Official 370 Sundancer thread

I'm with you. I was just a few years out of college in 1995 when the 370 came out. I was recently married, had been a home owner for just a few years and was on the second season with my first boat, a 22' Four Winns. I loved the boat when I first saw it, but at the time it was so far out of my reach financially that it was just pipe dream. I cut out the two page add Sea Ray ran for the boat in all the magazines with the tag line "therapy for your soul" and pinned it up on the wall of my cubical. 5 years ago, after about 5 promotions, three relocations, three kids and two other boats I finally bought a 1995 370. After 5 seasons I still love it and dont have any plans to part with it any time soon. I have spent the last 5 years tinkering with it and have probably serviced just about every system aboard at least once. It has a great balance of size and functionallity and even at 14 years old still looks very current.

 

Finally! I suggested this on several occasions, but had no takers.

I've learned a lot about this boat over the past couple of years. When it was time to move up, this model seemed to have all the right features. Coming from a bridge boat, the cockpit and helm are roomy and everyone can socialize while at anchor or underway. Accommodations are just right for us, heat, a/c, nice open salon, 2 tvs, icemaker, and galley that the admiral can prepare the meals she likes to cook. Plenty of power, fair economy and easy access for maintenance.

The hardest part for me once I settled on the model was which year. I created a database of every 370 that was listed on Yacht World for a year before I picked one. (And I maintained that list for about two years afterwards to see if I really did get that steal.) When you do that kind of research, you become acutely aware of the subtle differences. Gas or diesel, carbs or EFI, 7.4 or 8.1's, which electronics package, which color interior, high arch or low arch. And interestingly enough the pre-95 models are very similar in layout to the 95-98 models.

Ultimately, I settled on the '98 for the higher arch, the revised exhaust system, and a relatively rare maple interior. It also helped that the boat was a dock queen with only 150 hours on it and in perfect mechanical shape.

I could go on, but how many or us are here? There certainly are enough of these models around, we should have a good group.

Gene

 

We purchased our 95 last year after looking at several different boats over a few months trying to decide what did we want next...4 hours after viewing we sea trialed and handed over the check. The boat handles very well, plenty of room for our family, and great layout for entertaining. My wife had 2 requirements when we were looking, generator and AC/Heat, guess this fits the bill nicely. I also agree that the style of this model will look great for years to come. Always interested in pictures of upgrades that people have done. Thanks for starting the official thread!

 

Great thread, better then those political and financial threads. It seems most of us know what our next boat will be, when I had my '90 310DA, I knew my next boat would be a 370. Last year I started looking at 450DAs until a medical issue stopped that. I'm fine health wise now and started thinking about a 450 again.......... It would take my boat plus 100K or more, so for now I'm keeping it and plan on doing lots of upgrades to it. Some that I've done already are: new GPS, replaced the original TVs with flat screens, replaced the cockpit ice maker with a refrigerator, replaced the plastic cup holders and latches with stainless ones, new canvas (extended the rear canvas 2', so it does not have that goofy squared off look), new cockpit carpet with the upgraded backing, and of course all the regular maintenance stuff...........that's all I can think of right now. Project this winter is to replace the cabin carpet. I really like the 370DA, does not look outdated, yet, it has a big boat feel to it and can really handle the rough stuff well. I often take it out by myself and it is real easy to handle, sometimes around the dock it needs a little throttle. Engine access is great, I can maintain and fix just about everything on this boat myself. The arch is the correct height compared to the ones on the newer Sea Rays, they are entirley to high. I have no problem with this being a gas boat, however anything larger need diesels. Looking forward to seeing more posts on this thred.

John

 

We love our 370! Frank W. turned me onto it after a friend of his traded it in to our dealership. We have been VERY happy with everything about it. The Cats are great and make docking a breeze. Now if diesel prices would drop down life would be good.

We have a camper package on ours also. To avoid the station wagon look ours is more like an extended back cover. We also added 40mm windows from the windshield up. I think our next big upgrade will be new TV’s but I still haven’t made a decision on what type and where to put them.

 

Could you perhaps supply me with a few details about this?

Is this some type of plastic or did you just do a complete enclosure. I currently have the isonglass, but I ran across a thread once where someone mentioned enclosing with something else. I have been looking since then, but ot no avail., probably because I do not know the correct name to look for?

Thanks

 

Pseudomind,

The 40mm front windows are a polycarbonate called Makrolon. It's more clear than the windshield, but you can’t roll it up. To allow for ventilation in the cockpit we had the front center panel made so that it folds back and attaches to the arch while remaining zipped to the front arch bar on the canvas top. The rear factory canvas cover only extends 2 or 3 feet ours extends 7 feet and then there is a support bar that goes down to the hand rail across the transom locker. The angle of the support bar ends up the same at the as the arch so it looks more "factory."

 

Agree with all said before. Got our 1995 370 DA in June 2006 replacing a 91 310 DA (another great boat). I had a look at a 1996 370 in 2004 but we were not ready to spend that kind of money on a boat. May 2006 was a rainy month so we spent sometime looking at used boats. There were only two used 370 DA for sale(both with Merc 7.4) in our area at that time and one of them was in showroom condition. The admiral fell in love with it (..me too....). The owner had the cockpit icemaker replaced with a fridge and added a bow thruster just before winterizing the boat the year before. He fell in love with a 1999 400 DA in October 2005 and bought it, so he wanted to sell his 370 fast. I met him during summer 2006 and he admitted that even if he really liked his 400 DA he should have stayed with his 370 since the difference in size/equipment/sea experience was not that different VS the added $$$ he had to spend.

We really like our 370. We are two adults and a small dog and the cockpit and cabin size/equipment are very convenient for us. We replaced the camper canvas (we spend a lot of time in the cockpit, event when the weather is bad), the GPS/Radar (Raymarine C80), and we are planning to replace the old TV set in the cabin and add a plasma TV in the cockpit next year. The 370 DA looks so current that when I got it in 2006, many people on my dock though this was a new boat or a 2-3 years old one.

 

This is a great thread, guys. We sold our boat at the beginning of the summer and thought we'd get at 310 DA, then the Admiral settled on a 340 DA. Now I'm lusting after the 370 DA (~1998 vintage) solely because of the increased room around the engines. We had a 250 DA with 7.4L and it was a bruiser to work on -- literally.

Now we just need to have the economy turn upwards a bit and we'll join you!

 

If anybody is in the market for a very low hour 1996 370 DA that has always been in freshwater at a steal of a price, let me know. The boat belonged to a close friend of mine who recently passed due to cancer and the family says the boat has to go. Sad situation but somebody is going to get a great very clean boat.

 

I was really close to starting this! Thanks

I used to have a bunch of pix up in the "marina" gallery on all the mods I've done to mine, but it appears that we don't have much room anymore here.
Perhaps we can set up a pix site and just put link references to them here.

I've learned more from this board about my boat than the dealer would ever let go of.

One of my more radical moves was to remove the exhaust vent covers from the rear of the hull, and put non-skid on the moulded in "step". I can't tell you how comfortable it is to board from mid high docks without having to step over the coaming and usually onto the cockpit upholstry. The exhaust covers are the same cover as the vent for the cockpit ice maker in front of the passenger seat. I bent them around a piling for a perfect match of the radius !


Jon knows all about it!

 

Jon knows all about it!...

sure do, that was almost 5 years ago!

 

GREAT thread........ This is our 4th season with our 1995 370DA....and we love it. Just the right size for the two of us. Handles great on plane and around the docks with gas motors. We've had a 280DA...310DA....330DA....but the 370DA is our favorite

Heres a few mods I've done over the years.

....added a cockpit flat screen TV/DVD player.




.....installed a Taylor Made FASTBACK camper.



.....new bar faucet and s/s cup holders.



along with a few other goodies.....like central vac system.......new cockpit carpet....all new canvas.


This winter project will be to upgrade both old TV's with new flat screen units.

 

Can't agree more about the 370. The sliding door for the v-berth and seperate shower was the deal closer for us. This is our third Sea Ray and the four of us fit just right. We enjoyed the first summer with her so much, we kept her in the water all winter in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. We were there more than we originally planned and had a great time.

I upgraded the tv recently and am in the process of making a door to cover the closet where the tv used to be. It is now mounted on a swing arm on the wall as you enter the mid cabin. Now we can all see it when we are at the dinette. Even when the curtain is closed, you can position it to be seen. When we travel, the screen faces the wall for protection and is secured with a strap. The other modifcation was adding shelves to the one closet in the v-berth.

Again, thanks for all the great knowledge shared on this thread.

 

AARRhh

What kind of fuel burn do you get with the cats?