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Living on 64 Manhattan

Discussion in 'Sunseeker Yacht' started by Wakeseeker, May 1, 2011.

  1. Wakeseeker

    Wakeseeker New Member

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    Hello,

    very nice that this forum is here, with a lot of information and nice stories, thanks for this already.

    Me and my girlfriend decided about 14 months ago that it should be great to buy a boat and cruise the meds and Caribbean for some time. After some research we found out it was feasible for me financially and also business wise, so we started looking for a boat. this was on itself already a great adventure, as we are 26 and 27, so quite young to look for yachts of 800k and up.

    After a long search in Europe, we found a Sunseeker Manhattan 64 in The Netherlands that was perfect! Kitchen in the back, enough space, bigger engines etc. all perfect. We decided to buy it, had the boat surveyed, and after a month we found out the engines were bad and had to be taken out to be fixed. costs 70k, which we are now trying to get back from the owner by a lawsuit... long frustrating story, it should be a pleasure yacht but so far not much pleasure. But that will most likely come very soon. good thing is that we start off with semi new engines with warranty on them...

    The plan was to put it on transport to the Greece, and start there the trip west. This because the Med is sort of easy since there are not much storms etc. and since we never owned a yacht before, or driven on one, it seemed a good idea. But because of the engine troubles, we have to wait until we got them both fixed, which will take most likely the whole summer, so by the time were ready to go, its snowing in the med....

    So now we planned to ship it to the Caribbean end of this summer, and drive there for at least 18 months. now my question here would be, what can we expect? what is important, where should we start, when are hurricanes where etc. The boat will be well prepared, i put in an extra generator, placed solar panels, a lot of spare parts from Sunseeker, a lot of fun stuff, like PWC's, diving gear, kite surf gear, wakeboard gear etc! But im sure im missing something here what is very important that is essential to have when going to the Caribbean, and i hope you have some ideas here.

    One issue which i haven't solved yet, the AC system, originally the boat is UK, but it is set up with EU sockets, but then up in the Caribbean they have again 110V right?

    Also, we will bring one or even two dogs on board, how does this work? are we aloud to bring pets to the Islands?

    most likely when i press on the submit button below here, i think of a hundred more things i wanted to ask, but that will come:)

    Attached a pic of the boat, very nice with the Dutch castle on the back. it is 'Het Muiderslot' in Muiden, west of Holland near Amsterdam.

    I really hope to get some feedback! would be nice.

    Abel

    Attached Files:

  2. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    Nice boat, beautiful pic. Start by chartering or renting boats while awating yours. That's a lot of boat to start with. You need to learn how to operate and maintain it. Had a client once who thought a 60 Pred. was a great place to start until he did about $20,000 worth of damage to his dock neighors his
    4th time out. 800K sounded a bit cheap (depending on age), but the motors answered that. But 70K sounds a bit low for 2 Manns. I wouldn't hold my breath on the lawsuit. Consider it your first lesson in boating as in Break Out Another Thousand. You have so incedibly much to learn, but you've come to the right place. SEARCH. Most of the questions you asked and more have been asked and answered here. Also go onto Sunseeker forums, cruising forums, caribean cruising forums, etc., etc. You jumped in with both feet. Now you need to learn to swim. The more you learn, the less expensive your lessons will become. You've embarked on a great adventure. Good luck.
  3. Wakeseeker

    Wakeseeker New Member

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    it is a 03 one, i paid 512k euro. the overhaul is 82k euro including taking the engine out, and putting them back in. driving the boat is not an issue, put now 20 hours on it and with two props its very easy to dock it. i think the bigger issue would be to maintain it since im not the best in electronics and other technical things on board. and beside this i've never navigated at sea as well, even better, i never been at sea before.. i grew up on a boat, but that was a 400ft cargo vessel on inland channels, but thats totally different. We do use the sunseeker now, the engines still run fine, but they are not that reliable to go out to open sea, now we just use it to go wakesurfing, which is great fun as well!

    Abel

    Attached Files:

  4. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    You are going to want a watermaker. Also, a y for 2-30amps to a single 50amp.
  5. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    I think they'll need a bit more than that switching to 110V.
  6. Kafue

    Kafue Senior Member

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    Welcome to the Forum, you are in the right place for learning just about everything you will need (it has been a great assist to me), however, nothing makes up for hands on experience!
    Carrying spares is a good idea, importantly, make sure you learn how to use them!
    As for the engines, I would expect they are MAN that will need expert engineers to repair and service. I have had MAN before. Good when they run well, but any problems cannot be repaired by an amateur.
    Fuel: Take care to have the best filter systems for the engines, I have recently learnt just how important the Racors are to keep fuel clean. Consider separate tanks for each engine, although this is probably going to be difficult.
    I know little about the Bahamas, however, most the vessels that cruise there, carry spare propellers and sometimes a shaft due to shallow water damage.
    Good luck!
  7. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Watermaker indeed, nice to have so you can spend more to
    On the hook. In some places and in the Bahamas water is expensive, it adds up

    Winter is typically when the trades are the strongest, NE to E which can make island hoping in the Carib a little challenging if you try to stick to a schedule

    Spring Offers the best weather, with lighter winds and no rain. By late June tropical waves can start moving thru with some rain and then by July they get stronger with developing into tropical systems. Peak of the hurricane season is september, with activity tapering off into late october.
  8. Liam

    Liam Senior Member

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    That is a 64 Manhattan Mk.I from 1999 to 2002 with the small MAN 800hp engine options.
    800k is expensive for current market conditions. Such a price could be considered if location was idle...
    You can get a Mk.II 2003 onwards with 1000hp MAN or Cats for less to that right now.

    Oops saw the post after that 500k is good price for that. That is definitly an 02 construction and year model. You recognize the 03 and after Mk.2 versions of the 64 Manhattan for large three per side vertical view windows in the owners mid ship stateroom, for the passarelle which is telescopic and hides, and for the hydraulic up and down bathing platform aft.
  9. Wakeseeker

    Wakeseeker New Member

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    Yep it is a 64 Manhattan, with the 1050 engines. 512k euro. you dont want to have the smaller engines on this boat i recon.
  10. Wakeseeker

    Wakeseeker New Member

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    fuel filters are indeed very important, we changed them few weeks ago and there was A LOT of dirt in it.. We would think of starting in FL, then Bahamas and from there further down. supposingly somewhere in November, when the weather is a bit better. guess the distances are not very far going down.
  11. Wakeseeker

    Wakeseeker New Member

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    what you say about in this time the boats should be a bit cheaper, thats what i was thinking as well. however, people that drive these boat have money, and mabey they lost money in the 'crisis' but they still have money, so its very hard to really find someone that needs to sell because they are in lack of cash. Now the seller did not really needed to sell, but he was eager. i also got 2 new W140 raymarines and a new radar with the price. And 2 bad engines off course but ok.... :(
  12. K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    If you have only run 20 hrs since an engine MOH and your fuel filters are full of dirt and crud I would look seriously at getting the tanks cleaned. What was the problem with your engines anyway? Was it related to crap and crud in your fuel supply? They wouldn't be the first engines to fail due to a fuel contamination problem.

    How far can you travel on that boat without the need to refuel? This is going to play a big part in where and when you can cruise with that in the Caribbean.
  13. Wakeseeker

    Wakeseeker New Member

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    It could very well be that the tanks are very dirty. we will clean them as well. We looked in both engines with and endoscopy, 2 cylinders in each engine, and we found corrosion due to long time not running in these 4 cylinders, 4 cylinders there were very clear cracks in the heads, and the honey grate structure was nearly gone on 2 of them.

    most likely the engines were running hot sometime they said of MAN.

    I got 3400 liters, and with full speeds i use 300 an hour. so very sure i will not go full speed. With 14 knots i use around 50 liters for both enigines. so lets say i can drive 900 miles on a tank when i move a little slower. would this being a problem you think?
  14. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    I agree with KW, you have fuel problem if your filters need replacing that quickly, odd on a recent boat but if it sat for long tine it s not surprising

    You may want to check your fuel numbers, there is no way a boat that size will burn only 50 liters an hour total at 14 kts. At 10 kts yes, that s about right but as soon as as you get close to and over hull speed your fuel flow goes up exponentially. Hull speed is typically calculated as the square root of the waterline length times 1.3. So on your boat it's probably 9.5 to 9,7 kts

    14 kts is just about the worst speed as you are not on plane and pushing a big wake. You are burning close to what you d burn at 18 to 19kts...

    To give you an idea of how this works, the 70 footer that i run (1400hp cats 3412E) burns about 18gph (about 60 L) at 9.8 kts. At 11 kts, it burns about 35 to 40 GPH

    Big difference... So either run at 10kts or on plane at 18kts, but not in between

    The only issue with slow running is that the engines may he running a little cool. After a few hours of slow running, spool them up on plane for 20 to 30 minutes.
  15. rtimmorris

    rtimmorris New Member

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    Unusual Liveaboard

    As a massive Sunseeker fan (and previous owner of 3), I salute your adventurous action. I am now on the trawler trail as I would like to spend a lot of time aboard a boat. It seems to me that this is a very strange choice for a liveaboard, and I would like to understand how that's going to work. :confused:

    Economy of living: This is not going to be a cheap boat to run.

    Seagoing capability: As seaworthy as this boat surely is, providing you're a short distance from a safe haven, the range will severely limit much travel.

    Why exactly did you choose a boat of this type rather than the more solid, stable, economical, reliable, etc etc.

    Regards Tim
  16. Old Phart

    Old Phart Senior Member

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    I dunno
    Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

    WakeBoarding 2.JPG
  17. Wakeseeker

    Wakeseeker New Member

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    Economy of living: This is not going to be a cheap boat to run.

    Seagoing capability: As seaworthy as this boat surely is, providing you're a short distance from a safe haven, the range will severely limit much travel.

    Why exactly did you choose a boat of this type rather than the more solid, stable, economical, reliable, etc etc.[/QUOTE]


    thanks for all the replies so far guys!

    Now you are raising an interesting questing, since there is more or less only one reason we picked this boat. we love how it looks, we can do wakesurfing behind it, we have a lot of room on board etc. but we really did not foresee any practical reasons to buy it i guess. but than again, there is no distance that is futher than a couple 100 miles. only downside is we gotta fuel up every island we see, if they got fuel everywhere...

    what type of boats normally are used for these trips? and what boat will you use if you go liveaboard for a longer time?

    Abel
  18. Wakeseeker

    Wakeseeker New Member

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    whahahaha, yep, young and reckless i guess... :)
  19. rtimmorris

    rtimmorris New Member

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    Wakeseeker asked......

    I guess there's a million answers to the "what would be normal" question. Many of those that choose to become a liveaboard, look at things like cruising areas, type of use, costs, spacial requirements, acceptable quality standard; it's endless. Me? I am also looking at the M64 as it's a beautiful looking boat, though I would consider it as a boating option to take as a stalling measure to my longer term plans. The boat requirement at that point would then probably be a trawler type boat such as Outer Reef, Selene, Nordhavn, etc. Loads of people are in such boats as older Hatteras, or Grand Banks. None of these would get you the wakeboarding of course, but you pay a pretty penny to be on a board behind your own boat.

    The killer point here is that YOU HAVE DONE IT, and I'm talking about it!! Hope it works out well for you.

    Regards Tim
  20. Tingum

    Tingum New Member

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    Judging from your vocabulary and use of terms I sense you are very new to boating. Since you already got burned by not having a proper engine survey I would like to suggest that you hire a competent Captain. Such an individual could easily save you their salary and make your future boating much more enjoyable.