What about this 36 Sedan Bridge?

Kathyrau

Kathyrau

New Member
Oct 10, 2006
90
Lake Washington, WA
Boat Info
38 Sundancer 2006
Fresh Water
Engines
Twin Yanmar 306HP 6LPSTP
Just got back from the Seattle Boat Show . . . everyone was crowding in on the Sedan Bridges, especially the new 36. I was surprised to see the activity around these boats instead of the Sundancers.

Would love to hear opinions on this new 36 boat -- is this a product line that Sea Ray is investing more? Does the Sea Ray Sedan have a good reputation in general?

Glad to be back online - the storms are gone, the power is on, the snow has melted -- we are almost ready to think about boating here!

Cheers, Kathy
 
Kathy,

Wow, this is a small world. I just posted the following on the BOATUS forum.

...Do you have any information on the 2007 Sea Ray 36 Sedan Bridge?

We are considering a new one and have concerns with regards to its stability. With its 13ft. beam and 40in. draft, we are concerned that it may be too unstable in moderate to high seas to recover from a roll.

Do you or any of the forum readers have any input, positive or negative about this or any other observations or information concerning this boat....

Would appreciate any comments from the readers.

Sam and Brenda
 
I was on one yesterday (in the showroom).

the first thing i noticed was that it has 8.1's, which will burn a lot of fuel.
 
I was on one ...... in the water.......at my local M/M dealer at the end of last season.
I have to be honest....when the salesman and myself were up on the bridge and walked to the same side (port) the boat started to lean real bad.....made us feel uncomfortable. I can only imagine this in a bad wind. I also wasn't impressed by the dark colors of the wood and fabric in the cabin either...made it feel like a cave.....but this is only MY opinion.
 
Two questions: 1- What is it about the beam and draft would concern you in a roll? 2- How often do you plan to roll your boat? :grin:

I just moved from a 36' Carver Sedan Bridge (which I think Sea Ray took a few cues from in the design of the 36) to a 44' Sea Ray sedan bridge. I think you're right in that the smaller sedans can be a bit "tippy" due to their height. And smaller sedans tend to look stubby. Of course this is a subjective aesthetic call, so thake that with a grain of salt. I don't think most flybridge/sedan designs begin to look "correct" to the eye until about 40'-42' (see above disclaimer on subjectiveness!) Also, the extra windage can come into play when docking. It is manageable but does require extra deligence to predict the wind's effect on the boat at low speeds.

Lastly, ylwjacket is right, the 8.1s (which I had in the Carver) are thirsty. They're great engines but I averaged 26 GPH across 2 and a half seasons. That includes idle and slow speed time as well as cruising. The Carver is probably similar in weight to the Sea Ray.

I like the 36' Sea Ray, I think it's one of the better layed out sedans in that size range. But I'm a bridge guy...
 
Kathy -

I have no idea what those boats go for new, but there is a 2007 coming into the MM dealer near me, listed at 316k, with 100 hours.

Compare that to the new price, and you shoul dget an idea of what to expect depreciation wise.

As for the 8.1's - ps did much better in gas mileage in his 36 Carver than I get in my 380 with the same engines.
 
ylwjacket said:
I was on one yesterday (in the showroom).

the first thing i noticed was that it has 8.1's, which will burn a lot of fuel.
Click to expand...

8.1s are great engines but not in this boat. With fuel and water it will weigh 24-25,000 pounds. This is a diesel boat. When installed in a well designed hull weighing around 19,000 pounds it's pretty common to see .8 to .9 mpg with 8.1s.
 
ylwjacket said:
Kathy -

I have no idea what those boats go for new, but there is a 2007 coming into the MM dealer near me, listed at 316k, with 100 hours.

Compare that to the new price, and you shoul dget an idea of what to expect depreciation wise.
Click to expand...

Starting price, new, at $360K + additional equipment $$ - negotiation $$

http://www.searay.com/configurator.asp?ycid=17472&
 
Seattle Boat Show price is $379 loaded.

Same fuel consumption in idle? WOW

Kathy :smt089
 
Kathyrau said:
Same fuel consumption in idle? WOW

Kathy :smt089
Click to expand...

Kathy- I didn't mean to say that fuel consumption was the same at idle, just that 26GPH was the average fuel consumption including idling (i.e, the consumption is higher at cruising speeds and lower at idle but averages to 26). Of course, these are only figures for my boat... your actual mileage may vary.

I do find the average GPH to be most helpful in planning trips and determining true range. My boat did not have fuel flow meters, so this was the best way I could figure it out!
 
Thanks for the clarification prodigalson - that is what you get for reading email too early in the morning :wink:

For me, I just don't like to think about fuel consumption - anyway you look at it, its not something pleasant! :grin:
 
Kathy- there's only one thing scarier than looking at fuel consumption data, and that's looking at depreciation! :wow:
 
For all of you guys that have such a greater view of the larger Sea Ray market and their user demands, I am wondering if the 36 Sedan Bridge is a risky choice -- is this a market for Sea Ray that is well tested for this product or are they going into a new area? Will people say that the "small Sedan" for Sea Ray just didn't work well with their clientele.

In my area the 34-35 Sedans seem to be older Bayliners and now newer Meridians with relatively lower price points.

I wonder how you find out if they are selling well . . . (even in this soft year).

I found another 2007 loaded at $335 in Southern California with 85 hrs.

Kathy
 
Thanks Dave for the article!!

As someone who doesn't read tons of reviews, I ask this in all seriousness - have you ever read a bad review? Do these really mean anything?

It is nice to hear that in windy weather this reviewer thinks it did well -- but is that credible??

:smt017

Kathy
 
Kathyrau said:
Thanks Dave for the article!!

As someone who doesn't read tons of reviews, I ask this in all seriousness - have you ever read a bad review? Do these really mean anything?

It is nice to hear that in windy weather this reviewer thinks it did well -- but is that credible??

:smt017

Kathy
Click to expand...

I am with you on reviews Kathy. You don't often see any criticisim, but when you do it's usually minor stuff. (The one I always laughed at was the reviewer that used to say......more than once....that the towel bars weren't strong enough :smt101 ).

My perspective on bridge boats, which may be unfounded, is I don't want one. When we got our 260DA the hardest thing I had to get used to was the side to side movement in the cockpit compared to our 240 Sundeck. The reason that you notice that of course is you are up higher so that same wave that moved you just a little bit in the 240SD (because you sat lower) moves you a lot more on the 260DA. Now imagine being 18 feet above the water line on this 36 foot Sea Ray and having a wave move you back and forth......... :smt100 I would think the amplification of movement is quite severe at that height and I would rather not subject myself to it. I suppose if you have a large enough bridge boat that is quite stable, the number of times you have to deal with this may not be as great as with a smaller boat. Just the same, I would probably still be reluctant to own one despite their superior cabin space layout. I realize I may be wrong in my assessment of bridge boats but if I really wanted one badly I would definitely have to sea trial one in some big rollers on a windy day to see if I could deal with it.

Maybe some of the bridge boat folks could talk more about the "back and forth" movements they experience at the helm of their boats.
 
There is no doubt that movement is amplified on a bridge boat, and the smaller/taller a boat is the more amplified this amplification will be! Whether it's worth it depends on how often you plan on encountering heavy seas. On the upper Chesapeake where I boat, we may have 2 or 3 days a year when we have no choice but to encounter seas big enough to be a bother. On a regular basis other boat wakes are a bigger deal, but if you take them at the right angle, no problem.

All boats are trade offs. I like the increased visibility, the larger, brighter, more accesable interior and the flexibility (socially) offered by bridge boats. I'm not anti-express, by the way... it's just a choice.

Kathy, given that in your first post you expressed concern with how the boat would handle a rollover, maybe you're boating in some pretty extreme conditions where a bridge may not be worth the tradeoff!
 
Thanks guys for both your thoughts - good to hear. No, I didn't do the post on rollovers, that was the second post :smt001

Wimpy as it sounds, we are definitely good weather boaters. We just park out at the marina if it looks really windy or choppy and still have great fun. That parking at the marina was a big and great part of our boating last year and why we are now looking at the sedan bridge. A few years ago we leased a Bayliner 3588 and my husband loved the fly bridge! Also, I have a big issue with engine noise at cruising. It's a big negative for me.

I think its important to stick with a manufacturer's sweet spot - in other words get the product that they excel at especially when you look for resale. Is that a small sedan bridge from SR? I just really don't want to move away from Sea Ray but . . . don't feel I have alot of choices with Sea Ray that are in my price range and fit my criteria.

Darn!
 
Kathy -

The windy weather part in that review is not credible. Notice after he says how bad the the wind was howling, he says that it handled the intracoastal waterway like a champ.

The intracoastal waterway is always calm in bad weather - that's the beauty of it.

When I took delivery of my 380, we brought it home by water, in waht was about a 60 mile ride. About a third of the way into it, we decided to head into the Gulf to make better time (the intracoastal is crowded and slow due to numerous speed control zones). When we got into the pass, we could white caps, but said the heck with it. When we got out, the seas were roaring 6-8, with about a 30 knot wind. We got turned around, went back inside, and continued the rest of the way in the intracoastal, where the biggest thing you have to worry about, usually, is other boat wakes.

Mike
 
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