Jimmy Buoy
Well-Known Member
- Dec 3, 2008
- 2,463
- Boat Info
- 2003 Cobalt 293
- Engines
- Twin Volvo-Penta 5.0 270hp & DuoProps
I've had Doral, SeaRay, Wellcraft, then back to SeaRay but not because I think SeaRay is always better.
The 1984 21' Doral was a good boat, but did have problems with coolers built into the carpet covered, wooden cockpit floor. The plastic framing got brittle with age and broke.
My 1989 268 Dancer was also a good boat, but it felt dated compared to its replacement - a 1987 32' Wellcraft St Tropez. Although the Wellcraft was 2yrs older it was significantly further ahead of the boat evolution scale in my opinion. More fiberglass molded sections vs the dancer's particle board panels held together with screwed on L-Brackets. I was constantly finding screws on the floor from these brackets, but trying to reinstall proved fruitless since the particle board would no longer hold the screws. Water intrusion in the transom was also a problem, but the Wellcraft didn't have a cored transom (although it was a twin inboard). Windshield wipers on the Dancer were mounted directly in the captain's vision, but the Wellcraft's were neatly hidden between the deck and liner. Speaking of the head liner, the Wellcraft's was vinyl while the Dancer - glued on fabric which was impossible to clean once stained. The Dancer's jump seats were infamous for being useless and the back pull out bench was a joke while the Wellcraft's seating was fine. SeaRay still used a clumsy 4 piece cabin door assembly vs Wellcraft's one piece curved plexiglas design that slid open with one hand (kind of like the SeaRay doors not introduced for 5 more years).
All this on a competator's boat that was 2yrs older than the SeaRay! It appeared that SeaRay was resting on their laurel's at this time in their history.
My current SeaRay seems to have corrected most of those issues but I would still prefer NOT to have the carpet glued to the wooden floor and up the walls. A fibreglass liner would be cleaner and easier to change drop in carpets for a new look. It was the overall design of my current boat vs the name that attracted me.
Now if it only had Crusader Engines like the Wellcraft...:grin:
The 1984 21' Doral was a good boat, but did have problems with coolers built into the carpet covered, wooden cockpit floor. The plastic framing got brittle with age and broke.
My 1989 268 Dancer was also a good boat, but it felt dated compared to its replacement - a 1987 32' Wellcraft St Tropez. Although the Wellcraft was 2yrs older it was significantly further ahead of the boat evolution scale in my opinion. More fiberglass molded sections vs the dancer's particle board panels held together with screwed on L-Brackets. I was constantly finding screws on the floor from these brackets, but trying to reinstall proved fruitless since the particle board would no longer hold the screws. Water intrusion in the transom was also a problem, but the Wellcraft didn't have a cored transom (although it was a twin inboard). Windshield wipers on the Dancer were mounted directly in the captain's vision, but the Wellcraft's were neatly hidden between the deck and liner. Speaking of the head liner, the Wellcraft's was vinyl while the Dancer - glued on fabric which was impossible to clean once stained. The Dancer's jump seats were infamous for being useless and the back pull out bench was a joke while the Wellcraft's seating was fine. SeaRay still used a clumsy 4 piece cabin door assembly vs Wellcraft's one piece curved plexiglas design that slid open with one hand (kind of like the SeaRay doors not introduced for 5 more years).
All this on a competator's boat that was 2yrs older than the SeaRay! It appeared that SeaRay was resting on their laurel's at this time in their history.
My current SeaRay seems to have corrected most of those issues but I would still prefer NOT to have the carpet glued to the wooden floor and up the walls. A fibreglass liner would be cleaner and easier to change drop in carpets for a new look. It was the overall design of my current boat vs the name that attracted me.
Now if it only had Crusader Engines like the Wellcraft...:grin:
