FOR SALE -
WORLD CLASS OCEAN CRUISING YACHT
£215,000 VAT paid. Lying UK South West.
Note: all details in these web pages are provided in good faith, but should not be taken as definitive of the inventory, equipment or vessel condition by a buyer: the yacht itself, and its equipment, are available to view, and a buyer should instruct his agents or surveyors to investigate such details as he requires to be validated.
Sula of Strath is an Oyster 55, launched in 1989. The yacht has been enhanced to meet the UK MCA safety standards for unrestricted ocean-going charter ("Category 0"), and is equipped for extended duration at sea during ocean crossings.
The yacht is "ready to go" as either:
• a serious long distance charter and adventure sailing vessel, or
• a comfortable, spacious and capable long distance family cruising yacht.
In either role, Sula already possesses much of the equipment that any potential purchaser might require.
Sula has ten sea-going berths in 4 cabins.
Oyster 55
This well-known Holman & Pye design started as 53-foot with a cut-away transom, and was then modified by adding a "sugar-scoop" stern to give longer waterline length and a bathing platform. Early hulls - including Sula, hull no 10 - were built to the earlier design and later modified.
The trademark features of this "modern classic" design are:
• excellent sailing capability, particularly upwind, with cutter rig. This is particularly true of the deeper keel varient, of which Sula is an example.
• ease of handling by a small crew - roller furling heasdsails and in-mast furling main as standard, and all controls are led to the centre cockpit.
• impressively light and spacious saloon area, with excellent external visibility. This is the product of a clever design - the saloon area is raised, but is still a lower profile than deck-house designs.
• solid build, and good handling and stability in heavy conditions
• high quality teak interior.
Sula's History
Launched in 1989, Sula spent her first 10 years as a family cruising yacht, based mainly in the Mediterranean.
In 1999/2000 she underwent a substantial re-fit at Oyster Marine, which included refurbishing the teak decks, re-spraying the hull and spars and replacing the standing rigging.
She was bought by Aztec Sailing in 2000, and enhanced to make her more suitable as a charter and adventure cruising yacht. Three existing bulkheads were made fully watertight, with watertight doors added: additional sea berths were constructed: MCA "Category 0" coding was obtained (see below): a 4kVA generator was installed: the 12V electrics were fully re-furbished, with additional battery banks added: 12V fridge and freezer were installed: SSB radio fitted: new liferafts: new sails.
With professional skippers, Sula made numerous adventure sailing cruises and "ocean qualifying" passages (for the RYA's Yachtmaster Ocean qualification) over the following few years. She visited Canary Islands, Azores, England, Ireland, Scotland, Faeroes, France, Spain, Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Bermuda and New York on her cruises. She did four Atlantic crossings under charter and took part in the Tall Ships Race in 2005 (Waterford - Cherbourg - Newcastle), and the Oyster Regattas in Cadiz in 2005 (3rd in class), and BVI's in 2006.
During this time the yacht was both well maintained and enhanced: e.g. radar and instruments were modernised, and a number of enhancements were made specifically to allow her to spend extended time at sea (additional generating capacity, gas and fuel storage, watermaker).
In the last 12 months she has been fitted with a new commercially-rated Nanni (Kubota) engine (less than 100 hours service), new generator, new fridge and freezer compressor systems.
Sula and the UK MCA Code of Practice for Small Commercial Vessels
In the UK, Small Commercial Vessels - which include charter yachts, whether bareboat or skippered - must comply with, and be inspected to, a mandatory Code of Practice, maintained and policed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
It is no exagggeration to say that the Code covers every aspect of a vessel's construction, machinery, equipment, stability and operation. In the booklet there are 23 sections concerned with the vessel itself, and other sections about examination and certification. Without going into sub-headings, these include: Construction and Strength, Weathertight Integrity, Machinery, Electrical, Steering Gear, Bilge Pumping, Intact and Damaged Stability, Lifesaving Appliances, Fire Safety and Appliances, Radio Equipment, Lights Shapes and Sounds, Navigational Equipment, Misc Equipment (nautical publications, signalling, radar reflector, wire cutting etc), Anchors, Accommodation, Protection of Personnel, Medical Stores, Tenders, Storm Sails.
Within this system, there are various "Categories" which correspond to areas of operation for the vessel concerned. For example, Catogory 3 allows the vessel to operate "up to 20 miles from a safe haven"; Category 2 "... 60 miles from a safe haven", Category 1 "... 150 miles ..." and Category 0 "unrestricted service".
Sula is coded to the highest of these, Category 0. The majority of UK flagged charter yachts are Category 2. The major distinctions for Category 0, over and above the Category 2 standard met by most charter yachts, are:
• higher stability parameters (to withstand heavier conditions)
• a requirement for the vessel to be sub-divided into several watertight compartments, so that it can continue to operate with one compartment holed and flooded
• liferafts: sufficient capacity if one liferaft is lost
• extremely comprehensive medical equipment and medicines kit
• long distance radio, EPIRB etc
The Oyster 55 design easily meets the required stability and construction requirements, but Sula needed to be modified to meet the watertight compartments requirement. She also required double liferaft capacity, and her inventory includes all the required safety equipment and medical kit. A Stability Book (prepared for the individual yacht) is an MCA requirement, and is included in the sale.
Sula's Equipment and Operational Capability
The yacht's full equipment list is detailed within these web pages. It is helpful, however, particularly to the potential purchaser, to understand some of the philosophy behind the equipment fit, and the decisions that have been made.
Complexity vs Simplicity
A yacht of Sula's size contains a relatively complex mix of "systems", which need to be repaired and maintained, frequently a long distance from base. To manage this, we have taken positive decisions to limit the number and complexity of systems on board to those which are absolutely necessary. For this reason there are:
• manual winches and furling gear, as opposed to hydraulic
• no bow thruster (unnecessary in most circumstances), heater or aircon
• spares and tools on board
• full documentation of all systems, including recent history / problems / useful techniques of operation.
Electrical Equipment
The electric system is 12V, and all equipment (e.g. fridge, freezer, water maker, anchor windlass) runs from 12V and is thus available when neither the generator nor the engine are running. A small voltage converter allows a lap-top computer (for weather, navigation etc) to run from 12V also. Generator and Shore Power provide 240V for normal domestic appliances.
The domestic supply is from 5 x 100Ah batteries in parallel. There is a separate motor start battery, and separate generator start battery. All battery banks have isolator switches, are all are wired to the battery monitor.
There are five methods of charging the batteries:
1. Shore power, via a 50A Morvern charger (1 installed plus 1 spare)
2. Main Engine, with 80A Leece Neville alternator (1 installed plus 1 spare) and Adverc “smart charger” system
3. Generator: 4kVA 240V Fischer Panda generator running on diesel, and charging through the Morvern charger
4.Three flexible solar panels on a long lead, for positioning on deck
5. A Duo-Gen 12V generator which uses either wind power or an in-water turbine. This is a robust and flexible charging system which is suitable for long periods at sea.
A regulator prevents over-charging, and the battery monitor allows monitoring of the state of charge of the batteries, and current charge/discharge rate.
Water
Sula has one 1000 l water tank and a Katadyn water maker which can make approximately 25 litres per hour.
There are 2 heads, one of which has an adjoining shower room (the other includes a hand shower). Both toilets discharge direct to sea, and “grey” water is collected in a tank which is pumped to sea. Water is heated electrically (240V) and also by the engine.
Power Budget for Extended Periods at Sea
We have calculated that running the yacht's systems, and generating 40 litres of water per day (enough for a small careful crew), uses up to 200 AH per 24 hours.
The Duo-gen should generate 120 to 240 AH in 24 hours. Solar cells an average of 66AH, or alternatively, using the generator to provide 200AH would take less than 2 litres of fuel (4 hours running).
Given the capacity of the water tank (1000 litres) and fuel tanks (800 litres), it can be seen that very long durations at sea can easily be achieved. Full details of this calculation are available on request.
Accommodation
Unlike some larger yachts, Sula has plenty of accommodation, in 4 separate cabins. From the charter perspective Sula has 8 “guest” berths and 2 crew berths; a cruising family will have plenty of space for their own belongings and room to accommodate visiting guests.
The aft cabin has two folding berths in addition to the traditional double, which itself is constructed as a highly practical sea berth. This cabin can therefore be used either for generous “owner’s” accommodation (with additional berth, and choice of side, for comfort at sea), or for a family group (or up to 4 charter guests).
The two forward cabins both contain comfortable twin berths, one of which slides out to form a double.
A smaller “skippers cabin” is situated near the nav station, and this contains 2 berths (or it can be used for a workshop or storage). In addition there is a sea berth in the saloon, which can be useful in heavy weather, or for extra visitors!
Communications and Instruments
The usual wind instruments, log, echo sounder, Navtex and DSC VHF are supplemented by a radar and highly effective SSB radio installation. The preferred route for chart-plotting and weather fax is to use a lap-top computer (not included) with suitable software (connection ports and power supply are provided). Cetrek self steering is installed, and can be controlled from the wheel or chart table.
Other Equipment
Warps, fenders, winch handles, spares etc are included. The medical kit meets the MCA’s (almost excessive) requirements for Category 0 commercial use, and is probably far beyond the needs of private long distance sailing. Two 10-man liferafts and an EPIRB are included, as are 12 lifejackets with built-in harnesses (plus 2 spares).
The sturdy Taylor’s cooker can be supplied from conventional small bottles in a gas locker, or from two larger, more practical, domestic gas bottle secured on deck.
In addition to the sprayhood, Sula has a full bimini which can stay up when sailing and provides excellent protection in tropical conditions.
The tender is a Bombard Aerotec inflatable with a 9.8HP 2-stroke Tohatsu outboard. This combination is light enough to be easily manhandled by 2 people, and the inflatable stows in the lazarette for longer passages. When inflated it has a strong v-shaped hull which gives RIB-like performance but with far less weight - hence davits are considered unnecessary.