Oyster 56, SEA MIST 2

Broker’s Comments

The Oyster 56 is perfect for bluewater sailing. The most successful and prolific model ever built by Oyster to great, robust designs by Rob Humphreys, these yachts have sailed all the world’s oceans. They are compact enough for local cruising and easily handled by owner driver crews. However, their clever 4 cabin layout provides space enough for crew. The current owner of SEA MIST 2 has used her extensively, always with crew and has laid her up ashore when not in use. She has been well maintained by him, with identified survey issues dealt with by him on purchase and the maintenance programme has been strenuous. As you read the specification you will see many recent updates and renewals. She is now ready for a new owner and new bluewater adventures.

Owner’s Comments

I have always been impressed with the quality of the Oyster brand. I retired in 2016 and wanted to join The Oyster Round the World Rally – thus the need to actually buy an Oyster. The 56 was Oyster’s most successful model with a great reputation for sea worthiness and so buying a 56 seemed the ideal choice.

SEA MIST 2 has taken me far and if you like to check out her Yellow Brick tracking you can see our route https://my.yb.tl/seamist2.

I took delivery of her in Guernsey in July 2016 and took her over to the Hamble to prepare her for the ORTWR. I had recruited an American couple as skipper and mate for the rally and they supervised the refit necessary. SEA MIST 2 had a total overhaul including new sails.

We left the Hamble in late August 2016 en route to join the ARC+ rally in the Canaries in Nov 2016. We made our way there via Portugal, Gibraltar and Morocco. The ARC took us to the Caribbean via Cape Verde. I decided to withdraw from the ORTWR for some personal reasons and from Dec 2016 to April 2017 we cruised the Caribbean laying up in Grenada. In 2017/18 we continued cruising the Caribbean and took her amongst other places to the Dominican Republic, Cuba and the Bahamas before taking her back across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean via the Azores. The summers of 2018 and 2019 were spent in the Mediterranean and then laid up in Greece. Covid meant that she was laid up from Oct 2019 to May 2022. In 2022 we cruised Croatia before making our way to Spain.

She has proved herself to be a fantastic bluewater cruising yacht. She doesn’t like soft winds but really enjoys breezy conditions both on and off the wind. Of the many things I love about SEA MIST 2, the most important is the constant feeling of safety at sea.

So now I am 81 and have been sailing since I was 16. I still have a few other things on my bucket list apart from sailing, and so it is time for SEA MIST 2 to find a new owner who will, I am sure, enjoy her as much as we have done.