Official (1998-2002) 310 Sundancer Thread

BoatTooSmall said:
You will love the boat. However, I would recommend getting a 2" memory foam topper for the for the bed in the v-birth. Cut a queen size down to fit the strange shape. Also, I got a mini fridge and placed it in the storage compartment on the port side. Really helps out having the beer fridge in the cockpit. I think mine is a heiler or some such brand.
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Could you please post some pics of your cockpit fridge? Thanks
 
OK, folks I am hoping you can help. I have a 2000 310 that I am trying to sell. When I bought the boat I had it surveyed. During the survey I noted some flex in the front deck. I pointed it out to the surveyor and he tested it for moisture and said that it was fine. I have used the boat for nearly ten years with zero issues related to the front deck.

Now I am trying to sell it and the broker is telling me that the front deck needs to be completely rebuilt because of the flex and that he can't present it to customers without telling them that. This is obviously a very expensive fix. Do other 310s of this era have this flex? Did the surveyor screw me over when I bought the boat?
 
Pakmule said:
OK, folks I am hoping you can help. I have a 2000 310 that I am trying to sell. When I bought the boat I had it surveyed. During the survey I noted some flex in the front deck. I pointed it out to the surveyor and he tested it for moisture and said that it was fine. I have used the boat for nearly ten years with zero issues related to the front deck.

Its not normal for the deck to flex. Balsa core is rotting. Our era boats had 3m rubber seals on hatches and portholes. They fail and leak, resulting in rot! They should be rebedded.
The following is our saga with our 310.
By some extraordinary stroke of luck my wife and I missed owning a boat with this same p problem on the deck! Short of it is we bought our brokered boat through our local Sea Ray dealer. Deal had been made, boat had been Surveyed and we were expecting to sign and take ownership of our 310 on a Friday. Bank didn't get there end done and we had to wait. We asked the broker and owner of dealership if we could clean and organize 1 day and he said sure as long as we didnt move the boat. While addressing some minor light problems on deck I stumble upon a soft spot between V birth hatch and windlass. Upon notifying broker he confirms it and tells us that he cannot sell us the boat. He notified owners who were also surprised. I had there survey from 2 years prior and ours with no mention on either of the soft dpot. Broker contacted Sea Ray who said hull warranty was only good for original owner. Broker endedup working a deal with owners stating the profit on boat will be held in escrow till the deck was repaired. It sat in heated storage all winter to dry for repair. In April, 2 guys from Sea Ray in Fla. Spent 4 days cutting the deck off, putting new balsa in, replacing deck, glassing and regellcoating. I got towatch the last day. They said they had done several of them on boats from that era. They werenot fans of the 3m seals.

Now I am trying to sell it and the broker is telling me that the front deck needs to be completely rebuilt because of the flex and that he can't present it to customers without telling them that. This is obviously a very expensive fix. Do other 310s of this era have this flex? Did the surveyor screw me over when I bought the boat?
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Crap, sorry for the above Pakmule! Was trying to rep ly to your post, not hijack it!
Any ?'s feel free to pmon me. Good luck with the repair. We were told Ours was almost $6k.
 
Pakmule said:
OK, folks I am hoping you can help. I have a 2000 310 that I am trying to sell. When I bought the boat I had it surveyed. During the survey I noted some flex in the front deck. I pointed it out to the surveyor and he tested it for moisture and said that it was fine. I have used the boat for nearly ten years with zero issues related to the front deck.

Now I am trying to sell it and the broker is telling me that the front deck needs to be completely rebuilt because of the flex and that he can't present it to customers without telling them that. This is obviously a very expensive fix. Do other 310s of this era have this flex? Did the surveyor screw me over when I bought the boat?
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I can't speak for others of this era, but I'm seeing no such issue on my 2002 310. I did have some bad stringers when I bought the boat. Seller dropped the price to pay for the repairs which capped out at around 12k. I'm surprised the surveyor failed to flag this on the report. They usually catch stuff that some brokers would really rather not notice.
 
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OK thanks folks. Sounds like I have to either drop the price substantially or drop a lot of money into getting it fixed. I am obviously very disappointed that the surveyor not only missed it but when I pointed it out he said it wasn't a problem.
 
Pakmule said:
OK, folks I am hoping you can help. I have a 2000 310 that I am trying to sell. When I bought the boat I had it surveyed. During the survey I noted some flex in the front deck. I pointed it out to the surveyor and he tested it for moisture and said that it was fine. I have used the boat for nearly ten years with zero issues related to the front deck.

Now I am trying to sell it and the broker is telling me that the front deck needs to be completely rebuilt because of the flex and that he can't present it to customers without telling them that. This is obviously a very expensive fix. Do other 310s of this era have this flex? Did the surveyor screw me over when I bought the boat?
Click to expand...

So my first boat, I travel 6 hours away for the survey. Surveyor got there and in 1 min. found the "soft spot" right around the windlass. He went right to it, like a kid to the cookie jar. We talked for a time. Jumped on the deck -- which was solid. Decided no to go thru with the sale, because it was a structural area being the anchor tie off and all.

That said has the flex increased since you bot the boat? How heavy are you? Could that lead to the flex? May be worth having it checked out by a surveyor to see. Maybe find some access points to open up and see, or drill the small hole to see if water comes out?
 
Pakmule said:
No problem. Thanks for the information.
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Good luck with whatever you end up doing. As I said I stumbled upon ours by dumb luck. We were fortunate to have a great broker/ dealership that were on the up and up. Sounds like your broker was less than straight with you.
 
Golfman25 said:
So my first boat, I travel 6 hours away for the survey. Surveyor got there and in 1 min. found the "soft spot" right around the windlass. He went right to it, like a kid to the cookie jar. We talked for a time. Jumped on the deck -- which was solid. Decided no to go thru with the sale, because it was a structural area being the anchor tie off and all.

That said has the flex increased since you bot the boat? How heavy are you? Could that lead to the flex? May be worth having it checked out by a surveyor to see. Maybe find some access points to open up and see, or drill the small hole to see if water comes out?
Click to expand...

The flex hasn't changed and the surveyor did a moisture check when we bought it and came up as dry. I haven't had a single issue related to bow flex and the boat has been in some very heavy waves (for a lake). I'm going to talk to the broker to see what my options are.
 
Pakmule said:
The flex hasn't changed and the surveyor did a moisture check when we bought it and came up as dry. I haven't had a single issue related to bow flex and the boat has been in some very heavy waves (for a lake). I'm going to talk to the broker to see what my options are.
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Sometimes you can get delamination without water intrusion and rot. Maybe that is the "flex" you seeing. A surveyor should be able to sound the area, outline the extent of the issue and determine if it is structural. Good luck.
 
When I bought my 2002 310 Sundancer my Surveyor said there was moisture on the forward deck but he never did soundings with a mallet. He told not to buy the boat. So I hired another surveyor who had 30yrs. experience. The first thing he did was start tapping with the mallet and within 2min. told me the deck was sound and there was no reason not to buy the boat and to enjoy it. I've had it for 6yrs. and the deck is solid.
 
ArtWallach said:
I also have the 2000 310 with Vdrives. As stated the seakeeping characteristics are great. I've had the boat out in 8-10ft waves with the occasional 12 footer thrown at us (not by choice) but the boat handled it very well, I'm 6'1" and my wife and I sleep in the forward berth. We use a thick foam mattress pad on top of the existing cushions and it's comfy enough to sleep well.
The Close-quarter maneuverability with the inboards and 4 bladed props can't be beat. We can sleep 8 on board with two in the cockpit under the camper back. I am very happy with the choice we made 17years ago when we bought it new.
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Could you share what your cruise speed and rpm is with the 4 blades vs what is was with the 3 blades.
 
Pakmule said:
The flex hasn't changed and the surveyor did a moisture check when we bought it and came up as dry. I haven't had a single issue related to bow flex and the boat has been in some very heavy waves (for a lake). I'm going to talk to the broker to see what my options are.
Click to expand...
Just a thought but you could pull your deck hatches and look foe signs of water intrusion. Very easy. Rebed with 3m 4200 uv.
 
Help! We downsized from our 370DA to a 2000 310DA a few months ago.

I have an electrical problem. We were away for 2 weeks. Today, the ice maker in the cockpit was dead. I tracked the issue to the circuit that the ice maker is in also has the electrical outlet under the cockpit sink, the head’s lights, tv outlet. All are also dead.

Weird thing is the breaker is labeled outlets/refrigerator. The forward overhead light above the galley table is connected somehow to this circuit. It has power and no light switches turns it off except flipping the breaker off. Everything was fine 2 weeks ago.

Anywhere to start looking?
 
If I am not mistaken, that is a GFCI circuit. Have you tried resetting the plug? Also note, that GFCI plugs can and do go bad.
 
Bobeast, I thought about that too. The out under the cockpit sink is not GFCI. Would there be one somewhere else in that circuit?
 
Check the
330DA said:
Bobeast, I thought about that too. The out under the cockpit sink is not GFCI. Would there be one somewhere else in that circuit?
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Check the plug near the floor just in front of the mid-cabin.
 
bobeast said:
Check the

Check the plug near the floor just in front of the mid-cabin.
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Thanks. I just got home from the boat. I changed the GFCI in the head. That wasn’t it. I can’t remember if the outlet there is GFCI or not. I’ll check that next time. Thank you.
 
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