Need opinions on a 1983 Sea Ray 340 FB

[270win]

Update FWIW-
I had a long conversation with the Admiral this morning. She is interested in a much bigger boat...her stipulation is that it has to be nice with working gen and AC. So anyway, maybe it is a matter of finding the right boat.

Best of luck to you again.

 

[Rixram]

Update FWIW-
I had a long conversation with the Admiral this morning. She is interested in a much bigger boat...her stipulation is that it has to be nice with working gen and AC. So anyway, maybe it is a matter of finding the right boat.

Best of luck to you again.

Okay, that is kinda funny. I had a long talk with the missus last night. She is not objecting to the notion of a larger
Boat. I showed her pix of what I had in mind, and she was not disgusted. Keep in mind that although those sound like negative words, this represents a sizeable improvement.
I overheard her telling a friend tonight about the bigger one, and she even sounded moderately upbeat about it. Keep in mind that most thing put her into anxiety-mode, so this is very good.

 

[270win]

Okay, that is kinda funny. I had a long talk with the missus last night. She is not objecting to the notion of a larger
Boat. I showed her pix of what I had in mind, and she was not disgusted. Keep in mind that although those sound like negative words, this represents a sizeable improvement.
I overheard her telling a friend tonight about the bigger one, and she even sounded moderately upbeat about it. Keep in mind that most thing put her into anxiety-mode, so this is very good.

You never know, this could be a newfound source of relaxation for her. Fingers crossed!

 

[ZZ13]

My two cents: If your spouse doesn't have the boating gene, then don't try to buy a boat that you think will convert her. It's probably not going to happen. Get a boat that you can handle and enjoy solo.

 

[dpmulvey]

I am writing this and in no way trying to be offensive.


To me, 34 feet and limited budget are mutually exclusive. A friend has an older 53 Hatt. He tells me that minus the payments, the cost is the same as a new 53 Hatt, possibly more because of the age of the systems. He is a licensed 6 pak captain and does all his own maintenance and he's a live aboard.


Unless you you want to be married to the boat, it's something to consider. Using me as an example, it costs me $6K a year to NOT use the boat. That's just to have it sit in the slip. Let's figure 50 hours a year in usage. For the sake of argument, we'll say 1/2 on plane and 1/2 at hull speed. That's 25 hours * 22 GPH * $4.00 per gallon = $2200 in fuel on plane. Figure another $3-400 or so at hull speed so we're up to a conservative $2500 in fuel alone. Oh, add another $100 to run the gennie. That doesn't take into a account the mess in the Middle East that could make $4.00 a gallon look cheap.


General maintenance on the engines DIY figure $100 per engine per year.....until your manifolds and risers go south, then it's about $1K per engine.


I figure in the overall scheme of things, it's going to cost me roughly $100 per hour above the $6K it costs not to move it out of the slip, every time I take the boat out if all goes well above.


If after looking at it as in investment you are willing to make, go for it. As ZZ13 wisely stated, if your wife does not have the boating gene.......

 

[Rixram]

Gents,

I appreciate the honest feedback. I do understand that "inexpensive" and "340" don't belong i the same sentence. In the meantime, I have pursued alternate possibilities. I spent part of this afternoon running a compression test on a SR DA 300. It was going well, until I got to the #2 cylinder on the second (Port) engine, where it only rang up 28 psi after 3 verified good attempts. I have enough projects on my plate, even though I could have picked up an 89 30" DA for $6,500. Adding a sick engine to the equation equals a summer not spent on the water.

At this point, DPMulvey & ZZ13, I understand that there is a likelihood that it'll be just me & the kids on the boat. I am hoping that she (the wife) will find comfort in the water, and possibly a hobby (she really doesn't have any to speak of, unless you count using a treadmill and worrying about having a heart attack for absolutely no reason "hobbies").

So the 89 300 DA is not a reasonable solution. Next up is a 1986 SR SRV270 with twin 470s. If you recall, I am interested in efficiency, not speed. The 470s answer that bell, plus have the alternator mods installed. The boat has a 10' beam, so that is definitely a wider stance; maybe not as much as I'd wanted, but certainly better. The accommodations & electronics appear to have been updated. The price of operation and acquisition are reasonable. Oh, and I can get a mooring at the Naval Station for 230/mo, so super thrifty there, and I have space to store in the winter at home.

Next stop is to find the SRV270 thread to see if the owners have anything nice to say. The wife still maintains that she is willing to try boating again, so we will see if it'll be me & the kids, or all four of us heading out and whatever we land on.

 

[270win]

Gents,

I appreciate the honest feedback. I do understand that "inexpensive" and "340" don't belong i the same sentence. In the meantime, I have pursued alternate possibilities. I spent part of this afternoon running a compression test on a SR DA 300. It was going well, until I got to the #2 cylinder on the second (Port) engine, where it only rang up 28 psi after 3 verified good attempts. I have enough projects on my plate, even though I could have picked up an 89 30" DA for $6,500. Adding a sick engine to the equation equals a summer not spent on the water.

At this point, DPMulvey & ZZ13, I understand that there is a likelihood that it'll be just me & the kids on the boat. I am hoping that she (the wife) will find comfort in the water, and possibly a hobby (she really doesn't have any to speak of, unless you count using a treadmill and worrying about having a heart attack for absolutely no reason "hobbies").

So the 89 300 DA is not a reasonable solution. Next up is a 1986 SR SRV270 with twin 470s. If you recall, I am interested in efficiency, not speed. The 470s answer that bell, plus have the alternator mods installed. The boat has a 10' beam, so that is definitely a wider stance; maybe not as much as I'd wanted, but certainly better. The accommodations & electronics appear to have been updated. The price of operation and acquisition are reasonable. Oh, and I can get a mooring at the Naval Station for 230/mo, so super thrifty there, and I have space to store in the winter at home.

Next stop is to find the SRV270 thread to see if the owners have anything nice to say. The wife still maintains that she is willing to try boating again, so we will see if it'll be me & the kids, or all four of us heading out and whatever we land on.

The 270 is a great platform. Do a survey. Several here have done rotten transom/stringer projects. But the boats are big and well layed out. The 470's have a less than stellar reputation. I know speed isn't a concern, and I'm sure someone with real world experience can chime in, but that sounds marginally powered to me. We looked at an old 260DA with 470's and it was okay but definitely not over powered. The 270 is considerably more boat.

Good to see you still pressing on.

 

[Rixram]

The owner is stating the engines are the 190 version of the 470s, so it could be extra power there. But until I put eyes on it, I'm presuming he could be mistaken and have twin 170 HP.

Good call on the survey/

 

[mperlst216]

I have had that 470 engine, and would never buy one again. Nothing but problems with constant overheating and burned out voltage regulators. Great on gas but that was it.

 

[Rixram]

I have had that 470 engine, and would never buy one again. Nothing but problems with constant overheating and burned out voltage regulators. Great on gas but that was it.

Did yours have the 3" or 4" diameter heat exchanger? The 3" ones were notorious for overheating under more exhuberant use of the throttle.

Isn't there a mod to fix the voltage regulators?

Edit:
There is: replace the stator and water-cooled voltage regulator with a standard alternator (with built in VR).

 

[Rixram]

Ruled out the SRV270 yesterday. Finally got a pro out to assess the engines/drives. His concernes were all about the drives, and equated to his recommendation being that I should run away, while screaming like a little girl.

Now interested in a backup listing for an 88' 300 Weekender. A few of you above recommended against drives and for straight inboards. I'll check one out to see if I am okay with losing that space.

But what was really interesting is that the Mrs. went with me to look at this one. The interior was pretty nice. Several times she seemed quite enthusiastic about the space. I'm confident in saying that she appeared to feel secure on the larger sized vessel.

Interesting...