2001 230BR newbie

M

mdutton11

New Member
May 3, 2010
40
Gig Harbor, WA
Boat Info
2001 Searay 230BR Signature
Engines
5.7 Merc - BIII
I finally stepped up from Seaswirl 190SWL (which was a great boat for our purposes) to a new-to-me 2001 Seary 230BR signature w/ 5.7 MPI - BIII. This has been a fresh water boat and I am waiting for my fresh water exchanger to arrive before I christen it to the salt waters of Puget Sound.

Any 230 owners out there with some newbie tips would be great. I have not used a dual prop before - what added maintenence do I have to do?

Can't wait to hit the water!!!
 
Welcome! Added maintenance... None really. I do recommend a drive shower tho. Keeps the lime and scale build up off the drive, but most important keeps the BIII nice and cool
 
I had a '99 230OV that I loved. It was a great boat that got us all over Puget Sound, the San Juans and all the way up to Desolation Sound.
People thought we were nuts but it was fanstastic. I'm not sure I'd want the BR in some of the conditions we've been through but you'll love that boat.

How will you mainly use it?

8-20-06.jpg

Caldwell2003085-1.jpg
 
Historically we board, tube, crab and go for day outings. We want to explore a little more though as we have really not gotten out of the general area and I am hoping this boat will open the possibilities up a bit. We live in Gig Harbor and typically stay south of Vashon Island. I'd love to make some day trip North of Tacoma - kids are 7 and 11 and love to play on beaches. If you have any ideas of good places to head (overnights will work if there is a place to pitch a tent) I'de love to hear about them. Crossing the Juan De Fuca will probably not happen so places south of there would be best..
 
Nehalennia said:
I had a '99 230OV that I loved. It was a great boat that got us all over Puget Sound, the San Juans and all the way up to Desolation Sound.
People thought we were nuts but it was fanstastic. I'm not sure I'd want the BR in some of the conditions we've been through but you'll love that boat.

How will you mainly use it?

8-20-06.jpg

Caldwell2003085-1.jpg
Click to expand...
Your top picture is how an ad for boats should look. Those are both beautiful shots.
 
mdutton11 said:
Historically we board, tube, crab and go for day outings. We want to explore a little more though as we have really not gotten out of the general area and I am hoping this boat will open the possibilities up a bit. We live in Gig Harbor and typically stay south of Vashon Island. I'd love to make some day trip North of Tacoma - kids are 7 and 11 and love to play on beaches. If you have any ideas of good places to head (overnights will work if there is a place to pitch a tent) I'de love to hear about them. Crossing the Juan De Fuca will probably not happen so places south of there would be best..
Click to expand...
Meet us at Poulsbo next weekend for Vikingfest.
We can talk about tons of options for you. Do you have full canvas?

beernutz said:
Your top picture is how an ad for boats should look. Those are both beautiful shots.
Click to expand...

Thanks
That is Desolation sound in BC. It's a great place and there is no more tranquil boating than up that way.
8-21-062.jpg

Caldwell2003097.jpg

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I love it.

You can't tell me that you can't pack the whole family on board and have a good time on a small boat.
P5150015.jpg
 
I bought my first boat last December and we settled on a 2001 230BR. The size was right, it was open (which is how we wanted to start out), and we were able to turn the port console into a potty for the kids.

We are loving our boat so far! We know you'll enjoy yours!

I'd love to see some pics of yours. I have an album under my profile here with pics of my 2001 230BR when I bought it. We are just starting to get some pics of it in the water.

Congrat's!
 
Welcome! We are starting our second season on a new-to-us (and like-new) 2001 230 BR. We absolutely love the boat. It is roomy with tons of storage, extremely comfortable, smooth riding, powerful, and just plain pretty!Last summer we had a full enclosure made for it and are ready to try camping with it and, perhaps, a river trip down the Santee and through the locks to Charleston.

We performed a thorough cleaning and waxing this winter - Mr Clean Magic Earasers make the vinyl look like new! - and this boat is now pristine. It is amazing how well the quality of it holds up.
 
Congrats Mdutton. You may want to have your mechanic inspect the manifolds and risers simply to establish a basline since you are going from fresh to saltwater. As long as the boat is trailered or lift kept, the Bravo III should do just fine for the most part.

Nice sig. pic. Antso. You will enjoy the Cooper River trip.
 
Ron ur boat looks awesome!
 
antso said:
.........We performed a thorough cleaning and waxing this winter - Mr Clean Magic Earasers make the vinyl look like new! - and this boat is now pristine. It is amazing how well the quality of it holds up.
Click to expand...
I want to warn you not to use the magic erasers. They are essentially soft sandpaper and even thought they will clean your vinyl very well, they will thin out and make your vinyl easy to poke through.
You have a nice looking boat I'd hate to see you learn this the hard way.
 
We love ours. It has been a great boat, and perfect size for the family. I just wish I had the 7.4 engine like the others on this post.

Here is a pic of a naked 230. I removed the graphics when I bought the boat.

IMG_1260-1.jpg
 
gbolton said:
We love ours. It has been a great boat, and perfect size for the family. I just wish I had the 7.4 engine like the others on this post.

Here is a pic of a naked 230. I removed the graphics when I bought the boat.

IMG_1260-1.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice. Would love to see some more pics of your boat since ours are so similar. I rarely see any 230 BR's out there.
 
That's a nice looking BR. Gbolton
 
Nehalennia said:
I want to warn you not to use the magic erasers. They are essentially soft sandpaper and even thought they will clean your vinyl very well, they will thin out and make your vinyl easy to poke through.
You have a nice looking boat I'd hate to see you learn this the hard way.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. I won't use them again - and shouldn't have to since I will keep it all cleaner than the previous owner did!
 
Ron,

Yes our boats do look similar. Yours is the first I have seen with the different Sea Ray emblem and graphics other than the 2001 sea ray video for the 230. Your boat looks pretty sharp. Here are some more pics of mine.

Firerooster, thanks for the comments. We love it..

IMG_1275.jpg


IMG_2669.jpg


IMG_2763.jpg
 
gbolton... Very nice boat. I like the look w/out the graphics - nice and clean. Yes, our emblem is gold and the whole boat is ivory and tan w/ a "wood trim" in the interior. It's easy on the eyes in bright sunlight (the white interiors blind me).

Most platforms I see are raised of the water. Your boat and mine are 2 of the very few I have seen where sitting in the water or idle speed, the platform in on the waterline.

Thanks for the pics!
 
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