buying my first sib advice needed (yam 400s)

[ash-ov-boro]

Hi all im from north yorkshire im new here & to boating.

So anyway me and my mate do quite alot of winter fishing from the shore and during the summer spend a small fortune on charter boats getting out to the wrecks although the fishing can be good enough here less than a mile out on its day we were thinking about kayaks but then noticed we could buy a second hand but very good condition sib & motor for less money.

The sib we are looking at is a (yam 400s) with a 25hp mariner my question what are these yamaha sibs like i cant find any info on the net what so ever apart from a couple of short vids on youtube does anyone have a link to a brochure for this sib or anything with specs & info.

We are not in any rush to get out on the water just planning ahead ready for next summer so we have everything ready to go and we wont be going out unless its like a mill pond and there will be a 3 of us fishing at most im guessing this 4m sib would fish 3 people without been too cramped.

Is the yam 400s made from pvc or hypalon?

Any info or advice you could give me would be much apreciated Thanks.Ash

[Fenlander]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Have you looked through the advice on the "Which SIB" sticky... lots of good stuff in there.

The Yamaha is PVC and a decent SIB. As you guess you will need something around 4m to fish 3. The 25hp Mariner (2-stroke I assume) is a decent motor... but don't get one that's really ancient.

Will you pack this in a car/van each day or will you use a trailer?

Remember to budget for the safety gear!

Re buying for next summer there will be some good bargains late this season but beware although prices are lowest in the winter there are far fewer outfits on sale to choose from... then around April next year as folks ideas turn to the summer prices firm up again.

Edit: Think I can see the outfit you are looking at. Outboard age OK, useful to have transom wheels included. Things of note I can see is it has an old metal fuel tank which could suffer internal rust which will block filters... not quite clear how the trailer supports the boat... it should have carpeted bunks supporting the tubes and it should be long enough to support the transom.

[ash-ov-boro]

Fenlander you are right you have found the sib i am looking at.

Fuel tank will be swapped with a more modern plastic one.

I am going to be packing it down into bag after each trip and put in a box trailer as i dont have the space at the moment to keep it inflated on the trailer

The trailer that comes with it will be getting sold how much does a trailer like this sell for as this will go towards safety gear or fish finder and other bits
And the rest will be bought over the winter and fully rigged ready for summer 2017

How old is the mariner outboard & the yamaha 400s i cant find any info on the yam 400s ?

Thanks Fenlander

[69cmw]

My mate had a yam sib, bucket of pi5h, also they were made by a few different manufactures over the years.

[Fenlander]

>bucket of pi5h

Do explain!

[69cmw]

It was a bag of shite, broke up, seams split, not fit for purpose.

[Fenlander]

Oh well there's always one... I'd still buy one that was placed in the outfit around £300 and was OK when checked at purchase.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Clearly 69 cmw has seen the downside of the boat others will see the up side but as fenlander says look which SIB more info on there than anywhere honwave gets a big following good price well made and capable but there are others good luck in your choice.

Cheers

[ash-ov-boro]

I think with alot of abuse like anything it will fall apart after time was your mates well used or was it in good condition and fairly new ish?

[69cmw]

Also remember that is a long shaft engine with that outfit, if u buy it and want another sib, I'm not sure many take a long shaft engine?

[69cmw]

Originally Posted by ash-ov-boro

I think with alot of abuse like anything it will fall apart after time was your mates well used or was it in good condition and fairly new ish?

It was brand frigging new !!

[beerbelly]

if you need a box trailer to carry your new purchase I have just the thing and its cheap and good and I'm local Billingham

[ash-ov-boro]

I thought all sibs take short shaft outboards?

Is this true Fenlander the outboard on this outfit is long shaft?

[ash-ov-boro]

Originally Posted by 69cmw

It was brand frigging new !!

Now that is shocking

[ash-ov-boro]

Originally Posted by beerbelly

if you need a box trailer to carry your new purchase I have just the thing and its cheap and good and I'm local Billingham

I do need one but not until i buy a sib beerbelly i will be in touch if you still have it for sale when we buy our sib .

[Fenlander]

I wondered if that was a longshaft from the image but the transom looks tall and the cave plate posn about right... but well spotted and something to ask the seller.

BTW the Mariner looks to be one of the last of the officially sold 2-strokes from late 1990s to 2006... that's a good thing... my earlier comment was that I'd worried you might have found a bargain with a 1970/80s outboard.

[ash-ov-boro]

Much appreciated Fenlander and thank you all for your time i will contact seller again for some more info and go from there .Ash

[Fenlander]

It's a good point 69CMW makes re shaft length... it may well be this model Yamaha takes a longshaft and that's what the Mariner is... but of all the dozens of SIB makes/models/sizes available I can only think of a couple that take longshaft so it would be very limiting if you wanted to swap the SIB and keep the outboard in the future.

[69cmw]

Long shaft and a short shaft engine.

[ash-ov-boro]

Back again anyway got talking to a mate of mine on the pier yesterday and he was saying a 3.8m would be plenty big enough for three of us fishing.

I have had a look on ebay and noticed there is a seller on there called spareribs selling off C-PRO 3.8m 2016 model brand new for £850 do you think this will be big enough for three and are they the same as seapro has anyone owned a c-pro if so what are they like reliability/sea worthy?

Also there is a sea search 390 for £995 or best offer.


Thanks 69cmw for the picture of the short shaft

.Ash