions and experiences with theses boats!
 
If I were you, I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. I nearly bought one as MY first motorboat, some years ago. Unless the hull and decks are in perfect condition, then you would be pouring good money after bad.

Don't get me wrong, they are beautiful boats, oozing with lots of mahogany, but they are heavy, cost a fortune to run and need lots of maintenance.

Rainwater is the biggest problem, which finds it's way under the deck, and can rot away the the transom.

If nothing else get a good surveyor. The one I had, advised me not to bother, unless it was going for a song, which it wasn't.
I am afraid wooden boats are bad news, unless they have been very well looked after.
Also resale value is a big issue.

Stuart
 
I’ve owned both traditionally-constructed-wooden & GRP boats and I’m not overly concerned about maintenance. I have found that once a wooden boat is in good condition, it doesn’t take a great deal more effort than a GRP boat to keep trim. As long as the fresh water is kept out, and essential basic maintenance isn’t ignored, wooden boats can provide plenty of upsides!

I’m intending to use her for costal cruising on the east coast and what I would really like to know is: Are they good sea boats? Do they have any specific issues with handling or any other idiosyncrasies? & how do Iveco diesels rate?
 
Agree with you on the maintenance: a good wooden boat takes little more maintaining than a GRP one.

I looked at a smaller sister last year: one of the 30ft Royal IIIs about the same age. Beautifully put together, and handled very nicely, both at speed and manoeuvring round the marina.
I would expect very similar characteristics from the 34: there were over 1200 of the 34s built over about 15 years, which in itself suggests that they were a popular and well-liked design.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Solitaire has one of these, I think?? Try a PM to him.
His maybe a GRP one?

[/ QUOTE ]

Our's is a 31 Biscay and has AD 41Bs (200hp) in her. And yes it's GRP.

Good boat but I think with only 2 x 135 in a 34' it's going to be very slow and only really displacment speed.
 
I have a Royal 34,Good seaboat,just sailed(motored?) her back from Emden in Germany,Wouldnt part with it.As said a bit slow but in my opinion a really well built and solid craft.Cover nearly 950NM in some cr*p weather,No problem
 
Hi Billy,
we own exactly this boat, but with a GRP hull.

I looked at several wooden hulled ones when we bought her (7 years ago) and quickly decided that it was worth paying a little more, getting a more up-to-date model with GRP, and avoiding a lot of effort in keeping the hull (and transom which someone points out is prone to rot) up together.

Even the GRP one is all-wooden (Mahogany) top-sides and teak deck so they still look very pretty. GRP is used in the practical places where it would normally cause problems - hull, and coach roofs for example. There's still plenty of up-keep there in keeping the varnish on, and making sure the decks don't develop leaks (the sub-deck is marine ply).

If you go for a 31 (instead of the 34) they are all GRP on the outside, so you can eliminate even more maintenance. All in all though, very nice boats - ours is capable of 21 knots with Volvo 40s (148 HP each) and is a tough ol' thing with plenty of on-board luxury (not many 34 feet boats boast an owner's cabin with private on-suite heads - as built as an option by the factory).

There's plenty for sale so don't be trapped by the first one you see. The later boats (late 70's +) were a redesigned version of the original and IMO look nicer. Beware that a late boat doesn't guarantee a GRP hull, as the wooden hull remained an option.

Look here for some for sale http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/php/browser.php3?make=STOREBRO The first one in the list if up together looks good value - it also has the rare flybridge option (they typically don't have this so they can navigate low bridges on inland waterways).

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/php/browser.php3?make=STOREBRO

Cheers,
Paul
 
Good luck, and let us know the outcome of the offer and survey - it will be interesting to hear how it goes. Just the talk of offers and survey brings back all the excitement of buying a boat!!

Cheers,
Paul
 
Get a surveyor who definitely knows wood -- and ensure the surveyor gets good access and lots of time, preferably without the owner around. I speak from experience...

If you cannot do that I'd value as highly, if not more so, an opinion from a boatbuilder that works in wood.
 
I echo Kim's advice.

Also, whilst I don't know much about the wooden hull, there are some other areas that I know are common failure points which you can check (it will either help you make a decision on the boat, or give you some pointers on which to haggle with the price);

- the lower corners of both the cabins and wheelhouse are prone to rot. This occurs for 2 reasons - where the structure meets the deck, there is a gasket which can fail, and water can ingress here causing rot of the sub-deck and corner sections. Also the windows can leak (quite common in the wheelhouse) which allow water to become trapped between the window and the wood - due to the direction of the grain of the wood, this can find it's way to the lowest points again, causing rot on the lower wheelhouse corners, although the wood may also be stained darker round the window corners if it's occurred.


- check the combing (spelling?) under the sides of the wheelhouse and coach roof. Certainly on mine, I had evidence of soft wood here where the damp collects and it eventually turns mossy. The design of yours may be different as mine has a GRP roof though.

- Make sure that the deck fittings have not been leaking water through the deck also - I had some minor leaks which were easily rectified at the time, but in some cases, the screws hadn't found their way into the backing plates correctly (i.e. they had missed when it was built) and over the years this leads to water ingress and ultimately could cause serious issues.


- check the 'spray rails' if you have them on the lower sides of the hull at the rear. Mine needed replacing - it looks like a simple job, but I had to strip out the entire rear cabin to reach one of the screws!

- Also the dodgers, if you have them fitted, are themselves made of wood (I swore they were GRP when I looked at the boat!) These can also trap water where the screw holes are drilled.

I hope the above helps. They are made to a very high standard, and if the one you're looking at is up together, expect many a year's enjoyable boating - make sure you have her surveyed thoroughly by someone who knows what they're looking at though!!

Cheers,
Paul
 
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