Buying a 1985 sea ray sun dancer 260

[jobofly]

Hey guys,

i wanted to get you opinions on this boat. It will be our first family boat. It's in good shape, mostly cosmetic issues. It was on the lake and used all last summer. Do you guys know about this model? Is it a good boat?
thanks for your help.

 

[1990-270-da-lover]

Get a survey, You can't go wrong with the added advise, If the boat was serviced by the marina, talk with their staff. Good Luck

 

[tdschafer]

In general those are great boats. I had a 1979 260DA for many years. That particular boat I can't tell you as of course I have no first hand knowledge of it. As stated above, a survey is a good investment. It may save you thousands in the long run. My boat was great until I had 3 kids then it got small fast!
Any specific questions fire away! Good luck.


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[jobofly]

Where would I get parts for it? The seat above the engine needs to have the legs replaced. It's little things like that I will need help with. I brought my buddy who is kind of a boat expert. He looked it over and knows what to look for. More importantly I was curious if this model year had known issues. Is it a good family boat? Does it handle weather well? Thanks

 

[1990-270-da-lover]

There is alot of info on the threads here about where to find parts etc. I assume you are planning on restoring the boat yourself, so if you aren't reall set on a stock restoration you will have an easier time of restoring her as you can find parts that will work that may not be stock Sea Ray. Depends on the size of your family, my wife and I are usually the only ones on our 270, and ther is plenty of room. We have had 4 adult for a long weekend and were quite happy, although the folks have to be good friends and understand the close quarters and it doesn't hurt if they have some boating experience. Weather is more about where you plan to use the boat, open water can get unfriendly real quick even for much larger boats. We boat on the Chesapeake Bay and even there it can get rough enough to make me worry. I have seen 6-8' sea's out there and it isn't pretty, but we got through carefully. I wouldn't go out in those conditions, but have beeh caught a time ot 2. I think you will have a great time on board.

 

[jobofly]

Wow thanks for all the info, we will be in a lake so it doesn't get too bad wave wise. But that's why I wanted a bigger boat, I don't want to have to worry about being caught in weather. I will restore it myself. I don't care to go original, I just want to make it nice. I spoke the the marine shop today that has done all the work on it. They said when they winterized it this past winter that the oil and the out drive oil looked great. Nice and clean, no dis coloring and that it ran strong.