OK, Let's get some serious boat discussion going (per Chuck's end of
year challenge).

The time has come to replace our ancient 24 ft I/O cuddy.

Here are the specs:

Maximum 26 ft LOA (not counting the swim platform).

Max beam of 8 1/2 feet.

Must have an enclosed head and some minimal galley and sleeping space.

Must have a better than average ride through a chop, preferably best
of class for a 26 ft cabin boat.

Must have reasonable speed, capable of cruising at 24 to 26 kts in
good conditions.

Must have a reputation for decent quality and resale value.

Anchor windlass preferred.

Our leading candidate so far is a Sea Ray 260 Sundancer. Being a bit
of a traditionalist, I'm not particularly in love with Sea Ray's
styling, but it's less offensive than some, and the boat seems to fit
in most other respects.

Suggestions?

Wayne.B wrote:
OK, Let's get some serious boat discussion going (per Chuck's end of
year challenge).

The time has come to replace our ancient 24 ft I/O cuddy.

Here are the specs:

Maximum 26 ft LOA (not counting the swim platform).

Max beam of 8 1/2 feet.

Must have an enclosed head and some minimal galley and sleeping space.

Must have a better than average ride through a chop, preferably best
of class for a 26 ft cabin boat.

Must have reasonable speed, capable of cruising at 24 to 26 kts in
good conditions.

Must have a reputation for decent quality and resale value.

Anchor windlass preferred.

Our leading candidate so far is a Sea Ray 260 Sundancer. Being a bit
of a traditionalist, I'm not particularly in love with Sea Ray's
styling, but it's less offensive than some, and the boat seems to fit
in most other respects.

Suggestions?


Here's a boat that meets your general specs. It was featured in the "At
the Ramp" column in our magazine recently. I posted the text elsewhere,
but here's a link if you're interested in checking it out. People love
these, or hate them, but the LOA, the beam, the performance in chop,
the cabin accommodations, etc are a clear fit. :-)

http://groups.google.com/group/Pacif...08ca499259ded5

On 20 Dec 2005 16:09:15 -0800, wrote:

Here's a boat that meets your general specs. It was featured in the "At
the Ramp" column in our magazine recently. I posted the text elsewhere,
but here's a link if you're interested in checking it out. People love
these, or hate them, but the LOA, the beam, the performance in chop,
the cabin accommodations, etc are a clear fit. :-)

=========================================

Yes, I've seen a few of them around and they look OK. My dock and
boat lift however were built for a conventional "pointy bow" boat
however so probably not a good fit in that respect.

I like Tom's Albemarle 268 recommendation but don't see too many of
them around here for some reason.

Harry's Parker is nice enough but pilot house boats in SWFL really
need to be air conditioned, more of a northern boat in my opinion.

We looked at another Sea Ray tonight, this one a 2003 in pretty nice
condition at about 1/2 new $$$s. It's amazing how much these things
depreciate in a couple of years.

Wayne,
There is only ONE boat that will meet your needs. All the rest will just be
a compromise.
http://tinyurl.com/crcxa

The builder has the ideal combination of quality and value.





"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
OK, Let's get some serious boat discussion going (per Chuck's end of
year challenge).

The time has come to replace our ancient 24 ft I/O cuddy.

Here are the specs:

Maximum 26 ft LOA (not counting the swim platform).

Max beam of 8 1/2 feet.

Must have an enclosed head and some minimal galley and sleeping space.

Must have a better than average ride through a chop, preferably best
of class for a 26 ft cabin boat.

Must have reasonable speed, capable of cruising at 24 to 26 kts in
good conditions.

Must have a reputation for decent quality and resale value.

Anchor windlass preferred.

Our leading candidate so far is a Sea Ray 260 Sundancer. Being a bit
of a traditionalist, I'm not particularly in love with Sea Ray's
styling, but it's less offensive than some, and the boat seems to fit
in most other respects.

Suggestions?

Smithers one of 1000's wrote:
Wayne,
There is only ONE boat that will meet your needs. All the rest will just be
a compromise.
http://tinyurl.com/crcxa

The builder has the ideal combination of quality and value.

You're right about the "value" observation. At $53k it's relatively
affordable, and for many
weekend boaters it will prove to be as much boat as they will ever
need. No, it won't blow away boats that sell for 30, 40, or 50% more in
a tough head-to-head comparison test- but it remains true that you get
a lot of bang for the buck with one of these. Philosophical question:
Is a casual boating family as well or better off with a boat large
enough to provide a comfortable (and adequately safe) cruising platform
that may not be built to offshore standards as they would be with a
"better boat" substantially smaller for the same money?

Sometimes I think that a family is at least as well off in an
"adequately built" 26-footer that meets their needs as they are in a
bullet-proof 19-footer that doesn't. 75-90 percent of the boating done
in the US is probably done in freshwater lakes.

Is it the right boat for Wayne? Probably not fast enough or the best
possible choice in choppy conditions.

On 20 Dec 2005 17:05:28 -0800, wrote:

Is it the right boat for Wayne? Probably not fast enough or the best
possible choice in choppy conditions.

=========================================

For $7K you could option it up to a 350 Mag MPI with a Bravo 3
outdrive and probably get some performance out of it, but at only 17
degrees of deadrise it would shake your fillings out and probably
damage the boat in short order. Fuel capacity is only 75 gallons, not
really enough for a bigger engine, and air conditioning (mandatory
here) is another $3K, windlass $1.7K.

With over $12K in mandatory options the price is still low but it's a
totally unsuitable boat for around here. They just don't hold up in
sal****er and Florida sun. Even the best made boats require a lot of
TLC to keep them up to spec.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
OK, Let's get some serious boat discussion going (per Chuck's end of
year challenge).

The time has come to replace our ancient 24 ft I/O cuddy.

Here are the specs:

Maximum 26 ft LOA (not counting the swim platform).

Max beam of 8 1/2 feet.

Must have an enclosed head and some minimal galley and sleeping space.

Must have a better than average ride through a chop, preferably best
of class for a 26 ft cabin boat.

Must have reasonable speed, capable of cruising at 24 to 26 kts in
good conditions.

Must have a reputation for decent quality and resale value.

Anchor windlass preferred.

Our leading candidate so far is a Sea Ray 260 Sundancer. Being a bit
of a traditionalist, I'm not particularly in love with Sea Ray's
styling, but it's less offensive than some, and the boat seems to fit
in most other respects.

Suggestions?

The 260 SeaRay Sundancer, while meeting many of your needs, will not provide
a nice ride nor will it be stable in even calm waters. Add to that the fact
that it is a single I/O.

Consider bumping up to the 270 Sundancer with twin V 6's, preferably 1986
through 1988 models. Engine access is tight but you get the bonus of an aft
cabin and a more stable ride due partially to a wider beam (Sorry, but a bit
wider than your 8'6" requirement).

Regardless, both boats (1984-88 eras) offer solid glass construction and are
stoutly built. Although SeaRay was purchased by Brunswick in the mid
1980's, their influence on design and construction was not apparent until
1989.

Both the 260 and 270 come with Alpha 1 outdrives. Not especially great,
especially in a salt water environment.

Here's my advice, based on several decades of boating.

Stay away from Bayliners. They're attractively styled and low priced,
but don't get suckered in. They tend to be cheaply built, as is
evidenced in little details like joints and fasteners. BOATING
magazine did a review of a Bayliner Trophy, which is advertised as a
rugged, offshore blue water fishing boat, and described the
construction as "flimsy." Sport Fishing magazine said they were "good
for inshore and protected waters."

I know major boat dealers all up and down the Texas coast, and almost
all of them refuse to take Bayliners as tradeins. They make their lot
look cheap (ever see used Yugos sitting on a Mercedes lot?), and later
when they fall apart their owners get ****ed off and bring them back,
etc.

I live and boat at a large (30,000 acres) recreational lake in central
Texas. Many times I've watched a Bayliner pull up to a gas dock, and
the gas boys would just sit there talking and ignore it, although
they'd jump to their feet if anything else pulled up. Really. I'm not
making this up.

Once I was looking at a 21' Trophy cuddy in a Bayliner showroom. The
piece of crap came with a 175HP Force. It'd probably do 20mph. I
pressed on the side of the hull with the tip of my finger, and the
outer layer of fiberglass "popped" in and out slightly with the
pressure. I thumped it with the heel of my hand, and it was like
thumping a shoebox. What a piece of crap. Try thumping the hull on my
12 year old Robalo sometime. It feels like concrete slab. Literally.

Well, I could go on. If K-Mart sold boats, they'd be Bayliners.

There are quite a few good boats out there these days, with modern
manufacturing technology. Look for little features and details, like
storage, seating, instrument protection, etc. as well as seaworthiness.


One boat I can recommend in your category that's been around for years
is an old standard, the Wellcraft Coastal. It's a proven veteran,
rugged and seaworthy, and is well known for making clever, efficient
use of space. Here's a link:

http://www.wellcraft.com/Boats/Boats....asp?c=1&b=220

Another one is this 26' Robalo, if you're REALLY serious:

http://www.robalo.com/265.htm

Good luck. I envy you, going shopping for a new 26 footer. Not
something you do every day!

Ron M.

On 23 Dec 2005 07:33:48 -0800, "Ron M."
wrote:

Good luck. I envy you, going shopping for a new 26 footer. Not
something you do every day!

==========================

True. We got a 49 footer last year after selling a nice Bertram 33.

We're working our way down now. :-)

Thanks for the information, I'll follow up.

I view Bayliners as a fresh water entry level boat, OK for the purpose
they serve, but not the right boat for here.