I may be leaving the world of Sea Ray :(

P

Pakmule

Member
Mar 18, 2007
674
St. Albans, VT
Boat Info
310 Sundancer 2000
Engines
350 Mercruiser w/V-Drives
I have decided that, after $6000 in fixes, that I made a major mistake buying my '87 270 and I am going to pull the plug before it gets uglier. I have tried to find a low hour Sea Ray in my price range but I may have to go the Doral or Maxum route to get a fairly late model boat with the features and engine hours I want.

I feel bad.
 
Sorry to hear that.
PM Slack250. I'm not sure if his 250DA is still available. He's in TX too. He sent me pictures, it's a very clean boat and sounds like it's in great shape.
 
I am probably living in fantasy land but here is what I want...

1995 or newer, I'd prefer 2000 or newer
29' -30' LOA with 10' beam
500 hours or less
Fresh water boat
Heat and AC
Windlass
Genset would be a nice to have
Aft cabin
Camper canvas

I want to spend 50kish.
 
Yup. There maybe some fantasy here.

I think if you start looking older than 1997, you have to budget serious money (and pain) for engine work. I mean. . .10 years is still ten years. And twin engines are pretty much twice the maintenance as a single.

Clearly, the depreciation curve is steep.. . .and for 50K, it will be hard to get a 29DA or 30DA newer than 1997. Have you done any research on Yachtworld.com or similar sits to understand what reasonable pricing would be?
 
I have been living on boattraderonline and yachtworld for the last week. Finding a Sea Ray for that price is pretty much impossible but I have found several other brands that I might be able to squeeze into the budget (when I say 50kish I mean 50k-60k) if I catch someone desperate at the end of the season.

If I wait until the spring, my budget may go up.
 
I don't think you you are living in a fantansy land at all. I've read a lot of advice on buying and selling boats on this board. The best piece of advice I have gotten, and I haven't had a chance to try it out, is to make an offer on a boat you want and write a check and send it in. Dangling money in their face makes you a serious buyer, but if you don't get what you want, then walk away. I have talked to several people here, friends of mine and I've read on other boards who have done that exact thing and the success rate seems high. We boat in different areas, but there are several 290's in my area in your price range that meet your criteria, for example:

1997 290DA w/ gen. twin 4.3 10' 2" beam, 310 hours windlass asking 49,900

And about 4 or 5 others asking from 45k to 69k that are about the same in a 500 radius of St. Louis. If you like Sea Rays enough, don't get discouraged, I have also learned patience when it comes to buying a new boat. Something will come up and if you are in the position to buy, make an offer and see what happens. I think you'll be surprised.
 
I don't think owning a SeaRay is a requirement for membership, is it?
 
I don't think owning a SeaRay is a requirement for membership, is it?javascript:emoticon(':huh:')
javascript:emoticon(':huh:')
 
I don't think owning a SeaRay is a requirement for membership, is it?
':huh:'
 
I don't think owning a SeaRay is a requirement for membership, is it?
':huh:'
 
50-60Kis a lot of money and will get you a very nice sea Ray if you are a savvy buyer. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
take your time, finding one is surely a good time and it sure beats trying to sell one. Prove the age old theorem wrong for once--that it takes 5-6 times longer to sell a boat than to buy one.
 
take your time, finding one is surely a good time and it sure beats trying to sell one. Prove the age old theorem wrong for once--that it takes 5-6 times longer to sell a boat than to buy one.

anybody getting debug notices when they go to submit msgs now?
 
take your time, finding one is surely a good time and it sure beats trying to sell one. Prove the age old theorem wrong for once--that it takes 5-6 times longer to sell a boat than to buy one.

anybody getting debug notices when they go to submit msgs now?
 
Hey unklbuck,

You ever heard of vowels? A-E-I-O-U and sometimes Y. They work great in words.... should try them sometime. K?
 
A_E_I_O_U--got it....sorry about that....thought those were some special dockline handling instructions chirped out by boat owners insisting their lines are handled in VIP fashion.
 
Head east

Check out the classifieds at winnipesaukee.com, it's only a 150 miles and there are a lot of boats for sale on the lake. Prices are very soft. Also check out the boat dealer links, Irwin Marine has quite a few used Searays there. There is a 1995 300 Sundancer on their site for under 46K.
 
Re: Head east

jrcinnh said:
duplicate post because I got an error message on the first one, and on the second one for that matter.

BTW Pak Irwin also has a 2000 Maxum 300 for around 50K
Click to expand...

hehe, yeah I spent the day in the Laconia area yesterday. Wow, that Maxum is a piece of garbage. I was afraid to touch anything for fear it would break off in my hand. I also looked at some mid 90s Sea Rays but to be honest, there is not much difference in the condition of a mid 90s compared to my current '87.

I walked through a very nice Doral. They definitely do some interesting things with their cockpits. I would actually consider getting one. At this point I am going to try and work through the overheating problem on the 270 and try to save up for a better boat and keep looking for that mythical 2001 290 for 50k.
 
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