Video

Description

This is a rare opportunity to see a lovely and very well-maintained example of the brilliant Southerly 115 Series 3. She was built in 2001 to the high standards of quality and finish for which Southerly are renowned. She is a very capable family cruiser ideal for both creek crawling and ocean sailing. With the fully retractable keel she will sit on the beach or on mud. She comes with a full inventory.

A recent buyer had to drop out reluctantly at the last minute due to a family crisis, so we can share a recent survey from January 2023, if you are interested, which raises no issues about the boat. It is a good time to see her because she is currently out of the water at Iron Wharf Yard in Faversham. She has just been anti-fouled, had an engine service and had the freshwater filter replaced.

We’ve been on some great adventures in her up the east coast and along the north Kent coast. Her lifting keel means she’s brilliant for exploring rivers and drying out on sand, shingle or mud, and her great accommodation (particularly the king-sized, super-comfy stern cabin) is perfect for 6 and fine for 8. We’ve sailed her with 2-8 people aboard and enjoyed time with family and friends at anchor and underway.

Sandmaiden sails very well. We’ve been out in storms, and she’s a very well-behaved, solid, comfortable sea boat. She sails well to windward, and we often sail her downwind with just the genoa, or gennaker up. Her engine is in great condition, low on hours and very well maintained. She starts first time, every time since we’ve had her. Her previous owner’s son was a diesel mechanic, and looked after the engine, and we’ve continued with annual servicing and lots of checks.

She’s clearly been treated very well by both past owners before us (there have been two). We’ve got the full history of ownership etc, and will be happy to share that, along with the survey we did in 2020 before we bought her which will be interesting to compare with a new survey.

As with any boat, there’s always maintenance. We replaced all the standing rigging at the start of 2020, and have serviced the head, and rewired the windlass recently. Whenever anything’s needed doing, we’ve done it. Jobs that are coming up include replacing the rope (called the pennant) that lifts the keel by connecting it to the hydraulic ram. It probably needs doing in the next year or two.

Southerly 115 mark III are very beautifully built, comfortable cruising yachts. The floors inside are teak and holly striped plydeck. The internal woodwork is lovely with teak shelves. The lifting keel system is well-proven and makes the yacht perfect for shallow exploring, with a 60cms draught with the keel raised. We’ve snuck over sandbanks, and cut tides late on many occasions by lifting the keel. Drying out on a sandbank in the middle of nowhere is just amazing. Also, she’s got diesel heating and we’ve extended the season into December and started early in March, and kept warm below.

She comes with a perfectly sized small inflatable tender with oars. It is very easy to deflate and store below on longer trips, or tow on shorter ones.

We’ve put as much detail as possible below. If you have any questions, please ask. The last owner was totally up front with us and told us everything. So there were no surprises. We want to do the same.

Cockpit

There are small lockers in the coamings useful for snacks and binoculars. There’s a decent sized cockpit locker (drained) for two gas bottles. On our to-do list is to replace the gas lines. We’ve had no trouble with them, but we don’t know how old they are. Then there’s the “locker of doom”. We call it that because you can get lost in there. It is massive. In there we keep a kedge anchor, ensign, fenders, bucket, mop, shore power cable, spare oil, outboard fuel, manual bilge pump handles etc… It has a holder bag for the wash boards. Also, that’s where the webbing safely lines live, which attach to harness lifeline jackstays port & starboard. There are two safety harness eyes on the starboard side of the cockpit. The wheel is a 30’’ steel with a leather cover and there’s a binnacle compass. The cockpit seats, coamings and aft deck are all teak laid and there’s a teak grating where you stand to helm. There are two 2’’ cockpit drains. Visibility is great through or over the spray hood, and protection is good too. There’s also a cockpit folding table in the cupboard of doom, plus a teak pad for stowing an outboard on the pushpit.

Accommodation

The layout has six berths. Two double cabins (one twin and one big double) have doors to separate them from the main accommodation.

Forecabin

In the forecabin there are two full-length, single overlapped berths, with lee cloths to keep you safe when she’s heeling. There’s stowage under – that’s where we keep deck cushions and the spare sails. The port berth has a shelf running above it. The chain locker is here, but well separated and protected from the bunks. This cabin has an opening hatch onto the foredeck.

Saloon

In the saloon, there’s a dining area to port. You can add a leaf to the adjustable-height saloon table to bring in the single sofa opposite into the dining space. The dining area converts into a generous double, and the single sofa into a bunk with a lee cloth. There are lockers under the sofas, and a shelf outboard below the windows, and stowage behind.

Wheelhouse / Galley

Steps up from the saloon lead to the internal helm area to starboard with a chart table. There’s a seat here which is great as you can come below to steer in heavy weather. The galley is opposite. It has a Plastimo Neptune 2000 two-burner gimballed gas cooker with oven and grill. The gas is stored on deck and there’s room for two bottles. There’s a sink drainer with hot and cold pressurised water system. We recently replaced the pressure vessel, and the plumbing is working well. Hot water is heated by an engine calorifier and there’s also an immersion heater that you can use on shore power. There’s a 50-gallon freshwater stainless-steel tank under the port sofa in the saloon. We’ve flushed it through and put drinking water treatment in it, then flushed it again. We’ve always drunk water straight from the tank with no problems. There’s a water filter below the sink. The fridge is top-loading and works well.

Navigation Area

To starboard in the wheelhouse there’s a big chart table with a hinged extension piece. The console for instruments is fitted above the chart table. We’ve checked all the breakers – everything’s working. There’s a list of all the nav equipment below. The inside steering position has a removable stainless-steel wheel and there a helmsman's seat with a stainless-steel grab rail. Under that there’s a large hanging locker where we keep dry oilskins, winch handles, the bolt for the lifting keel, when not in use, and lifejackets. There’s a windscreen wiper fitted on the starboard window, but we’ve broken the blade arm (it was corroded). We’ll find a new one.

Heads

There’s a separate heads compartment to starboard with a marine toilet, shower and washbasin with pressurised hot and cold water and a shower. We replaced the taps and the shower head in 2021. Just outside the heads is an oilskin locker by the companionway – which is great for wet clothing. The basin and surrounds are made of Nordstone. There are also stowage lockers, a mirror, lots of protected teak shelf space for general bathroom bits. There’s a teak shower grating on the floor. There is a separate switch for a pump to drain the shower tray.

Walk through

There’s a walk through from the galley to the aft cabin with two big hatches to starboard which give access to the engine. In fact, you can get engine access from three sides, which is really helpful for e.g. oil changes, because aft of the companionway ladder there’s another big engine room hatch. On the port side in the walk through is the locker we call ‘the garage’. It has loads of space for mooring ropes, fenders etc. There’s a load of these and we’ll leave them all. Beyond the garage, to the aft, there’s another hanging and stowage locker.

Aft cabin

In the aft cabin, there’s a huge double berth. Although we say Sandmaiden sleeps six, we’ve often had eight aboard with a family of four (with grown kids) all sleeping in here. It is huge. There’s a seat in here too and good headroom. A hatch opens onto the aft deck. Under the bunks is access to the emergency tiller and lots of storage space for inflatable tender / kayak etc.

There are three overhead lockers aft, a hanging locker (effectively a wardrobe) to starboard with drawers and a small desk fitted with a shelf above and a stowage under the opening top. The coaming windows open and they and the hull windows have curtains. In fact windows throughout the boat have curtains. The floor is carpet with access to the stern tube under.

Mechanical Systems

Under the cockpit the engine is in a well-insulated compartment with an engine room fan. It is a Yanmar 3YH4E three-cylinder 35hp diesel engine. It is electric start and has been brilliantly reliable. It is freshwater cooled via a heat exchanger. There’s a shaft drive to a three-bladed bronze propeller which has a rope cutter. The stern gland will need repacking before long as it is almost fully tightened up. The throttle is a single lever control on deck, or (by turning a swich by the companionway ladder) a single lever below. The neutral button is not working on deck – we’ve considered replacing it, but actually, we never use neutral – the engine starts so well in idle. If you do need to rev in neutral, you can switch to the throttle below. There’s a 50 gallon stainless steel fuel tank. The engine has completed approximately 1,000 hours running time and was last serviced in September 2022. Also by the companionway ladder is a switch to turn on a Sidepower bow thruster. This is then controlled from a panel by the wheel. We’ve hardly ever used it because she is very manoeuvrable on just the engine, but it is nice to have.

Electrical Systems

The two linked domestic batteries were replaced in September 2022. The batteries charge quickly from the engine alternator but also via a solar panel ahead of the spray hood. There’s a 240v shorepower system with a battery charger. One battery is reserved for engine starting. The batteries are stowed in a purpose made vented box under the cabin floor by the stove. There are full accommodation and navigation lights – all LED. There’s a combined flood light and steaming light on the mast and a combined tri-colour all round white light at the masthead – all LED. The switch panel at the chart table has circuit breakers to protect all these systems. There are plenty of spare breakers if you want to add any more navigational equipment. There’s a decent amount of the sacrificial anode on the hull left and it is connected to the engine and to the stern tube. On the switch panel there’s a battery meter (along with a diesel and freshwater gauge).

Spars & Sails

Sandmaiden is a masthead-rigged sloop. She’s got an anodised aluminium mast and boom from Selden Spars. We fitted new stainless steel standing rigging (in 2020 – the work was done by Alan Johnson from Wilkinson’s Sails in Faversham). The running rigging is in good condition. We’ve replaced halyards and sheets when they look at all tired. The genoa sheets are brand new dynema. There are two genoa sheet tracks with roller fairleads cars with control lines (better than those plunger stops). You can move the pull point a long way fore and aft to get the sail well set whatever the amount of reef. The mainsail reefs by furling in-mast. The system works very well so long as you make sure the boom is at 90 degrees to the mast. If you don’t, you can get it jammed and end up needing to winch it back out and starting again. The jib is on a Furlex furling system which also works well and was serviced by Alan Johnson when the rigging was done. All lines lead aft to the cockpit where there are two Lewmar 44 self-tailing electric sheet winches. This makes single-handed sailing easy. There are also two Lewmar 16 halyard winches on the mast and two Lewmar 8 control line winches on the deckhead. There’s a rod kicker on the boom. The gas lift in it doesn’t work. We don’t miss it and would not replace it – the topping lift works fine.

Deck Fittings

She’s got what you’d expect for a boat her size: fairleads, fore, aft and mid-ship mooring cleats, stanchions and double lifelines. Gates in lifelines port and starboard and aft. Stainless steel pulpit and split pushpit. Bow roller fairleads include stowage for the anchor and a pin. There’s also a decent boarding platform on the transom, with a stainless steel folding ladder.

Bilge Pump

The cockpit has a manual bilge pump, piped from the bilge sump to an outlet in the hull. There’s also an electric bilge pump, wired permanently live (so it stays on when main domestic and engine switches are off), with a switch you can set to off, on or automatic. We leave it on automatic – but we’ve had no trouble with excess bilge water.

Sails

The furling mainsail on at the moment is a Maxi Roach – in good condition. The furling genoa is an Arun and is in decent condition (with new UV strips in 2020). The gennaker is in excellent condition.

Build

The hull and superstructure are heavy duty GRP mouldings, hand laid up. They don’t make them like this anymore. She is very solid. In the hull, Northshore used woven rovings and chopped strand mats in combination, and the thickness increases towards the keel area.
There’s a balsa core in the topsides which stops just above the waterline. The deck is a sandwich build using balsa core stiffening, with plywood in stress areas where the fittings are positioned. The bulkheads are glassed in and the entire deck is bonded to the hull which makes for a strong and integral unit. Externally, there’s a teak rubbing strake. Interior joinery is maple-faced plywood with solid teak trims built onto GRP base modules which are glassed into the hull. Solid.

Swing Keel

When you dry out, you’re on a cast iron grounding plate. This is bolted into a recess in the hull, using stainless steel bolts. It stiffens the boat side-to-side and protects the hull when drying out. The aerofoil swing keel, designed by Rob Humphreys, is cast iron with a stainless steel pivot fitting into a massive boss at the forward end of the grounding plate. You raise the keel via an electric hydraulic ram. There’s a manual backup. The hydraulics are attached to the swing keel by a pulley system (the rope is called the pennant). It can be operated from either the cockpit or from the chart area. There’s a keel lock-down and lock-up pin. We never use the lock-down. Just in case, when we’re poking around in shallow mud…

Electrics

The marine electrical system has a 55 amp alternator. There’s a Yamnar B2 instrument panel on deck. Hot water is heated from the engine via a calorifier tank. There’s a bronze stern tube with a water lubricated stern gland. Stainless steel fuel tank, with a capacity of around 40 gallons, with a sediment trap, gauge and in-line filter. There’s a bronze water inlet with a big strainer. The sound insulation in the engine compartment is excellent. Single lever engine controls both in the cockpit and in the wheelhouse. There’s an extractor fan in the engine compartment.

Steering Gear

The cockpit wheel is pedestal mounted. A Whitlock torque tube system connects the wheel to the steering arm. The rudder is a GRP moulding with a metal shoe to make sure it is protected when beaching or sailing in shallow water. The rudder has an end plate which improves efficiency. There’s an emergency tiller.

Windows and hatches

The big forward and aft hatches are Lewmar hinged perspex opening deck hatches fitted with roller blinds and fly screens. The main companionway hatch is perspex with teak trim. The wash boards are teak. There are opening windows in the aft cabin and head. There’s an air vent over the saloon and ventilators in head and the galley. There are two small but very useful opening hatches over the galley and the chart table.
All other windows are fixed, tinted polycarbonate or acrylic panels except the forward-facing wheelhouse windows which are toughened glass. The hull and wheelhouse windows are recessed into the GRP mouldings which helps prevent condensation.

List of equipment included:

15kg Bruce anchor with 5 fathoms of chain and 15 fathoms of warp
10 fenders – medium and large sausages, and one ball
Kedge spare anchor
Quick electric anchor windlass (2015)
Stainless steel pulpit, pushpit, stanchions and guardwires
Lifeline gates port and starboard
Coachroof grabrails
Sprayhood
Binnacle cover (needs stitching – but OK repair)
Halyard tail stowage bags
Cockpit table
Bathing platform
Stainless steel boarding ladder
Outboard stowage bracket

Navigation Equipment:
Whitlock steering compass
Raytheon ST60 depth, boat speed and log, windspeed and direction
Raytheon ST60 multi repeater
Raytheon ST6000+ autopilot with repeater
Raymarine RL70C radar
Raytheon RN300 GPS
Autohelm autopilot with Whitlock Mamba rotary drive (Type 100)
Twin station control (ST6000+ display in pilothouse & in cockpit)
VHF: Simrad RD68 radio with DSC and fist mike. VHF aerial
Masthead has hawk feathers
3036 Radar & combined chart plotter Raytheon RL72RC 'Pathfinder'
18" Radome
3050 GPS: Raytheon RAYNAV 300 WAAS GPS
Engine hour meter
12v interior socket (Cigarette lighter type)
Eberspacher D3LC heating system with three outlets
240v Ring main: Inc 3 double outlet sockets, earth leak circuit
Connection cable and plug for shore connection
Fridge: Isotherm 3200 ASU fitted in standard cool box
Radio/CD stereo system (AM, FM) with two speakers
1kw Immersion heater fitted in calorifier (Shore power needed)
Sterling battery charger - 30 amp (Shore power needed)
Sterling Charge Booster system fitted to alternator
Freshwater hand pump fitted at galley sink (new in 2021)
Holding tank system: heads pump to sea or into tank
Bow thruster, 75Kg with wheelhouse control
Electric Bilge Pump Par 36600: (400 GPH)
Water tank gauge
Aquafilta drinking water filter
Garmin 551 chart plotter on deck above coachhouse
ICS Nav 6 Navtex (ariel needs replacing – we’ve not used it)
Clock and barometer (barometer needs some t.l.c.)
Masthead and deck level navigation lights (LED)
Fire extinguishers (checked)
Engine room fire extinguisher (checked)
Fire blanket
Gas alarm
Jackstays
Cockpit harness attachment points
Deck light
Horseshoe lifebuoy named “Sandmaiden”
Plastimo 4 person life raft
Manual bile pump
Electric bilge pump
Firdell radar reflector fitted on the mast
Lightning master at masthead, mast step connected to small ground plane to provide lightning path
Ensign staff and ensign
Boathook
Two gas bottles, one full, one about half full, depending on when she sells and how much tea we drink
We’ll leave her with a full tank of fuel
Coachroof, deck and top sides are finished in white gel coat with blue moulded top lines
The bilges and lockers are painted throughout
Style line stripes through the hull ports are in the gel coat to match the boot top.

Specifications

Accommodation

galley and saloon

galley

walkway to aft cabin

aft cabin seat and cupboard

aft cabin wardrobe

aft cabin bunk

fore cabin

Construction

Hull Material: GRP (Fiberglass)

in slings

dried out

genniker tack

dried out

Equipment

Engine hour meter
12v interior socket (Cigarette lighter type)
Eberspacher D3LC heating system with three outlets
240v Ring main: Inc 3 double outlet sockets, earth leak circuit
Connection cable and plug for shore connection
Fridge: Isotherm 3200 ASU fitted in standard cool box
Radio/CD stereo system (AM, FM) with two speakers
1kw Immersion heater fitted in calorifier (Shore power needed)
Sterling battery charger - 30 amp (Shore power needed)
Sterling Charge Booster system fitted to alternator
Freshwater hand pump fitted at galley sink (new in 2021)
Holding tank system: heads pump to sea or into tank
Bow thruster, 75Kg with wheelhouse control
Electric Bilge Pump Par 36600: (400 GPH)
Water tank gauge
Aquafilta drinking water filter
Garmin 551 chart plotter on deck above coachhouse
ICS Nav 6 Navtex (ariel needs replacing – we’ve not used it)
Clock and barometer (barometer needs some t.l.c.)
Masthead and deck level navigation lights (LED)

Navigation Equipment

Navigation Equipment
Whitlock steering compass
Raytheon ST60 depth, boat speed and log, windspeed and direction
Raytheon ST60 multi repeater
Raytheon ST6000+ autopilot with repeater
Raymarine RL70C radar
Raytheon RN300 GPS
Autohelm autopilot with Whitlock Mamba rotary drive (Type 100)
Twin station control (ST6000+ display in pilothouse & in cockpit)
VHF: Simrad RD68 radio with DSC and fist mike. VHF aerial
Masthead has hawk feathers
3036 Radar & combined chart plotter Raytheon RL72RC 'Pathfinder'
18" Radome
3050 GPS: Raytheon RAYNAV 300 WAAS GPS

Engine(s)

It is a Yanmar 3YH4E three-cylinder 35hp diesel engine.

Sails & Spars

Sandmaiden is a masthead-rigged sloop. She’s got an anodised aluminium mast and boom from Selden Spars. We fitted new stainless steel standing rigging (in 2020 – the work was done by Alan Johnson from Wilkinson’s Sails in Faversham). The running rigging is in good condition. We’ve replaced halyards and sheets when they look at all tired. The genoa sheets are brand new dynema. There are two genoa sheet tracks with roller fairleads cars with control lines (better than those plunger stops). You can move the pull point a long way fore and aft to get the sail well set whatever the amount of reef. The mainsail reefs by furling in-mast. The system works very well so long as you make sure the boom is at 90 degrees to the mast. If you don’t, you can get it jammed and end up needing to winch it back out and starting again. The jib is on a Furlex furling system which also works well and was serviced by Alan Johnson when the rigging was done. All lines lead aft to the cockpit where there are two Lewmar 44 self-tailing electric sheet winches. This makes single-handed sailing easy. There are also two Lewmar 16 halyard winches on the mast and two Lewmar 8 control line winches on the deckhead. There’s a rod kicker on the boom. The gas lift in it doesn’t work. We don’t miss it and would not replace it – the topping lift works fine.

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