What Have I got?

[Tom d]

Bought this at an auction when I should have been bidding on stuff for work. I suspect I have paid over the odds but what the hell. Its a Shetland 535. judging from the stickers on the side it has lived on loch Lomond at some point in its life, perhaps as a hire vessel?

I have a few questions as I am a complete novice:

I am guessing that this is a very old boat, maybe 1970 or before? It has the short transom I think and the side windows seem to be a different shape to some of the others I have seen pictured on line. Structurally it seems really sound, no obvious repairs and what looks like a fresh(ish) coating of paint on the underside. The rear deck area seems to be glued in and doesn't appear to gave any flex in it so I guess thats good.. the transom is solid and doesn't flex or bend...


The engine is a yamaha 50 and looks fairly clean considering its age, the steering and gear/throttle linkages all appear to work, but there are no fuel tanks so I haven't attempted to run it as yet.

I'd like to take this boat out around the shore here (SE Scotland) with the family at some point in the future but obviously want to do it safely, so I'm interested to hear any comments on the best approach to making this old lump seaworthy. Given that short shaft engines are going to be hard to find I wondered wether, assuming that the existing one runs ok, I could buy a smaller engine as a reserve and attach it alongside the larger one for emergency use? or would you bite the bullet and look for a replacement?

Any information or tips gratefully received..

 

[Montemar]

I believe there is a Shetland owners club so they may be able to help. They have a model listing so you should be able to locate a 535 although I have never heard of it. The Shetland website shows some info http://www.shetlandboats.co.uk/range/32.php.
A back up engine say a 4hp Yamaha is handy.
Tanks would have been refillable 25 litre plastic containers that you plug into. Someone obviously didn't leave you one. Watch out for the right type of connectors and get a priming bulb.
Good luck!

 

[Prhperio]

Good luck with the project, it's going to be great fun. On the engine front you need to take a view on how reliable the Yammy is and either go through it thoroughly yourself or get a mechanic to do it. If all looks good I'd keep it and get a small outboard as a get you home (4hp as suggested in the thread).

Do keep us all posted and it's pretty much mandatory to post pictures on progress on here

 

[gordmac]

I have had a couple of 535s, good boats, quite popular with fishermen. 50hp is about minimum for them really, the ones I had would struggle to plane 3 up with 50 hp.

 

[TwoCan]

shetland Owners - www.shetlandowners.co.uk