Cruiser decisions

Good to hear from you Jeremy! Thanks for the in depth detail, you sure do "paint the picture." I could se myself in all of those situations. I'll be going to the boat show the following week and I know I will be talking to the guy who sold me the boat I have now. I'll just have to see what kind of magic we can do with financing. But I guess I'll have to find one first. I'll be looking for the 2001-2004 range and they are hard to come by in the midwest. They do have a couple brokered, or atleast one of them is brokered, but one only has a single engine and no genny. The other has twins but no genny. Thanks to everyone for all the replies.
 
Jeremy(280 SeaRay), Fantastic response. Thanks for your input :thumbsup: . Your earlier advice here and on the other forum also helped me decide on a genny for our 300DA. The 280DA is truly a classic and I hope SR doesn't discontinue it from their line up. That would be a true shame. Kind regards, Brian
 
Brian.... the last I heard from the factory guys is that they are still full steam ahead on the 280 which is a great great thing. Seeing how they continue to tweak things just a tiny bit to make it better (i.e. 2007 very cool stainless likes in cabin that I have ordered :smt001 )... it seems like the 280 will be around for a while. The genny just makes life a little nicer.... IMHO

The 300 follows in the same timeless fashion... they nailed it...

Brent.... something to think about... I believe it was Thunderbird1 who order his 260 without the genny so that he could put in his own low CO model. Given that a 2001 - 2004 would not have a low CO model.... and the lack of a genset could be a significant bargaining chip..... then you could purchase a new low CO model and have the dealer install potentially saving $$'s in the end. Just a thought :smt001
 
I've thought of that, but didn't know if it was a reall option. I've read threads in the past about adding a genny and it seemed a lot of people didn't have much good to say about it. If that is a real option, that is definately a consideration.
 
Jeremy: When you have figured out how to add the cockpit fridge ie how complicated it is and how much it cost I would be interested in this project. I assume you would put it where the portable cooler is now stored. I have often thought that would be the last step to make the 280 the perfect all around boat. Keep us advised.
 
When we bought the 02 320DA in may 05 we added a cockpit refrigerator from Tundra. When we moved to the 03 420DA it had the standard icemaker. I wanted to try the icemaker for a year and then determine if I needed to swap out for the refrigerator.

We love the icemaker. We have a roll-along cooler we use to get cold stuff to the boat for weekends and it converts to a seat in the cockpit. With the icemaker we always have plenty of ice and cold drinks in the cooler, and the seemingly endless procession of juice boxes, fruit pops, blah blah blah that kids have to have are always easily accessible and nice and cold in the cooler. And...the blender has a steady supply of ice as well.

Just one opinion. Lots of folks really prefer a refrigerator.
Sorry for the (slightly) off topic post.

regards
Skip
 
Idaho Spud... I will start a new topic on the fridge idea.

Thunderbird... maybe you could reply here with your experience in putting your low CO genset in aftermarket. :smt001
 
Jumping in late here...

Twins are double the trouble. Twice the maint, twice the transmissions, double the oil changes, etc. But, when we blew a set of gears in an outdrive last November, we really appreciating having a spare to get us home.

I'd vote for twins anyday.
 
Hello Brentjones, as many before me stated get the genny, I recently moved up from the 28 to a 34sr, the 28 with twin 4.3 are just find the genny is great but there is limited space to work on anything with the genny. How much time are you on the hook? If most of your boating is day trips then the genny is over kill. you could actually get away with a protable one.
the 28 is a great boat, but you are looking at used look also at the 29 I believe that there were in production in 2000 just alittle bigger and wider you will notice the difference.

steve04
 
One of the biggest reasons for this move is to have a place for the little one to take a nap and to get out of the sun (he's got a lot of his dad's Celtic heritage in him.) A genny is a must for the a/c and in the future tv/dvd and micro for popcorn, etc. I spend most of our days on the hook instead of cruising so this is a must.
 
I am not sure I agree that the genny makes it any tighter to work on things on the 280 as the genset is located directly behind you if you hop down into the engine compartment facing the engines. The genset is between the fresh water tank and the holding tank... both of which have all connections on the top of the tanks and a decent amount of room to work on them (which is not impacted by the presence or lack of a genset). If while facing the engines you would take a step backwards you would run into the edge of the opening of the engine compartment before any part of you would touch the genset. With the Kohler unit in my 280 all of the service points (genset) are easy to reach when you turn and face the genset (back to engines). I can see that you could use the genset area as a nice seat to take a rest while working on the engines..... or a great place to store extra parts.... if it was not on the boat but I dont think the absence of a genset would make it any easier to work on the various parts of the boat (engines, tanks, batts, both strainers (AC. genset), water heater, water pump, etc. Now the cockpit table storage slot is a very different story... :smt043 that puppy is a pain in the behind!!

Kameroo has got it right... :smt038 not quite twice the oil when comparing the 496 BB to the twin 4.3's but very much twice the filters (2x oil 4x fuel) add a genset... you get a 5th and 6th fuel filter.... but you can get home (with twins)...slowly... but you are moving and not headed for the rocks on the shore. :smt001

We have been over the portable genset thing a great deal here.... I think it is pretty clear these are a bad idea.

I see the 290 of the 2000 year vintage is indeed 8" more in beam... the LOA in the SR manual with platform is 29' 8" does anyone know the length of the platform? The 280 is 28'6" not including the platform... 31'1" with it... I have always been told another foot in beam feels like another 5 feet in length.... I need to find a 290 to go crawl on..... I am curious now :smt001

Best of luck on your continuing search Brent.
 
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