Why I love my Sea Ray

We love our Sea Ray because it's a Sea Ray. We ventured into the realms of K&C, Fiberform, Campion, and Monaro, but Sea Ray ALWAYS gives us way more bang for our buck than any of the others have. Sea Ray has been developing their building techniques since the late 50's, and they're still around. That's gotta mean something. We know people who own other "high end" brands such as "Formula" and "Cobalt" and we did consider these brands whenever we made a change. But dollar for dollar, Sea Ray offers the most and best boat for our needs. They do produce models that we would never own again but that's just because they aren't suitable for how we use our boats. Our small Sea Ray cruisers with the self bailing cockpits have always come through for us as boats that are economical, easily trailered, and can withstand the forces of nature when they have to. We never go looking for trouble but we have found ourselves in some pretty scary situations that only a well designed and manufactured boat could deal with more than once. And similar stories can be heard from all over these parts. Sea Rays are definitely up there in the top spots. Off the subject a bit, a colleague recently purchased a "Riviera" sport fisher. Gorgeous lookin' boat, but I've never seen one up close before or even heard of them out here. Hmmmmmmm:smt017. I can hear the Admiral already, "let's not start all this again Chris"!!!!!!
 
I've owned Four Winns, Silverline, Dorset, and a 1960 Glasspar. Sea ray is by far the most solid boat I've ever had. And mine is 25 years young.
 
We've had Imperial,Baja and now Searay . The admiral loved the 1983 Imperial 19.6' closed bow it was built like a tank. She hated the Baja 21.6' CC. Every time till this day if I bring up that boat she will give me a dirty look. We took a whole winter looking at boats in are price range and that meant an older boat for what we wanted. Sea Ray seemed to with stand the test of time better then most in are neck of the woods. When my wife had brain surgery in 2003 and 2004 her balance was effected for quite awhile and she has always felt secure even on lake erie in the Sea Ray.
 
SloBurn said:
I've owned Four Winns, Silverline, Dorset, and a 1960 Glasspar. Sea ray is by far the most solid boat I've ever had. And mine is 25 years young.
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SloBurn,those old Silverlines have a heck of a good reputation in the Gulf Islands. Nice lookin' 250CC by the way. One of those was our preference when we bought the Monaro but we just couldn't find one out here in the West. Seems like all the good smaller Sea Rays reside in the East. Out here we just grab what we can get when we upgrade. Karen and I have been pretty lucky lately though. Had to travel quite a few miles each time but at least we were able to find boats that were relatively well cared for.
 
I wasn't in the market for a boat when we found Old Skool. Just driving along and there she was in all her glory for sale in Watertown Wi. The admiral said " hey look at that boat for sale" as I drove past. I asked her if she noticed what brand it was and she said a Sea Ray. I turned around and we've had her since then.

Had it been another brand I would have kept going knowing I can get any brand at any time to get me on the water. Since it was a Sea Ray I knew I'd be getting a well known quality boat for a very reasonable price.

Old Skool will be 38 years old when she's on the water this spring doing 40MPH with me and a big grin on my face. :thumbsup:
 
It provides me with everything I want from a boat--comfort, conveniences, economical operation, and I look good at the helm! Does it get any better than that?
 
I knew nothing about the brand when I bought my first Sea Ray almost 30 years ago, other than the local dealer and the reputation for quality.

Now in my second Sea Ray over 40 ft, I have a different and more complete perspective. I still have the same dealer, but I now understand that I have an entire company of the finest boat builders on the planet standing behind me and my boat. I can call someone at Sea Ray on the phone and in a matter of minutes, get answers to questions........and my 450DA is 16 years old. As for the boat itself, she is a winner. Even given her "advanced age" she looks good enough that prospective buyers walking our docks holding a 2013 catalog ask me where to find my 450 in the catalog. Tell me another brand where a 16 year old model is confused with new boats.
 
We were looking for the biggest, well built, sporty cruiser we could buy used for $20K with trailer. Our 1990 is huge for a 270DA and for the two of us it's perfect for staying on board. The cockpit is large enough to host 6 adults and the ladies love the dinette to chat at. We lounge/nap/watch TV in the v-berth but sleep overnight in the midcabin which is perfect for us. The single 454/Bravo1 is smooth running and even provides great hot water on the hook! The full Camper Top is very nice for overnighting, bad weather and Fall rides! We are only the third owner and only at 860 hours. Having a boat in the water all summer sure beats trailering every weekend. Shorepower gives us all the comfort we need at the dock and AC is nice! We still have our CV-23 for tubing & skiing or just going for a 55mph ride, Mike.
 
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I knew about Sea Ray as a brand but had been out of boating for a loooooong time but that's about it. After researching before buying the 320DA, I found this site and soon understood what sea ray is about and the quality of their boats. After I joined the Sea Ray Boat Club of Northern California, I became a lifer. My Sea Ray has helped us meet so many new people, make many great friends and has allowed us a new lifestyle that not just any boat would allow. My life would be different right now if I had bought any other brand of boat.
 
I bought my first Sea Ray in 1982, it was a 180 SRV with the 115 Johnson outboard. That boat was great. I new Sea Ray's were very good quality boats after having that one and hearing people mention how well built they were when they saw it. I had a Four Winns 245, and then the 270 DA we currently own, and I can tell you that we have had a great time so far with the 270. It is very roomie as CV-23 stated. We spend alot of time on the hook and this boat is perfect for the 2 of us. We spend alot of long (4) day weekends and have had no issues with the boat even though she is going on 24. I know with the proper amount of loving care that we can get another 24, It's a Sea Ray afterall.
 
We owned a Larson which we loved and a Bayliner project boat which proved to be beyond my skills and capabilities to restore when we started looking for another boat. We had always heard about SeaRay quality and members at our club were always lavish in their praise.
We happened to become aware of a long time SeaRay owner who had recently decided to put up his beautiful 270 Sundancer for sale. It was more than we wanted to spend but he was firm on his price. We swallowed hard and bought it and have never looked back.
When it came time to move up (2-foot itis for us is beam, we went from 8' to 10' then 12') my internet searches were exclusively SeaRay. We found our one owner 350 Sundancer on a trailer in Grand Rapids Michigan. I hauled it home myself and even went so far as to sell our house and buy a rural property that I could erect a building large enough to store it in for the winter.
I spend a lot of time fussing over it and it routinely pulls in compliments and comments that it might be the nicest boat at the docks.
And this for a 1991 boat. Possibly the last one I will ever own since diesels are the only thing that it is missing and they are kind of impractical where we boat anyway.
 
We've had nothing but Grady White's all throughout my 20 year boating experience until this year. I understand it's a whole different boat, but we were the type to never fish and used it as a cruiser.

A couple things about Grady White. Every model we had was very secure, surprisingly fast, and pretty economical. We were so satisfied with the brand that we never even thought to look elsewhere.

I'd say the boat show is what changed that for us. We looked at not just the cruiser style, but the lifestyle that it comes with. SeaRay has by far the best community and awareness built around the brand then most any other boat brand. We were just about sold on a 2002 31' Formula, but then found the 2002 320 SeaRay and liked it far better. It wasn't just that though: it was the Club Sea Ray community and the people that were willing to help that won us over.

We love the plush cabin, the incredible comfort, the ease of operation, and more. Can you tell we love the boat yet? :smt043
 
It has allowed me to meet a great group of people, have great new experiences & challenges, and pull away from land in a way most never get a chance to experience.....

The fact that she's a Sea Ray, has just made it much easier by adding confidence in her abilities and the company / people that stand behind her.
 
Besides the trips and adventures we've taken and all the great friends we've made, it's given my family the opportunity to do things together from the day the kids were born to now where it's mostly just me and my first mate. Each boat had features that matched our families functional requirements at that time. For example, our 400EC gave the kids separate bunks, the 400DB gave us separate heads, the 480DB gave them separate staterooms. Sea Ray has made it convenient and more enjoyable, ultimately becoming a way of life for us.
 
I started late with boats at about 40 years old and started with a 19 Four Winns bow-rider. While I really liked Four Winns, when it was time to invest more money than I ever spent (other than a house) I decided that Sea Ray would be a great boat and have the best re-sale value should something happen and I needed to sell her. I did look at Chaparral and Formula too. Formula was the first choice but at that time I did not see a big enough difference in quality to warrant the premium price they were listing for.

Since owning one, I am a huge fan of Sea Ray. I work on many of my dock neighbors boats of various brands and none of them are built as well as mine. I too as mentioned above show up at the dock every year on opening day and everyone can't believe the shine. I like my cockpit layout and the cabin layout. I am impressed with the use of space in a 27 ft boat. Even better that it is a 270 model and actually measures 29'10".

My next boat will be a Sea Ray for sure - hopefully a 340 DA!
 
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