400 Sedan Bridge

BIH is definitely an exclusive bridge boat event. Those Sundancer guys just keep crashing the party.

The lazarette area behind the engine room would be a great place to stuff a few of those fold up bikes...
 
Quick question -
If you were buying a used boat out of inventory - and "certified pre-owned", from a reputable dealer, would you pay to have it surveyed and if so, how much? Thanks!
 
festivus44 said:
The snaps are in the sunbrella border around the isinglass, not in the plastic itself. The panels stay attached along the top edge and the panel is folded up and snapped to the arch.

Where I was unable to find a place to put a snap on the underside of the soft-top (like in the case of the two side windows), I actually made up an 18" strap with snaps on it, so the two side windows snap partially to the arch and partially to each other via this strap. Kind of hard to explain, but here's a reflected ceiling plan view of the arrangement. We snap up the front window first, and then the straps for the side windows provides further support for the front panel.

It looks complicated but it takes about 10 seconds to do / undo.

Despite how this diagram looks, there are no snaps in the plastic, they are all in the sunbrella.
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Tim,
That's a great idea and configuration. :thumbsup:
 
Ed,

Don't forget you have the full-size fridge to keep beers cold during the week sitting in the galley! Many cold ones can chill there during the week...that is our plan.
 
Pirate said:
I need to know what a $400 cooler does that an Igloo or Coleman doesn't.
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The fiberglass version with the gelcoat finish is a thing of beauty. I get more compliments on the cooler than the boat. And it keeps ice for a really, really long time, even in the heat of summer. Plus, it was only $250!
vanburen said:
Quick question -
If you were buying a used boat out of inventory - and "certified pre-owned", from a reputable dealer, would you pay to have it surveyed and if so, how much? Thanks!
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YES! I don't know what the going rate is these days. Don't forget to get the engines surveyed as well...
 
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vanburen said:
Quick question -
If you were buying a used boat out of inventory - and "certified pre-owned", from a reputable dealer, would you pay to have it surveyed and if so, how much? Thanks!
Click to expand...

No question, and given your area I have a person that I have used on my last 3 boats he is in Annapolis, PM me if you want his name.

There is NO substitute for a full survey, and I would have the engines surveyed, I bought a 2006 last year and still had it surveyed, which turned up multiple things. A hull survey and engine survey are a must in my opinion... (for what that is worth)
 
We too have been looking at the 400 SB, coming from a 330DA. We have inspected 2. The Mrs is not crazy about the cabin layout though. I am 6'3" and the height is tight but doable.

I was not crazy about the engine compartment either, not much room. Other than that I like the boat a lot.
 
i'd like to parrot pirate. yeah, it looks cool. yeah, it's got stainless screws. yeah, it'll withstand a nuclear winter. but at the end of the day, does it keep stuff any colder for 10x the price of my 5 day igloo, which, by the way, is white and grey, just like my boat? (i'm playing devil's advocate by using the SWATCH vs. ROLEX poor man's argument) :wink:

and who do you have to know to get a 60 quart fiberglass Yeti for less than list? i just searched around and found nothing selling for lower than $394. not to mention i'd be afraid to leave the thing out on the boat. the Brooklyn in me says that anything that expensive is gonna wind up "walking."

thanks for the explanation and great images of the snaps and isenglass. that's really interesting. i'm pretty handy with a needle and thread. i'm going to look into that!
 
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rondds said:
i'd like to parrot pirate. yeah, it looks cool. yeah, it's got stainless screws. yeah, it'll withstand a nuclear winter. but at the end of the day, does it keep stuff any colder for 10x the price of my 5 day igloo, which, by the way, is white and grey, just like my boat? (i'm playing devil's advocate by using the SWATCH vs. ROLEX poor man's argument) :wink:

and who do you have to know to get a 60 quart fiberglass Yeti for less than list? i just searched around and found nothing selling for lower than $394. not to mention i'd be afraid to leave the thing out on the boat. the Brooklyn in me says that anything that expensive is gonna wind up "walking."

thanks for the explanation and great images of the snaps and isenglass. that's really interesting. i'm pretty handy with a needle and thread. i'm going to look into that!
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The Yeti does keep ice longer than an igloo for sure. I buy way less ice than I have in the past. But no doubt, it is a swatch versus rolex argument (and I do lock it inside during the week.... even in Rock Hall). I bought it at Fawcetts in Annapolis. I think "Overextended" is a Yeti dealer, maybe you should PM him.

As far as the plastics... no needle and thread needed, just a snap tool (which is the coolest thing in the world if you don't have one).
 
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can you buy strap material premade? i figured i'd have to roll up some sunbrella and sew it together.

not sure if this'll work for me, now that i'm looking at it more.:smt009 i dont think my panels will reach the arch (mine is raked back, not forward). i'm thinking i'd have to put snaps in the underside of my bimini in several places, which is probably NOT a good idea. the only panel that might work would be the rear, but then there'd be a LOT of slack and drape to it once i snap it into the arch.

but wait, :smt115 i'm looking at the pic of my boat (it's so long i forgot what the hell it looks like) and PERHAPS i can put some snaps into the sleeve that holds the center cross-support bar of the bimini in position. i'm going to have to check it out when the enclosure is back up.

but this is still a great idea!
 
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RonDDS,

If your openings will reach the support bars of your bimini that would be a good place to mount your snaps/push pin locations right on the SS support bar, this is how the yard is doing a buddies' 33 Super Sport with no arch/hard top.

Just a thought.
 
the bar is almost fully contained in the sleeve (just about the full width of the bimini). i guess i'd have to make openings in the sleeve for the male snap to protrude in that case?
 
It appears that my family and I will be joining the CB-SBOA as we appear to have come to terms on a 05 420DB. I look forward to the various commissioning activities, and hope to see you on the bay come spring!

It turns out the dealer has to do a survey themselves. I had arranged for an independent survey. They are being somewhat vocal that it really is a waste of my money to pay for a separate survey when they are having one done themselves.

I know the purpose of doing this is assurance, independent. Do you think that spending an extra grand on a second survey is warranted when dealing with a reputable dealer? They are fine with me accompanying the surveyor throughout the process too and of course will give me the final report. Thanks!
 
I know it's tempting to save a grand, but I would still have my own personal surveryor (I did) do the survery, including a Cummins Certified Technician to do the engine survey....regardless of any existing or new warranties......IMHO.

You could ask the dealer to pay the tab for your survey....and tell them they won't need to have one.....:grin:

OH...congratulations....see you at BIH ...
 
I would prefer to have my own survey just to keep the propriety absolutely straight. If their surveyor did not find something that broke shortly after closing, you'd have questions. The survey cost is peanuts next to the ongoing maintenance costs. In the scope of things, I think it would be worth the piece of mind. No reflection at all on the integrity of the dealer or their surveyor, just a sure fire way to maintain your relationship.
 
Dealer paid surveys are typically done for different reasons than one a buyer does as a pre-sale contingency. The dealer, or his floor plan lender, requires his survey to keep him from trading for or using for collateral a boat with some major issue that substantially affects its resale value. Of course, you want to know those things as well, but you are also interested in every system on the boat as well as engines, transmissions, and generator. You need to know if all the systems....and there are many on a 420DB ....power up and function within normal operating limits. You very likely can get everything that doesn't work right repaired on the boat as a condition of completing the sale. What if you forgo the survey and miss a serious problem with a plotter, an air conditioner, an ice-maker, etc. With labor rates at over $100/hour in a lot of locations....I don't know where CBSBOA is...you can very easily exceed the cost of a survey in one missed repair.

A factor to consider is that depending upon your insurance carrier, you may be required to have a survey done in order to buy an agreed value hull policy, and most insurers will not accept a survey that you are not a principal in the survey process, so you may end up having to pay for a condition and value survey anyway.

This one is your call, but I wouldn't buy a used boat from anyone, no matter how warm and fuzzy the salesman/broker made me feel without doing a hull survey AND a full mechanical survey of the engines, transmissions and generator. I have never yet seen one not pay for themselves in repair cost or piece of mind.

One final comment or point is an example.......several years ago a friend of mine signed a contract to buy a 500Da from a Sea Ray dealer. He. like you, thought he'd save the cost of his own survey and he relied on a survey done by the dealer 4 weeks previously when the boat came in. It turns out that the survey done by the dealer was a "walk on-walk-off" survey, and the engines were never even started, and the boat was never untied from the slip or hauled for a bottom inspection. The new owner found that the boat had a terrible vibration at 1200+ rpm. To make a long story short, after several attempts at problem solving, the new owner found that the boat had hit the bottom hard and had a twisted strut, a bent shaft and a bad prop. The repair cost was about $12K............made that $1000 survey seem pretty cheap.
 
maybe you can just have the dealer throw in one of them there fancy Yeti coolers and call it a day!

frank, CB-SBOA is a fictitious organization that i created but cannot be a member of because of geographic and size restrictions. you also cant be a member because you dont own a sedan bridge. (see post#24 this thread)

ed congrats on getting the deal done. hope it all goes off without a hitch!
 
I will add my strong recommendation for obtaining independent hull and mechanical surveys. The cost to us for both was a fraction of the items that were repaired/replaced as terms of the sale. We also bought from a SR dealer whom we like greatly and strongly recommend.

By commissioning our surveys, we were able to reassure ourselves as to the condition of the boat, and we were able to negotiate the terms of the sale. I believe that a reputable seller will also like the independent surveys insofar as it establishes the limits of the sellers responsibilites preceding the sale as distinct from the purchaseres obligations following the sale.

- Scott
 
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