Should I be worried

Concernedboater

New Member
Nov 30, 2018
1
Boat Info
sundanver
Engines
mercruiser
New member here and new poster, I own a 32 Blackfin and live on the gulf coast.
I have taken my brother out fishing a few times in the past on my boat and he loves to fish.
Long story short he has been looking for a boat for a long time and finally decided on a 1989 30 sundancer with I/O and 350 mercruisers he plans on keeping in the water on the Gulf Coast. Ive already told him about potential issues but he is very hard headed.

He plans on taking the boat 30+ miles out into the Gulf of Mexico and catching tuna,Wahoo, deep dropping for snowy grouper etc. Besides his boat not being setup for fishing im more worried the boat wont handle the kind of conditions that can pop up out in the Gulf. I know we all pick our days but it sometimes doesnt work out like that.

Will he be ok on fuel with 170 gallon tank and twin 350's to make it out 40 miles? I told him to get a good radio but like i said he is hard headed. JUst dont want to see him get in a bad situation because he is stubborn. How do these Sea Rays handle 2 to 3 foot head sea at 4 seconds? I dont know much about them but i was wondering if anyone here has an opinion thats fished or been offshore on an older sundancer.

Thanks for any replies and or help.
 
I have similar 30' Searay, single screw though. She handles 2-3 footers no problem. But I would worry more about the salt and those old I/O's. Figure on <1 mpg and with a 170G tank, he's cutting it real close.
I would never go out without knowing i had a 1/4 tank when I get back.
 
Can almost promise you that boat needs manifolds and risers sooner than later. A survey is a must.
 
The Educated Boater would venture offshore with at least 2 good vhf radios on separate Galaxy type ant`s. A complete flare gun kit, the correct life jackets, a GO Bag, over rated bilge pumps, notice I said "PUMPS" plural
A FLOAT PLAN, DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL BACK IN PORT, area fishing in , the gulf is a very large pond.
a twin 24 footer should even be enough for the gulf with a proper Captain.
 
I owned that year/model for about 10 years on the Great Lakes. At a cruise speed of around 3000 rpm, I'd burn about 18 gph and get a speed of 28 mph plus or minus depending on load. I'd always rely on mileage of 1 mpg and have ample reserve. My actual usage overall approached 1.5 mpg. I can't comment on running in the gulf. The Great Lakes waves are probably a much shorter frequency but it would run OK up to a 3' wave using some trim to keep the bow in the water as the water got rougher.
 
Hard headed is problem #1, keeping an I/O in warm salt water is problem #2......and that’s where I stopped counting the ways this plan won’t end well.

So, find him an early 90’s 300 WE with inboard small block engines. The Weekender has a much longer cockpit and is a great fishing or dive boat, much better than a Sundancer, which is a very cramped fishing platform. The inboard transmissions will live indefinitely in salt water with no more than a $20 annual lube oil change. Also, with twin small blocks, you have economy plus get-home redundancy.

30 miles offshore in the Gulf? Buy him $100 worth of Dramamine..........
 
My '88 300 Weekend with 350 inboards was an awesome boat and, equipped correctly, I would be very comfortable taking it out into the big water. My 85 250 Sundancer had a single OMC outdrive. What a total piece of garbage. I spent a fortune keeping it working and the water out of where the oil and grease goes. And that was in freshwater.

Unless your friend is a maintenance freak I'd be very hesitant to take that boat out very far, even with twins as a backup. My advise is to decline his offer to come along.
 
I owned an 87 300 Sundancer (same boat) with those motors and I/O’s in saltwater for many years and can offer some advise based on real world experience. I loved that boat so much that I wished my son was old enough when it came time for us to move up that he could have kept it. One of my friends is still kicking himself in the ass because he didn’t buy it from me. There is still a lot of them on the water around here and they are very popular with people in that budget range looking for a decent sized boat.
The good:
Never had a problem with the I/O’s because of saltwater, and OEM manifolds replaced as a maintenance item every 5 years with OEM will extend the life of those very reliable motors.
Those motors and alpha drives are a perfect combination for a 300 with the right props. I put 15 1/2 x 17’s on mine and I cruised at close to 30 mph (no arch or genny) with a great hole shot. Tabs were only used to level off weight when a lot of passengers were with me. Never needed them to get on plane with those props.
It was a fantastic boat that handled well and was very economical to run for its size. Those motors and drives are among the cheapest to buy parts for.
Range won’t be a problem for what he’s looking to do.
It’s a relatively easy boat to work on.
If the 89 didn’t come with counter rotating drives (87 didn’t), it’s a really easy conversion. I did it to mine and it made a huge difference in handling around the docks.
The bad:
It’s not a great choice for fishing. While you could fish off pretty much most boats if you absolutely had to, the cockpit will be kind of tight on the 300 Sundancer of that era. I fished off mine a handful of times in the bay around here. Never with more than just me and one other guy on the boat, and it was really tight.
There are much better choices out there.
If he wants to limit his search to that era and size Searay then as Frank suggested, a 300 Weekender would be a much better choice. He’ll lose the aft berth in the cabin, but the cockpit is much better suited for fishing.
As much as I love those 300 Sundancers I strongly suggest he find something else for what he wants to do.
 
Last edited:
I have the same boat, 89 300 DA, and I'll echo what Playdate and JVM said. I Will add that the stock Sundancer tanks are 72 gal each for a total of 144. I believe 130 should be useable depending on runni g angle. Also agree with the comments on cockpit space. If he's set on that size and vintage, he's better off with a Weekender with straight shafts and 200 gal fuel capacity.
 
My 85 250 Sundancer had a single OMC outdrive. What a total piece of garbage. I spent a fortune keeping it working and the water out of where the oil and grease goes. And that was in freshwater.

Total brainf*rt here. I don't know why I thought I read he had the OMC's. Please disregard.
 
If he gets the boat, I would suggest he also have the fuel tanks flushed/cleaned out. Who knows what would be lurking in there. If the boat had just been used inshore, no motion. Offshore, the rocking of the gulf might lead to fuel flow issues.
 
IMG_2098.JPG
I owned a 1986 300WE for about 7 years and cruised it all over Lake Michigan. It would go through just about anything at 15-16 knots so I would not be too concerned about running that type of hull in the Gulf. The outdrive model will not have the balance of the straight inboard set up because there is much more weight in the aft end than with a straight inboard SR. That weight distribution and the crowded cockpit make the Sundancer a poor choice for fishing in my view. They can be hard to dock in cross winds because they weather vane easily. As others have mentioned, the WeekEnder is a good hull and configuration for fishing and cruising. I would make sure the mechanicals of a boat of that vintage are reliable. Running boats offshore can be very unforgiving and finding help in a timely manner should never be taken for granted. You could be stuck out there for a few days if something goes wrong.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,944
Messages
1,422,711
Members
60,927
Latest member
Jaguar65
Back
Top