Moving up to a 420

1000islander

1000islander

Member
Jul 9, 2007
115
1000 Islands
Boat Info
420 Sundancer
Engines
Cummins
Just made an offer on an '05 420. I will be purchasing it from my marina who is a sea ray dealer. I bought my 340 from them. The 420 is in perfect condition and has the 480c diesels. Nearly every option too. I was wounder if anyone has any advise or comments on the 420.
 
I also moved up from a 04 340 to a new 44 last march and have been very happy with everything so far. I would say that a hardtop and cockpit ac is a must have. I added a camper canvas so the cockpit is totally enclosed. I am in a covered slip so in the summer the ac in the cockpit does a pretty good job keeping us cool. In the winter the heat in the cockpit is more than adequate even on the coldest days.
 
Bluebelly, talk to me about your 44, We're thinking about one but not until they have the zeus drives completly fool proof and the hull to match it.... What do you like about this boat and what would you change?

Robert
 
It has both the hard top and cocpit A/C. We are located in the northeast so the A/C should be fine. I have read that it seems to be a bit undersized in the southern climate. I know the previous owners of the boat and they just loved it....they are moving up to a 48.
 
bluebelly said:
I also moved up from a 04 340 to a new 44 last march and have been very happy with everything so far. I would say that a hardtop and cockpit ac is a must have. I added a camper canvas so the cockpit is totally enclosed. I am in a covered slip so in the summer the ac in the cockpit does a pretty good job keeping us cool. In the winter the heat in the cockpit is more than adequate even on the coldest days.
Click to expand...

Would you share a picture of your camper back? Thanks.
 
Boltman,

I actually had the opportunity last April to see Cummins/Mercruiser in action testing the new zeus system in Charleston. The boat was of course a standard hull 44 that was rigged to the pod system. I liked what I saw when docking. They were also actually testing the ability of the pods to "sacrifice" themselves when striking underwater objects. They had a test hull weighted with what I believe was concrete so as to approximate the actual weight of a 44 dancer. They were then using this "crash" boat to strike some kind of underwater object and then they would rebuild and do it all over again. The damage to the hull was surprising. I believe that there could be enough damage done to a hull as to require considerable structure repairs so that the boat may never be the same. My first thoughts of the system were positive mostly because of the software that allows the thrust vectoring when docking. However after seeing what was going on under the hull, I could not help think how this system is really no different from a traditional inboard/outboard, as in a lot of exposed hardware that is suspect to damage and marine growth. I think that people are just excited about the prospects of a new propulsion system since there really have not been any advances in this area for years. As far as what I would change, I would not change anything. We are very happy with the layout and features. Based on the experience of a couple of my friends, colored hulls may be a problem when the boat has some age on it.

Hope this helps
 
1000islander said:
Just made an offer on an '05 420. I will be purchasing it from my marina who is a sea ray dealer. I bought my 340 from them. The 420 is in perfect condition and has the 480c diesels. Nearly every option too. I was wounder if anyone has any advise or comments on the 420.
Click to expand...

My advice: Enjoy the heck out of it. I too moved from a 340 to a 2005 - 420DA and what a difference it is. We spend almost every weekend in the summer on it in Lake Erie and it has been an absolute joy to own and operate. You will love the diesels.

One really dumb thing that I found is the Raymarine VHF radio is always on...and when it gets an emergency call from another radio it goes crazy...whether you're on the boat or not. This setting is not changeable and neither is the volume of the alert.

My solution for now is to unplug the fuse for it...I intend on wiring it to the 'electronics' switch later this summer.

Other than that...a great boat.
 
How funny is it that everyone jumped from the same size boat. My 2 cents is I wouldnt change a thing. We go away for 2 weeks at a pop in the summer and have zero complaints. Rivers , bays oceans ...... she tames them all.....


Good luck wit hthe boat and yes please post camper pics.


All the best

Rob
 
We had a very lengthy 420DA thread last year-recommend searching and you will get lots of useful info. I have put about 310 hours on my 03 420DA in the two years I have owned it and love the boat.

Skip
 
Rob,
I started a new job in October. Supervising 200 employees, 80 of whom are in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our business is also growing very quickly. As a result I have been on the road a lot. Has been hard on the family and I plan to throttle back a bit.
We cut the shrink wrap on Truly Blessed II next Saturday; plan to burn some diesel over Spring Break.

regards
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