Deal pending - '01 380DA w/ CATS!!

quality time

quality time

Well-Known Member
Oct 30, 2007
2,366
Upper Chesapeake Bay
Boat Info
Miss Stress
2006 50' Post
Engines
Series 60 Detroits
Well it all happened within a few hours today, the boat went on Yachtworld last Thursday. It's in Stuart, FL and I started talking to the dealer this morning and got him to send me a bunch of pictures. It just so happened that a guy at my marina (who is a surveyor) winters in Jupiter, about 20 miles away from the boat. He went and looked at it this afternoon and said it looked really good. I made an offer, the dealer countered once and that was it! I'm sending the deposit tomorrow and setting up CAT and hull surveys for next week which is when I'll go down. The dealer is pushing to get it closed by the end of the year for his books. It's an '01 w/ 800 hours (a little higher than I would like) but the owner was a stickler on maintenance and has all records down to oil changes. Has full cockpit enclosure, A/P, radar, gps and flo-scans. Oh yeah, and I didn't pay a premium for the CAT's... I got free land storage out of them for up to 90 days with a promise to keep the boat clean (yeah right). I will have it trucked up around mid-march since it's the dead of winter here in PA. Now it's going to be a loooong winter!! :smt089
 
Great news Aaron! Sounds like you found exactly what you were looking for. Hope to see you on the bay come springtime.
 
You should have got a gas version.... You'll never make up the price difference with fuel costs. And diesels are more expensive to maintain... and they smell bad.
 
Based on my extensive research on the northern part of the bay (where the sissies boat), 45 degrees should let you fit in nicely.
 
Aaron:

Congrats on your purchase....actually....your deal pending.

Although there are "many" things to be checked during your sea trial and engine surveys, I'll touch on a few that I can recommend, from experience, that you should pay particular attention to during those times. First, your engine survey should be seperate from your hull survey. The engine survey should be done by a "certified" CAT shop. They will also have all the records of work that was performed by CAT...not by other shops...just by certified CAT shops. I wouldn't worry about the 800 hours. Be more concerned that the 250 Hour service was performed...that's the biggie. With the previous owners permission, the CAT shop can release to you all previous records of work performed by CAT....try to get those.

Second...the sea trial. INSIST that you sea trial the boat with a full load....FULL fuel....FULL water....And as much "Stuff" as you can put on the boat. Get 10 or more friends to come for the ride if you have to, but load the boat down.....You need to make sure that those engines can turn a MINIMUM of 2800 RPM at WOT under a FULL load....more RPMs is better...say 2850. Overloading these engines, from everything I've read and learned, is a sure way to shorten their life span.


Good Luck and keep us posted....Oh...I keep my antennas 1 click on the mount facing "foward"....then there vertical when I'm on plane...
 
Congrats and good luck...Plan on coming to the BIH debacle in June. We would all love to see your new boat in the flesh! Gary can spill beer in your cockpit as the official welcome to the "oil burner club"

Gary, a 47.5 degree aft rake is optimum for the Northern part of the bay where we sissies boat.
 
Aaron, Great News. I used Dan Mattos(CATS) and Bill ?(HULL) for my survey. They did a great job for me last year(98 450 DA). If you need a # just PM me. JC
 
Congrat's Aaron, Hope your survey's check out to your satisfaction. Your life will never be the same !!!!
 
Exiting news. Best of luck with the Sea Trial and surveys.:thumbsup:

I think Gary is jealous you will have CAT diesels and he had to settle for Cummins.:wow::smt001
 
Welcome to the 380 CAT club.....we are a limited lucky few! Great boat...you'll love it.

Have the CAT's surveyed, and ask for results of prior oil samples. If the guy was a stickler for maintenance (like most of us), he had the oil tested each time it was changed. Make sure he changed the coolant (every 6 years) and the transmition fluid, and look for evidence that the zincs were replaced regularly. I did the 250 hour maintenance which involves adjusting the valves, but the mechanic said they needed very little adjustment.

Other issues I had was that I had to replace the guts of the Norcold refrigerator (they don't last very long), and I replaced the ice maker (whose guts rusted out) in the cockpit with a refrigerator. I had trouble with my pocket door getting hung up because it warped, and Searay replaced it (I had to pay for the labor). I replaced the TV over the refrigerator with a flat screen TV. I upgraded from the monochrome Raymarine GPS to the color model RL80 CRC, and installed a new VHF radio (with the sattelite positioning capability). Also had to replace the battery charger on the boat. Batteries were replaced about 3 years ago. This past year, I had new cockpit carpeting made, and most recently, I replaced the canvas.....just things to look for (or look forward to!).

Seems like every year I am updating or upgrading something. Look for evidence that the prior owner did the same things as I did....otherwise, you will be looking at taking care of all of them yourself, and maybe all within a short period of time.....which could get costly!
 
Thanks Eric - I know I still have the biggest part of the mountain to climb with the surveys and all. The dealer is putting new cockpit carpet in tomorrow, it does have the cockpit icemaker and I was thinking about swapping it for a fridge at some point. It has full cockpit enclosure, the factory canvas was replaced about 2 years ago with some U zips and also some EZ2CY panels. The aft bimini is a little older. I plan on swapping the tv with an LCD after I get the major stuff done. Any suggestions on what size fits nicely? I'm not sure how old the batteries are yet. I am having trouble finding CAT surveyors that want to work the week of Christmas and am waiting for a few return calls. I will check out the pocket door and also I read about some vitricore glue issues that I will check for.
 
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