Thinking of buying a sealine 290 ambassador

[Westy]

Hiya,

New to the forum and quite new to boating, so go easy on me /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thinking of buying a sealine 290 ambassador. Are there any particular problems I should be aware of? It has twin volvo petrol engines, 1990 and is in good condition. How much would you say it is worth?

 

[Frontier]

Hi welcome to the forum,

I am fairly new myself, I was also looking at the 290's but I think petrols would be very expensive to run.

Have you been given any idea of cruising speed and fuel consumption, could be over 20 gals per hour, some engines could be a lot more.

Another thing that put me off petrol was the availability. I was told it is not always available on the fuel pontoons. Many places don’t have it and those that do may have it at the back of the yard, meaning a lot of carrying.

Nice boat though, There was a nice one at Weymouth recently. Well it’s spec looked good, didn’t actually go the see it, had found a boat by the time the price became more realistic.

Best of luck

D

 

[hlb]

Only one thing wrong, the petrol engines. Now tell me. Did you actually want to go anywhere.

Welcome anyway. Even if you have just started the latest row.. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Westy]

20 gallons per hour !!!!!! you're winding me up....?

I will be using it mostly on the river, so it will only be ticking over, I hope. Does anyone have any proper fuel consumption figures? The engines are volvo 150hp

 

[Nat]

He's not.
Flat out 20galls an hour, cruising 12 to 15 approx.....Nat

 

[hlb]

Nope, no proper fuel figures, less we know how fast yer going. But on a river do you need two engines?? One would be eerr, about twice the economy.

Next thing to look at, is where can you buy it. On a river I suppose it dont matter to much, you can always go to Tesco's in the car for a few gallon and slurp it in. Course if on the sea, you would need a hundred gallons, which is quite alot in jerry cans!!

 

[Westy]

what kind of economy would you get from similar power diesels?

 

[Freebee]

welcome- dont know which river your on cos you have not filled out your profile, but in general boats on rivers dont need big gas guzzling engines, I dont know what engines your intended boat has but you need to be thinking it over, tell us what the engines are and somebody is bound to give you an idea on consumtion.

as you are a newbie have you thought of having your intended boat surveyed-could save you a lot of money? although I have to say that most surveyers exclude engines and drives.

 

[hlb]

Hum. Maybe 50% more?? But more sence would be a river boat with engine to suit. Why have 300hp on tap if only doing 8 knots. The hulls wrong and the engines aint going to like it either. Bit like a Farari on a dodgem track!!

 

[Westy]

Yes, i agree with what you are saying....if it was "only" river. I am hoping to go offshore when i have cut my teeth.

 

[Westy]

This is the only description have of the engines is "twin Volvo 150hp sterndrive petrol engines"

 

[hlb]

Diesel on shafts then. River or sea. Much better control on rivers and props dont come out of water at sea, no horific drive repaires, might be a little bit slower though.

 

[GC1]

Go petrol, Diesel will be just as expensive in Jan 2007 so get a bargain now before the petrol boats leap in value /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Much cleaner than all that dirty soot blowing over you up the windy rivers, plus it won't scare off the wildlife like those clanky diesels do /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Anyway I am sure that there will be more petrol available soon at key sites when diesel hits £2 a ltr /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Moose]

Do you own a boat? Is it a petrol boat?

 

[Medskipper]

I am not too sure about the sealine range! I have been boating many years and have heard some awful stories about the build quality of sealines! However I have no first hand experience of them.

Best thing to do is get a survey of boat and engines, there are surveyors that do both or failing that get two separate surveyors. It could save you a lot of money in the long run, however I do agree with hlb, running petrol engines can be very expensive, but hey lets face it all boating is expensive!!

Regards Barry

 

[GC1]

Yes I have a petrol boat, old but in good condition and economical at the speeds I go. I wanted to get a bigger diesel boat but the red going is causing me to wait, as I have been saving for one loads of things have changed. If it doesn't go up I wouldn't mind yours it looks fantastic and is around my budget zone, but I could not afford to run it and maintain it at petrol prices as they are, never mind if they increase more.

 

[Frontier]

I dont think I am,

I was looking at a 255 for sale ar RYB, I think they told me it would use 4 gals of petrol p/hour per engine on the river, and that was a 27ft 150 hp.

Have a look at www.boatshed.com, they are pretty good at putting some fuel figures. If you see a boat of similar size and engines it should be close enough,

Anyway best of luck

D

 

[Westy]

[ QUOTE ]
Go petrol, Diesel will be just as expensive in Jan 2007 so get a bargain now before the petrol boats leap in value /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Much cleaner than all that dirty soot blowing over you up the windy rivers, plus it won't scare off the wildlife like those clanky diesels do /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Anyway I am sure that there will be more petrol available soon at key sites when diesel hits £2 a ltr /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you're right. Not buying it to save money anyway. Trying to get a full survey (engines included) sorted. If all is well, it is likely I will take it. The diesels are more economical but the tax is about to rocket and the boats are more expensive at the moment.

 

[Moose]

But I spend c. £1500pa on fuel. I spend nearly £4000 on berthing so although it won't help; Any increase in diesel tax is not going to cripple my ability to go boating, I will just think twice about taking the boat out "for a little run".

At least I now know you have a personal interest in this scaremongering /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Freebee]

Imho thinking that petrol boats are going to leap in value is misguided. If red goes diesel will rise in price, probably matching the prices you see on forcourts today pro rata. At the moment the price of a litre of diesel and petrol roughly match give or take a few pence. modern Diesel engines are usually far more economic than petrol and of course diesel is way safer espec in a mobo.