OFFICIAL 390/40 Motor Yacht Thread

AndyWal said:
I'm buying this boat for usable space and lazy cruising, frequently running at displacement speeds so I'm not concerned with having a particularly fast boat. I'm still trying to figure this out but if a 480 CE were run on the power curve of a 450 diamond bringing usable horsepower more in the range of the QSB, wouldn't the 5.9 displacement of the QSB be working harder than the 8.3 displacement of the 480 CE? Working harder equals more heat which typically results in shorter engine life. I guess when I asked if the boat with the QSB was underpowered it was more question of is the engine being overworked.
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Andy, I think you have what is a pretty good theory. But, it would likely only play out when the engines reached many thousands of hours, way more than a recreational boat is ever going to get to. These engines are used in commercial and military service which can put on more hours in a year than one of our boats will do over its life.
You might want to check out https://boatdiesel.com/ or the forum at https://www.sbmar.com/community/. There are real diesel geeks at both who would probably have an opinion about this issue.
 
There are no shaft zincs on our 2005 390 Motor Yacht. Was this way when I bought the boat 5 years ago and I never added any. Does not appear to be any corrosion on shafts or props so seems to be OK.

I am curious to find out if other owners have shaft zincs on their 390/40 Motor Yachts.
Thanks,
Mike
 
I have a 2004 390MY under contract. I wanted to know if and where you would put a battery bank to increase the house bank. The engine room looks very small. Think of an inverter and charging from engines while under way. Solar panels on top of cockpit cover. Looking for advice.
 
We have a 2005 399MY with original battery setup. I have thought about adding more capacity to the bank that powers the refrigerators, but as you mention there is not a lot of unused space in the engine room.

We did the Great Loop in 2022/2023 and would run the generator in the morning and at dinner time when anchoring. This worked well for us.

Would be interested in hearing if anyone did add battery capacity and how they did it.

Note we replaced all of the halagon bulbs with LED bulbs.
Thanks,
Mike
 
KnoxWill said:
I have a 2004 390MY under contract. I wanted to know if and where you would put a battery bank to increase the house bank. The engine room looks very small. Think of an inverter and charging from engines while under way. Solar panels on top of cockpit cover. Looking for advice.
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Does your new boat have a thruster? If not, the bank for those is on the starboard side directly opposite the house banks. Failing that, I think it would be possible to build a platform and stack a set of batteries right on top of the house bank, making sure there is enough ventilation for the existing bank. The engines should already have alternators to provide for charging underway. I (and I think many others) always run the generator while underway which also feeds the chargers.
 
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ManteoMike said:
We have a 2005 399MY with original battery setup. I have thought about adding more capacity to the bank that powers the refrigerators, but as you mention there is not a lot of unused space in the engine room.

We did the Great Loop in 2022/2023 and would run the generator in the morning and at dinner time when anchoring. This worked well for us.

Would be interested in hearing if anyone did add battery capacity and how they did it.

Note we replaced all of the halagon bulbs with LED bulbs.
Thanks,
Mike
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Good information Mike! We are planning to start the loop this fall (Lake Michigan home port) and I wondered how the batteries would do overnight. We'll try it this summer when we're near home and see how it goes. I thought about adding battery monitors, but I'm not excited about throwing in another $5-700 for them.
 
Lake Michigan is definitely one of the highlights of the loop. We went down the east side and there are really nice towns and harbors every 40 miles or so.

We replaced all 4 Group 31 House/Start batteries before the trip. As mentioned we have all LED lights which makes a big difference. Also, at an AGLCA seminar, it was recommended that you not flush the heads every time for just urine. The toilets use a lot of amperage and fresh water.

You can test your batteries by disconnecting shore power while at your slip. I was told you really want to avoid discharging your batteries more than 50%, otherwise you will shorten their useful life.
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As others have said, use the generator. It is probably cheaper to use it than to make major changes to the boat.

The 390MY is a great loop boat for many reasons. Lots of space for the size, low height means you can go under many of the bridges. Can go fast if needed or slow if you want. We would go fast early in the day for 15 minutes to heat engines up if practical, then at trawler speeds for most of the day. Fuel usage is 3.5 more per mile at high speeds. We used the washer dryer often because it is so easy. Get permanent press clothes though.


Mike
 
ManteoMike said:
Lake Michigan is definitely one of the highlights of the loop. We went down the east side and there are really nice towns and harbors every 40 miles or so.

We replaced all 4 Group 31 House/Start batteries before the trip. As mentioned we have all LED lights which makes a big difference. Also, at an AGLCA seminar, it was recommended that you not flush the heads every time for just urine. The toilets use a lot of amperage and fresh water.

You can test your batteries by disconnecting shore power while at your slip. I was told you really want to avoid discharging your batteries more than 50%, otherwise you will shorten their useful life.
View attachment 157360

As others have said, use the generator. It is probably cheaper to use it than to make major changes to the boat.

The 390MY is a great loop boat for many reasons. Lots of space for the size, low height means you can go under many of the bridges. Can go fast if needed or slow if you want. We would go fast early in the day for 15 minutes to heat engines up if practical, then at trawler speeds for most of the day. Fuel usage is 3.5 more per mile at high speeds. We used the washer dryer often because it is so easy. Get permanent press clothes though.


Mike
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Thanks for the suggestions and the chart. I agree with your generator comment. My hope has been to not have it running all night, which is what we typically do. We’ll try that in the slip this spring.
 
I just talked to a boat electrician that put lithium bank and inverter under the sofa in the salon. Said it worked out well. Any thoughts?
 
Hello everyone. We picked up our 390 last October and got 4 weeks use before layup. Can't wait for Spring! We had a great survey, but I still found a leak behind or in the washer that rusted out the bottom of the unit. Having it pulled out. Now need to decide to replace right away or go without. Anyone replace theirs and have recommendations for a specific model?
 
Ours was replaced on our 2003 390 MY in 2017 with a Splendide 210 XC. Drop in replacement.
 

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If you replace it, make sure to get a vented model like one recommended by Mike V above. Ventless ones do not dry very well.

Some people do not like these washer/dryers because they are so small and the dryer tends to wrinkle clothes. When we did the Great Loop, we used our very often. Was much easier to get permanent press clothing and use the Splendide than it would have been to haul laundry off the boat. So I would replace it because of how we use our boat and the convenience it added.

Extra storage without the washer/dryer would be really nice though.

Thanks,
Mike
 
We have the more storage option. Not sure what we'd do without it. But, we haven't travelled extensively yet (2 weeks at most) to experience the laundry trips :)
 
Thanks for the replies. Think I'll most likely wait for a while to replace it. Will be nice to have access to the water heater and the extra space. Plus, I'll take the time to figure out and rig plumbing to drain and winterize the water heater remotely when the washer/dryer is replaced.
 
ManteoMike said:
There are no shaft zincs on our 2005 390 Motor Yacht. Was this way when I bought the boat 5 years ago and I never added any. Does not appear to be any corrosion on shafts or props so seems to be OK.

I am curious to find out if other owners have shaft zincs on their 390/40 Motor Yachts.
Thanks,
Mike
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This was a question I had as well this winter. I switched all my zincs to aluminum in preparation for doing the GL this fall. Zinc anodes were clearly coated and not really effective but no corrosion on anything. We have the Isolator/Transformer on our 390. I think this has protected us well in fresh water (the boat has never been in salt water). On another forum, it was recommended to check if the prop shaft was connected electrically to the transom anode. I found instant continuity between the transom anode and the prop and prop shaft, so I elected not to add anodes to the prop shaft.
 
Can anyone tell me what it cost to prep or tear this boat down for transport over the road.
Thanks
 
RBB said:
Can anyone tell me what it cost to prep or tear this boat down for transport over the road.
Thanks
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I had our 1991 350 Sundancer (39'6") shipped from Louisville/Ohio River to Marblehead, Ohio/Lake Erie for under $5K, but that was in October 2022. They actually pulled it with a high output dually pick up truck and special triaxle trailer.
 
Jacks-N-Rays said:
I had our 1991 350 Sundancer (39'6") shipped from Louisville/Ohio River to Marblehead, Ohio/Lake Erie for under $5K, but that was in October 2022. They actually pulled it with a high output dually pick up truck and special triaxle trailer.
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I have the transport cost, wanting to know what it takes to take hard top off, windshield off, etc
 
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