44DA or DB

Cockpit space -
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That looks like fun Mark. It’s amazing how much additional space a beam of 12’ to 14’ can make. Based on all the comments I think we will aim for the 44. Now all I have to do is sell a non-corona 340.
 
We have had our 440EB four seasons now. Even though i am a leg amputee, we love the bridge in this size boat. Most of our time is spent in the huge cockpit or down two steps into the salon. I find the da steps into the cabin small, steep and awkward. Lots more effort for me to come and go. The bridge becomes a great escape from the kids. Wet bar and icemaker really makes great use of the bridge when not playing captain.
As others have said, daylight, full 14’ beam salon, two large heads and two full staterooms on opposite ends of the boat cannot be beat. We were lucky to find our one owner low hour boat, a bit of updating has us very happy.
 
As mentioned before our deciding factor between the two was a daughter with disabilities.
One thing I didn’t see mentioned yet is docking in the wind.
My 420DA does not have thrusters and I have no problems docking, the bridge boat I was looking at had both front and rear thrusters.
 
J.Wilt said:
As mentioned before our deciding factor between the two was a daughter with disabilities.
One thing I didn’t see mentioned yet is docking in the wind.
My 420DA does not have thrusters and I have no problems docking, the bridge boat I was looking at had both front and rear thrusters.
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A bridge boat is certainly going to be affected more by wind. You're going to want the thrusters to help out. Even a big express has windage though.

While some may thing of thrusters as "cheating" by unskilled captains, I think they are another tool to help better enjoy boating. Especially if you're short handed, or need to haul-butt down from an upper station.

If I ever get a bigger boat I would be seriously interested in having a proportional thruster system. SidePower's system lets you dial up a percentage of the available thrust and keep it on for as long as 20 minutes or so. That's plenty of time and thrust to hold the boat against a dock for tying up or casting off with limited crew to help.
 
Zach312 said:
We went from a 40 DA then sold it to buy a 48 DA but ended up buying a 47DB which we sold after two years for a 48 DA.

I am by no means against the bridge boats and the 47DB is a really neat boat. Would highly suggest this over a 42/44 if you can swing it. For my wife and I (its just the two of us) the large open cockpit was what we really missed in the bridge boat layout. Both layouts have great features and it depends how you choose to use the boat.

Another plus..since isinglass is my nemesis it was great to get to the full glass cockpit of the 48.

You won't go wrong with either really depends on your preference. Get on a bunch of boats and see what fits your needs the best
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Zach, I'm glad you mentioned this.... I currently run a 360DA and started looking at 460DAs. I have always read through all the "owners threads" of the models that I begin to research. I also notice their signature lines or their avatar pics and it seems a lot of folks who had these larger sundancers now seem to have even larger bridge boats, as if it was the standard line of progression. Lots of boaters in my marina / club have larger bridge boats (480DB, 52DB, 55DB of various vintages) There is one 420DA and one 52DA.

I think you may be the only person I have heard of that moved from a sedan bridge back to a sundancer!

You make a big valid point about the large open cockpit..... I just showed this post to my wife and she agreed.

It was a 47DB we thought might be the boat for us, but the headroom in the master stateroom looks a little tight over the berth. I'm just not a big fan hexagonal / Trapezoidal shaped v-berth mattresses.
 
JPGator said:
Long story short we are upgrading from an ‘07 340. I’ve been looking almost exclusively at similar year 44’s and only recently started looking at Sedan Bridges. For those who were faced with a similar decision what swayed you either way?
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I went from a 390 MY last year and have a 44 DB under contract. I want open air and sun when I am boating, not cooped up behind a windshield and hardtop. Not familiar with the 44 DA, so don't know if they are more open than my 390 MY was, but that is what drove my decision. I also love the view from a bridge boat!
Rob
 
SeadawgVB said:
Zach, I'm glad you mentioned this.... I currently run a 360DA and started looking at 460DAs. I have always read through all the "owners threads" of the models that I begin to research. I also notice their signature lines or their avatar pics and it seems a lot of folks who had these larger sundancers now seem to have even larger bridge boats, as if it was the standard line of progression. Lots of boaters in my marina / club have larger bridge boats (480DB, 52DB, 55DB of various vintages) There is one 420DA and one 52DA.

I think you may be the only person I have heard of that moved from a sedan bridge back to a sundancer!

You make a big valid point about the large open cockpit..... I just showed this post to my wife and she agreed.

It was a 47DB we thought might be the boat for us, but the headroom in the master stateroom looks a little tight over the berth. I'm just not a big fan hexagonal / Trapezoidal shaped v-berth mattresses.
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The 47 DB is a great boat... The state room is nice but the head room is a bit uneven. The head room in our 48 sundancer isn't any better it is just flat and tappers to the bow. I could use a solid 6 inches of extra head room on our 48 if I want to sit up and watch TV.

The change back to the open express cruiser may have to do with our stage in life. My wife and I are both mid-30's and while we really like our bridge boat we missed the large open cockpit. I would see us getting into a larger bridge boat again sometime in the future. The boat we really wish we had is a 58 sundancer but we have our 48 just about perfect for us and the 200k jump is price just doesn't work for us right now.

Lots of advantages to either model, as many have stated it really depends on how you will use the boat. Depending on that you can't go wrong with either. Lots of great pics of the open cockpits of the 44 DA on this thread! love it!
 
Zach312 said:
The 47 DB is a great boat... The state room is nice but the head room is a bit uneven. The head room in our 48 sundancer isn't any better it is just flat and tappers to the bow. I could use a solid 6 inches of extra head room on our 48 if I want to sit up and watch TV.

The change back to the open express cruiser may have to do with our stage in life. My wife and I are both mid-30's and while we really like our bridge boat we missed the large open cockpit. I would see us getting into a larger bridge boat again sometime in the future. The boat we really wish we had is a 58 sundancer but we have our 48 just about perfect for us and the 200k jump is price just doesn't work for us right now.

Lots of advantages to either model, as many have stated it really depends on how you will use the boat. Depending on that you can't go wrong with either. Lots of great pics of the open cockpits of the 44 DA on this thread! love it!
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Zach, we are still loving your 47DB! Put about 300 hours on it in 15 months with no major problems. It's in the yard right now getting a bottom job and having the props balance and re-pitched. Thanks for selling us a fully upgraded and turnkey boat... well, with the exception of an autopilot. :)
 
brewster16 said:
Speed, maneuverability, no rocking and rolling, single handed docking/launching, didn't want to be "isolated" upstairs driving on long cruises
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I'm new to this site. I have a 2006 44. I want to replace my current anchor line/rode with all chain. Does anyone know the actual size of the chain that I need? I know what length, just need the actual chain size.
 
One of the things to consider is how many hiding places there are for kids and pets on a bridge boat. If you are past that point or don't have youngsters in your family, then this isn't a consideration, but when we have guests with little kids on our boat and when my grandkids were that age, it sure is/was nice that everyone was within eyesight and on one level.

I posted a couple of my experiences on boats with Captain Rusty.......Here is another one. In about 2011, a CSR member's family was dealing with a 6 year old son undergoing Leukemia treatment at Duke. My phone rings in about August and it is Rusty trying to find out the CSR member's contact info, and to elicit my help if he could get the family to come to Yacht Expo at the Sykes Creek factory in early December. The planets aligned and the appointed day arrived. Sea Ray was very gracious, treated the CSR family (husband, wife, 6 year old son and a 4 yo little boy) to a trip to Disney World and a day at Yacht expo.

The factory is on a canal near the ICW. To get to open water you need to idle out of the SR marina to the Barge Canal and out to the ICW. We were on a new 610DA (I am still in love with that boat!). Rusty asked me to run the boat for him while he entertained the CSR member's family and other prospective customers on the boat for that trip. We ran several miles down the ICW, and eventually headed back to the Barge Canal and the SR factory docks. As we, turned into the Barge Canal, the mom discovered the 4 year old was missing and panic ensued. The more she and her husband looked for the kid the more panicked they became. The 610DA has a completely enclosed salon and helm area so the little guy couldn't be far away. That boat comes with a pair of matching ottomans in the salon. The 4 year old had finally run out of gas and climbed into one of the ottomans and pulled the lid back on the internal compartment. He quickly succumbed to the hum of a pair of MAN 10 cylinder diesels and fell asleep in the dark warm space inside the empty ottoman. The trip to Yacht Expo was a huge success, the kids and mom and dad had a great time and Rusty and I got the BeeJesus scared out of us!


Here is an article I wrote about the Byers family and their weekend with us at Yacht Expo:

http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php...-company-and-a-very-special-little-boy.47972/
 
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