What type sea conditions can a 280DA handle?

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Float&Fly

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Sep 16, 2009
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This may be a crazy question but what type of conditions can I expect the 280 to safely handle. I know my own abilities/experience will dictate a large part of the equation but I am interested in what the 'salty dogs' here will brave.

Thanks.
 
The fine art of boating is to have the knowledge, skills and experience to stay out of situations where you need to use knowledge, skills or experience!

There is no simple way to answer your question other than with, it depends. Adding weather and sea conditions to the mix, accentuate any issue that you may encounter (e.g., mechanical or otherwise).

The worst experience we encountered was 14', short chop waves in the North Channel of Lake Huron in a 45' boat. Friends in a 37 footer had a door ripped off the head, and damage to a heavy duty stainless davit system. I think if we took the waves wrong, we could have rolled.... (who knows maybe that's just the captain that would have rolled and the boat would have been fine).

Paul
 
It can handle way more than you or your crew.
 
Lots of opinions here. A lot of it depends on how far you'll be from safety, should you need it. The first year I had my 250, we'd take it out regularly with waves coming over the bow and windshield - no problems, but just about everything that got salt on it in the bilge had to be replaced in the first couple of years. After the first year, we never did that again.

I would say 5' would be the biggest on a regular basis, maybe 15 knots? Depends on the frequency of the waves. We had our 250 out in at least 15' seas with a peak - peak separation of about 100'. We surfed all the way home from fishing - 40 knots on the face of a wave with fuel flow set back for 25 knots cruising (Hurricane Wilma). It was surreal and very peaceful in the Gulf. It was fine until the waves were breaking in our pass. We had to time them to ride one in.

It'll also depend on whether they are following seas... What is boils down to is, if you and your crew can take it, and you're not taking on water, and you're not beating the boat to death trying to plane along at 25 knots, you'll be ok. Start small, don't push it, learn your limits, and leave yourself an out.
 
God willing, you will never be out in conditions that approach the limits of the 280. If you are, you made a series of terrible mistakes.
 
We just brought our 270 home in what was projected by the marine weather channel to be 2'-4' but were more like 4'-6' and also into a 25 mph wind. If your boat is sound the only limits there were boat handling and personal endurance. Five hours of that was enough for me.

At 2-4 you are just dealing with wave patterns, at 6-8 you are navigating wave to wave. I'd recommend keeping it down to 2'-4' and enjoy the boat ride.
 
The boat will definately take more than you and your crew as Mike had said. I Got stuck in Hurricane Ivan 150 miles from home when it came thru Long Island 4 days early with 12 footers at 2-3 second intervals. I had the 27 ft Sundancer at the time. Even after getting in the Hudson river there were 6ft waves and a bad time navigating. The boats will handle it though but you had better have things stored in a secure place.
 
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The 280 Sundancer is "B" rated by the International Marine Certification Institute Recreational Craft Directive 94/35/CE.

Here is the chart, again, the 280 Sundancer is "B"

Design CategoryllWind Force Beaufort ScalellSignificant Wave Height in meters(feet)
A - "Ocean" exceeding 8 (over 40 kts.) exceeding 4 (over 13 ft.)
B - "Offshore" up to and including 8 (34-40 kts.) up to and including 4 (13 ft.)
C - "Inshore" up to and including 6 (22-27 kts.) up to and including 2 (6.5 ft.)
D - "Sheltered waters" up to and including 4 (11-16 kts.) up to and including 0.5 (1.5 ft.)

This is in your manual.

Note: This does not mean the items in the boat and passengers will be fine. This is the manimum the boat is rated to take.
 
The weather in my area is a bit unpredictable...I've had the wind and waves kick up on me a few times. As others have mentioned - the boat can handle much more than the crew. Coming over the top of a wave and watching the bow pulpit point down and almost touch the next wave is NOT something I want to experience again. This was coming into Oregon Inlet trying to get away from the rest of the storm - luckily it wasn't a continuous thing - but a temporary thing as we went into the inlet. Longest couple of minutes I've had boating!

Where is the rating listed in the owners manual?
 
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I have done a considerable amount of blue water sailing. While I love my 280 SA it is simply not built for the type of pounding you get in 4-6' or heavier seas. This not to say it can't be done. It can and if are you are competent the boat (and you) will survive. However, if done repeatedly it will take a huge toll on the hull, every seam, joint, screw and bolt. These boats are designed for inland waters, bays and off shore in good weather.
 
I am definitely not an expert rough water boater, but when I hear people say "the boat will take more than you or I will", I figure they must be talking about a 15' unsinkable Boston Whaler! I have been a passenger on boats that were literally falling apart while taking heavy seas and pushed too hard. Broken doors, outdrives, light fixtures, panels, windows, hatches, windshields, TV's, microwaves and some major stress cracks. They didn't sink so I guess you could say they took the waves, but all had damage and will show long term fatigue.

A guy last summer on a 320 Sundancer was following his 2 friends, one on a 48 Sundancer and the other like a 45' Post. When they came in to the marina and tied up, the woman on the 32 was yelling at her husband about why he just didn't turn around or slow down and she left the boat. His buddy came down to see what was wrong and noticed his boat was trashed! Everything was soaking wet, a television was in pieces on the cockpit floor, the refrigerator had opened up and he nearly lost his dinghy. The 480 Sundancer guy said, "Why didn't you say anything, we could have just slowed down or at least waited for you?" His Ego answered, "Oh, we were fine!" I guess you could say his boat handled 4-5 footers and got him home safely but he sure did have a mess to clean up.
 
I always wonder what a poster means by the phrase “handle it” or “safely handle it”. I haven’t had to put my 280DA to the test yet. The wave characteristics are such a variable, today we can run in 6’ but tomorrow we can’t, so how do you answer. I know that I have been in 3-4’ that were abusing the boat and making the ride uncomfortable for the passengers at all but the slowest planning speeds. If your talking about how big/nasty… foam flying through the air, grinding it out off plane for 3-4hrs to do a normal 1hr run, then I think pretty big but I don’t think you could call it safely and definitely not comfortable.
 
And don't forget seamanship matters. If waves are taken incorrectly, these boats can be rolled. Also, a mechanical or health problem in adverse conditions is magnified greatly.
 
Stuff can happen if you're not careful.

As I mentioned earlier, I was faced with 14 footers 2 years ago. Beautiful sunny day. Could see that there were white caps on the water. Thought we could simply batten down the hatches and go for it...maybe a little uncomfortable, but it's only a 30 minute run, thought I.

Misgaged the strength of the wind, which I found out at the other side was sustained 40 knots with gusts to 65, coming staight over 140 miles of open water. First part of the trip was uncomfortable, but what we thought was representative of the trip. Didn't realize till we came out of it, that we were still in the lee of a far off island. When we came out of it, there was no turning back.

Taking the waves at anything but a full 90 degrees, would cause the boat to keel over at 45 degrees. As we came down off the wave, we buried the bow about 8 to 10 feet into the next, and as we'd come up, it would pick up the water trapped on the deck and through it back at me at the helm.

It was certainly my worst experience in boating. The prevailing thought going through my mind at the time was, "what happens to my family if I have a heart attack at the helm". (to Keokie's point)

Our travel companion said that from time to time, the only part of our boat that he could see, was the radar. I had no visibility of him as he was sucked up into the waves. My boat at the time was a Regal 4260 with a hard top. Not a small boat as far as I'm concerned.

We finally got to port fine... a "30 minute" trip turned into 2 1/2 hours of hell.

When it came time to sell the boat this spring, as we moved to the current Sea Ray, the survey commissioned by the new owner revealed a hull fracture at the head bulkhead on the Starboard side (incidentally the side on which we were taking the waves). My first thought was back to this trip. Don't know to this day if that was the cause, or if it was a manufacturing defect...who knows.

The original question is pretty theoretical, and like most questions, the appropriate response begins with "it depends". I just know that I never want to be caught like this again...
 
Thanks for the replies.

I appreciate the informative responses. I stumbled upon the 280DA as a possible boat to fit my needs in the future and really enjoy this website. After seeing a 280 'Dancer in person (no sea trial yet) I am trying to gain as much information as possible. I fear I became emotionally attatched to these boats, much like when I saw my old Mustang for the first time.

I have been gathering as much info as I can i.e. Costs, fuel burn vs. engine selection, and the Pro's and Con's of the different years. I also would like to know how well this boat can handle the Chesapeake Bay and possibly the near off shore. I will take it slow as I gain more experience, but I need to know how far the boat will go (how far I can 'grow' with it). I guess my lack of knowledge of boating impacted the question.

Any good books you folks would recommend on this subject?
Thanks

Matt
 
It's ok to fall in love with a model, but don't get emotional with a specific boat until you've bought it. Until then, it's just a boat.
 
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