300 DA seating layout

[boatman37]

Hello all. been following this thread for awhile. i have been thinking of moving up to a 30'er in the near future but don't really care for the seating layout in the 80's DA's. understanding our 250 is much smaller but the issue is mainly with the 'worthless' rear helm seating. they are pretty uncomfortable to sit on for any extended times and the rear bench seat is ok at best. for these reasons i was thinking more like late 90's or early 2000's 29 or 30'er. going that new will take a few years of saving but i do still like everything else about the 80's. anyone have any alternate seating arrangements for these boats? i saw a picture of one that had a bench style seat that replaced the fold down rear helm seats. not sure if that was custom or an option. i also want a table in the cockpit.

here is my want list:
AC and possibly generator
windlass
separate cabin table and seating (don't want to keep switching from bed to table)
walk through windshield (i can live without this but it would be nice
cockpit table
camper top with above windshield eisenglass (this could be custom made after purchase)
pump out head
water heater
DA series (want the aft cabin)

with all this listed it looks like the only issue with the 80's series is the seating arrangement in the cockpit. adding my own custom seating wouldn't be that difficult until you factor in that i need to access the engine compartment:huh:

i could probably swing an 80's 300 next year or wait a few years for a newer one with the seating layout that 'appears' to be more comfortable. any ideas?

 

[SCORPIO]

A walk thru windshield was not an option on the 80's 300's. A table in the cockpit is as easy as installing a table base and getting a table for it, you can store it when not needed. A dedicated dinette would make a DA the better choice over a WE since you have two dedicated sleeping spaces with the option of folding down the dinette for extra sleeping room. The helm seating can be modified/removed and captains chairs installed. As to cockpit seating, we use folding deck chairs when we extra people aboard. They are comfortable, and best of all portable so you can access the engines easily. One of the best features of the 80's 300DA's is the ease of access to the engines. I just blew my starboard engine and will be replacing soon and it's good to know that all I have to do is lift out the hatches and unbolt the engine and drive and it can be lifted straight out. So many of the new boats with all the molded in seating make access difficult. Also, we fish, and the folded up seating on our boat gives a large uncluttered fishable cockpit.
Only you can determine what you want out of a boat and what features are most important but the 80's 300's are rugged, well laid out boats with great ride and stability and they can be bought for reasonable money. That saved money can allow you the freedom to do custom upgrades to personalize the boat.
A/C, genny, windlass, fridge, stove pump out head were all available on the 300's and many boats had all of that and more like spot light, arch and even central vac, though I never saw the need for that one.
Good luck in your search.

 

[SCORPIO]

BTW water heaters were pretty much standard on the 300's. We use our shower often and have never run out of hot water. The DA has a 40 gal fresh water tank too so you have decent capacity for four people for a weekend on the hook. If you will be doing a lot of on the hook trips, get the genny, takes the load off the batteries and allows you to use the AC on the hook.

 

[boatman37]

thanks scorpio. my 250 is solid and a great boat so far but just too small. AC and windlass are the biggest things we miss with this boat. if we had that we may keep it a little longer. gennie isn't a must have but if i am buying a new boat i will look for one with a gennie already installed. we don't overnight on it but do anchor off for hours and having the AC would be nice on those hot days. just to get out of the heat for a little bit. and i think if we had a bigger boat with more amenities we would be more likely to stay out longer. the rest (walk through windshield and water heater we could do without if everything else is good. my boat has i think a 27 gallon fresh water tank but no heater and has a porta potty. we also have a fridge so all is good there.

when we first got ours we thought we would be pulling tubers and doing more watersports but we don't do any of that. we mainly either lounge at the marina or on the anchor for the day.

i have seen a picture of one that had folding chairs on the deck. that looked good. we have 2 folding chairs on ours that we set up once and it was ok. i think the extra width of a 30'er would make it better

 

[SCORPIO]

The beam on the late 80's DA's is 11 feet and let me tell you, that makes a HUGE difference in how big the boat feels. We went from a 260 with an 8 foot beam to this boat, and while only four feet longer that beam really made a difference. There is so much more volume in the cabin than on an 8' beam.

 

[boatman37]

thats what i was thinking. we have a cruisemate that has a 1989 300DA. i was on it the other day but didn't go downstairs. we were rafted up and i climbed across his to help tie the next one to him. seems so much wider up in the cockpit though. we don't go to the boat if we think it might rain cause it is too hot with the camper top on and can't stay down below with no air. we do have a fan downstairs but it only works on shore power and not that good anyway

 

[JVM225]

Going from your current boat to an 80's 300 Sundancer will be a great move. It's a fantastic boat with some good creature comforts that will enhance your boating time. We absolutely loved ours!

Mine had a customized rear fold down bench seat that replaced the little jump seats. It was done by the previous owner before I got the boat.
Pro: It was more stable than the stock jump seats.
Cons: It wasn't comfortable, and it was useless when using the much nicer stock rear fold down cockpit seat.
I really liked the rear fold down seat which was comfortable at the dock, and while underway. If I put down the custom fold down rear seat while the stock rear seat was down there was very little leg room.
Honestly, I disliked it so much that I almost never used it. I preferred to keep a couple of canvas folding chairs (the type that fold in and go in a sack) aboard to be deployed when extra seating was needed.

We always kept the dinette up. If you drop it down to a berth, it is really only long enough for little kids. It was always plenty big enough for our family of four to enjoy a good meal.

My wife and I always slept in the rear berth, which we (I'm 5'11", 180, wife is 5'7" and, well healthier looking than she was when we got married) found very comfortable. My kids always shared the vee berth. Once they reached puberty (my daughter is now 19 and my son is 16) it would have been a little weird so we did a lot less overnights.
When needed, my son is an Eagle Scout and using a sleeping bag and pad in the cockpit with the canvas up for a berth worked just fine.
When my wife and I overnight-ed without the kids we still used the aft berth because we liked it better, and it kept the cabin neater looking during the day. For trips of more than one night we left our bed linens out and just made the aft bed like we would at home

The AC in an 80's 300 Sundancer will be plenty frigid if working properly because of the layout of the cabin and the lack of big windows.

The kids and I had many an enjoyable good hot shower, my wife never really liked the idea of the whole head getting wet when she took a shower (one big reason we are looking for something bigger now). It didn't bother the rest of us. We never ran out of hot water with the 6 gallon heater. It was big enough to keep it flowing, and small enough that the recovery was so fast that we never lost hot water.

We didn't have a genny. There were times where it would have been nice to have, but it wasn't really essential in that boat. In something bigger though it is a must for us.
The upside to no genny is the little bit of extra room in a fairly tight bilge, one less thing to maintain, and a bit less weight.
If I were looking for an 80's 300 the genny would be nice, but if an otherwise good boat didn't have one it wouldn't be a deal breaker.

 

[Iprof]

I have a 1988 DA with air/heat, central vac (love it), generator and the euro lounger rear seat. This style rear seat slides out to a super single bed. While it is nice to sleep there in the fall or early spring it is a pain to gain access into the bilge area.
We love this boat and are at a cross roads to go bigger or not. We have spent 7 weeks on the hook only spending 2 nights at a dock in that time. I have golf cart batteries with a Xantrex inverter charge, with a fridge and a separate 42 liter freezer we get 18 hours out of our batteris before we need to recharge.

Ken

 

[boatman37]

hmmmm. i have seen that euro style back seat but wasn't sure if that was standard on all the 300's or what the deal was. the majority of the time it will just be the two of us but occasionally the kids might sleep over (the youngest is 21). we would likely sleep on the v-berth. we have not overnighted on ours yet. no real reason, just haven't. i hang out more in the cabin than my wife does but i think it might be because it is pretty cramped in there. we occasionally will take a nap in the v-berth mid-day if it is cool enough to stay down there very long.

gennie is certainly not a necessity but if we do start overnighting i think it would be nice to have. a crew from our marina (5 or 6 boats) goes on an extended weekend about 40 miles up river for about 5 days. i don't think i would try that without a gennie (even if we could keep the batteries charged). maintenance is pretty tough on the engines. i'm 6'0 and about 250 and i can barely fit in my engine compartment with 1 engine. not sure the gennie would make much difference as i doubt i can get in there even without it...lol

 

[andyr]

I use pontoon style corner couch seats in place of the useless transom seat. The 45 inch Wise
Model # 17097460 | Mfg # 8WD131-1012 works well. put 2 together to make an L or put them facing. The storage underneath holds my 3 hp outboard. Can also set a 45" next to a 36" in an L. They slide out of the way for engine access. PM if you want a photo.

Face aft for sunset, opposite for guests and conversation

 

[franic]

photos of your seating setup, please. Im thinking of re-fitting my 86 300 with pontoon seats this winter