40 sedan bridge forum

1. We have a cat. We took the inward bunk out of the mid stateroom to give her a private space and to give us more storage and work space.

3. I live aboard four months out of the year. Some advice is to direct plumb the galley sink out the side of the hull if you liveaboard. It will save you from generating a smell from the shower sump. It's a super easy mod to make. And get rid of all the factory interior carpet. It traps dirt and odors. No matter how much you clean it, it will always look like crap. Replace with vinyl flooring or removable rugs. We added outlets to the starboard side of master stateroom and at the dinette.

4. For what you want the CAT 300hp or 350hp diesel or the Cummins 430hp diesel are your available options.
 
Last edited:
1. We have a cat. We took the inward bunk out of the mid stateroom to give her a private space and to give us more storage and work space.

3. I live aboard four months out of the year. Some advice is to direct plumb the galley sink out the side of the hull if you liveaboard. It will save you from generating a smell from the shower sump. It's a super easy mod to make. And get rid of all the factory interior carpet. It traps dirt and odors. No matter how much you clean it, it will always look like crap. Replace with vinyl flooring or removable rugs. We added outlets to the starboard side of master stateroom and at the dinette.

4. For what you want to do the CAT 340hp diesel or the Cummins 430hp diesel are your only real options. I'd pass on gas boats and the 300hp CAT

Thanks! In the past posts I did see others plumbing it out the side and it's definitely something I'd be looking to do. I noticed that most didn't put a trap in the direct line out the side. Is that something that should be done?

We will look for a version with the two bigger diesel options. Thanks for the advice!

Another quick question for anyone. How wide is the master bed? Is it a double/queen or custom width?

Thanks!
 
The direct sink drain is my next project for sure. Bill, do you remember which size thru hull that you bought? I'm not at the boat and wouldn't mind ordering one today....My guess is 2"?
We pitched the factory mattress 30 minutes after buying our boat. We bought a cheap memory foam mattress at a local mattress store I think for $399. I ditched the upholstered radiused "mattress holder" on the bed frame and trimmed the corners just enough with an electric carving knife for the closet doors to open all of the way. This gives us a true queen width and length with just a slight un-noticable modification at the feet corners. I will probably fabricate a simple stainless angle piece that screws to the top of the mattress base to keep it from sliding around that is unseen.
We plan to keep our boat long term, and is the reason that we are dumping so much into it now to make it what we want. I don't think that we need more in a boat than what the 400DB offers. It has beautiful classic lines, and looks like a boat should look. According to my wife, all of the new stuff looks like a shoe! Why in the world anyone would want a boat without a flybridge is completely beyond me, but that seems to be the trend. We want to do the great loop one day, and this boat will likely be that boat for us. If I'm going to go 9 miles per hour for a year, I want to see stuff! We put together a wish list of everything that we wanted in a long term boat, and this boat met all of them.
We do have a gas boat, and yes of course diesel would be much better for that. It will be a bit more fuel for us, but will be cheaper than fixing this up as our "now" boat, and then starting all over again with our "loop" boat. I actually just bought airline tickets this morning to run down and check out Trawler Fest in Stuart, Florida in a few weeks. Mostly just because we could use a little sunshine and a palm tree or two for a weekend...
 
Drafter, I am 20 miles north of Stuart at Ft Pierce City Marina. Come visit!

Use 1 1/2" marelon thru hull in order to just cut and reuse existing hose.
 
latest on my flooring project, I got the steps done. Next will be the floor/step by the dinette and the companion way.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5869.JPG
    IMG_5869.JPG
    89.1 KB · Views: 218
  • IMG_5870.JPG
    IMG_5870.JPG
    85.5 KB · Views: 211
Bill (ZZ13) has some on here. It's where I got the idea. Looks pretty straight forward with the exception of the initial hole saw through the side of your boat pucker.
Drill a tiny pilot hole from the inside first. Then you can adjust the location of the cut from the outside within the radius of the hole saw. Neat thing is you get to see how the vertical portion of the hull is constructed. Layers of fiberglass on either side of a thin Coremat. I expected to find balsa core but it was the felt like mat instead.
 
Last edited:
Drill a tiny pilot hole from the inside first. Then you can adjust the location of the cut from the outside within the radius of the hole saw. Neat thing is you get to see how the vertical portion of the hull is constructed. Layers of fiberglass on either side of a thin Coremat. I expected to find balsa core but it was the felt like mat instead.

I think I'm going to do this project this spring too. Someone asked earlier, and I'll ask again... did you plumb in a trap in for the sink? I'd hate for a ring or something to fall into the sink and go straight into the ocean.
 
I think I'm going to do this project this spring too. Someone asked earlier, and I'll ask again... did you plumb in a trap in for the sink? I'd hate for a ring or something to fall into the sink and go straight into the ocean.
No trap for us. Although certainly would be easy to include a p-trap kit from the hardware store and then a piece of hose from it to the thru hull.
 
1. We have a cat. We took the inward bunk out of the mid stateroom to give her a private space and to give us more storage and work space.

3. I live aboard four months out of the year. Some advice is to direct plumb the galley sink out the side of the hull if you liveaboard. It will save you from generating a smell from the shower sump. It's a super easy mod to make. And get rid of all the factory interior carpet. It traps dirt and odors. No matter how much you clean it, it will always look like crap. Replace with vinyl flooring or removable rugs. We added outlets to the starboard side of master stateroom and at the dinette.

4. For what you want to do the CAT 340hp diesel or the Cummins 430hp diesel are your only real options. I'd pass on gas boats and the 300hp CAT
I have the 300 hp Cats and they are great. The fuel consumption if probably the best it can be on a 400 sedan bridge. I have no problem getting the boat up on plane. My top end speed is 25-26 knots and I can cruise easily at 18-20 knots, but normally cruise 10-14 knots. I rarely ever push it wide open. There are a lot of considerations with any engine.....ie, clean bottom, amount of fuel and water onboard, and number of people. No, the 300 hp is not the big boy of the diesel combinations, but if you are cruising long distances, there is no better diesel out there for fuel mileage (if there is such a thing).

With this being said, I am thinking about moving up to a sedan bridge 480. PM me for information on my boat. I am not sure I am going to make the move up since I am still trying to convince the swabbie that "we" need it. I will let you know how that goes.

Keith
 
Boat is out of the paint booth. I will be doing the sink through hull mod and adding my stainless through hulls this weekend. When I pulled out the fridge to get at the three located behind I noticed the condensation drain was just hanging. Is it supposed to tie in to one of the through hulls?

451BE6CC-452E-48CE-9435-051ECE03811E.jpeg
 
I have the 300 hp Cats and they are great. The fuel consumption if probably the best it can be on a 400 sedan bridge. I have no problem getting the boat up on plane. My top end speed is 25-26 knots and I can cruise easily at 18-20 knots, but normally cruise 10-14 knots. I rarely ever push it wide open. There are a lot of considerations with any engine.....ie, clean bottom, amount of fuel and water onboard, and number of people. No, the 300 hp is not the big boy of the diesel combinations, but if you are cruising long distances, there is no better diesel out there for fuel mileage (if there is such a thing).

With this being said, I am thinking about moving up to a sedan bridge 480. PM me for information on my boat. I am not sure I am going to make the move up since I am still trying to convince the swabbie that "we" need it. I will let you know how that goes.

Keith
Good info. Much much better than the one I Sea trialed. I fixed my post to be factual.
 
When the boatyard winterized my boat they found the battery for the generator (Westerbeke 8bt) leaking and tossed it. I do not know if it was a plain starting battery or deep cycle or even the size.

Can someone let me know what I should be replacing it with. Getting close to spring and I want to be ready.

Thanks

Adam
 
Last edited:
When the boatyard winterized my boat they found the battery for the generator (Westerbeke 8bt) leaking and tossed it. I do not know if it was a plain starting battery or deep cycle or even the size.

Can someone let me know what I should be replacing it with. Getting close to spring and I want to be ready.

Thanks

Adam
Group 27 starting battery. I have an Interstate 27M-XHD.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,948
Messages
1,422,805
Members
60,930
Latest member
Ebrown69
Back
Top