Just traded '05 270AJ for '04 280DA

I just traded my '05 270 Amberjack for an '04 280 Sundancer. The main reason is that I don't fish as much as I thought and I overnight more than I thought, thus I needed an aft cabin. The 280 has twin 4.3's, 75 hours, Raymarine C80 with radar and a warranty until 2011 and is like new.

I know that one of the weaknesses of the 280 is storage. I would love any tips or advice of current owners on storing items, where to grill? or anything that would make the 280 ownership more enjoyable.

Thanks, KV

Congratulations on the the new to you boat. Can't help on the storage, but lets see some pictures of the new 280.

This boat rocks, storage in the cockpit SUCKS...:smt021 I'll be watching this thread closely since I'm new to this boat as well. Congratulations though, besides the cockpit storage I LOVE THIS BOAT! Where do all of you experienced 280'ers keep your camper side-curtains or cockpit cover while not in use?? Hope this isn't a thread hi-jack and if so I apologize:grin:

I added some shelves to the existing cabinets which helped me store my things. As far a grilling, I have a Magma Grill that I put into a rod holder that came with the boat ( I bought is used). There are two rod holders after the arch and I have a mount that goes into the rod holders. It has been working for me.

Good luck with the boat. This is the 3rd season for me and I really enoy the 280.

Glenn

Hi Ken - Congrats on the new boat! Great Decision! We love our 300 but do miss some things about the 280 - as many have said it is a great boat! As for storage we used to keep our canvas in the back of the aft cabin it did not take up sleeping area as the cabin runs the full beam - it was just a pain to get to and you could not use the area for storing other things - I happened to be talking to a dock neighbor about this issue a couple of weeks ago and he indicated he had built a box that fit under the rear seat and had designed/attached it in such a way that it did not interfear with the operation of the engine hatch - he uses this area to store his canvas - the only problem with this is if you fish you can not fold up the transom seat anymore (a great feature for this purpose) My 280 was just like yours 04 C-80 with radar twin 4.3 alphas white hull blue camper canvas but mine had 350 hrs when I traded it in. Feel free to PM me with any more questions. I'll look for you next time I'm at Dutch.

Tippy Canoe said:

I just traded my '05 270 Amberjack for an '04 280 Sundancer. The main reason is that I don't fish as much as I thought and I overnight more than I thought, thus I needed an aft cabin. The 280 has twin 4.3's, 75 hours, Raymarine C80 with radar and a warranty until 2011 and is like new.

I know that one of the weaknesses of the 280 is storage. I would love any tips or advice of current owners on storing items, where to grill? or anything that would make the 280 ownership more enjoyable.

Thanks, KV

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Congratulations on the new boat! We absolutely love our 280. You are correct re: the storage. We have removed the cooler that is normally stored under the cockpit sink and that gives us some great storage for lifejackets and some of the canvas pieces. Generally, during the day when we have the canvas off, I roll the pieces and store them in the back of our Yukon XL, which we back up to the dock. If you plan on sleeping on the boat, do yourself (and your back) a favor and get a 3" memory foam pad for the v-berth. That was one of the first things we did when we bought the boat and we are glad we did. There are some other threads on this site that describe how to cut the foam, etc. Good luck!

Congratulations, beginning to think we 280 owners should have our own forum here!

Seriously, storage is a pain. If you do not have a genny there is a lot of space on either side of the water tank (especially if you take out the stupid table holder) for storage. I built some boxes and we keep toolbox, oils, cleaning bucket etc there.

I have given some thought to putting a mount down there for storing the grill as Todd has done. On that topic there is a rather long and unending thread in modifications about grill mounts.

The cave (aka aft berth) gets the canvas, as well as boxes for holding bedding, pillows, towels etc. Finally I am in the process of building a small shelf cabinet that will fit under the dinette shelf.

Henry

NorthvilleJim said:

Congratulations on the new boat! We absolutely love our 280. You are correct re: the storage. We have removed the cooler that is normally stored under the cockpit sink and that gives us some great storage for lifejackets and some of the canvas pieces. Generally, during the day when we have the canvas off, I roll the pieces and store them in the back of our Yukon XL, which we back up to the dock. If you plan on sleeping on the boat, do yourself (and your back) a favor and get a 3" memory foam pad for the v-berth. That was one of the first things we did when we bought the boat and we are glad we did. There are some other threads on this site that describe how to cut the foam, etc. Good luck!

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Wow, yes, same here.

Memory foam topper? Yes, we do that too. I have one issue. It keeps working its way down (stern) then I hop on top of it with my hands toward the bow and my feet towards the stern and do this ‘tug and wiggle’ movement to get it back into place. Once my wife saw me doing this and she was concerned that my affection for her had been replaced by the topper, LOL.

Cooler in the cockpit storage locker? Its gone. We also use this for life jackets and other things.

The built-in cooler that is built into the sink in the cockpit is not very good. The ice melts pretty fast but you can improve the built in cooler by doing three things. Keep a cork from a bottle of wine and trim it to fit in the drain. Plug it in when in use. This keeps the melted ice in the cooler. Second, use larger blocks of ice not ice cubes. Third, keep a small wet towel over the top of the cooler cover. Even doing this you need to add ice after a day and a half.

Grill? We have the standard round gas magma. We store it in the stern locker.

Additional storage in the engine compartment? We have the twin 5.0’s plus generator so we have less room to begin with then most. We did add a bracket to the table holder. This bracket holds two water skies. If someone wants to see this please let me know. I should take come pictures and post it.

Canvas? First, I and only I remove, roll, store and replace them. Darn it but on the last boat every broken snap and tear were caused by helpful guests. One got dropped in the drink by a guest. It takes a knack to remove, properly roll and replace them. When not in place I store them in the V birth along the shelves on the sides. The entire V birth is still free of anything.

Mid birth. This is our daytime storage location for sleeping bags and pillows. At night the port table is lowered and we convert all three areas (V-birth, port table and mid birth) to sleep mode and our family of 5 sleeps onboard.

The 280 has a great following here because it is a great boat. It was supposed to be decommissioned by Searay back in 2006 but the company heard so much feedback from its dealers (and customers) that they decided not to kill the model quite yet and gave it another year...

As far as storage, there is a bit of space above the water tank. I've also used the space on top of the holding tank. We also took the cooler out as it wastes alot of space. One other thing to consider is taking the CRT tv out and replacing it with a nice LCD with swivel bracket mount. That will give you a whole cabinet to use for storage which has been a huge help for us. I have a picture of this in the modifcations forum.

The boat does have a few annoying features (sit on the forward dineete seat with the air on full blast) but is just a well designed, well-executed product that a family can really enjoy.

Has anyone considered the ready made plastic storage boxes for under seat storage? I would think with the variety of sizes and shapes made today, you could find something that would fit under the seats.

I can send my GF over to help you find places to put stuff. She's managed to cram more things on the boat than I ever knew I had. We can literally live a week on the hook in a moments notice.

Dave S said:

Has anyone considered the ready made plastic storage boxes for under seat storage? I would think with the variety of sizes and shapes made today, you could find something that would fit under the seats.

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The 2006 260 Sundancer has gobs of cockpit storage and a great layout.

The space under the rear drop down seat in the 280 Sundancer is pretty small. It’s about the height of a sneaker. We use this spot for shoes.

The port lounge has zero storage underneath since under that thing is the ‘sit-up’ area of the mid birth.

The rear facing double seat that extends out has possibilities if you are willing to cut into fiberglass and build something up from underneath. Open your hatch and look above your water tank to see what I mean. Basically it’s an air space.

Thanks for all of the very helpful replies. I am currently in Italy where there are Many nice boats in Amalfi. I already have plans to replace the tv and add rod holders. I take delivery after the July 4th so I am sure I will have more questions.

Thanks, KV

Hi, I will be in Italy for another week but the admiral really wants the wooden side dinette table that comes in the 2005 and newer 280's. Could someone be so kind to measure the table in your boat so I can get a jump start on ordering the blank that I will use to make it. I saw another thread that talked about that so when I get the measurement I will look up the company that sells the cherry blanks.

CIAO!!!

We love our 280 Sundancer. Its a 2003. We took out the seat in the back and have our Chili Moose cooler with cushions on it as a seat instead. Removing the cooler from under the cockpit sink allows for plenty of storage for Air Fryer, cleaning bin and day to day tool box. We roll our canvas neatly in cut up bed sheets and place on the V-birth during the day. At the end of the aft cabin we made two slate boxes that holds all the other tools we dont need on a regular bases, spare parts, extra towels etc. We don't have a generator so we have storage in the engine compartment for the stern anchor and Magma bbq. My husband made a shelf for the galley cabinet under the sink that slides out for the silverware tray. Bins in there as well for cleaning, towels etc. 3M hangers in the head for toiletry bags. We have various bins placed on the shelves for odds and sods. We took out the old TV from the cabinet and put a flat screen smart tv on ram mount so the whole cabinet is used for storage as well. We do have a dock box when at the Marina which helps tremendously for water toys, extra shoes and more cleaning supplies. We keep a small bucket, expanding hose and cleaning supplies on the boat for when away from home port and one in the box when at the marina. This helps not having to dig it out while in the marina. Keeping things organized and in the right locations I.e. dishes in the galley not the cockpit etc. I have a big issue when I have to search or dug for something. We had a 26 Regal Express before this one and all dishes had to be in bins under the cockpit seats. Drove me crazy!! Enjoy, it takes time but worth the effort.