Sea Otter Narrowboats

[Neil2]

It's always puzzled me why this company had such trouble staying in business when aluminium seems to be the perfect building material for inland boats.

 

Personally I always lusted after one of these when I couldn't possibly afford one, now I can, I'm looking for the disadvantages...

 

- One thing I picked up from the salty water brigade is that ally boats are perceived to be noisy, compared to grp or steel boats.

 

- Sea Otters draw quite a bit less than most steel narrowboats and are much lighter so can get blown about more. Even the 32 footers have bow thrusters.

 

- Most of them have Nannidiesels which wouldn't figure on my list of ideal narrowboat engines.

 

- They are still considerably more expensive than a steel boat of comparable size.

 

 

I doubt there are many members with first hand experience of these boats but any comments would be appreciated.

 

 

[WJM]

They dent really easily. Most of them tend to belong to the 'shiny boat brigade' but I have seen a few that have been worked hard and they looked a mess. If I had one it would have imploded by now!

Edited July 25, 2016 by WJM

[bargemast]

It's always puzzled me why this company had such trouble staying in business when aluminium seems to be the perfect building material for inland boats.

 

Personally I always lusted after one of these when I couldn't possibly afford one, now I can, I'm looking for the disadvantages...

 

- One thing I picked up from the salty water brigade is that ally boats are perceived to be noisy, compared to grp or steel boats.

 

- Sea Otters draw quite a bit less than most steel narrowboats and are much lighter so can get blown about more. Even the 32 footers have bow thrusters.

 

- Most of them have Nannidiesels which wouldn't figure on my list of ideal narrowboat engines.

 

- They are still considerably more expensive than a steel boat of comparable size.

 

 

I doubt there are many members with first hand experience of these boats but any comments would be appreciated.

 

If I'm not completely wrong, Nanni engines are based on Kubota engines, which are very good and reliable engines.

 

Peter.

[Laurence Hogg]

If you want a "go anywhere" narrow boat then they are ideal. You can explore a lot of disconnected and unreachable waters with one. They are the boat for the adventurers amongst us! We had a Sea Otter accompany us (NB Progress) going through the Menai Straits to Caernarfon some years ago, it handled very well.

[Lady M]

I believe that the longer Sea Otters often have a bow thruster to offset the effect of the slight V-shaped hull. Not only do they dent more easily than a steel boat, the paint falls off more readily too when there is an impact. The rubber fendering looks impressive but is often not where the boat is going to touch something, also you have to be careful to avoid it sitting on the lock edge when descending. Some Sea Otters can, with the fendering, be slightly over-width. I use mine all year round and get a lot of condensation. I think they are mainly designed for 'sunny days on the river'.

 

The water ballast makes them quite tender so crew must be careful moving around. In general, I struggle to prevent the boat listing to one side. Conversely, it handles very well and, with a full water tank plus someone standing up front, the boat will continue in a straight line if you take your hand off the tiller. You can also make it spin on the spot. Overall the handling of my small Sea Otter compares very favourably with a steel 25 footer that I owned previously which tended to go round in circles when the forward power was removed. You can moor anywhere, turn anywhere and scarcely have to slow down for moored boats.

 

The reasons for the failure of the first company are well documented. Otherwise, I suspect there simply is not a big enough market for this type of boat. Perhaps the recession didn't help. They are really rather expensive.

 

The OP should consider joining the Sea Otter Owners' Club if he is serious about buying one.

[haggis]

They dent really easily. Most of them tend to belong to the 'shiny boat brigade' but I have seen a few that have been worked hard and they looked a mess. If I had one it would have imploded by now!

[haggis]

I don't agree that they dent really easily. The aluminium is about half an inch thick and will withstand bumps as well as a steel boat. In the early days Sea Otter didn't "bond" the paint very well and it did tend to come off quite easily but loss of paint on a Sea Otter is nor a problem as the hull doesn't rust. We had our Sea Otter repainted in 2002 and she still looks good. Don't think you can say that about many steel boats. They seem to hold their value quite well.

Haggis

[Lady M]

I was only describing my own experience and my Sea Otter certainly has a couple of dents from minor impacts. My paint job is now ten years old and pretty faded.

[Iain_S]

The ali's not as much as half an inch thick. 6 or 8mm . Still doesn't dent that easily though. The only dent we put in Gamebird was from hitting a solid underwater obstruction at fairly high speed. That impact would have dented a steel boat.

 

I think the problem with selling them was the high price. Marine grade aluminium is more expensive than steel, and the welding is more expensive. Also, the hull design, with "V" bottom, plus a flat floor to form the ballast tank has to be costlier than a flat baseplate.

 

I agree that the handling feels a bit tender, but I think that's more the effect of the "V" bottom than the water ballast, which ends up as a full tank with no free surface (well, about 3 square inches, due to the vent!). The ultimate handling is surprisingly good.

 

Iain.

[Grebe]

Like most businesses Sea Otter had to survive on cash flow. A fairly large proportion of the output was standard layout boats for their dealer on the Thames. Basically only the colour varied. When the dealer cancelled all the orders in 2008 they quickly ran out of money.

 

In my opinion Sea Otter also spread their wings too far by going into centre cockpit, wide beam, up to 60 feet, sea-going sedan style etc. They would have been better sticking to one niche product the trailable narrowboat.

 

Grebe was built in 1999 the metal spec was 6/6/6/5 (two 6s for two bottoms). The main side panels had strengthening stringers attached. We lived locally so have a picture showing them. Our paint problem was RED, it stuck on fine but the roof faded badly and the side panels were going the same way. We had a repaint in 2008 and changed the roof colour to grey.

 

Much more lively than a steel boat,they are best treated as a dinghy. Step in to the middle when getting on, or when getting off stand on gunnel - wait for boat to rise and then step off.

 

We've loved her for 17 years.

 

 

[Neil2]

Just to clarify, I'm not interested in the so called "trailable" Otters, ie 30 foot and under, though I suspect most of the comments apply across the range.

 

I'm surprised that some folk consider they dent easily. Apart from anything else, the lower inertia of a lighter boat would surely make it less susceptible to impact damage?

 

But the comment about condensation is interesting, Someone else remarked that the inside space cools down very quickly and of course aluminium conducts heat much better than steel so that has to be a factor, I always assumed Sea Otter beefed up the insulation to compensate but it doesn't sound like it.. Also, as I understand it, the top of the water ballast "tank" is just below the cabin floor, which must make the floor really cold especially in winter. I noticed a huge difference in the floor temperature of our present boat, which has a very deep bilge, compared to the last one which was very shallow.

 

So I wonder about the suitability of these boats for all year round use, without modifications.

[Dave_P]

My experience of steel v aluminium push bikes is that steel is heavier but aluminium will crack after a few years as it becomes increasingly brittle following knocks. With a narrowboat, being light is no advantage but the risk of a hull cracking after 20+ years is enough to put me off.

[WJM]

I don't agree that they dent really easily. The aluminium is about half an inch thick and will withstand bumps as well as a steel boat.

I shared a lock with one once and parts of it literally looked like a crashed car. And it was covered in extra hanging fenders. It seemed apparent to me as we worked through the lock why it was so dented. The driver was 'heavy handed'. But as we rattled through the lock together, me in my steel boat, I formed the opinion that if he had steel boat it wouldn't be showing any damage.

 

So I guess it is a matter of how you 'boat' - if you are very careful and precise with your steering, and happily take extra time to position your boat then an aluminium boat will work fine for you - as evidenced by the vast majority of Se Otters which are largely dent free. It all depends on the kind of boater you are.

[ditchcrawler]

 

They dent really easily. Most of them tend to belong to the 'shiny boat brigade' but I have seen a few that have been worked hard and they looked a mess. If I had one it would have imploded by now!

 

Well you have got two shiny boats

[Neil Smith]

Not sure about the perfect material for an inland waterways boat, I would have thought stainless steel if money is no object.

 

Neil

[Grebe]

We never had a great problem with condensation and we cruised all year round. The usual tactic of good ventilation always helped - top hoppers always open and heat up. The rear hatch and runners being single skin/plain metal items could form condensation. I think most factory spec boats had a Houdini Hatch - a recipe for condensation in my and other's book. We didn't have a Houdini fitted.

 

The floor was 19mm board with lino and then carpet on top. Insulation on Grebe was foam (polstyrene?) panels. All wiring was inconduit.

[Drayke]

All of the Sea Otters that came on brokerage when I was in boat sales seemed to have a very flimsy fit out, sort of caravanie.

[Bunny]

We have often cruised with a 56 foot sea otter . She is out March to October for the last 12 years . No falling paint, no dents ( the rubber bumper works well ) . When under way she can travel faster then us creating very little drag or wash . Performed well on the tidal Trent ,Ribble link , Severn crossing and our recent Mersey crossing. The beech fitout looks as good as new . Engine not as quiet as it used to be and they are having trouble trying to find a pulley at the moment . They have had their water waste and fuel tanks enlarged as they had to fill with water every two day , pump out every week and fuel every week . They wouldn't change her and she is still.a nice looking boat .Bunny

[leolady too]

We know some folk with a sea otter. It needs repainting (it was red and is now dull pink). They told us that most boat painters won't touch aluminium boats. I don't know how true that is but that's what they said.

[Neil2]

We know some folk with a sea otter. It needs repainting (it was red and is now dull pink). They told us that most boat painters won't touch aluminium boats. I don't know how true that is but that's what they said.

 

I can't think there are many boat painters in the uk who could refinish an aluminium boat by stripping back to bare metal, but I don't see why you couldn't just paint over the existing finish. Surely that would be relatively easy as you would only need one or two coats.

 

But it does make you wonder if this is a factor that will affect resale values as these boats start to look more and more tired.

[haggis]

From what I see sea otters are holding their value very well, especially the older short ones. When we had ours repainted in 2002 she was stripped back to bare metal and was undercoated with etch primer.

Haggis

[Neil2]

From what I see sea otters are holding their value very well, especially the older short ones. When we had ours repainted in 2002 she was stripped back to bare metal and was undercoated with etch primer.

Haggis

 

That's reassuring. The stripping and etch priming is what I thought would put the job beyond most narrowboat painters, I guess you can't attack an aluminium boat with the scrabbler so some form of chemical stripping is necessary? Where was your boat done?

 

I agree the shorter boats seem disproportionately expensive compared to the longer types but I guess this is the (apparent) appeal of a "go anywhere" trailable boat.

[haggis]

We are in Scotland and there were no boat painters so we put her on her trailer and took her to a small company who did car painting etc

I think he sanded her down before applying etch primer

Haggis

[Athy]

 

If I'm not completely wrong, Nanni engines are based on Kubota engines, which are very good and reliable engines.

 

Peter.

...and they're a common choice for continental hire boats. The pénichettes which we've hired in France over the past couple of years have had them; the ones we encountered have been reliable and have had ample "poke".

 

 

In my opinion Sea Otter also spread their wings too far by going into centre cockpit, wide beam, up to 60 feet, sea-going sedan style etc.

 

 

 

I never knew that they built centre-cockpit models until I encountered one a few weeks ago at Cropredy.. The owner (perhaps still the same David Fincham who had written to one of the boatimags about them some years ago) was delighted with it and reckoned that it was one of only a few made, seven I think he said. I thought it a very neat job apart from the silly little steering wheel.

Edited July 26, 2016 by Athy

[BruceinSanity]

<snip>

 

I agree the shorter boats seem disproportionately expensive compared to the longer types but I guess this is the (apparent) appeal of a "go anywhere" trailable boat.

And of course all shorter boats are more expensive, foot for foot, as they still contain all or most of the pricey kit like engines and galley fittings, just less comparatively empty lengths.