A few weeks ago, Scott and I got the chance to tour an awesome Viking Sport Cruiser, located on Lake Union. It was blistering hot and the broker was so kind to show us around in the 100 degree heat. It’s priced right at our budget at $199k, so we were anxious to see it in person.
What’s interesting about this sport cruiser, is it was originally built in England as a Princess 46 yacht . It was then imported into the US and branded as a Viking yacht through a join venture. Viking Yachts has been building yachts since 1964 and since then has delivered over 4000 yachts ranging in size from 37′ to 92′. Founded by two brothers Bob and Bill Healy when they took over a struggling boat builder, Peter-Viking Builders in New Jersey. Viking is now recognized as a world class yacht builder.
Wow, it has A/C!
Most of us here in the Northwest don’t need A/C on our boats, as it doesn’t get too hot nor humid. On the day of our tour, Seattle hit record temps and it was so nice to be inside an A/C cooled boat for the afternoon. The boat was originally from Napa and came up here a few months ago.
It has a really large swim platform with plenty of room between the dinghy and the transom. The cockpit offered plenty of space for a table and chairs. I will say, it was a bit tricky getting to the walk arounds and they were also a bit tight.
The cockpit had plenty of storage under the seats and the lazarette was huge!
The salon is very comfortable and offers so many live aboard amenities, including plenty of storage, a bar area, two refrigerators and an icemaker!
Check out this galley!
If you have been following us for long, you know one of my top priorities for a liveaboard is a big galley with lots of counter space and this one did not disappoint. It also has tons of storage space including an in-ground pantry.
The helm is right across from the galley and I was disappointed to see that there is no dining settee.
Heading down to the staterooms
The hallway is easy to pass through and offers closet space for storage.
The stateroom on the starboard side, offers two twin beds.
The stateroom on the port side, offered two bunk beds, with lots of storage. We were surprised to see, that there was some kind of water damage. The owner is fixing that and replacing the cushions for the bottom bunk.
The forward stateroom was comfortable and again, with plenty of storage. It’s not quite a full walk around bed, so that’s a deal breaker for me.
The heads on this Viking cruiser were interesting. In the master head, the toilet is part of the shower, but has seat cover. In the day head, you can see the toilet is outside, but still with the seat cover
Engine access and the fly bridge
The engine room access is in the salon. It was pretty roomy, but we thought it would have been a bit bigger considering this is a 46′ boat. Be sure to watch the video for the full tour of the engine room. This Viking cruiser has two CAT 3126 engines with less than 500 hours, she has a max speed of approximately 30 knots and will cruise economically in the low 20s! Wow, you can get to your destination fast – just watch out for logs.
When we got up to the fly bridge, we were disappointed that the fly bridge is not fully enclosed. Another deal breaker for us. On top of that, the bimimi is just like our old one – it has tiny pinholes in it, so it needs to be replaced.
It does have plenty of seating and the owner is having new cushions made for the fly bridge. Scott and I love the entertainment space this boat offers.
Oddly enough, this yacht has a very small dinghy for this size of a yacht. The 9′ dinghy didn’t have seats and the motor was only a 4hp! That’s slower than our first dinghy.
Our overall impression
Scott and actually loved the set up and feel of this Viking Cruiser; and it is in our price point. So what’s the deal? Well, this boat needs work and we’re not up for a fixer upper. All of the window seals are shot. Some people say they just need to be removed and resealed; others have told us the windows need to be replaced.
Beside the windows, all of the carpet needs to be replaced. So with all of this work, plus the bimini and water damage repairs, it just too much work. The owner is willing to work on the price, if the next owner is willing to do some or most of the work.
If you love to work on boats, this would be an awesome project! It’s a gorgeous yacht and would make for a great liveaboard. This yacht is listed with Chuck Hovey yachts on Lake Union and Martha was so gracious and helpful. In fact, she gave us another tour on a 51′ Navigator – stay tuned for that episode.
As always, thank you for following our journey! Next up, we go kayaking and canoeing all in the same day. Please follow us on our social channels @BoatingJourney. Until next time!
Cheers,
Scott and Ally