Help for a new boater with a 2006 340 SD.

[lisathomps]

We just got my father in laws 2006 340 dancer to keep an eye on for him. (was sitting in storage during the long winters up north). When I found this forum I thought it was a good place to ask basic questions about the boat.

1) When we take the boat out at high speeds do any of you leave your canvas on? We have been leaving the t-top canvas and the sides on...will that hurt anything?

2) Is there a better alternative to the "snap" portion of the canvas. This seems to be the most time consuming thing when bringing the boat in after each trip.

3) After how many hours would we find ourselves refueling for longer trips at extended cruising speed? We have 2, 8.1 Mercs 250 gals total. I know it's hard to say but any guesses?

4) Can I ride on the sun-pad while the boat is in motion?

5) Any tips on anchoring? We want to take the boat to a local boat only island this weekend. How do you judge how close to pull up to the beach without running aground?

Thank you for any help you can give!!! I am sure I will post more questions as I think of them :smt119

 

[Pseudomind]

Let me say welcome..and with your questions also expect some possible terse answers back... Just remember"water off of a ducks back" and you'll be fine. From the questions you asked I am guessing you are new to boating at least with a boat of this size. I would suggest you start with an online safety course many states have them for free, read through the Sea Ray manuals, and at least see if you can obtain a Chapman's guide, if nothing else, West Marine has a small pocket guide for around $15.00 which is very informative and worth the price.

I have no issues with my canvas any way I leave it while underway. I have complete canvas, it is not up in the picture.

Refueling depends on where you are at, current, wind etc. I have made it around 140-150 miles coming up the Atlantic from Daytona Beach to Jacksonville, Florida, 16-22 knots at at times, in 2-4 foot seas, against a northeast wind. I hold 275 gallons, at fill up it took 240 gallons, I can only access according to Sea Ray 261 gallons.

Riding on the bow while under way is a No-no. I allow it sometimes though when on the Inter-coastal in long no wake zones.

At this time I am not to interested in getting close to the beach, prefer to anchor out and go ashore by dinghy.

So again Welcome!

:thumbsup:

 

[Nehalennia]

We just got my father in laws 2006 340 dancer to keep an eye on for him. (was sitting in storage during the long winters up north). When I found this forum I thought it was a good place to ask basic questions about the boat.

1) When we take the boat out at high speeds do any of you leave your canvas on? We have been leaving the t-top canvas and the sides on...will that hurt anything?

2) Is there a better alternative to the "snap" portion of the canvas. This seems to be the most time consuming thing when bringing the boat in after each trip.

3) After how many hours would we find ourselves refueling for longer trips at extended cruising speed? We have 2, 8.1 Mercs 250 gals total. I know it's hard to say but any guesses?

4) Can I ride on the sun-pad while the boat is in motion?

5) Any tips on anchoring? We want to take the boat to a local boat only island this weekend. How do you judge how close to pull up to the beach without running aground?

Thank you for any help you can give!!! I am sure I will post more questions as I think of them :smt119

Hi Lisa
Welcome. First, have you been on boats much to consider yourself experienced? Have you taken a safety course or have other experience handling a boat? The reason I aske is that it's a very good idea for new boaters, especially with the size of the 340DA.

Your questions are also really hard to answer not knowing a couple of things.

1) When we take the boat out at high speeds do any of you leave your canvas on? We have been leaving the t-top canvas and the sides on...will that hurt anything?
No it's designed for this.

2) Is there a better alternative to the "snap" portion of the canvas. This seems to be the most time consuming thing when bringing the boat in after each trip.
A common frustration, but as you do it more often gets easier as you learn a routine.

3) After how many hours would we find ourselves refueling for longer trips at extended cruising speed? We have 2, 8.1 Mercs 250 gals total. I know it's hard to say but any guesses?
Other 340DA owners will be more helpful with this, but ample fuel is advisable regardless the length of your trip.

4) Can I ride on the sun-pad while the boat is in motion?
No
5) Any tips on anchoring? We want to take the boat to a local boat only island this weekend. How do you judge how close to pull up to the beach without running aground?

Sounds like you're considering backing into the beach. This again others in your area (I assume St. Pete's, FL?) can answer the more specific details of your region and conditions.

Best of Luck, but take a course if you haven't already.

 

[lisathomps]

Thank you so much for all the input Especially regarding the canvas! I was concerned that it would eventually fly off while driving.

We are in St Pete and plan to boat to Captiva in the fall to meet my in laws and have them enjoy their boat. We are going to chart a course where we can stop off if necessary due to weather or refueling. I thought I'd ask about fuel and I think Daytona to Jacksonville is quite a similar distance?? How long did it take to get there?

Yes, we did take the safety course. Our friends beat that into our heads :smt021 :thumbsup:

We have a 19" Century fishing boat but as you can imagine jumping from a bay boat to a cruiser is a BIG leap. We are still in shock and so are our friends.

We are not the "flashy" show-off type; hence all my questions. We are being more conservative (and safe!) We are even hiring a local sailing school for more attuned lessons.

Thanks again for all your input!

 

[Hampton]

Anchoring is tricky:

Need 7:1 scope under normal circumstances. Drop the anchor in 20 feet, need 140 of rode (anchor line) out.

Drop the anchor way out, and begin to back down as you lower the anchor. When the anchor hits bottom, continue to back down and stop letting line out. This will set your anchor. Do this at least 3 times. Have one or two stern anchors ready - tied to the boat with plenty of scope (30 - 40 feet). Keep the props at least 1' off the bottom. Don't stir up a lot of sand/silt. I like to stop backing by stopping letting out rode and letting the anchor stop me.

Once stopped, hand an anchor off or have someone jump in with it. Take it to the full length and set it. Then, once the boat stops moving, you can pick it up and pull the boat back to set the anchor correctly. If you have two, V them out to hold the boat steady.

Do not anchor for your current conditions. Anchor for the worst possible conditions. It happens all the time. A storm blows up and boats blow around.

 

[Pseudomind]

Thank you so much for all the input Especially regarding the canvas! I was concerned that it would eventually fly off while driving.

Now about the canvas I am talking about in good to fair conditions, anything might happen if the weather takes a turn for the worst. I might just have to roll it up and tie/secure the side panels.

:thumbsup:

 

[mambodave]

We just got my father in laws 2006 340 dancer to keep an eye on for him. (was sitting in storage during the long winters up north). When I found this forum I thought it was a good place to ask basic questions about the boat.

1) When we take the boat out at high speeds do any of you leave your canvas on? We have been leaving the t-top canvas and the sides on...will that hurt anything?

2) Is there a better alternative to the "snap" portion of the canvas. This seems to be the most time consuming thing when bringing the boat in after each trip.

3) After how many hours would we find ourselves refueling for longer trips at extended cruising speed? We have 2, 8.1 Mercs 250 gals total. I know it's hard to say but any guesses?

4) Can I ride on the sun-pad while the boat is in motion?

5) Any tips on anchoring? We want to take the boat to a local boat only island this weekend. How do you judge how close to pull up to the beach without running aground?

Thank you for any help you can give!!! I am sure I will post more questions as I think of them :smt119

I didnt read down the thread, so not sure if this was suggested. I would suggest hiring a professional captain to do a 2 to 3 hour session with you.

 

[Vince_nj1]

We just got my father in laws 2006 340 dancer to keep an eye on for him. (was sitting in storage during the long winters up north).

Wow.. You have some father in-law.

Happy to see that you took a boating course.

Since the boat was in storage "up north" I suggest that you check to see that it is still insured now that the boat is in Florida and the insurance company may need to know that you are now the primary driver and not your generous father in-law.

You should inquire if you are covered for damage from "named" storms (IE Hurricanes and Tropical Depressions)

You should find out if you have towing insurance and who you should use if you need a tow.

There are a few things about a boat that require regular maintenance that you should know about. Failure to maintain the boat properly could leave you stranded out on the water.



Some key things that require maintenance:

• Zincs need to changed (at least once a year)
• Impellers need to be changed (every 2 to 3 years), but they could fail in less than a minute if an engine is running with out water flow. Picking up sea-weed or running aground could block water flow to the engine or generator causing the impeller to fail and the engine to overheat.
• Battery water needs to be maintained.
• Oil and Transmission fluid should be changed as required.

There are other mainteance items to consider, but I am not experienced with boating in Florida, so I will refrain from commenting. I'm sure others will add to the list. I would imagine that you don't have to worry about winterizing the boat, which is a good thing.

 

[magster65]

Originally Posted by lisathomps
We just got my father in laws 2006 340 dancer to keep an eye on for him.

WHAT?!?
Oh, at a glance I thought it was a big 340 pound belly dancer or something... then I saw the 2006... whew!
A 340 Sundancer... you poor thing....do you have to stay in the waterfront acreage with a private dock too? And have the butler bring you super-sized slushy drinks with umbrellas in 'em? Can I come over?

 

[Alegria]

Welcome. As for anchoring all good points posted before. I judge depth using my depth sounder and know that its set from the hull bottom so when it show ---- no depth I know I am too close. That coupled with looking at the boats already there and looking where boats similar to mine are anchored. That is where I try to anchor. Also look for folks standing in the water to get an idea on depth.

 

[lisathomps]

Hi all!

Well we had a great day out on the water yesterday. We anchored up at Egmont Key between a 20' Fishing boat and a 30' cruiser. The other boaters told us we did really well for first timers

John, thank you so much for the thorough description. :smt038 Unfortunately I didn't see your reply till today (still learning how the blog works and have to change my settings so I get emails when people reply to my posts)

Two tips that you offered that are SO HELPFUL :thumbsup: and we will do next time:

1) drop the anchor to the exact scope first then drag the anchor 3x's to really assure it "sticks" (we did let the anchor stop us during back-up; however, we may have had less "swing out" in the back if we set the proper scope first--true??)

2) Don't fret over perfecting the stern anchor too much until the boat is stable; just set it as best as possible; perfect it later once the boat is more stable will help to set the boat in a better anchored position.

How we did it was while we slowly backed up to where we wanted to anchor we slowly dropped the line at the same time. We found that because we didn't drop the anchor to the exact scope FIRST then back up to set the anchor (as you suggested) the back of the boat would significantly swing out and we'd have to keep readjusting. --true??

Once the front anchor was set (at the correct scope) our friend jumped off the back and set the back anchor.

Everything worked beautifully and we had a great day out on the beach. It was a 45 min drive up and back and only burned 1/4 tank. We were really happy to see how well the engines perform.

Vince, thank you for all those tips also! We are a family of lawyers so insurance & hurricane protection & proper registrations etc were top priority with bringing this beauty down to FL. :grin: We had the Marine Max of Clearwater do all the maintenance (decommission) & bottom painting required prior to putting her in the water. We are required by the marina to have extra coverage for liability of other boats around us etc Also my husband is on the insurance policy and anyone we give permission to may drive the boat and be fully insured. Our insurance extends 150 feet off shore (US waters only) and goes from TX to Maine.

As for maintenance I really appreciate your check list. I am going to add those to a list that I am making. We are going to have the captain of our local sailing school give us a check list of things we need to check/update daily/monthly/yearly etc. We want to be able to maintain her ourselves--not rely on others to do so. I think that was one of the other reasons we brought her down here. My father in law has MS and can't give her the tlc necessary to maintain her beauty

Thank you to everyone for your help! I'll be posting more questions as I think of them!!

In the meantime, Happy boating :smt001

Lisa

 

[lisathomps]

Welcome. As for anchoring all good points posted before. I judge depth using my depth sounder and know that its set from the hull bottom so when it show ---- no depth I know I am too close. That coupled with looking at the boats already there and looking where boats similar to mine are anchored. That is where I try to anchor. Also look for folks standing in the water to get an idea on depth.

Thanks Tom! We did just that. We saw 2 Sundancers out there and paid attention to how close they were to beach.

The thing we didn't realize was that the depth finder toggles bw other options such as the anchor's length. That made it a bit tricky at first but I think next time we'll know to first determine depth by getting close to shore, pull out from shore, drop anchor to proper scope then back up to shore.

 

[lisathomps]

I didnt read down the thread, so not sure if this was suggested. I would suggest hiring a professional captain to do a 2 to 3 hour session with you.

We were just arranging that this weekend! $175 for 8 hours broken down however we like. I thought that was really reasonable.

 

[Hampton]

I'm not sure I understand the question about setting the anchor and scope. If you are anchoring in 15' of water, so you want a little more than 100' of line out, begin to drop the anchor about 120' out from where you're going to want your bow to stop, then, as you back up, start letting line out. The anchor will hit the bottom and the line will be let out loosely. After about 50' or so, stop letting line out and keep backing up slowly (1 in reverse at idle) until the bow jerks toward the line. This is setting the anchor 1 time. Begin to let line out again as you continue to back. After another 25' or so, stop letting line out, with only 1 engine in reverse. Boat will begin to turn. When bow snaps back to line boat up (fairly gently), begin to let line out. Set it one more time, then use it to stop your backing when you get to your desired location/scope.

Don't try to set your anchor without any line out. It will lift/drag the anchor like you were anchoring with no scope. Hope this helps.

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