The official '99-'04 260DA Sundancer thread

Nehalennia said:
I don't have any in stock. I can ship to NZ. I may have mentioned earlier in the thread that it would be nice to get a group of 260DA owners or owners with the same size sink so it's worth it for me to get a sheet of the material and process a bunch at one time. I'm not making a killing on these, trust me, but I want to match it worth it. Let me check my numbers in the office tomorrow and I'll get back to you. Thank you for looking Gary.
Click to expand...

Thanks Todd, I hope you can get the numbers to make it worthwhile.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Gary
 
Nehalennia said:
I don't have any in stock. I can ship to NZ. I may have mentioned earlier in the thread that it would be nice to get a group of 260DA owners or owners with the same size sink so it's worth it for me to get a sheet of the material and process a bunch at one time. I'm not making a killing on these, trust me, but I want to match it worth it. Let me check my numbers in the office tomorrow and I'll get back to you. Thank you for looking Gary.
Click to expand...

Todd, I am still interested in buying one of these covers.
 
Sounds good Ron. I'll keep a list going and maybe start an individual thread.
 
Nehalennia said:
I don't have any in stock. I can ship to NZ. I may have mentioned earlier in the thread that it would be nice to get a group of 260DA owners or owners with the same size sink so it's worth it for me to get a sheet of the material and process a bunch at one time. I'm not making a killing on these, trust me, but I want to match it worth it. Let me check my numbers in the office tomorrow and I'll get back to you. Thank you for looking Gary.
Click to expand...

I'd be interested in one of these also.

I actually need a bunch of help on a bunch of upgrades i would like to do to the 1999 this coming spring but i havent had time to read the whole thread.
 
gbourdon said:
I'd be interested in one of these also.

I actually need a bunch of help on a bunch of upgrades i would like to do to the 1999 this coming spring but i havent had time to read the whole thread.
Click to expand...

Sounds good. There are lots of upgrades I've done. On the first few pages are links to those individual threads.
 
Anyone know for sure what size of chain was used with the windlass on a 2001 260 DA. The parts manual indicates 1/4" chain but was this G40 chain or BBB. I'm considering replacing my chain/rope rode with 150 to 200 feet of chain. Anyone else use all chain rode with a 260?
 
Westie said:
Anyone know for sure what size of chain was used with the windlass on a 2001 260 DA. The parts manual indicates 1/4" chain but was this G40 chain or BBB. I'm considering replacing my chain/rope rode with 150 to 200 feet of chain. Anyone else use all chain rode with a 260?
Click to expand...

It should be G43 (sometimes referenced as G40 or HT). It has twice the strength as BBB.

I run 50' of chain, but I might be skeptical to run 3 to 4 times that in a small boat. It might get tough to trim up enough - or you might find you're running higher trim angles on a regular basis, which isn't always good. This is completely just a wide open guess, though. However, I do think all chain in a small boat is overkill. Most would even say that my 50' is overkill. We got caught in a freak storm one night that I later found out had sustained winds of 30-40 MPH with gusts over 50. It held rock solid through the whole night.

The chain weighs about .75lbs per foot so to find out for sure (and to see if YOU are happy with it), so you could experiment and add some weight into the anchor locker to simulate the extra chain.
 
Thanks for the reply Dennis. The reason I'm considering changing is not to get extra holding power, I already have 25' of chain and a Rocna anchor.
The reason to change to all chain is the operation of the windlass. It works great on the chain, fairly good on the rope but really sucks at the splice. I would say half the time when letting out the rode and 2/3 of the time when bringing it in there is a problem at the splice. I have replaced the finger and spring and respliced the rode and it works better now than it did but it is still far from perfect.
I do have the 7.4 engine that adds more weight to the back of the boat so it might not be that big of a deal to add some weight to the bow. Of course adding weight to the bow will also increase the tongue wieght while on the trailer.
 
Have you tried washing the rope - at least at the splice area? Finish by rinsing it and then let it sit in a solution of water and fabric softener for a day or two. Then rinse again. You can do this either in your driveway, or up on the deck - a 5 gallon pail works well. I'm not knocking your splicing skills, but it should work fine without having to resort to changing things up. Did you "taper" the splice properly?

By the way, if you look at your chain links closely, there might be "HT" or "G4" (or something like that) stamped on each one. Just to double check, anyways.
 
You would probably be right to knock my splicing skills, this is the first time I have spliced rope to chain. I did taper the last three tucks and the splice actually looks pretty good. As I said it works better now than before but still not perfect. Not sure but I think I may have made the splice too tight? It doesn't seem to flex that well and I think that is what is causing the problem. I also cleaned the rope, did the fabric softener thing and reversed the rope so the unused end is now at the splice. If I don't get the longer chain then I'll resplice and see if that improves things. The problem is right now chain is on sale, so I either buy the chain now or pay a lot more later if I can't get any better performance after resplicing.

Yesterday before the snow storm hit I crawled under the cover and confirmed that it is 1/4" chain. It does have G4 stamped on every link.
With the windlass option on the 2001 there was an option of either a rode with 20 feet of 1/4" chain and 100 feet of 1/2" rope or an all chain rode (100 feet).
 
You can taper by thinning the strands, but you can also run the #2 strand a few more turns, and then the #3 strand a few after that. But it sounds like your taper is OK. I can't say that I've ever had one "too tight" but I've doing it so long that I pretty much do it by feel. But, that sounds logical that if it got too tight it wouldn't deform into the gypsy enough and it would just slip.
 
Was thinking of mounting a small flat screen on the closet door adjacent to the head. Flat screens have 4 screw holes used to mount hardware to it. Thought that i would just drill some holes in the door to match the screw holes in the tv and screw form inside the door using longer screws and washers. Also would need a hole for the wires. Thoughts? Anyone have any experience with that? Any tips? Any other ideas of where and how to mount one?
 
Ron, I've thought about doing something similar. I haven't pulled the trigger as I keep debating on whether or not I want to drill through the door and permanently alter it. The other location I've thought of is to the forward side of the galley microwave/storage locker.
 
Todd, I understand not wanting to alter the closet door. Not sure I know where you mean when you say the forward side of the galley microwave/storage locker. Do you mean getting rid of the microwave and putting the tv there?
 
The forward(bow) side of the cupboard next to the microwave. I believe one of the 260DA or 240DA owners has posted that type of install here. When I get home ill try to find it.
 
For those that were interested in sink covers, here's the deal. I think between here and a couple other people I know that have our boat I may be closer to getting them ready to offer. I need to get 10 interested. They're $80 ea + shipping and tax.
chime in here + email me at info@vikingbay.co
c9fe09a9.jpg

59bdcff8.jpg
 
Question for you guys with a 260...where do you keep your cooler when underway. Have had it in the cockpit area and when there are 4 people on board it is in the way. Thinking of getting a small one to fit under cockpit sink but that's where I keep life jackets. There really isn't any good storage areas for those either. Looking for ideas here. Was thinking of mounting cooler to the swim platform but seems it would be in the way there as well. What do you folks do?

Splashing on Monday and can't wait!!
 
RonG said:
Question for you guys with a 260...where do you keep your cooler when underway. Have had it in the cockpit area and when there are 4 people on board it is in the way. Thinking of getting a small one to fit under cockpit sink but that's where I keep life jackets. There really isn't any good storage areas for those either. Looking for ideas here. Was thinking of mounting cooler to the swim platform but seems it would be in the way there as well. What do you folks do?

Splashing on Monday and can't wait!!
Click to expand...

Ron, we keep ours under the sink. Kids wear their jackets (obviously) and we keep a few extra stashed under the aft bench seat. My "extra-extras" are under the port-side v-berth. I "think" my cooler (Igloo) is the 36-quart size, but not sure. BUT, for a little extra room in the sink compartment, I removed the box that goes around the drain and the back wall (the false wall that is on the starboard-side of the boat). That gave me about another 6". I originally removed the wall when I added SS cupholders up there and I wanted to drain them so I added a hose from the cupholder's drains and T'd them into the sink drain. I had planned on reattaching the interior walls, but I like the extra room.
 
Thanks for the response Dennis. Was thinking of stashing them under the bench seat but felt they would get pretty crappy/moldy with the amount of moisture under there unless I can get a container to put them in that will fit under there.

Good tip on removing the back panel under the sink. If not, only a 24 qt cooler will fit under there. to remove the back panel are there four screws in each corner that you need to remove?

What I would really like to do is put an ac/dc fridge under there like a lot of the new boats have these days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,247
Messages
1,429,251
Members
61,127
Latest member
Ants84245srv
Back
Top