The Good and the Bad about your current boat

Pros:

14’ beam.

Great salon and galley layout.

Tons of storage.

Huge engine room for easy access to everything.

Straight drives.

Teak everywhere.

Cons:

Master stateroom bed is one sided but large.

Swim platform is a bit small.

It’s old and needy at times.

Port holes in master don’t open.

Teak everywhere.
 
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I bought the 370 venture used about a year ago. love love love it!!!! only flaw is slightly underpowered. I wish it could hold plane at a little slower speed. i'm in Stuart, florida. mike
Hi I’m interested to buy this model :) What is the minimum speed to keep it in plane with 6+ passengers in board,thanks.
 
I finally thought of something I would change:

It would be nice if the backrest of the bench next to the helmet could rotate forward so if you are sitting in the main cockpit area with your back to that bench you had more room.

Oh, and it would be nice if there was more room in the engine compartment to get back to the trim tab reservoir and the rudders but it's not Sea Ray's fault that I'm a bigger guy.
 
I don't know how I missed this one back in July. This thread should be a sticky "Buyers Read This First" kind of gig. Great info.

So for me - 1997 400DA.
The Good:
The size/room/performance
The access for DIY maintenance (especially with gas engines in this boat)
All the other cool things noted by owners of 37-42 footers (especially the shower and solid doors interior)

The Bad:
If there is one thing I do complain about semi-regularly it is the DOOR HEIGHT! Ughhh....I swear the door frames to the master berth and bathroom are both 6',0.875" tall. I happen to be 6'1" tall. Approximately once per month I will hit my head on the master berth metal door frame. Highly unpleasant doing that for the 10th time knowing the door frame hasn't moved since the last time I knocked my bald head into it.
I also wish I had a hard top. Someday....someday I'll have a hard top.
 
2004 Sundancer 240:

GOOD
Still new to us.
Easily trailerable.
Easy to launch.
Portability
Reasonable to spend weekends on
Camper top is great in bad weather
Speed and fuel usage is bearable
Fit and finish is nice
Gets plenty of admiration from others

BAD
Top heavy. It loves to roll.
Not sure it is any easier to navigate rough seas than my 180 bowrider
Needs a generator
Both births need to be about a foot longer
Engine room hatch should open about twice as far.
Time to plane with a single 305 is maddening in traffic.
 
I don't know how I missed this one back in July. This thread should be a sticky "Buyers Read This First" kind of gig. Great info.

So for me - 1997 400DA.
...
The Bad:
If there is one thing I do complain about semi-regularly it is the DOOR HEIGHT! .

Get your favorite baseball logo'd cap and wear it....It's seriously cut down on the bangs to my head.
 
Get your favorite baseball logo'd cap and wear it....It's seriously cut down on the bangs to my head.

No joke. As I have no hair I normally do wear a baseball cap to keep my noggin from burning in the sun. I'd say 83% of my head strikes have come in the AM. First trip to the head, not paying attention. Wife yells "how many times are you going to do that". :)
 
Good -
Outdrives vrs inboards- more speed at lower rpms / cruises @ 29-30 mph / lots more space to work on motors then with inboards / slightly less draft with drives up.
Bow thruster - gets into really tight spaces very easy, eliminates cross wind issues when docking
Tons of storage
inverter for running small appliances w/o firing up genny
auto pilot
handles seas where we boat very nicely.
plenty of fridge space

Bad -
outdrives require more maintenance / trade off for roomier bilge - more speed @ lower rpms
electronic issues (smartcraft) can be difficult to track down / pinpoint
V birth hard to make up

All in All - a perfect fit for our family.
 
No joke. As I have no hair I normally do wear a baseball cap to keep my noggin from burning in the sun. I'd say 83% of my head strikes have come in the AM. First trip to the head, not paying attention. Wife yells "how many times are you going to do that". :)

Saw a guy at a marina one time, he came up out of his engine room, had a bicycle helmet on. I assumed he was tired of bumping his head.
 
No joke. As I have no hair I normally do wear a baseball cap to keep my noggin from burning in the sun. I'd say 83% of my head strikes have come in the AM. First trip to the head, not paying attention. Wife yells "how many times are you going to do that". :)

This is also the case with the door into the guest head on the 420. Oh my gosh, I've peeled the top of my bald head so many times on that #@#! thing!
 
Pros:

  • Everything works
  • Engine room is roomy thanks to stern drives
  • Has nearly all the options for this model (genny, air, cockpit fridge, etc)
  • In very good cosmetic condition for a 12 year old boat on its 3rd owner
  • I can't think of tons of things I *love*, but I generally like everything.

Cons:

  • Stern drive is more maintenance intensive, and the performance benefits are limited to us but on fresh water its mostly OK. Next boat will be shafts or V-drive
  • For a 31' boat the seating doesn't seem expansive in the cockpit -- I think this was kinda "fixed" in later model years that flipped the layout to put seating on the port side and the wet bar on starboard
  • Needs way too much canvas and isinglass to get out of the weather. My next boat will have a windshield to the hard top at minimum.
  • I wish the swim deck was lower and deeper, but the good news is its built into the hull and not a bolt-on
 
On my Sundeck 200:

The Good:

Pretty much everything, I love the layout and the swim platform is what really sold me.

The Bad:
Why in the hell they didn't put a floor storage?? is really that hard? I read about the gas tank but still, is a 40 gal, I doubt it takes the whole floor. I even thought about cut the floor and do it myself.
The second will be that it looks pretty uncomfortable to work in the engine, not too much room but I guess that is pretty much most of the boats, I am mechanic inclined but I'm worry about have to work on it.
 
I cant go into details on the good. But man O man are they good.
The bad would be we need more room for the good. LOL
 
B28B5129-82C6-4E5E-9C47-94952822D39B.jpeg
I’m moving to salt and different water conditions and my lil gal is not suitable so I will have to sell and find a saltwater rig.
 
The Bad:
The draft. I have a solid 6ft draft. Guess that is the trade off of standing up in the engine room. I manage it, do ok - but draft is big time consideration, especially in the area where we keep the boat.
Next boat - will probably be willing to stoop over a bit - but definitely want a shallower draft.
So, what have you learned from your current boat that you will factor in on your next boat?
I’m a big fan of the power cats, shallow draft, I was not a fan of how they looked, but after being on one, I really like them.
 

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