Snowbird on a 2001 Searay 410?

[jxg]

My 1st post, and hopefully a soon to be Searay owner. I have been around the water all my life, owned my own boat since I was 17, and currently own a Malibu Response LX competition ski boat (my 5 comp boat), a 18' CC boat, and a dreaded (by many :grin Seado gti 155. With all the boats i have ever owned, I have never owned a boat that I can actually sleep on.

My wife and I are considering becoming snowbirds to the SE Florida area. We lived in West Palm Beach for several years, but moved back to Rhode Island 15 years ago. My youngest daughter now attends the University of Miami, so we have been spending a month or 2 each school year in that area, usually renting a house/condo during the stay. I have recently had what my wife thinks is a hair brained idea.

I would like to purchase a 2001 Searay 410 (remember i have a kid going to U of M, which is causing me to go broke) to leave in FL. We would be visiting there 2 - 3 times during the winter, staying 2 - 4 weeks at a time.

Would we drive each other crazy living on the boat (we work remotely, and would actually be trying to do work on the boat too)? I know a Trawler or Sedan Bridge might make more sense, but I really like the Sundancer.

Sorry for the long posts, just trying to get some opinions.

 

[Boat Guy]

Is there a question I missed somewhere?

 

[Quint4]

I love the idea and agree a Bridge boat would be a bit more "condo" like and could spare your marriage.

 

[moparlvr4406]

Is there a question I missed somewhere?

:huh:

but welcome to CSR :thumbsup:

 

[GrandMaster]

just trying to get some opinions.

UM sucks. Have your daughter transfer to the University of Florida.

 

[jxg]

...

would we drive each other crazy living on the boat (we work remotely, and would actually be trying to do work on the boat too). I know a Trawler or Sedan Bridge might make more sense, but I really like the Sundancer.

...

ok, I did say sorry for the long post, and I guess I did hide the question in the middle (and didn't punctuate it right)...I went back and corrected it.

 

[jxg]

UM sucks. Have your daughter transfer to the University of Florida.

thanks for the great input, i guess that is what i would expect from a gator fan :smt043
j/k of course, i have no horse in that race. I went to a Division II football school...

 

[Bryank]

Seems like for 2-4 weeks at a time you would be fine. My family of four often spends 5 days at a time on the boat and it works okay. When it is just my wife and me, we have plenty of space. We both work from the boat often and are able to do so without getting in each other's way. Are there better "live aboard" options? Sure. But if the Sundancer is what you really like then I think you could make it work.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Boat Guy]

.....

ok, I did say sorry for the long post, and I guess I did hide the question in the middle (and didn't punctuate it right)...I went back and corrected it.

So, you went back and punctuated it.... I went back to read it....and I still could not find one "?" in the whole post!....haha.

Anyway, I think the question is do we think....not knowing you at all....whether you and your wife will kill each other if you get a Sundancer and not a sedan... Am I correct?

How the hell do I know! Haha....Seriously though, I think the Sundancer is a great boat for most missions. You get a lot of boat and compromises to make her well rounded. She's not the biggest, nor the thriftiest, nor the speediest... But she is the best blend of all. You're not going to get two separate enclosed areas on her. But, you have the cockpit, the bow, and the salon to find as your own if you need space.

I'm not sure why you really want the Sundancer over another style. But, if that's what you want, I sure wouldn't let the concern of being too close to my wife be the reason I didn't get it.

 

[BritLady]

We both work on ours no trouble, seems plenty of room to us.

 

[jxg]

thanks for the great replies.

I should have added more details. I would want something that I can cruise up and down the FL coast (not just stay in one marina all the time). I like the idea of the Sundancer, and can't really picture me in a Sedan Bridge, but what do I know, i have always had smaller boats. I am just really starting the hunt now. My biggest concern for space is that we both spend lots of time on the phone on conference calls or with customers (more so my wife than me, so I would probably get kicked out more often). I would probably spend more time working at local starbucks, stealing their wifi.

Looking at a few different boats this weekend. one is a low hour 2001 410, so I was interested in hearing opinions on it.

 

[kaz911]

Don't let "low hours" tempt you more than "non low hours" - 2001 with low hours can mean you will have a LOT of maintenance to do. If you find a good boat with "regular" hours on it from every year - your are more certain things will work. A 2001 that has not been used a lot - can become a very expensive friend as many things will suffer from not being used. (Seals, generator, pumps, hoses dried out and so on and so on)

In the 30-40' class I would say - Number of hours should be 100 the first year (pr owner) and then 50 hours average pr year after that. So a a good 410 from 2001 with 600-900 hours would possibly be a great buy if you can figure out how much it has been used the last couple of years.

But many people are too blinded by "low hours" - of course low hours can be good if the owner is a stickler for maintenance (check if they are contributors on CSR would give you a good indication :grin: )

 

[HUMPH]

We stay on our 410DA for a week at a time quite often. If you set up the mid berth properly for storage, you can do just fine. Mistercomputerman has his 410DA all networked and works on it quite a bit from what he has said.

 

[mistercomputerman]

I stole Four Suns idea and updated it a couple of times.

Verizon 4G USB in a Cradlepoint MBR 1400 router with an external antenna lets you pick up WiFi from the marina, etc. and automatically fails over to the Verizon 4G when no WiFi is available.

As far a living with your wife on the boat for a month; can you live with her on land for a month without wanting to cause her bodily harm? Because a boat shrinks when you put it in the water. If you are planning on staying at marinas where one of you can get off the boat and go to Starbucks or even just sit on the dock, that is a lot different than hanging on the anchor all day long.


If you are going to hang on the anchor all day, it is going to be more difficult to have privacy than on a bridge boat. But, if one of you is in the cockpit and one is in the cabin, that might work OK.

 

[ImpulseIII]

In the 30-40' class I would say - Number of hours should be 100 the first year (pr owner) and then 50 hours average pr year after that. So a a good 410 from 2001 with 600-900 hours would possibly be a great buy if you can figure out how much it has been used the last couple of years.

)

How in the hell can you generalize how many hours someone should put on their boat per year?

 

[kaz911]

How in the hell can you generalize how many hours someone should put on their boat per year?

That seems to work pretty well. Go and check used boat adverts - and compare. I think you will find it to be reasonable accurate for most of the listed boats. It is a guesstimate - but works pretty well. If it is less than average 50 hours / year it is usually someone who lost interest in their new toy - and loss of interest = usually lack of maintenance. I don't know the origin of the average count - but more than a few brokers use it as their "rule of thumb"

But the point is - don't be afraid of higher hours boat. I would be more afraid of very low hour older boats unless they come with exceptional maintenance history.

 

[jxg]

thanks again for the input. i fumbled again with my terms. i think low hours are really combination of several factors too. especially location. i am looking at boats in New England right now, and I really expect them to have less hours, just because the season is so short. also depends on where and how you use the boat. for example, my ski boat is really low hours for the year, even though i use it almost daily in New England. I ONLY use it for skiing, and my house is directly in front of the ski course, so are no hours just cruising around or riding to our ski spot. same boat somewhere else would probably have 3 times the hours.

and thanks mistercomputerman. All (or most) work will be done from the marina, starbucks or broadband card connection for now. If the plan all comes together, i will look into that setup though.

 

[Scott & Malina]

UM sucks. Have your daughter transfer to the University of Florida.

thanks for the great input, i guess that is what i would expect from a gator fan :smt043
j/k of course, i have no horse in that race. I went to a Division II football school...

Well, I've got no bones about this next comment, just try checking out the scoreboard from two weeks ago when Hurricanes were BBQing Gator Tail on Saturday, j/s...ing! Gotta niece going to the "U" this year, love the school and all it has to offer. Plus being from J'ville, it's all I here about is Gator this and Gator that, makes me want to go Gator hunting.

 

[Scott & Malina]

UM sucks. Have your daughter transfer to the University of Florida.

Well, I've got no bones about this next comment, just try checking out the scoreboard from two weeks ago when Hurricanes were BBQing Gator Tail on Saturday, j/s...ing! Gotta niece going to the "U" this year, love the school and all it has to offer. Plus being from J'ville, it's all I here about is Gator this and Gator that, makes me want to go Gator hunting.

Sorry folks, didn't mean to hijack the thread. Gator fans just bring out the best in me. No harm of course, just a lot of BSing that I like to get into once in a while.

 

[Bucit]

UM sucks. Have your daughter transfer to the University of Florida.

then have her quit UF and transfer to Florida State! Go Noles!