Delivery! - 420 Sedan Bridge

Congratulations on the new boat Ed!

Just curious; what is the difference between "DA" and "DB"??

Also, a question for all you guys up north; with a nice 42' boat, obviously with all the comforts of home; does that size boat extend your boating season? Even if it's a little cold out, can't you still go cruising?

Mitch
 
The DA is the Sundancer, the DB is the Sedan Bridge. I am sure someone more knowledgeable can explain how that came to be. The camper canvas on our 320 extended our boating season. I'm sure that the new boat will do so further. You are, however, more limited in what you can do while off the boat, and as boats get 1 foot shorter for each hour (or is it minute?) with under-5 year old children on board, I have found a good ratio of sea to shore preserves sanity.
 
Mitch,
Ill speak with small words for this one. Yes having a larger boat extends our season. We have cockpit a/c - heat. Were out in the water from first week of march til almost christmas. Its simply awesome.... Diesel POWER only adds to the experience!!! It rasies the boating BAR.... ( lol )

Rob
 
mitchellcreek said:
Also, a question for all you guys up north; with a nice 42' boat, obviously with all the comforts of home; does that size boat extend your boating season? Even if it's a little cold out, can't you still go cruising?
Click to expand...

I suppose it depends on where "up north" is. Here on Lake Erie - late October is pushing it no matter what boat. By then the cold winds and rough chop usually pick up to a point where doing anything within 10 miles of the lakeshore is miserable - let alone boating. Some people with the bigger boats will hang on and try to make Put-In-Bay's Halloween weekend - but very few stick it out that long. There's been years where it was possible...you never know with Ohio weather.

I suppose a lot of the sport boats probably give it up around middle September. But we're only gaining a few weeks and there's not really much going on around the lake shore by then anyway.

(Phew! Kept it below 10 letters this time !)
 
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Ed,

Congrats... Hope to see you out there soon.

Let me know if you need help with the SRN, I struggled with mine and thier tech support, but now it works and works well.

Enjoy...

Ryan
 
Ryan,
Thanks. While it was working, it was a sweet setup. Chart in the center (SRN), and I had Chart/Radar & Radar on the C120 off to port. Given the new viewing angle, I really liked having the radar there to pick navaids and give me bearings.

Hopefully, they will decide it is beyond repair (What's that axe handle doing there?) and let me get a replacement one model more mature. It crapped out the whole trip with their electronics expert on board, so my alibi is very solid. I hear that the new ones are solid and fantastic. It worked on the TV/VHS, why shouldn't it work on a 10K SRN? :grin:
 
Congratulations on the new boat, Ed. I bet she's a beauty. If you're ever in the West River, swing by Chesapeake Yacht Club and look me up. I'm the only 44DB in the marina.
 
Ed,
I am running 2003 SRN technology. When I bought the boat I called Maptech and they sent me all the software updates for my system. I get a SW upgrade about once a year free of charge from Maptech.
I really like the SRN, but acknowledge that I am clearly in the minority. My SRN has rebooted once under way-otherwise no problems. I am less impressed with my Raymarine RL80CR Radar, but it gets the job done. In your SRN valise there should be a keyboard, CD ROM reader, etc. Might be worth calling Maptech with the SRN running and letting them do some troubleshooting. May be as simple as defragging the hard drive-who knows. At any rate, PWM will make it right.

regards
Skip
 
mitchellcreek said:
Also, a question for all you guys up north; with a nice 42' boat, obviously with all the comforts of home; does that size boat extend your boating season? Even if it's a little cold out, can't you still go cruising?
Click to expand...
Absolutely. We've been in the water for two weeks already, including spending Easter weekend on the boat. Most of the transient cruising destinations are still closed on the Chesapeake Bay but April 1 is often opening day. I don't know where we're going this weekend, but we're going somewhere!
 
I have a six year old son also. We moved up from a 38' Regal with Commins diesels. The Sea Ray is put together better than the Regal was. I just joined SRC yesterday, I need to get to the boat-info stuff. What is the BIH? I guess I will also be checking the RPM's as soon as the plastic wrap comes off.
 
Total Eclipse,
This thread is very informative, and has a link to the BIH thread. The BIH is an event in Baltimore (Inner Harbor) June 21st weekend.
http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5434

If you go to user control panel (UserCP) at the top, it will let you put in your profile (Location, being of most interest), and your signature (Boat type, engines, etc). This let's everyone get a sense of where you are coming from in posts etc.

Welcome!
 
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Congrats on the new boat...have any pic's? Is Exhuberance the name of the new boat?
 
hey ed
congrats and best of luck to you! sounds like you're already "at home" with the sedan bridge. i still have no idea why you spent all that extra money for diesels, though...:smt043:smt038:grin:

Sincerely,
The Gas House Gang!
 
Ed,
Yes, get teh Sea Ray Map Tech Update...well worth it - as others mentioned - solves a LOT of the problem. The version you have might not be up to date. Maptech even came to my boat to diagnose many of the problems - and that's how the new version was created...after they ripped out my unit and debugged it! But, since I got the new one, it's been stable.

Only comment....I still don't trust it :-( I did install a full second system - Garmin - wanted the redundency..and looks cooler :)
 
Cuttin' Edge said:
Only comment....I still don't trust it :-( I did install a full second system - Garmin - wanted the redundency..and looks cooler :)
Click to expand...

I used the Sea Ray Navigator last year with the version before 3.5 and it was pretty good. It did reboot a few times while using the radar.

Question about the Garmin install - were you able to interface the existing Maptech Radar Array into the Garmin setup? If so that would be cool.
 
vanburen said:
Thanks everyone who has given me much needed advice over the last few weeks as we've been contemplating, and then executing, the move to the new boat - 2005 420 DB.

We took delivery yesterday, and I moved it up to Annapolis today in cool but basically pleasant weather. Despite an initial loss of all gauges (corrected by cycling all DC power), the ride was uneventful. Given the large number of people who seem interested in the DA to DB conversion, I thought I'd offer a few observations.

1. Ambient Noise - Being able to hear appears to be an improvement, although my screaming 2 year old WAS NOT on the boat so I can't state that conclusively. However, running noise is so much less - it's fantastic.

2. Ride - much bigger boat, enough said. My 6 year old spent the whole trip watching movies and not getting seasick (I seem to recall hearing that this would happen from Festivus).

3. The aft canvas dramatically reduces concern about kids transiting to the bridge. It essentially makes the stairs an interior option. Not too applicable during the hot summer however. Handheld radios also made communicating easy (DAD, I NEED A SNACK!!!).

4. I now understand why there is so little written about the Sea Ray Navigator. It has great functionality, but that doesn't help if it is in a continuous reboot cycle. The Raymarine C120 was solid the whole time.

5. Love the diesels (didn't check fuel prices entering back creek however, on purpose). Ran solid at the same pitch the whole time with no concerning little noises or hiccups that add stress. Basically had 25Kts, 32 GPH, 2400 RPM.

6. Docking - the visibility is different but it was not more stressful than our 320. The large props/Diesels make it stop/start whenever you shift. Very responsive. 2 days without using the bow-thruster!

Question for the experts - we only saw 2700 RPM at WOT with the 480 CEs. I will be asking the PWM expert about this on Tuesday, but I thought the RPM was supposed to be 2800? 85% is not quite 2300 which is a bit slow.

Also - is there a preferred method of accessing the the masts etc - my mast head light has rotated sideways and needs to be tightened up.

Definitely looking forward to BIH, should be a great time.

Great Weekend!
Click to expand...
Hi,
I am not sure if you got the Anchor light issue resolved yet, but since I take mine off for the winter to shrink wrap, I can tell you that the easiest way is to open the Back Bimini zippers by the Radar arch. It gives you enough room to slip your hands through to adjust the light to lock in upright and tighten he ring.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Manfred
 
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That helps a ton! I was not looking forward to leaping out the window, using Jedi power, twisting, and trying to grab something to hoist myself up onto the arch. Will try it this weekend. Many thanks.
 
Glad to help! By the way, since you cannot see what you are doing while you have your hands are through the zipper opening, it helps when you have someone on the dock telling you when the Anchor light is about straight up. You will then also feel it when the electric pins line up and you can "plug it in" and tighten the ring.
Regards,
Manfred
 
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