long trip wanting to take on sea-ray 330

[bil0753]

hi new to this site , i have a question for anyone out there .i am planning to take a trip to the Caribbean in my 1998 330 express sea ray motors are twin 454 gasoline. starting out in virginia beach ,VA thinking about taking the intercoastal waterway down to florida. or possible running down on the atlantic permitting weather conditions. has anyone ever made a long trip on this size of boat and question i have also is how much would it cost me on fuel . when i get to the caribbean thinking about going to dominican republic ,st thomas. any information would be appreciated thanks ...

 

[Hampton]

I honestly don't know if that is even possible, but from VA to Fl to the Bahamas is a reasonable, though long, cruise.

If I were you, I would plan to average about 15 mph inside the ICW (wake zones) and average about 1.2 mpg inside. When running, I would plan more like .8 mpg and 25 mph. If you wanted to just plan for 1 mpg with plenty of reserve, that would be good until you got a better feel for your boat's fuel use. Plan on about $3.50/gallon. Some will be better, some will be worse.

We cruised from W Palm to Panama City in 4 days in a 340, and we plan to go to Key West and back for about a 30 day cruise. The first one was 700 miles. The next one will be 1250 miles or so.

Map it out on google earth and see what kind of mileage you're talking about.

 

[CIC25]

It's do able but! The question is what condition is the boat in and same question applies to you and your crew? Have you ever traveled with this boat before?

 

[northern]

We have the same engines as you. Based on west coat boating and going to Alaska I feel our boat is as small as you want to go. Been to the carabean as tourist and I would not take my boat out there. If you get into weather you will need to go fast and you can expect to burn 40 GPH. If you get 6 foot waves and the tops blow off it will be a rough ride.

 

[tobnpr]

The Bahamas is no big deal from the FL east coast, but you're going to need a bigger, preferably diesel boat to do the kind of cruising you're talking about.
With a 200 gallon capacity and the 1/3 reserve "rule", you've got around 140 gallons of fuel to burn which is good for 100-120 miles. Not going to cut it. Looks like some of the open water crossings are close to 200 miles, but you'd need to chart it all out, including fuel availability/stops.

No disrespect, but the nature of the question would lead me to respectfully suggest you learn to walk- before you run. Gain some navigation experience with the run south and to the Bahamas before you try such an ambitious crossing. Navigation in the islands is not for the novice- and I think you'd be in way over your head if you chartplotter took a dump halfway between the Turks and the DR.

 

[VinceR]

We took an 829-mile cruise. We cruised against a river current for 323 miles. Averaged 16 mph for 7 days in our 340. Burned 1120 gallons. We got .74 miles per gallon.

SEA RAY 340​

2001​

PERFORMANCE​

“WILD RICE”​

TWIN 454 MPI​

​

Speeds by GPS
Fuel Flows by computer connected to engines.

RANGE IS 215 GALLONS

RPM MPH GPH MPG RANGE

700 3.9 2.0 1.95 419

1000 6.0 3.6 1.66 358

1200 6.8 4.4 1.55 333

1500 7.9 7.0 1.13 242

2000 12.4

2500 18.6

3000 16.9 24.0 .70 150

3200 20.5 26.6 .77 164

3400 24.1 30.6 .79 168

3500 25.0 31.0 .80 172

3600 26.4 33.4 .79 170

3800 28.0 34.8 .80 172

4000 29.5 38.0 .77 164

4300 32.6 47.6 .68 147

 

[northern]

I assume you have taken a boating course and know how to paper plot a course. When we go north we run on a chart ploter and have an other system on standby we also print off the route each day and have a hand held GPS. If one system goes down you have an alternate and if that goes we can do it all by hand. In 6+ foot waves you have no time to fix a system. We also have an emergency waterproof kit with GPS, VHF radio, flairs, throw line, flash light and small sea anchor. 6 foot waves are scary when you can not see land.

 

[rcknecht]

What about Pirates???:wow: I have friends that have sailed in the Caribbean, and they bring machine guns and travel in groups... I would not make that trip alone...

 

[chuck1]

What about Pirates???:wow: I have friends that have sailed in the Caribbean, and they bring machine guns and travel in groups... I would not make that trip alone...

What Pirates???

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QrsNqIy2WU[/youtube]

Have no idea why this came up when I was searching for pirates, but it is some great surfing.:huh:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M80mwMmv074[/YOUTUBE]

 

[dpmulvey]

I brought Saint Max up from Beaufort, NC to Virginia. That trip alone cost me over 2K in fuel.

 

[rcknecht]

Chuck, Loved the Capt Ron clip... :thumbsup:But there are Pirates in Caribbean, not as many Somalia, or the Malacca Striats.... the other video... was cool and hot...:wow::smt101

 

[chuck1]

Yep, just giving you a hard time. The really like boats that can do a quick drug run then sink/abandon her.

 

[Good 2 Go]

I ran my 340 with 8.1 gas engines from the upper Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk and back last summer, 500 miles, 556 gallons of fuel, average burn of .89. My cruise speed is usually 28 mph unless the chop is up then I back it down to 24-25 mph.

For what you are talking about I would want bigger and diesel. I have chartered sailboats in the BVI several times and once outside the protection of the islands 6 - 8 foot rollers are not uncommon. I had a 41' the first trip and had waves breaking over the bow when sailing. A different deal than power but if a 41' is punching the bow into waves wouldn't want to be in there in my 340. My humble opinion.

 

[Away Point]

We took an 829-mile cruise. We cruised against a river current for 323 miles. Averaged 16 mph for 7 days in our 340. Burned 1120 gallons. We got .74 miles per gallon.

SEA RAY 340
2001
PERFORMANCE
“WILD RICE”
TWIN 454 MPI
​

Speeds by GPS
Fuel Flows by computer connected to engines.

RANGE IS 215 GALLONS

RPM MPH GPH MPG RANGE

700 3.9 2.0 1.95 419

1000 6.0 3.6 1.66 358

1200 6.8 4.4 1.55 333

1500 7.9 7.0 1.13 242

2000 12.4

2500 18.6

3000 16.9 24.0 .70 150

3200 20.5 26.6 .77 164

3400 24.1 30.6 .79 168

3500 25.0 31.0 .80 172

3600 26.4 33.4 .79 170

3800 28.0 34.8 .80 172

4000 29.5 38.0 .77 164

4300 32.6 47.6 .68 147

This is very interesting, as our boat is similar. `98 330, 7.4's, v-drives.

While I haven't done any precise measuring as you have, I have tried running in the same rpm range between fill-ups to get a feel for mpg. 2,900, 3,000, 3,200 all yield very very close to the same -- 1 mpg.

Never tried running above 3,200, as I'd have never guessed that greater mpg could result.

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

 

[Good 2 Go]

Two things to note, Sea Ray redid the 340 hull in 2003 and went with a 4 blade prop, at least with the 8.1 370 HP engines. 6.2s were also an option but I didn't hear good things about the package when I was shopping and don't like underpowered boats so went with 8.1s. Guessing between the new hull and the extra torque of the 8.1s vs the 7.4s they can handle the 4 blade that I've heard makes a big difference.

My optimal cruise using Smart Craft and GPS is 3400 to 3550 RPM, .9 MPG throughout that range, usually 28 MPH +-. So unless the bay chop is up it purrs along at 3400 to 3500 RPM all day long and 'feels right'. If I back down to 3200 rpm my MPG drops to .8 MPG and the boat feels like it's dogging, too much boat in the water I'm guessing? In steep chop I do back it off to 3200 rpm to avoid pounding the crap out boat and crew, 24 - 25 MPH.

BTW, love the 8.1s, just don't break them, I hear parts are big time expensive.

 

[Good 2 Go]

BTW, on the bay trip I described I always ran either with or on an ebb tide, almost never against the tide. That can make a big difference, sometimes meant 6 AM start times to make it happen but well worth it for efficiency and also better water to run in.

 

[HUMPH]

The longest trip we have planned is from the Delta to Monterey which is about 150 miles and going down the coast we will never be more than a mile or so from shore. The Admiral would not be happy without land clearly visable! :smt009

 

[Oar Play]

Don't tell Al Gore!

 

[Good 2 Go]

Hey I like what someone's signature says, 'Warming the earth one tank at a time'. I also think everyone else should drive hybrids to make sure we all have enough gas for out boats.

 

[chazaroo]

Given that the Dominican Republic shares the island with Haiti, there is one change you need to make before you make this trip. Trade your 330 in on a destroyer.