Sandstorm / Sandswift

[dom]

I notice both these are still sitting at Reedham and listed on Topsail.

https://www.topsail.co.uk/exhire.php

Has anyone had a closer look at them?

Both obviously need substantial amounts of work and updating. I notice Sandstorm has been coppercoated from new, so might even be osmosis free. The hard cockpit sides look awful, but it looks like you could get glass screens made up to match the style on Sandswift. If you did that, you'd end up with a decent size aft cockpit boat which'll go under most, if not all the low bridges.

I'm half tempted to come up and have a look, but the thing which puts me off is the state of the engine bay/bilge. They've been sat for a couple of years, but from the amount of dirt and oil, they were obviously quite neglected long before coming off hire. Can't help but wonder how low a bid they might accept though.

[Mouldy]

52 minutes ago, dom said:

. . . . . . . . Can't help but wonder how low a bid they might accept though.

Might be stating the obvious, but there’s  only one way to find out! 😁

[Troyboy]

All 3 look like they could have good potential with some money spent on them. Not silly money but I suppose it depends on what they are like. Keep us informed if you have a look. 

[oldgregg]

I think Sandersons had a reasonable reputation for looking after the mechanicals, but the boats did have a tendency to look like they were from the past.

[Broads01]

Having looked through the interior photos of all 3 boats listed I'm struck by the originality of the interiors. If these were classic cars rather than classic boats buyers would pay a premium for such unmolested patina. They're very much a blast from the hiring past but strangely endearing for that.

[MauriceMynah]

"Unmolested Patina " 

I'll remember that one. Thank you.

[Vaughan]

11 hours ago, oldgregg said:

I think Sandersons had a reasonable reputation for looking after the mechanicals, but the boats did have a tendency to look like they were from the past.

 

5 hours ago, Broads01 said:

Having looked through the interior photos of all 3 boats listed I'm struck by the originality of the interiors. If these were classic cars rather than classic boats buyers would pay a premium for such unmolested patina. They're very much a blast from the hiring past but strangely endearing for that.

I was going to say "Cor, that takes me back a bit"!  Good old bog standard hire boat.  Even got the water key hanging on a hook.  I'll bet you an awful lot of people have had great holidays on Sandswift.  I wouldn't throw that gas fridge away either!  Much more efficient than electrics.

If you ignore the obvious need of a clean, it looks in very good order to me.

That 1.5 engine is one of the early ones and will be a bit noisy, but you can see it has had routine work done on it, including a new heat exchanger.  It even has two weed filters and a very good flexible shaft coupling.

As Admiral Somerville once said, when seeing his Pacific Fleet for the first time : "Well never mind, there's many a good tune played on an old fiddle".

For someone who wants to do a bit of DIY, I reckon that looks well worth buying.

[Regulo]

6 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:

"Unmolested Patina "

Didn't I have that in an Italian restaurant once? 

[CambridgeCabby]

If we were starting off on our boat ownership journey again and were looking for an entry level first boat Sandswift would tick all the boxes , no frills but everything you need for what could be a very reasonable price if they are open to offers 

[NeilB]

Not sure why Sandstorm & Sandswift are showing different lengths as they are both 32ft!  Sandswift is ex Lady Pauline or Carina from Kris Cruisers so I've spent some time crawling over her!  Looks pretty much the same as the mid 90's when it was sold, even the upholstery looks the same as we had several boats with the same materiel.

Huge aft cockpit and handled very well if I remember correctly.

 

[oldgregg]

I think you could do worse, for sure.

I did look longingly at the AF42 Mk2 they were selling a while back... Very original inside but had clearly been maintained and felt as though it could be had for a reasonable price.

The other thing with Sandersons is that their boats are in fairly inoffensive colours. No bright yellow, orange or some quirky 1970's shade of brown to cover up.