390 Sea Ray

Sindbad

Sindbad

Member
Apr 11, 2010
218
North Channel
Boat Info
340 Sundancer 2006
390 Sundancer 2005
44 Sundancer 2006
Engines
8.1L Horizons (2006)
8.1L HO (2005)
Cummins QSC 500 (44 DA, 2006)
I am considering moving up to a 39 sea ray, Sundancer. Any advice would be welcome. I am looking to stay around $200k. I noticed sea ray put the small fridge in some models. The must haves from the admiral are: stand up shower, full reefer, hardtop. Other than that, flexible. Thanks for the input.

Frank
 
I had a 2005 390. Before that I had a 1997 400 express. The 400 had the "full sized" refridgerator and when I first got the 390 I thought the under the counter fridge and seperate freezer in the galley were smaller. Turned out the volume was about the same. I also had the cockpit fridge which I would recomend. I had the 420 hp HO gas engines. The ride and handling were great. I consistantly averaged .7 mpg according to the Smartcraft. Docking was easy and I could easily single hand the boat. I had the blue hull. If you raft alot you will get some scratches and fender rash. I had covers on my fender but not everyone else does. I had it professionaly rubbed out and they got all the scratces out. The 34" draft is great for Lake St. Clair. In 2006 the 390 became the 40 and the previous 380 became the 390 so 2006 and newer 390s are a different boat.
 
I have had a 2005 390 with my present boat being basically the same boat as a 2008 40DA. As the above poster reported the performance is great. The 08 40DA has the 8.1 SHO engines and I get .6 MPG consistantly according to the Smartcraft. Fit and finish are very nice as well.

What year are you looking at?

Gary
 
I had a contract on 2 different 390's prior to finding my boat. I was second in line on the first and the 1st in line guy bought it. The second one turned out to have a history I didn't want. They're great boats and handle very well. You'll LOVE the hardtop!

I seem to remember the 390 has the separate head and shower like on my boat. It's one of the features we've enjoyed most when we upgraded. One person can be hogging the bathroom (her) while the other showers. Also, I finally have a shower big enough to comfortably use.

I know many would disagree but I'd look for a white hull even though I like the looks of the colored hulls. They're way easier to maintain and keep looking good for the long haul and they never go out of fashion.

You should have a big selection at your price point.
 
The seperate shower is great but the hot water tank on a 390/40 is 6.5 gallons. The 420 has an 11.5. You have to be considerate and conserve the hot water if two people are going to use it. It recovers pretty quick.
 
The separate shower is nice but the hot water tank on a 390/40 is 6.5 gallons. The 420 has an 11.5. You have to conserve the hot water if two people want to take back to back showers. It does recover pretty quickly.
 
We run a 2005 390, Gary's old boat. Have the second fridge in cockpit and no complaints on fridge /freezers. Like other have mentioned handling around the dock, My dock neighbors are jealous. As far as styling, We truly get compliments most every where we go. Complaints, Three. One being the A/C pan is metal and leaves rust stains on hull at drain. I plan on lulling out the fall and swapping out w/ SS or Plastic. Two, The location of the fuel filter on the port motor is less than desirable and better suited for a small bilge monkey. Three, Mercury Marine's brilliant thoughtlessness on the process of replacing the impeller. While the starboard side is OK the Port again is another task for the monkey I mentioned earlier. Aside from our three complaints, we absolutely love the boat.
 
There's another recent thread with owner's summaries of the 40DA which you may find informative. I love the style, functionality and fit-finish of the 40(same boat as the 390). I have made some changes to mine such as replacing the 6.5gallon tank with the 11 gallon tank. As SRMARK states above, the 6.5 gallon creates some issues when multiple people are waiting to shower. The 11 tank is perfect. The AC pans need to be changed as I have done on mine. No problem with accessing anything in the engine room and I have worked on just about everything in there. (I have the cummins engines.) I've also purchased pop-up cleates to add to the edges of the swim steps. I feel that they cut a corner here as well leaving the only cleates on the transom and creating a 'step-over' tripping risk when docked. Otherwise, the only thing I really hate about this boat is that the slow top-end speed. I'm used to smaller but much faster boats and a top speed of 27 knots takes some getting used to.
 
Further to my last, it does take a while to get used to going slower when you move up in boat size. When we moved to the 390 our prior boat was a 97 330DA with outdrives. That 330DA hauled A$$. 36 MPH at 3600 RPM. When life slows down a little due to the boat size savor the moment. What I have found is that when we cross the big lake on the bigger boats, we are taking about 45 minutes longer which is in the 3.5 hour range. FWIW the 40DA will hit 33 - 34 MPH depending on all of those conditions that we all know about. The problem with that is the sucking sound I hear coming out of the gas tank vents. LOL

Gary
 
Thanks to all for the various insights.
 
Hi Escapade -
I sold my 340 DA, now in the market. I like the 390.....has what we are looking for. Do find the 8.1L are adequate power? I know some of the comments suggest the HO version is better.......I need to decide since there is a 2004 on the local market with 8.1L.
Thanks for any input.
 
Sinbad- 390 is a great Boat. Very satisfied! Usually four to 8 aboard cruise in high comfort. As far as power - we do fine w/ 8.1's. The HO would have been nice. It comes on plane w/ no issues and the ride is very strong. Obviously diesel is good way to go, Still putting one through medical school year 7 and one in engineering. Our pockets are just not as deep as they were previously. Compare boats if you can and see. The diesel is heavier and even better in rough water. W/ Sirius -XM weather we try not to be out in bad weather anyways. Reply w/ any other questions.Best of Luck!
 
Escapade - Thanks for the insights. We too are "fair weather" boaters....my wife has no interest in being on boat in rough seas.....yes, diesels are appropriate, depending on type of boating you plan to do. thanks again.
 
I just bought a 2005 390 w/diesels. Absolutely love it. Moved up from 2004 320 w/496 Bravo 3's. The 320 was quite fast but the 390 takes the rough seas so well. It is slower but the ride it worth it and it burns about the same as the 320 w/gas. The quality and finishes you'll notice are great as well. The separate shower is nice but it does have small hot/tank. Quick showers, wet/soap up/ rinse work best with no real complaints. Its not like home if you enjoy long hot showers. We have an extended swim platform with Seawise winch style davit system, love it. The boat came with a great inverter set up too. Add the extra batteries, the platform and dinghy, we are a little stern heavy but it is not a problem at all. The boat handles like a dream around the dock, have bow thruster too but hardly use, but with it can do anything, it awesome. I have no real complaints about this boat/model at all. Ours has the blue hull and with fender covers have no scratches to worry about. We went with the diesels for use of BC coast Pacific Ocean. We cruise good distances sometimes and for a boat this heavy the diesels are great. The engine room looks a little tight but I can squeeze around in there and do everything myself and I'm 6' 200 lb, haven't got stuck yet. I've owned many boats over the years but now I don't find myself looking to buy another, not yet anyways. Good luck





Sindbad said:
Escapade - Thanks for the insights. We too are "fair weather" boaters....my wife has no interest in being on boat in rough seas.....yes, diesels are appropriate, depending on type of boating you plan to do. thanks again.
Click to expand...
 
Frank the 390 is a fantastic boat. I thought of going with the white hull to keep maintenance down until I found this boat. I keep mine in a covered slip and I don't let anyone tie up to me. I invested in large fenders with the overpriced fancy fleece covers for when we dock to keep from marking up the hull. After having the navy hull for 8 months I'm glad I did. I get complements everywhere we go and most people assume the boat is a year or two old. Sea Ray did a stellar job with the lines/design of the 390. We really love the hardtop (looks and functionality) kick up the windshield vent and open the hatch to get the breeze going. I have the 496's and am satisfied with performance and consumption. I don't think you will see a noticeable difference from the 340. I run mine at 3000 rpms at 18mph with a fuel burn of 25 gph.

Features we love:
-master a/c
-separate shower/head
-large counter top in the galley and plenary of storage
-cockpit ice maker
-underwater leds
-The helm. There's no such thing as too many buttons
-Having water hose at the chain locker to rinse off the bow after pulling up anchor

features we don't love:
-the Eisenglass above the windshield. Pain to put up and take down
-the slant back canvas. Makes it hard to stay on board in the winter
-the cabin door. Having to flip the lid and push back the top while swinging the door (for a beer) gets frustrating.
-The generator. It's too LOUD. we went from a WEBSTERBEKE which was very quiet and hummed as oppose to the clunker that Kohler makes.

Just my 2 cents. If I had to do it all over I wouldn't change a thing. I kept telling myself the next and final upgrade would be the 420(yeah right). after having the 390 I'm thrilled with the boat and don't see myself looking at other boats.........yet
 
Absolutely gorgeous boat! I had an 08 40 that I traded towards an 09 43 (todays 470) - I still miss the styling of the boat you are looking at! In addition the 390 had the benefit of the center walk through and cockpit layout - very cool set up rafted or on the dock. Get a camper top (always be careful for co) and you will really love the added living room.

Good luck and keep us posted. Skipper Buds has a nice one rt in your range...Irwin Marine NH as well. Clean freshwater boats...
 
I would take some spares on board. Extra racor filters, impellers (genny and mains and the tool to change them of course), secondary fuel filters, and belts.

I would have your impellers changed now which isn't a momental task at all. If the existing ones are still fine, use them as spares. Good piece of mind getting them changed however. Ensure all fluids (coolant, trans, mains, and genny) are at level.

Assuming you monitor historical performance, I'd be inclined to let her go until the 600hr check point, unless you see some basic performance parameter out of whack or trending as such. Your aftercooler should be in decent shape given the predominant fresh water use. At 600, get the full run down including all HX's and your aftercoolers. They will also do a valve lash check, injectors, and perhaps any ECM software upgrade.

Can you get Rated RPM at WOT? Are your temps, pressures, and fuel consumptions within spec?




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
Tman, I switched over to the "Official" 390 thread
 
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