310 Sundancer

Yachta

Member
Oct 11, 2019
38
Sturgeon Bay, WI
Boat Info
1996 Sea Ray 370
Engines
Mercruiser 7.4 MPI
I am looking to move down in size from my 1996 Mainship 34MY. It is a great boat for the dock but not very economical to cruise the Great Lakes and as we are preparing for retirement “economical” plays a big role. I know it will be a big adjustment from a livability standpoint but we are ready for the change. With that being said I really like the size of the Sea Ray 310 Sundancers and that is what we want once we sell the current boat. In looking at the 310 I have a couple of questions...I came across one with 5.7 Horizon Bluewater engines and I am not familiar with these can someone please educate me? Also, I know these boats come in shaft or stern drive and the shaft is rare to find. I am not familiar with the stern drives so could someone educate me please on why I would want stern over shaft?
 
Predecessor to the Horizon line. Features more agreeable to salt water. FWC etc. You didn't specify year or budget but I would assume late 90's early 00's. Also take a look at the 02 & 03 320. Successor to 310 and a little bigger for not much more money. 310 is nice boat also. Great weekender.
 
Thank you for your response. I am looking in the 1999-2001 range trying to keep Price under 50k.
 
I prefer V drives over stern, but you get a ton of room in the Engine room with the stern dives

I had a friend looking for 310 in the spring, they are almost as much as the same year 340's, seem to hold their value
 
Horizons where the high performance engines with valve overlap and subject to water ingestion. Make sure you do compression and check them over real good.

Outdrives will give you more engine room and fuel economy. I think most prefer the v-drives though. Good luck.
 
I should of explained in more detail

I prefer the V drives over the stern drives mainly for maintenance, minimal in comparison. Seem to shift smoother imo, most stern have combination shifter that makes it harder to fine tune in tight quarters. With separate controls, it's a lot easier to switch from fwd-N-Rev without worrying about increasing rpms

Change tranny fluid every 5 years, vs out Drive every year
 
I prefer V drives over stern, but you get a ton of room in the Engine room with the stern dives

I had a friend looking for 310 in the spring, they are almost as much as the same year 340's, seem to hold their value

Okay you really have me thinking about the 340’s after looking at them online.

At optimal cruising speeds which boat would have the most range? It’s difficult to find real world fuel consumption data or I am not looking in the right areas.
 
My wife has fallen in love with the 380 Sundancer and it really does check most of the boxes. We are leaning towards something in the 2000-2002 range because of our budget. I would like to have the 8.1"s vs the 7.4 engines.

Any and all comments/recommendations would certainly be appreciated.
 
I preferred the 8.1’s originally also, just couldn’t find one In the condition of the one I bought.

8.1 blocks are getting harder to find, from what I have read, 7.4. Is still plentiful

love the 380. Wish I had diesels, but my lake doesn’t have diesel at the marinas, so this is right for now....
 
I preferred the 8.1’s originally also, just couldn’t find one In the condition of the one I bought.

8.1 blocks are getting harder to find, from what I have read, 7.4. Is still plentiful

love the 380. Wish I had diesels, but my lake doesn’t have diesel at the marinas, so this is right for now....
 
So your looking to move down in size to something more economical to run......Everything you are considering in this thread is just as much of a pig as your current mainship.....Look at a mainship pilot 30 - or even a 34 - more economical than any sea ray
 
So your looking to move down in size to something more economical to run......Everything you are considering in this thread is just as much of a pig as your current mainship.....Look at a mainship pilot 30 - or even a 34 - more economical than any sea ray

Mainly trying to get away from the big sail concept that we currently have.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,950
Messages
1,422,886
Members
60,933
Latest member
juliediane
Back
Top