Newby from Colorado

Craig Phillips

New Member
Aug 20, 2018
7
Crested Butte, CO
Boat Info
Boatless
Engines
Boatless
Hello,

My wife and I are from Crested Butte, CO. We are looking for a SR in the San Diego area where our son got his first job out of grad school. Back in the 80's we sailed a few years and then bought a 30' power boat while living in Houston and kept it for 5 years. Since then we were overseas for over 20 years and only had a Hobie Cat in Saudi. I always wanted to spend more time on the water and at 70, it is either now or never. We are very interested in the SR Motor Yacht. We have found a 39 MY that interests us greatly, and we are interested in your feedback. Any comments on the MY design? How do they hold their value? Is getting back into boating at the age of 70 a bit late (I am in good shape skiing 50-70 days a year and mountain bike the rest of the year)? We have a Cummins powered Diesel Pusher motor home that we will sell if we buy the MY and would want to go with a pair of Cummins diesel with a boat too. We would appreciate your feedback.

Thanks,

Craig
 
I can't help you with your questions but wanted to welcome you to CSR.
 
Hello,

My wife and I are from Crested Butte, CO. We are looking for a SR in the San Diego area where our son got his first job out of grad school. Back in the 80's we sailed a few years and then bought a 30' power boat while living in Houston and kept it for 5 years. Since then we were overseas for over 20 years and only had a Hobie Cat in Saudi. I always wanted to spend more time on the water and at 70, it is either now or never. We are very interested in the SR Motor Yacht. We have found a 39 MY that interests us greatly, and we are interested in your feedback. Any comments on the MY design? How do they hold their value? Is getting back into boating at the age of 70 a bit late (I am in good shape skiing 50-70 days a year and mountain bike the rest of the year)? We have a Cummins powered Diesel Pusher motor home that we will sell if we buy the MY and would want to go with a pair of Cummins diesel with a boat too. We would appreciate your feedback.

Thanks,

Craig
We just bought a 40 foot Motor Yacht and love it ! My husband will be 75 this year. We are going to boat as long as we can . We feel, it keeps you "young" to keep doing what you love.
 
Thank you for your input. It is good to know that others at our age are still ready to take on new challenges. Good on you. Ever since turning 70 earlier this year I feel totally compelled to be out there on the water. As I said before, it is either now or never.

I have a question on a the Sea Ray MY. I love the MY, but I am starting to wonder if the MY might be a bit confining in that the only areas truly outside are on the bow and the aft portion of the fly bridge. What do you think? The MY provides a fantastic interior that would be quite comfortable for general living conditions since we will be staying on the boat for a few months each time we go to San Diego. Also, the MY has great views from the main saloon. Have you found the stairs an issue in getting in and around the boat?

An alternative is the Sea Ray Sundancer where you enter on the main level and there is lots of space outside. We were originally going to buy a sail boat, but the cramped cockpit with all the living space being down below with no views was an issue. The Sundance has the same issues as far as going down below with no views, but down below is much better and nicer in a Sundancer than a sailboat. Also, entering the boat at the main level with all the space on that upper level is very compelling.

The last aspect in buying this boat is the demand at the time we want to sell. There appear to be few MY's available. Is there a strong demand for the Sea Ray MY? There are lots of Sundancers, but what is the supply/demand of the Sundancer vs. the MY. Any comments will be appreciated.
 
Thank you for your input. It is good to know that others at our age are still ready to take on new challenges. Good on you. Ever since turning 70 earlier this year I feel totally compelled to be out there on the water. As I said before, it is either now or never.

I have a question on a the Sea Ray MY. I love the MY, but I am starting to wonder if the MY might be a bit confining in that the only areas truly outside are on the bow and the aft portion of the fly bridge. What do you think? The MY provides a fantastic interior that would be quite comfortable for general living conditions since we will be staying on the boat for a few months each time we go to San Diego. Also, the MY has great views from the main saloon. Have you found the stairs an issue in getting in and around the boat?

An alternative is the Sea Ray Sundancer where you enter on the main level and there is lots of space outside. We were originally going to buy a sail boat, but the cramped cockpit with all the living space being down below with no views was an issue. The Sundance has the same issues as far as going down below with no views, but down below is much better and nicer in a Sundancer than a sailboat. Also, entering the boat at the main level with all the space on that upper level is very compelling.

The last aspect in buying this boat is the demand at the time we want to sell. There appear to be few MY's available. Is there a strong demand for the Sea Ray MY? There are lots of Sundancers, but what is the supply/demand of the Sundancer vs. the MY. Any comments will be appreciated.

Feel free to text me. 651-five0three-22three6 I can try to answer all your Sea Ray questions....as I have some questions for you about Crested Butte. :)
 
Hey Craig ..welcome to CSR. What part of Saudi? I was there for two years In the 80’s with my family (dad worked for Union Carbide). We were up in Jubail. Coincidentally, one of my father’s business associates (and friends) whom he worked with in Saudi, started a little B&B in Crested Butte when we returned to this part of the world. We spent a few Christmases skiing with them out there in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Can’t remember the name of the place, but I’ll find out. Beautiful area and great mountain.

So far as DA (Sundancer) vs MY availability, Sea Ray has just made way more DA’s than MY’s. That’s likely why you see so many more on the market, although certain DA models are more difficult to come by than others.

What model/year of Sundancer were you thinking of?
 
Hi Mike and Mila,

We were working for Saudi Aramco in Dhahran from 1998 to 2010. I would love to know the name of the people who started the B&B in Crested Butte. My wife is starting an Expat women's club here in Crested Butte. We will look them up.

We are thinking of around a 2005 or so DA. At first we were thinking sailboat, but the cramped cockpit and steep companionway steps were the issues there. We then decided that we should buy a powerboat. We had a 30' Fly Bridge fisherman type boat in Houston years ago. We have also had a Diesel Pusher Motorhome for years and love all the amenities like generator, clothes washer/dryer .... Now that we have decided on a powerboat we were enthralled with the MY because of all those amenities, but feel that there is just too little outside are and some ups and down stairs to get around. Maybe too much windage too? However, the DA looks great. Much less windage and you enter directly onto the main deck with lots of outside area to enjoy. We will be heading back to San Diego soon to get the ball rolling again.

Thanks for the information.

Craig
 
It's never too late to get out on the water! Go for it! But everyone here as a bias towards boats, so take that with a grain of salt. My inlaws are each 71 and still love boating.

For type of boat selection, the stairs up and down of a flybridge may be a consideration for you.

I'm looking for a new boat also, and while much younger than you my wife has a medical condition that makes stairs very difficult for her. As result I effectively can't do a flybridge and thus have limited my search to single-level (sedan? coupe? express?) boats like a DA as a result. You may want to think about you and your wife's continued ability to do stairs. I also want to be able to single-hand my boat; despite not having driven a flybridge, I would think running up an down the stairs to grab dock lines would be difficult.

Just food for thought, and I don't know if it applies to the 2005-era DAs you're considering. I have a canvas top on my 270 AJ and had a camper back made. The standard fast back cover cut into the seating so it is basically not usable when the fastback in up. I also had blackout curtains made for it so we can enjoy a bit more privacy when sleeping out.
  1. Are you going to be able to use the outside seating area with the canvas up, or will you need a camper type back?
  2. With all the navy canvas and blackout curtains up and the soft top with no lights, it gets really dark at night (duh). I hang lanterns from the canvas framework but some permanent lighting from the top would brighten things up an make it bit better. May want to check this for post-sunset relaxation.
  3. How much AC do you need? I think a MY would have the indoor spaces air conditioned. A DA can have AC, but has less "indoor" space. I'm not sure if the larger DA models have an option for AC on the helm deck. If it's super hot there's less cool space where you can retreat.
 
Thank you b_arrington. That was very useful information, and many excellent points that we need to think about. The DA is nice because you do enter from the main deck. I do like the MY, but stairs up, stairs down and more stairs.

I am not sure if I totally understand the 'camper type back' and need to look into this.

As far as AC, we plan on spending summers and winters in the mountains and fall and spring in San Diego when the weather is not as warm. We were in San Diego this year from March through July and it got a little warm for us in June-July. However, San Diego is still not that bad even in July. We lived in Houston for about 4 years. Now Houston can get warm and humid, and we spent over 12 years in Saudi where the summers were intolerable. We want to avoid such conditions in the future.

While in Houston we had a 30' powerboat with a fly bridge. It always seemed that I preferred driving from above rather than down below. I was up and down the ladder while docking with little problems before, but I would not want to climb that ladder up to the fly bridge all the time now. The DA seems to be the best fit.

Thank you again,

Craig
 
Craig - here are some examples of camper back vs. fastback.

This is my "fastback" canvas - the standard canvas that came with the boat. The rear bench seat is not usable with it installed. The forward bimini top is used with both the camper and the fastback.
Aj 1.jpg


This is my custom-made "camper back" canvas. It increases the usable space when on the boat, and provides shade for the cockpit. The canvas attaches just above the grab handle above the name (same as the fastback). A good canvas shop can make a camper back for most any type of boat, if you decide it would be a good addition.
aj 4.JPG


This is a view of the inside with the camper back, and the rear window installed.
Aj 13 - Copy.jpg


And a few with full camper/windows, just the top, and the camper top folded. The camper back (sides, and the extended top) has made a HUGE difference in the usability of my boat.

Aj 38.jpg Aj 39.jpg Aj 40.jpg
 
Welcome aboard Captain. I just turned 64 and we just purchased our 7th boat. We have friends who are stepping down from a 54’ boat as they are both in their 70’s now and the larger boat just got to be more than they could handle. If stairs and having to move around the boat could be an issue this is one thing to consider. As others have stated we are going to boat as long as we can do it safely. My most recent purchase was from an 84 year old gentleman who was finally giving boating up. I was thrilled to keep the legacy of this great boat going.
 

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