Decision Dilema Moving to Sundancer from Sundeck

All great considerations!
My wife's idea of boating is showing up, and bringing friends for the ride, and I am OK with that. So I am seeing the 280 boat as expanding our amenities, but not a drastic change in our boating activities in the near term. We use our 240 almost every weekend year round, weather permitting. I don't see that changing. So after a few years with a 280, we would probably move up. She is not showing significant enthusiasm for a much bigger boat where we would be spending more time. So a 280 may be a cross-over from sport boat to cruiser.
 
Gotta agree with JVM on the separate shower stall thing. We love our 340, but that’s the one thing that will drive us to bigger boat sooner than later.
 
All great considerations!
My wife's idea of boating is showing up, and bringing friends for the ride, and I am OK with that. So I am seeing the 280 boat as expanding our amenities, but not a drastic change in our boating activities in the near term. We use our 240 almost every weekend year round, weather permitting. I don't see that changing. So after a few years with a 280, we would probably move up. She is not showing significant enthusiasm for a much bigger boat where we would be spending more time. So a 280 may be a cross-over from sport boat to cruiser.

Hmm...based on this I feel like you're heading down a perilous path! If the intent is still primarily to load your boat up with friends and head out for the day I bet you're going to find that the 280 DA will feel smaller than your 240 sundeck. There is a lot less cockpit room on a Dancer vs the sundeck. And nobody wants to sit down below on a sunny day during a cruise. I also think you may find the upper 20's dancers may ride a bit more "tippy" than your 240 sundeck since they are quite a bit higher out of the water without substantially more beam.

My experience is that the Sundancers of our size range are not intended to be multi-family day boats. They're well suited for a single family to enjoy all day and all night on the boat with "limited" additional passengers. Throw a few extra kids or adults on a 340 and it get's crowded really fast. It'll be even more noticeable on a 280.

I feel like you need to decide between transitioning into a cruiser type lifestyle (focus on overnight capability, smaller crews) or continuing with the "friends and family" dayboating. I'm not sure there are many boats in our size range that excel at both.

Have you considered moving to a 270 or 290 SLX or similar for more space, more amenities but no sacrifice on the day boat capability?

Using a 280 DA as a crossover into cruising without changing how you use the boat may leave you with significant buyers remorse. My two cents only, of course.
 
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Gotta agree with JVM on the separate shower stall thing. We love our 340, but that’s the one thing that will drive us to bigger boat sooner than later.
The shower stall significantly increased the number of night my wife was willing to spend on the boat last year.
The whole wet head shower on my old boat never really bothered me, but now that I have the shower stall I find myself using it a lot more.
I’m always puttering around with things on the boat or at the dock and now when I work up a sweat I think nothing of jumping in for a quick shower before heading back home.
 
My 270 SunDeck has more daytime useable space than the 32 Rinker we used to have. Too much space is lost in the closed bow. 270 SunDeck can comfortably hold 10 people, anything more than 5 on the Rinker didn't work out well.
 
Walk around on a 280 and a 340 both. Look at storage and space compared between the two.
 
I hear all of what you are saying. Many factors to consider. Believe me, I am beating myself up. That's why it's a dilemma. But that's why I started this post.
 
If I were you I'd be looking at a mid 2000's 270 SLX. That's one slick dayboat.
 
I thought about the SLX, but we want some more space to get out of the sun. So that is why we are thinking Sundancer.
Sometimes we like to bring our dogs with us, and having air conditioned space would be a good thing for them.
 
I thought about the SLX, but we want some more space to get out of the sun. So that is why we are thinking Sundancer.
Sometimes we like to bring our dogs with us, and having air conditioned space would be a good thing for them.

Depending on the year of SLX they did offer hard tops. Bookoo shade?

If your dogs are anything like mine I bet they will not want to be down in the cabin when you're topside. Needing a generator (a requirement for running AC away from the dock) may further complicate your search for a boat. I'm not sure how common gen sets were on 280's?

Go find a 280 and jump on it! Maybe it is the perfect boat for you guys. It's definitely a lot more boat. And you really can't beat the marina experience when you have good dock neighbors.
 
The shower stall significantly increased the number of night my wife was willing to spend on the boat last year.
The whole wet head shower on my old boat never really bothered me, but now that I have the shower stall I find myself using it a lot more.
I’m always puttering around with things on the boat or at the dock and now when I work up a sweat I think nothing of jumping in for a quick shower before heading back home.

At the 340 size we preferred the larger space of a combined shower/head. We addressed the wet shower/head with a water blade (real good squeegee) that quickly dries it up and we hit it a towel quickly. So it's not too bad of a cleanup if you don't spray the water everywhere and just keep it near you.

-Kevin
 
At the 340 size we preferred the larger space of a combined shower/head. We addressed the wet shower/head with a water blade (real good squeegee) that quickly dries it up and we hit it a towel quickly. So it's not too bad of a cleanup if you don't spray the water everywhere and just keep it near you.

-Kevin
Pick up a squeegee, works great for cleaning the head walls after a shower.
 
Pick up a squeegee, works great for cleaning the head walls after a shower.

I do recommend the water blade over a typical squeegee though. Its larger and more flexible. Captures more water and contours better. Its easily available online or at a walmart (car detailing section IIRC). I tried the typical shower ones and they worked ok - the water blade was much better.

-Kevin
 
At the 340 size we preferred the larger space of a combined shower/head. We addressed the wet shower/head with a water blade (real good squeegee) that quickly dries it up and we hit it a towel quickly. So it's not too bad of a cleanup if you don't spray the water everywhere and just keep it near you.

-Kevin
Was no problem for me in our old boat, but my wife didn’t like it at all.
We keep squeegees in both showers at home, and in the shower on the boat. They’re great at avoiding water spots on the glass. Hard part was training the kids to use them.
I like the idea of the water blade! It would probably fit in the storage cabinet in the shower stall on the boat a lot better than the current squeegee does.
Will have to pick one up next time I’m in Walmart.
The second (aft) head on the 410 has a whole head shower like on our old boat but we haven’t ever used it yet. I doubt that we ever will. The shower stall in the forward head is very spacious and comfortable. I love it!
 
Was no problem for me in our old boat, but my wife didn’t like it at all.
We keep squeegees in both showers at home, and in the shower on the boat. They’re great at avoiding water spots on the glass. Hard part was training the kids to use them.
I like the idea of the water blade! It would probably fit in the storage cabinet in the shower stall on the boat a lot better than the current squeegee does.
Will have to pick one up next time I’m in Walmart.
The second (aft) head on the 410 has a whole head shower like on our old boat but we haven’t ever used it yet. I doubt that we ever will. The shower stall in the forward head is very spacious and comfortable. I love it!

I would love to have the separate shower! Maybe on our next boat - but - I have seen them trying to squeeze them in on the newer smaller boats (more than likely because the admirals are requesting it) and on those I feel to cramped and would rather deal with the wet walls and floors. I must be nice to have the two heads - that way I could restrict my kids to their own ;)

-Kevin
 
The second head is nice, but not really needed. It almost never gets used.
I thought we could keep the guests to using that one when hanging out on the hook but they tend to gravitate towards the much larger forward head anyway.
I wouldn’t mind locking the forward head salon door during the day to keep them out so it stays nice and clean, but my wife is more diplomatic than I am and wouldn’t go for it.
 
If you can afford it, always buy your second boat first, or as others might say it, buy your next boat now.
 
If you can afford it, always buy your second boat first, or as others might say it, buy your next boat now.

Agree - that's what we did. Better to "grow into your boat" vs. "grow out of it" within a few years.
 
I appreciate all of the commentary, it was all very helpful. After several long discussions with my admiral and thinking through several long pro/con lists, I think we are headed towards the 280. We love our marina, and anything that could lift a bigger boat is on the other side of the bay. Long drive horrid traffic. If we had a house with a lift in the yard, I would max it out. But I am just not there with keeping a boat in the water. It was stressful enough for me to have my boat in high and dry when Irma was approaching. Adding a boat in a slip 35 miles from home with a hurricane approaching would max out my stress level. So we want to stay high and dry, with the option of occasional weekends in a transient slip, and we want the comfort of a cruiser, which I think the 280 will provide. See you in a few years when we trade up....Thanks again.
 
We just tendered an offer on a 2003 280. Despite the ad saying it had 4.3s it actually has 5.0s The boat is clean, I will be the 3rd owner. White hull, older electronics, but at this price point, I can upgrade myself. Hopefully the offer will be accepted Now I need to sell my sundeck
 

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