290 sundancer opinions needed

[everthing's irie]

290 sundancer opinions
Hello,:huh:
We are looking to go from 240SD to 290Dancer this is a different style of boating than I am use to. We have always had Bow riders and the idea of a cruiser sounds fun but I need your input.
My concerns:
Spending the night on the boat?
Will the kids get bored with being on the on the boat day/night to? ( I need real experience input on this one)
Does anyone get (sea sick) being below deck
We will not have a frig up top is that a problem? I looked at getting one it's around 1800 installed not sure if it's worth it.
Should we get a pad for front deck of boat?
Water sports - yea with cruiser or get a 3 seater wave runner for those?
Trailer or have it trailered to MM trips?
Bahamas trip with 290 fun or not?
Please feel free to shoot back opinions and experiences.
I love our 240SD and want to make a postive move for obvious reasons.
Thanks so much:thumbsup:
__________________
Medicinal Porpoises
Allatoona Lake, GA
Purchasing: 2006 290DA
Previous/Current Boat :2007 240SD

 

[comsnark]

I will bit on this one too:

Caveat: I have a 280SS. Much smaller cabin (it's a cuddy). I don't sleep on this boat, but I do sleep out on charter sailboats.

Spending nights on the boat is awesome. For adults. Not sure kids stay entertained for that period; unless you have a xbox on board and DVDs. Also, you can tie up at marina's.

Yes, you want the sunpad on the foredeck. Especially for the Admiral and the daughters. You and the sons won't care so much.

For me, the cockpit fridge is VITAL for day cruising. More important than fridge down below.

Seasickness below deck: Not in smooth water. If the water gets rough, and the boat is slamming waves, you won't want to be below deck. I have seen the crew prefer to get wet rather than go below.

Water sports: Hmmm. You can do it, I think; but not with the base engine in the boat , I think. Fuel bill will be high. Wave runner is for different kind of fun than tubing and water sking. Also, be aware that wave runners generally come in pairs

Trailering: This ain't no 240DA. Think wide load permit. Think very serious tow rig. You ain't doin' it with a half ton pickup. (What are MM trips?). Depending on your local market, you can get the boat from marina to the house using a pro hauler. In my area, a 280SS or 280DA costs $175 for an intown haul.

If you like your 240DA, then the 290DA will be four times the boat. The only downside to the larger boat is the towing aspect, which is more challenging. There are those on this board who swear by towing boats of this size. Not I. My current car can tow 3500 lbs, but my next one won't even be able to tow my jetski.

 

[skolbe]

The fridge up top is great especially if you are spending a bunch of weekends on it. Kids can have a bunch of fun on a boat. Plus if you have toys down below. They will be entertained on bad weather days.

 

[dpvandy01]

I will bit on this one too:

Caveat: I have a 280SS. Much smaller cabin (it's a cuddy). I don't sleep on this boat, but I do sleep out on charter sailboats.



For me, the cockpit fridge is VITAL for day cruising. More important than fridge down below.


Water sports: Hmmm. You can do it, I think; but not with the base engine in the boat , I think. Fuel bill will be high. Wave runner is for different kind of fun than tubing and water sking. Also, be aware that wave runners generally come in pairs

Trailering: If you like your 240SD, then the 290SD will be four times the boat. The only downside to the larger boat is the towing aspect, which is more challenging. There are those on this board who swear by towing boats of this size. Not I. My current car can tow 3500 lbs, but my next one won't even be able to tow my jetski.

If by 290SD = Sundeck not Sundancer DA wou should be able to get by with a well equiped 1/2 ton.... but if you are looking at the Dancer line..... above 250/260..... the 1/2 will realy realy be working. Put a 290Dancer on my F150 there's gonna be a fight..... and guess what somewhere down the line the truck get's it's way...............280/290DA need 1ton desile....
tri-axel trailer with electric brakes on all 6 wheels Good luck though. I've hauled my old 250DA all over hells-half acre .... and back. I'm looking forward to the adventures hauling a 01 280DA there and back as well. Love trailer/lake'in to baby........

 

[NorCal Boater]

I went from a small 24' cuddy ('87 S-24 Sorrento) to a 4Winns (shudder) 265 Vista. The admiral and I planned on towing but we stumbled on a marina that we fell in love with. However, my situation is a bit different as I am in the Sacramento River Delta and can go all the way out to the Pacific if I choose. We have. We spent one night on the 26 with the dog and decided we needed a bigger boat. We bought a 340 DA.

We recently had an opportunity to relocate to your area and thought about moving our Dancer to Lake Lanier. That was back when there was water in it. For what our house was worth here, we could have had a place on the water but I have never been a lake boater. We decided to stay put for other reasons. But I spoke to Marine Max on Lake Lanier and they told me that once a year they do a trip where they ship all the boats that wat to go, to Jupiter, FL and all cross to the Bahamas together for a 2 week trip and then ship the boats back. Sounds cool.

You don't say how old your kids are or how many you have, but it seems a shame that we have to entertain them with electronics. There are plenty of things to do together on board. Plus as someone mentioned staying in a marina offers more options.

I don't miss trailering at all. It just gave me something else to worry about. Good luck with your decision.

 

[everthing's irie]

290 sundancer opinions
Hello,:huh:
We are looking to go from 240SD to 290Dancer this is a different style of boating than I am use to. We have always had Bow riders and the idea of a cruiser sounds fun but I need your input. My husband is all for it but I'm not sure yet.
My concerns:
Spending the night on the boat?
We have 2 girls 2.5yrs and 6.5 yrs old .
Will the kids get bored with being on the on the boat day/night too? ( I need real experience input on this one)
Does anyone get (sea sick) being below deck
We will not have a frig up top is that a problem? I looked at getting one it's around 1800 installed not sure if it's worth it.
Should we get a pad for front deck of boat?
Water sports - yea with cruiser or get a 3 seater wave runner for those tubing,knee board and ski desires?
Trailer or have it trailered to MM trips?
Bahamas trip with 290 dancer fun or not?
Please feel free to shoot back opinions and experiences.
I love our 240SD and want to make a postive move for obvious reasons.
Thanks so much:thumbsup:
__________________
Medicinal Porpoises
Allatoona Lake, GA
Purchasing: 2006 290DA
Previous/Current Boat :2007 240SD

[

 

[comsnark]

My BAD! I typed "SD" instead of "DA" in my post. . sorry for the confusion.

 

[chuck1]

I understand where you are coming from.(Sport versus Cruiser) Before we got our 240SD we really thought about going to a cruiser. We looked long and hard at the cruiser, just could never really give up the freedom of the smaller sport boat. IMHO don't even think about water sports with the 290DA. The 290DA is trailer-able with the right equipment (1 Ton truck, etc). Also you are going to have to put up with the wide load restrictions. Like no Night/Weekend/Holiday travel. Is a 290 going to be big enough? How big is the family. You know the kids are going to want to bring friends.(Grin) The MM trips are great!

 

[srt8mag]

Children that are raised on boats don't want or need other entertainment. If you include your kids in the tremendous responsibility that goes along with the proper operation of a boat they will not want to go below and bury their head in a video game. Buy a dinghy, let them drive, dock, tie up, clean, polish, wax... and they will become leaders.

 

[Woody]

We take our grandaughter with us most times(since2 now 5.5). She brings her stuffed animal buddy, a couple books and videos. She has to swim about every 45min. Doesn't really get bored. She plays in the cubby hole(aft berth). Sometimes alittle cranky but no more so than at home. The lack of a cockpit fridge hasn't been a problem for us, you just learn what goes in the coolers, etc. She sleeps well at nite, I was suprised at how quiet the cabin is, even when at the marina. The longest we spent on the boat was 8 days and over all things were swell.

We carry a towable tub and inflatable dingy but have not towed anybody with the boat. A little tubing would be OK I think but I don't think its the right boat for skiing.

 

[Aarrhh & Aarrhh]

My son loves it! He sleeps in the aft bunk and to him its his own club house. He spends most of his time outside and only goes below if it rains or to go to bed! Thats when we watch a movie. We have made him responsible for cleaning along with us. He loves to clean the deck and it really gives him a since of accomplishment. When we go to marinas we try to make sure that friends with kids his age will be there and that keeps all of them entertained. Overall its been great for all of us! He just asked me the other day when will we be going back out to the island because "winter" is boring!!