Any 38DA owners out there?

We've narrowed our search to the 38 and the 350 (leaning towards the 38) and was looking for others that might have one or the other and the pros and cons. I'm very tempted to go seacore instead of vdrives for performance but I don't think that's available on the 38 (which is ok). We are sea trialing a demo on Monday so we'll report back how that goes. I'm sure the 8.1 HOs will give a good amount of thrust.

Any insight would be great!

- Brian

Troubadour said:

We've narrowed our search to the 38 and the 350 (leaning towards the 38) and was looking for others that might have one or the other and the pros and cons. I'm very tempted to go seacore instead of vdrives for performance but I don't think that's available on the 38 (which is ok). We are sea trialing a demo on Monday so we'll report back how that goes. I'm sure the 8.1 HOs will give a good amount of thrust.

Any insight would be great!

- Brian

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There are a few members here, I myself am to new to offer any pertinent advice.

Maybe some of these other 380 members in this thread might chime in to assist you?

Sea Ray Sundancer 380

:thumbsup:

Though I don't own one, I can tell you the 38 is a gas pig with 8.1's. My dock neighbor reports .6-.7 mpg. FWIW, his 380 runs about 300 RPMs higher than the 8.1's in my 340 at the same cruise speed. SB

Newbie said:

Though I don't own one, I can tell you the 38 is a gas pig with 8.1's. My dock neighbor reports .6-.7 mpg. FWIW, his 380 runs about 300 RPMs higher than the 8.1's in my 340 at the same cruise speed. SB

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Good to know. The 44 we took out yesterday was burning 40gph at full throttle which isn't too bad given the size of the vessel.

I've owned a 2001 380 since April, 2008 and am very happy with it. It has the 8.1s, and isn't as bad on gas as I expected. I am boating on an inland lake, and don't do a lot of miles. The boat has tons of torque...really no complaints yet.

Newbie said:

Though I don't own one, I can tell you the 38 is a gas pig with 8.1's. My dock neighbor reports .6-.7 mpg. FWIW, his 380 runs about 300 RPMs higher than the 8.1's in my 340 at the same cruise speed. SB

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Well? There is also a dry weight difference alone of about 4,000 pounds, it might explain part of the 300 RPM difference at the same cruise speed :huh:

:thumbsup:

Just noticed that the 2008 model is 3' shorter, 6" narrower, and 1,100 lbs. heavier than my 2001 model.

Pseudomind said:

Well? There is also a dry weight difference alone of about 4,000 pounds, it might explain part of the 300 RPM difference at the same cruise speed :huh:

:thumbsup:

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Exactly, which in turn causes more fuel burn being my point. Like I said, I don't own one but the fellow I know who does wishes he bought diesels. I can cruise at 3200 no prob and feels fine. He says his feels very sluggish below 3500. Of course, none of what I'm saying matters since I don't have first hand experience, just hearsay. Owners of 38's will chime in soon enough with firsthand knowledge. SB

Troubadour said:

We've narrowed our search to the 38 and the 350 (leaning towards the 38) and was looking for others that might have one or the other and the pros and cons. I'm very tempted to go seacore instead of vdrives for performance but I don't think that's available on the 38 (which is ok). We are sea trialing a demo on Monday so we'll report back how that goes. I'm sure the 8.1 HOs will give a good amount of thrust.

Any insight would be great!

- Brian

Click to expand...

I was looking at exactly the same boats as you and the 340. Even went to the Miami boat show to see the 350. I really like the 350 over the 340, but MM had the 38DA on display as well. What sold me on the 38DA over the 350 was simply the room in the engine bay, the 350 has the same layout as the 340 and with Vdrives there is no room between the engines..you must lay over the engines to get to the sea cocks. While the 38DA has enough room to squeeze between the engines. Also note how everything is laid out in the engine bay of the 38DA vs. the 350. We decided on the 38DA back in March. Others are correct about mileage, we get between 0.6 and 0.7MPG at 20~22MPH at 3300~3400rpm from the twin 8.1L. Look at the standard things on the 38DA like SS windows frames, E120 display and other things and the price difference isn't as great.

All three are good boats but we decided to go with the 38DA for the reasons listed.

Good luck with your decision,

Mike

I have not figured the exact distance using a compass and chart, but just by measuring on a map using a map scale, the time was around 7.5 hours.

I now have my 2002 Sea Ray 380, Saturday was a pretty good trip, a bit rough at times, (2-4 foot seas and rain) Going out of Ponce Inlet, about 11 miles South of Daytona was a good hull test, 8-10 foot breakers until we got pass them. Left Halifax Harbor in Daytona at 11:45 AM and was in my slip located off of the St. John's (About 20 miles from the sea, slip is actually located on the Ortega River) by 7:30 PM

Used around 32 GPH (240/7.5) @ mostly 3800 RPMs which was not to bad, considering the seas. A good speed estimate would probably be 18-19 knots, some portions were 21-22 knots at the same RPM's, sea dictated speed.

Most of the trip was about 5 miles offshore from just about 11 miles south of Daytona Beach to the mouth of the St. Johns Maybe 110 miles total

Probably total at 32 miles slower cruising speed (No wake zones) ICW, ST Johns River, etc.

Maybe 142 statue miles in total for the trip 239.8 gallons to fill up or .583 gallons per mile.

:thumbsup: