Selene 53 vs Alaskan 56

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
The things you mentioned are useful, "schematics, parts lists, drawings, electrical diagrams, owners manuals etc etc." but any decent electronics guy, wiring guy, mechanic, hands-on owner can work those things out in a couple of hours.

On boats this large and complex? Baloney! And I speak from first hand experience with a number of other people's boats trying to help them (and some very "decent" tradesmen) sort things out. Not to mention running down PO-installed systems on my own boat. The support available from Hatteras and their spun-off parts department Sam's Marine did, and very well may again, make a major difference in my boat selection.
 
Selene 53 vs Alaskan 56'

Both are great vessels in their own right. The only issue with the Selene (if pre- built 2007) you may want to check are the tanks. (Water, holding and fuel) to see if they hold what they say they do.

Selena was hit with a lawsuit for over stating the tanks holding capacities. They listed them higher then what they really were.


https://www.soundingsonline.com/news/truth-in-tankage-at-issue-in-lawsuit

Best of luck to you.

Cheers.

H.
 
Last edited:
CFlex
Thread drift to Hatteras aside, I'm not seeing anyone disagreeing with you. But you do raise a valid point about good documentation. Today's new builds in the size range the OP raised should indeed have a good set of near as built drawings for factory electrical, mechanical, piping, cabins and hull.

These CAD programs all too often are not requested by the buyer as final deliverables. This is why a very good buyer's agent should be utilized. Quite often the buyer's agent is associated with a top flight yard or commissioning group that takes delivery of new said vessel and correctly brings all documentation together so final field additions and initial warranty items can be dealt with prior to owner handoff.

In this regard, a higher volume vessel like a newer Selene should have a very good paper trail. Or for that matter Nordhavn, AT, Ranger Tug, Helmsman etc.

On older low volume vessels like a Grand Alaskan the absence of these types of documents should present no problems for a smart owner, skilled tradesmen or good yard. A bad yard with a perfect set of as built drawings can screw anything up. So choose your help wisely and no matter what the issue a top flight job will result.
 
First, I thank those of you who paid me a compliment. :Thanx:

Most of the comments I read regarding Selene and Alaskan are spot on. Both boats are/were of good quality. Selene did have some occasional quality issues caused by turnover at the factory and having inexperienced workers. They also had blister problems off and on. Interestingly, some showed up on the superstructure. A good surveyor should be employed for a pre-purchase inspection of a Selene and even an Alaskan, for that matter.

Brian Calvert, now managing our brokerage office in Subic Bay, Philippines, was a partner at Friday Harbor Yacht Sales. FHYS was the first Selene dealer in the US (1999). The early boats were Solo 43s, designed by Harvey Halvorsen of Kong and Halvorsen, then later, Island Gypsy fame, and built by Jet Tern. Soon, the hull was stretched and the Solo 47 came about. At some point, early on, Harvey parted ways with Jet Tern and the brand was renamed Selene. Early Solo owners were offered a branding kit to change over their Solos to Selenes. Many did. Brian may chime in and offer more information than I as he was there living it. I was just an observer.

Alaskans (formerly Grand Alaskan), designed by Art DeFever were developed by Gary Oviatt (Oviatt Marine). There were some 65+ boats built of various lengths, 53' to 80' by Tania in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Some were flush decks and some were raised pilothouse models. Oviatt Marine succumbed to the economic downturn and declared bankruptcy in 2009 or 2010. At the time of the bankruptcy, John and Jackie Murray had an Alaskan 65 under construction. In order to get the boat finished, they purchased the assets and thought, why not build another, this time, a 70 footer. Many will notice the Alaskans, especially the 65' and 70' strongly resemble Outer Reef's early models. This, because after Oviatt moved his production to another yard (~2006), Tania began building the Outer Reef's.

Well, the economy did not improve right away and the market for new boats was still very soft for several years. (Some would say it is still soft in certain segments.) As the years went by, the Murray's devoted more time and energy toward other interests and Alaskan stagnated.

In 2016, my wife, Jan and I became friends with the Murray's (they are wonderful people) and decided to try and help them bring the brand back as a dealer/distributor. In early 2018, it was decided that the brand needed a face lift if it were to succeed. In order to do that, a significant investment would be needed and we couldn't justify that unless we had more control. It was decided we would make an offer to purchase the brand. We did and the offer was accepted.

We immediately engaged our old friend, Steve Seaton, to modernize the designs. We decided to keep many of the DeFever design features, but "Seatonize" them a bit. We are still in the process but have preliminary profiles and sample general arrangements for 53', 57' and 66' models completed.

So that is what I know.......hope it clears up some thing for some of you.
 
First, I thank those of you who paid me a compliment. :Thanx:

Most of the comments I read regarding Selene and Alaskan are spot on. Both boats are/were of good quality. Selene did have some occasional quality issues caused by turnover at the factory and having inexperienced workers. They also had blister problems off and on. Interestingly, some showed up on the superstructure. A good surveyor should be employed for a pre-purchase inspection of a Selene and even an Alaskan, for that matter.

Brian Calvert, now managing our brokerage office in Subic Bay, Philippines, was a partner at Friday Harbor Yacht Sales. FHYS was the first Selene dealer in the US (1999). The early boats were Solo 43s, designed by Harvey Halvorsen of Kong and Halvorsen, then later, Island Gypsy fame, and built by Jet Tern. Soon, the hull was stretched and the Solo 47 came about. At some point, early on, Harvey parted ways with Jet Tern and the brand was renamed Selene. Early Solo owners were offered a branding kit to change over their Solos to Selenes. Many did. Brian may chime in and offer more information than I as he was there living it. I was just an observer.

Alaskans (formerly Grand Alaskan), designed by Art DeFever were developed by Gary Oviatt (Oviatt Marine). There were some 65+ boats built of various lengths, 53' to 80' by Tania in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Some were flush decks and some were raised pilothouse models. Oviatt Marine succumbed to the economic downturn and declared bankruptcy in 2009 or 2010. At the time of the bankruptcy, John and Jackie Murray had an Alaskan 65 under construction. In order to get the boat finished, they purchased the assets and thought, why not build another, this time, a 70 footer. Many will notice the Alaskans, especially the 65' and 70' strongly resemble Outer Reef's early models. This, because after Oviatt moved his production to another yard (~2006), Tania began building the Outer Reef's.

Well, the economy did not improve right away and the market for new boats was still very soft for several years. (Some would say it is still soft in certain segments.) As the years went by, the Murray's devoted more time and energy toward other interests and Alaskan stagnated.

In 2016, my wife, Jan and I became friends with the Murray's (they are wonderful people) and decided to try and help them bring the brand back as a dealer/distributor. In early 2018, it was decided that the brand needed a face lift if it were to succeed. In order to do that, a significant investment would be needed and we couldn't justify that unless we had more control. It was decided we would make an offer to purchase the brand. We did and the offer was accepted.

We immediately engaged our old friend, Steve Seaton, to modernize the designs. We decided to keep many of the DeFever design features, but "Seatonize" them a bit. We are still in the process but have preliminary profiles and sample general arrangements for 53', 57' and 66' models completed.

So that is what I know.......hope it clears up some thing for some of you.

Thanks Peter. I see the first model will be at shows in 2020, looking forward to getting on board. From the images I saw I noticed a well rounded upper bow and I believe that the pilot house is no longer raised?
 
There will be the raised pilothouse version......just haven't gotten to it yet. I have had Steve (Seaton) slaving away to finish all the details for the Northwest 63 we are laying up in early October.

I know some of the articles written say there will be an Alaskan for 2020 but it will depend upon what happens with the NW63 and potential pending orders. You know how writers can be......sometimes overly optimistic.
 
Thank you all for your replies....great things to know....

John (JSBRAGA) I am interested in your 53, please contact me at ttrawlins@aol.com. My Mainship 400 is a single with bow and stern thrusters located in CT.

Thanks

T.G.
 
Plenty of Selenes have twins. When I ordered my Selene 55 in 2008, there were eight Selenes on order on the East Coast That were all twins. I chose a single Cummins 405 QSL with an hydraulic drive get home powered by the 20 kW NL genset. Great combination.
 
Hi Mike,

After seeing you arrive at Mystic Seaport a few years ago in your Selene, I have been interested in them since... We both had golden retrievers and spoke at the seaport. Since there are so few 53's available, we plan to look at an Alaskan as an alternative....
this one has larger twin C12 engines with less hrs than a similar aged Selenes, but Alaskans lack opening windows which I am concerned with (we anchor out mostly)...... Happy cruising!
 
Hi Mike,

Alaskans lack opening windows which I am concerned with (we anchor out mostly)...... Happy cruising!

Do you mean the salon windows, our 53 has sliding salon windows?
 
Hi Mike,

After seeing you arrive at Mystic Seaport a few years ago in your Selene, I have been interested in them since... We both had golden retrievers and spoke at the seaport. Since there are so few 53's available, we plan to look at an Alaskan as an alternative....
this one has larger twin C12 engines with less hrs than a similar aged Selenes, but Alaskans lack opening windows which I am concerned with (we anchor out mostly)...... Happy cruising!


If I were buying a boat now I would focus on boat type first and then find one that was continually used by the prior owner who had an open checkbook for repairs, improvements and preventative maintenance. I have learned that low hours alone can be a hidden liability. Our Marlow is great—now—after spending about $250,000 or so to get it perfect. Twice what I expected.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom