Sea Ray 450 Sundancer, Lanoka Harbor, NJ

Just wanted to know if anyone knew anything about the boat, I hope to go take a look at it in a few weeks.
 
I'd put money on the fact that she's been discussed, yet nothing turns up in a thread search. I've seen a pic of the stbd-stern qtr of "Cougar Lounge"...
 
With all the updates that are recent only one word comes to mind ???? Sandy????
How would I know?
 
I would easily assume that a NJ boat with new cockpit flooring (which certainly is NOT "teak and holly"), new canvas and upholstery and no boot stripes has a Sandy Story. That doesn't mean it's a bad boat though - she sure looks good in that listing. My neighbor in Ohio has an all new enclosure due to Sandy's final left-hook, but his boat is better for it.

Have you asked the broker for disclosure on any damage/repairs?
 
I did ask the question to the Broker but I don't know him. He said the boat as High and Dry at Sandy. Didn't know about a disclosure but will be sure to ask. I think the "teak" is actually the new carpet that Snap in Carpets has on their site
 
This doesn't look like a Sandy boat to me, but one step on the boat and you can tell if the changes are a result of physical damage, submersion or just somebody spending some money on "upgrades" that may or may not suit a future owner. Here are some observations:

The major overhaul of both engines in 2001…..why? What decisions were made (there were both soft block and bad valve issues then and how the repair was done makes a difference)? Who did the work? Obviously, the standard recommendation of a mechanical survey done by Cat that includes fluid analyses if mandatory, but this is one case where a good service record is really important.

The refrigerator and freezer are not OEM. The original Carvel refrigerator/freezer are no longer produced so a change to another brand/design would be reasonable

The cabinet faces have been recovered with what appears to be Formica wood grain. Expensive and if that is why the owner wanted then great. But…..the original Mica from Sea Ray is bullet proof and never causes problems so I'd have to really hate it to make this change, and if I were going to change it in the salon, I'd certainly change it in the whole boat.

The vinyl seating in the salon has been changed to chocolate from a lighter ultra suede. These boats tend to be dark inside so I wouldn't have selected a dark color…..another owner's choice thing.

These boats come with 2 group 27 batteries for each engine which is more than adequate. This boat has been changed to 8D's which are much heavier and really not needed, except, I suspect that trying to run the refrigerator and freezer on investors (they are 120VAC only units) takes a toll on battery life…….that is why these boats have 8KW generators.

The panel is very, very busy…….I have no idea what all the black boxes are, but suspect this can be cleaned up a good bit by replacing some older or non-functional stuff.

Iam not a fan of fake teak flooring some folks add to their boats. There are so many curves to deal with around the perimeter of the cockpit that it is hard to make an unbound fake teak floor look right, and this one doesn't. One concern I have here is that the cockpit floor is cored in places and is prone to crack when you drop a tool or something hard. The fake teak essentially protects the cockpit, which is a good thing; but, is also covers up the original deck so you can't see or even sound it with a hammer.

Finally, I can tell a lot about a boat by looking at detailed photos of the engine space and bilge area. There are none in the listing and that is always a red flag for me. Most often they are omitted because the broker would rather you not see the condition on the bilge, but perhaps there were other reasons. If I'm a shopper, I'd swap 1-2 exteriors photos for a couple of good bilge shots.


I would think it is going to be pretty hard to find a 450DA whose owner has kept if fresh but in original unmolested condition at this point, (sorry, mine isn't for sale) This one is close and is certainly worth a look.
 
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Thanks Frank, those are all great points and will definitely
make my to check list. I think the fake teak is actually striped carpet> Snap In Carpet has some like it
 
You are right……..the '96 450DA looks funky without a boot stripe.

I had not considered the teak/holly- look carpet. Now that I think about it and looked at it again, it may be carpet and I'd bet it came from Corinthian. My carpet set (photos are on the Corinthian website) is different in that I removed the snaps by making a template that extends to the side walls and seating thus eliminating the white space between the various pieces. That is exactly how this is done and I'd bet Corinthian used my pattern and that is who made this set.

This boat is still worth exploring and represents a great value, even at the asking price.

Take a camera and get a bunch of photos and I"ll ooh at them with you.
 
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Will do. Can't make it down to NJ until mid-March. I'll keep you posted.
 
fwebster said:
I would think it is going to be pretty hard to find a 450DA whose owner has kept if fresh but in original unmolested condition at this point, (sorry, mine isn't for sale) This one is close and is certainly worth a look.
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There is one out here that is a fresh water, covered slip and well maintained boat that is not listed with a broker but is for sale. The gel coat looks brand new!
 
In lanoka harbor there was not much damage from sandy. The water did not get up on to land much where boat is should be ok. The only thing about 95 to 97 is low head room for driver in 98 and 99 the top is higher so you can stand up and drive. The specs on boat said 350 hrs since rebuld find out how many total are on boat or did they do trans also.
 
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