marqbloq
New Member
Hello forum members, I thought I would take a moment to fill you in on my first impressions of the 2007 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer. There are others on the board who surely will contribute their first impressions too and this hopefully will make for some good reading.
My new 320 which was put to water on Friday the 23rd of March is a decently equipped boat with notable features including twin engine 350 Horizon V-drive power plants, bow thruster, soft top, central vacuum, Raymarine GPS-chartplotter-radar, wide-screen TV and cockpit icemaker. On the next day, Saturday, I spent time with a certified 100 ton Captain which my dealer provided for orientation up to 8 hours though I only used about 4 (the other 4 I may or may not use). Then on Sunday my family and I went out for a 2 hour round-the-island cruise to exercise the new boat.
It is important to know my background just a bit; I came from a single engine 280 Sundancer and previous to that a 220 Sundeck so I have never piloted a twin engine boat before for any length of time. What a difference! In close quarter maneuvering there is no doubt the twins have a major advantage even without the bow thruster. The 320 was a pleasure to operate and the inboards were smooth as silk. Strangely enough I was surprised that the boat did not feel very big, certainly not what I thought it would feel like stepping up from a 280 that is. In fact, the overall feeling was that of still being on a pocket cruiser; up until the point of running her on plane at cruise. You knew you were on a big boat then!
My dealer in Portland (Trudeau’s Sea Ray) did an excellent job preparing and fitting the boat. We only had one real issue last weekend and that was the GPS stopped working. Come to find out it was a bad antennae cable connector and they promptly replaced it. There were a few other issues like the soft top was damaged from shipping but that is on order and there were several blemishes, but nothing major. As I mentioned in a previous blog I had the bottom repainted with Pettit Trinidad SR (2 gallons) because the factory bottom paint is known to be of poor quality and longevity. We also added the upgraded deep cycle gel cells (all 4) which I hope will be worth the additional cost over time. All in all, the boat was wonderfully built by a crew at Sea Ray that obviously takes great pride in their workmanship; I am very impressed with the fit and finish (and I “really†looked hard for poor quality)!
So what did I like best about the boat? This will surprise you I am sure; it is the soft top. Yes, that is the coolest part of the boat by far. I love the additional length front and rear, the wonderful look, the “no rattle†construction, the clean visibility without any stanchions, the 3†drip overhangs all around and the way it leaves more exposed white arch over the top. It just looks fabulous and for the ~$2000 retail up-charge it is worth it! Granted I live in rain country so that may be partially the reason I love it so much, but boy do I love it! My second favorite feature, yep, you guessed it, the bow thruster. And the reason for that is probably more than anything else, is that I love toys. Do you need one; no, but do I like it, heck yes! I suppose I should add a third item here too that I like, and that would be the ultra smooth shifting ZF transmissions. They are so silky smooth I can only describe it as somewhat sensual. The amazing low end torque too isn’t bad either. Oh yes, I just have to boast about all the great storage; thank you Sea Ray!
What’s on the flip side? What are the things I already dislike? That is easy and the number one item is that cabin sofa and table. Give me a dinette anytime please, and in fact I dislike it so much I already am thinking about paying a custom shop to take it out and build me a dinette. No other item on the boat comes close to the cabin sofa. Another area I immediately recognized as a negative is the mid cabin lounge. Not that I don’t like it but that it is not long enough for my 5’11†body to sleep on because it is too short to lay down straight. The new 310 Sundancer has a longer one. I guess the large fuel tank is what kills that spaces potential. Finally the other item of contention is the disappointing built in coffee pot (slash microwave). That was a huge error in judgment if you ask me. First of all let me tell you I do not like combo appliances (esp. tv/DVD’s) and this is a really bad combination.
Well that is more than enough for one blog but I do plan to write an ongoing string around the same general subject and another where I compare the 280 Sundancer to the 320 titled “Do you really need to move up?†My sincere thanks to Sea Ray for building what seems to be another truly outstanding sport cruiser and one which I am sure will give me, my family and friends years of pleasure! I never would have believed it, but Sea Ray kept me from jumping over to Formula (now there is a feat).
Cheers Mates,
Marqus
My new 320 which was put to water on Friday the 23rd of March is a decently equipped boat with notable features including twin engine 350 Horizon V-drive power plants, bow thruster, soft top, central vacuum, Raymarine GPS-chartplotter-radar, wide-screen TV and cockpit icemaker. On the next day, Saturday, I spent time with a certified 100 ton Captain which my dealer provided for orientation up to 8 hours though I only used about 4 (the other 4 I may or may not use). Then on Sunday my family and I went out for a 2 hour round-the-island cruise to exercise the new boat.
It is important to know my background just a bit; I came from a single engine 280 Sundancer and previous to that a 220 Sundeck so I have never piloted a twin engine boat before for any length of time. What a difference! In close quarter maneuvering there is no doubt the twins have a major advantage even without the bow thruster. The 320 was a pleasure to operate and the inboards were smooth as silk. Strangely enough I was surprised that the boat did not feel very big, certainly not what I thought it would feel like stepping up from a 280 that is. In fact, the overall feeling was that of still being on a pocket cruiser; up until the point of running her on plane at cruise. You knew you were on a big boat then!
My dealer in Portland (Trudeau’s Sea Ray) did an excellent job preparing and fitting the boat. We only had one real issue last weekend and that was the GPS stopped working. Come to find out it was a bad antennae cable connector and they promptly replaced it. There were a few other issues like the soft top was damaged from shipping but that is on order and there were several blemishes, but nothing major. As I mentioned in a previous blog I had the bottom repainted with Pettit Trinidad SR (2 gallons) because the factory bottom paint is known to be of poor quality and longevity. We also added the upgraded deep cycle gel cells (all 4) which I hope will be worth the additional cost over time. All in all, the boat was wonderfully built by a crew at Sea Ray that obviously takes great pride in their workmanship; I am very impressed with the fit and finish (and I “really†looked hard for poor quality)!
So what did I like best about the boat? This will surprise you I am sure; it is the soft top. Yes, that is the coolest part of the boat by far. I love the additional length front and rear, the wonderful look, the “no rattle†construction, the clean visibility without any stanchions, the 3†drip overhangs all around and the way it leaves more exposed white arch over the top. It just looks fabulous and for the ~$2000 retail up-charge it is worth it! Granted I live in rain country so that may be partially the reason I love it so much, but boy do I love it! My second favorite feature, yep, you guessed it, the bow thruster. And the reason for that is probably more than anything else, is that I love toys. Do you need one; no, but do I like it, heck yes! I suppose I should add a third item here too that I like, and that would be the ultra smooth shifting ZF transmissions. They are so silky smooth I can only describe it as somewhat sensual. The amazing low end torque too isn’t bad either. Oh yes, I just have to boast about all the great storage; thank you Sea Ray!
What’s on the flip side? What are the things I already dislike? That is easy and the number one item is that cabin sofa and table. Give me a dinette anytime please, and in fact I dislike it so much I already am thinking about paying a custom shop to take it out and build me a dinette. No other item on the boat comes close to the cabin sofa. Another area I immediately recognized as a negative is the mid cabin lounge. Not that I don’t like it but that it is not long enough for my 5’11†body to sleep on because it is too short to lay down straight. The new 310 Sundancer has a longer one. I guess the large fuel tank is what kills that spaces potential. Finally the other item of contention is the disappointing built in coffee pot (slash microwave). That was a huge error in judgment if you ask me. First of all let me tell you I do not like combo appliances (esp. tv/DVD’s) and this is a really bad combination.
Well that is more than enough for one blog but I do plan to write an ongoing string around the same general subject and another where I compare the 280 Sundancer to the 320 titled “Do you really need to move up?†My sincere thanks to Sea Ray for building what seems to be another truly outstanding sport cruiser and one which I am sure will give me, my family and friends years of pleasure! I never would have believed it, but Sea Ray kept me from jumping over to Formula (now there is a feat).
Cheers Mates,
Marqus
