Grosse Pointe Farms

Macjeffff

New Member
Dec 7, 2006
26
Grosse Pointe Farms
Hi, I'm Jeff and I've got a vintage Sea Ray 260 Weekender at the Farms Pier on Lake St. Clair. 1980, light blue hull, retro gem.

Hoping to get a bigger boat when I get a bigger slip. Wanting to get a 94 or 95 330 Express or maybe a late 90's 330 Sundancer.

Speaking of which, the older 330 Express has 21 degrees of deadrise, along with being lighter and faster than the newer 330 Sundancer, which has 17 degrees of deadrise.

Does anyone have experience with either of these boats in a steep chop? I'm not sure the newer 'Dancer would do so well.

Thanks!
 
Hello Jeff,

Nice classic Searay you got there!

I cruise all around and when I have holiday I even go to Belgium, France or United Kingdom.
Normally I am laying in a Harbour in Loosdrecht that's a small lake near Hilversum,Utrecht and Amsterdam.

My former boat was a '90 330Da and I bought my 360DA with diesels this year.

Succes :thumbsup: Peter
 
Macjeffff said:
Hi, I'm Jeff and I've got a vintage Sea Ray 260 Weekender at the Farms Pier on Lake St. Clair. 1980, light blue hull, retro gem.

Hi Jeff,

I agree your boat looks like a real gem. Guess I must have an affinity for those 'classic' lines. Seems a bit odd now to say they are classic. When I first started looking at Sea Rays, but could not afford one, your boat had not yet been built!

Anyway, great looking boat, and welcome to the group. :smt001
 
Just found your lake on Google Maps. Looks like you have access through the canal or river to some fabulous cruising areas.

My wife still has family in Sweden, and we visited a few years ago. We were in Amsterdam and then the family farm in Onsala, Sweden. We took the ferry over to Denmark, too, from Gothenburg and took the train up to Skagen. What a beautiful area.

How did you like your old 330 DA? I have some thought of buying a 94 or 95 330 Express Cruiser.
 
It was a very nice boat!

Here you have some links where you can find some info about the 310/330DA '90 models here on CSR.

http://www.byowneryachts.com/forums...postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=330da+beam

http://www.byowneryachts.com/forums...postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=330da+beam

http://www.byowneryachts.com/forums...5&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

The '90 model is the same as the '94/'95 model.

The '94 and '95 express cruiser has the same sizes as the Sundancer only a little different cockpit layout.

Why a EC?
I think the layout from the Sundancer is a better choice because your seats are wider.

I had mine with v-drives and the 5.7 bleuwater engines.

Very nice ride!

Peter
 
Thanks for the links. Very helpful.

Beginning in 94, the side windows were changed to oval portlights, which are less prone to leaking.

I like the EC better than the DA because it has two separate, forward facing seats and a centerline cabin entrance, rather than the long bench and a side entrance.

On the other hand, the mid-cabin of the Sundancer is nice to have, just in case. I just don't favor the long bench seat, in case I need to jump up and attend to something (don't want to have to wade through a couple of passengers). Did you ever find that to be a problem? Maybe I'm over-thinking it, but my crew isn't always reliable for anchoring and docking!
 
Macjeffff said:
I just don't favor the long bench seat, in case I need to jump up and attend to something (don't want to have to wade through a couple of passengers). Did you ever find that to be a problem? Maybe I'm over-thinking it, but my crew isn't always reliable for anchoring and docking!

Ok Jeff,

You are right about the advantage that the side windows were changed to oval portlights.

It was indeed a big problem that the rear cockpit door was on the wrong side.
When you have a couple of people sitting, there isn't much room to pass them.
Also you couldn't eat on a table there, because it's to small.

Docking wasn't a big problem because I had a bow thruster.

Do you want V drives?

Peter
 
I'm undecided on drives. I like the idea of inboards, but I like the extra speed of I/Os. I wish Sea Ray put more emphasis on speed (as an option), like Formula does.

My ideal boat would be able to cruise at 30 mph all day, with a top end near 40.

Compromises, compromises!
 
Macjeffff said:
My ideal boat would be able to cruise at 30 mph all day, with a top end near 40.
Compromises, compromises!

I think that with the 7.4 engines you can come close to these numbers.

Peter
 
Macjeffff said:
You mean with I/Os I could cruise at 30?

Here is a post that xravenx wrote....

1995 Sea Ray 370 Sundancer
Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 3:32 pm Post subject:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had a '90 310/330 DA...............It ran very well with the 454s and v drives (it was a Sundancer), cruise was 30mph @ 3000 rpm, maintenance was tight. Tons of room in the cabin, the aft cabin seems like it is actually part fo the main salon. Our kids were very young then and they were always down below. The cockpit was to small IMO, the Express Cruiser has a larger cockpit due to the straight inboards and lack of an aft cabin. Most of them had Quicksilver generators and I hear parts can be difficult to get. The boat never gave me any problems.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had the 5,7 engines with v-drives and I cruised at 26MPH and had a WOT speed of 38-40 MPH (4700rpm)

Peter
 
Thanks. I can't wait for the summer. I hardly got to do any boating this past year. Too much work and too much travel. Hope to do more boating in '07 (and buy a newer and bigger boat, too).
 

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