Which are good options instead of a larger Sea Ray yacht?

[sandydlc]

I can understand your issue. Having boated in FL for a while, keeping the boat on the south east coast (Miami up to Palm Beach) was accustom to 60' slips being plentiful. No problem at all. Moving out of that area, specifically the west coast, slips for a 60' boat are few and far between. Much more difficult.

Definitely something to consider for the geographic region a person is in.

When we moved our boat from Florida to the Chesapeake a couple of months ago we probably stopped in 10 or so marinas. I don't think a single one was a slip, we spent most nights tied to the fuel dock, or a T head. Limited space available. You learn to love side ties.

Mark

It's just crazy for me to think that there could be a *4 year* wait list for a slip! That being said, I'm guessing that if my name was Bill Gates and I needed a place to moor my 150' yacht, they would find a spot for me! Ha ha!

We have a friend who was dead-set on getting covered moorage in fresh water so for him, he decided to stick with a 40' boat and no larger. We previously had a 30' so moving to a 45' was a good move for us. I know that my husband would not consider anything smaller than a 50' for our next boat and he would love a 60' if all the stars were aligned. But another consideration is the marinas that we like to visit - getting moorage for a 60' boat is very difficult and you're either on a side-tie or you're anchoring everywhere. I was standing next to a very beamy 60' flybridge boat last winter and I felt totally dwarfed and it made me really stop and think about whether we needed that much space. Considering that we're mostly cruising alone these days (our 18 year old son is too busy with work and school to come with us very often) we don't really need to go much larger than 54' at most. The main reason we're considering a change is the features I listed in my original post.

We would not be likely to bring friends aboard for any overnight stays since most of our friends who like boating have their own boats.

 

[sandydlc]

I had a deal on a 540 Dancer fall through last summer, and pickings have been thin, so I expanded my search. Ended up finding a clean 2001 Neptunus 56 Express. Very nice boat, quick and rides better than the Sea Ray. Well built and the factory has been very helpful with questions and support. Definitely worth a look.

I've never heard of that manufacturer. I'll check it out!

 

[JVM225]

While a 60’ boat would be nice, if having it meant that you would be limited in where you could go with it or where to keep it you probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much as you would enjoy the 50 footer.
My feeling is that the best boat is the one you’re going to get the most use out of.
While I’d love a bigger boat, I’m already at 45’ LOA and my slip is only 50’ long. We own the property so no chance of getting on any lists for something bigger. Plus it’s really shallow around here.
We used to dock and dine at local waterfront restaurants frequently with our old 30 footer.
It’s no big deal, but we really can’t go to some of those places anymore because we won’t fit on their docks. Mostly because of the almost 14’ beam. A bigger boat would only eliminate more options.
This is our second season with this boat and our 21 year old daughter and 18 year old son have lives of their own and are really only interested in day outings. They aren’t on the boat with us anywhere near as much as we thought they would be.
They both worked full time this summer and only came out with us on a few weekends, and then only when we took a bunch of their friends.
Their both away at school now, so their season is over already.
Most other people we’d want to join us on overnight trips have their own boats too.
We are still loving the 410 and aren’t looking to get rid of it anytime soon. It’s plenty big enough for the two of us right now.
But if we did decide to look for something else it probably wouldn’t be much bigger. Instead, I would make a list of things on my 410 that I wish were different, or wish that it had and look for something that would address the things on that list.

 

[FootballFan]

Couple of thoughts.

Side ties are not bad. Has now become a preference. Being on the end of the dock is fine, wakes don't really bother us (boat weighs 70K pounds). Only downside on being at the end of the dock is the power, @Sea Gull highlighted this for me. Lowest voltage in the marina is at the end of the dock. But we have power transformers - so dealt with.

Have never had a situation where we could not find a marina. But don't call up at 4PM and try to get in.

We went from a 47DB (LOA 50) to this boat (LOA 60) and picked up a couple of feet of beam. For us - all the difference in the world. Very comfortable. Note we fly to the get to the boat, so once there it is for 10 + nights. I work from the boat while there. We did 80 nights a year on the 47DB. It is not a year yet, but looks like will settle in a 110+ nights a year on this boat.

If your use is 3-5 nights at a time - may not be worth the 60' boat.

I will add this - boat we have is significantly more complex than the 47DB. Operating systems on the boat has been a learning curve. Handling/docking is actually easier than the 47DB.

Mark

 

[sandydlc]

Couple of thoughts.

Side ties are not bad. Has now become a preference. Being on the end of the dock is fine, wakes don't really bother us (boat weighs 70K pounds). Only downside on being at the end of the dock is the power, @Sea Gull highlighted this for me. Lowest voltage in the marina is at the end of the dock. But we have power transformers - so dealt with.

Have never had a situation where we could not find a marina. But don't call up at 4PM and try to get in.

We went from a 47DB (LOA 50) to this boat (LOA 60) and picked up a couple of feet of beam. For us - all the difference in the world. Very comfortable. Note we fly to the get to the boat, so once there it is for 10 + nights. I work from the boat while there. We did 80 nights a year on the 47DB. It is not a year yet, but looks like will settle in a 110+ nights a year on this boat.

If your use is 3-5 nights at a time - may not be worth the 60' boat.

I will add this - boat we have is significantly more complex than the 47DB. Operating systems on the boat has been a learning curve. Handling/docking is actually easier than the 47DB.

Mark

It's interesting how much changes with more beam and more space in general. Looking back I don't know how we managed with a family of 5 and our dog (okay he was a chihuahua!) on our 30' boat. Our 450 DA has 3 more feet of beam and it's made such a huge difference. I can imagine what a boat with 15 or 16' of beam would give us.

Regarding our usage right now, we're on our boat overnight at least monthly and several other days a month doing day trips or just hanging out at our marina. Every summer we take a 2+ week trip to Canada or the San Juans and gulf islands in addition to our monthly 3 day trips. So I'm not worried about using the boat enough where we're currently moored. I would worry if we had to move to a marina that's not as convenient as where we are now which means we'll likely be looking at a 50'-54' boat this time around.

I can appreciate what you mean about systems on a larger boat. This boat has really kicked my butt. Moving from gas to diesel, having pod drives - huge learning curve and I've learned so much. Regardless of what we get next time I'll take this knowledge with me and that's a great thing.

 

[ttmott]

You know Sandy, you may consider stepping back and consider a 2006 - 2010 52DB or 58DB. A very well maintained boat can be obtained in the $450K to $550K range and will be sorted out. Then update the boat as required (spend that $100K to $200K on the 8 or ten year lifecycle items). Structurally and from a performance aspect these boats are the mac-daddy. And who knows they might actually go up in value.... Not that I'm biased.....

 

[Havana Shamrock]

the 52db started as the 2005 500 dB same exact boat bolt for bolt. But I agree these boats are easily maintained and operated. One thing that I’ve noticed is a lot of the foreign bridge boats do not have climate control on the bridge as they have a second station down below eating up valuable space (in my opinion).

 

[sandydlc]

You know Sandy, you may consider stepping back and consider a 2006 - 2010 52DB or 58DB. A very well maintained boat can be obtained in the $450K to $550K range and will be sorted out. Then update the boat as required (spend that $100K to $200K on the 8 or ten year lifecycle items). Structurally and from a performance aspect these boats are the mac-daddy. And who knows they might actually go up in value.... Not that I'm biased.....

Maybe...one of the things we don’t want to do is to get a larger version of our exact same boat and we’d prefer not to get anything older than our 2010. Most of the older DBs I’ve seen still have canvas, and almost the same cockpit layout as our 450 DA. If that’s the case then we’d prefer to just keep what we have. We’re looking for a different layout (salon and galley on the main level) and wanting to get away from a slant-back canvas. One of the boats we’re going to take a look at this weekend is the 2016 510 DA and the 510 Fly. Even though the galley is down below, there is still much more room for entertaining on both of these boats than we currently have - and best of all, no canvas. I’m really looking forward to seeing these boats in person instead of looking at the same pictures over and over again.

 

[RollerCoastr]

Most of the older DBs I’ve seen still have canvas, and almost the same cockpit layout as our 450 DA. If that’s the case then we’d prefer to just keep what we have. We’re looking for a different layout (salon and galley on the main level)...

Sandy, DB = Sedan Bridge, as in Havana's avatar pic. and the predecessor to the 510 Fly.

 

[RollerCoastr]

I had a deal on a 540 Dancer fall through last summer, and pickings have been thin, so I expanded my search. Ended up finding a clean 2001 Neptunus 56 Express. Very nice boat, quick and rides better than the Sea Ray. Well built and the factory has been very helpful with questions and support. Definitely worth a look.

Beautiful boats. The 56 Flybridge has been on my radar for some time.

 

[sandydlc]

Sandy, DB = Sedan Bridge, as in Havana's avatar pic. and the predecessor to the 510 Fly.

Ahh - didn't notice that. Thanks for the clarification!

 

[JVM225]

I’m with you on the no canvas thing. I hate canvas.

 

[sandydlc]

I’m with you on the no canvas thing. I hate canvas.

We just got some new cockpit carpet for our 450 this summer and when coming back to the boat after having dinner with some friends on their boat my husband was carrying a dish that had had some fish in it. He didn't realize that there was still some liquid in the bottom of the pan and as he was coming into the boat and trying to get past the canvas, the dish got caught and it spilled all over our new carpet. We had to spend time the following day hosing it down and trying to get the smell out. I hate canvas!!

 

[Boatingnut]

Beautiful boats. The 56 Flybridge has been on my radar for some time.

Speaking of no canvas.... it is way awesome.

 

[scooper321]

I’m with you on the no canvas thing. I hate canvas.

Canvas isn’t the best. But you can take it off. You can’t do that with completely enclosed cockpits. And in those boats you may as well be captaining from your living room. No thank you.

 

[sandydlc]

Canvas isn’t the best. But you can take it off. You can’t do that with completely enclosed cockpits. And in those boats you may as well be captaining from your living room. No thank you.

You can take the canvas off in the spring and summer but with our lovely weather in Seattle hanging out under the slant-back canvas when it's raining is no fun. That's what we're trying to get away from. I do like our enclosed cockpit - we get plenty of airflow when the canvas is off and when it's on, we stay warm and dry. Big difference from our last boat that had a bimini top.

 

[scooper321]

You can take the canvas off in the spring and summer but with our lovely weather in Seattle hanging out under the slant-back canvas when it's raining is no fun. That's what we're trying to get away from. I do like our enclosed cockpit - we get plenty of airflow when the canvas is off and when it's on, we stay warm and dry. Big difference from our last boat that had a bimini top.

True. Slant back is annoying in any weather!

 

[sbw1]

The older you get the less patience you have with canvas and the more you appreciate being able to avoid sun exposure. Too much sun catches up with you after 40 plus years of boating. Hard tops, wide walk arounds, helm a/c and in cockpit shore power hookups are also must have features as you get older.

 

[scooper321]

The older you get the less patience you have with canvas ... helm a/c must have ... as you get older.

Funny. As I’m looking to move up, one of the things I’m weighing is helm AC. I’m not looking at new or near new like these boats being discussed are. So it’s an option. I think for my area (Chesapeake Bay) the AC is nice, but what’s better is the bridge heat, so we can extend the boating season from 7 months to 9.

 

[sbw1]

Funny. As I’m looking to move up, one of the things I’m weighing is helm AC. I’m not looking at new or near new like these boats being discussed are. So it’s an option. I think for my area (Chesapeake Bay) the AC is nice, but what’s better is the bridge heat, so we can extend the boating season from 7 months to 9.

With helm air you also have helm heat. I agree with you. That is great have in the Fall, but we actually use heat more in the Spring time when the water is cold.