Paul, I owned an '87 270 Sundancer. It was a solid boat. The '85-'88 era of Searay
boats were stoutly built and offer great value. I think the '89 is the same as the
'88, but I am not sure.

Brunswick purchased Searay in the late '80's and their first influence on the boats was
seen either in '89 or '90.

Pay special attention to the cabin windows and hatches. They tend to leak. And of
course have it surveyed.


"Paul Schilter" paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote in message
...
Larry,
It sounds as though you've had a bad experience with SeaRay, sorry to
hear this. I'm considering buying an 89 SeaRay 30 " Weekender. I'm told
this is the last year that SeaRay was independently owned and that this year
hull had prop pockets. Would your criticism include this model year? The
price, $30 to 45K seems reasonable.
Paul

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 03:06:58 GMT, "Bill Cole"
wrote:

I for one would prefer a Hatteras, but after 10 - 15yrs. you can expect
to
spend a lot of time maintaining an older boat.


The way they build them now, you can expect to spend a lot of time
fixing the shoddy workmanship the used boat's owner will have already
corrected, too.

It's about a good survey.....





Larry W4CSC

Isn't it becoming more practical by the day to make
Iraq's desert the new World Nuclear Waste Disposal Site?

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 17:28:40 -0400, "Paul Schilter"
paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote:

Larry,
It sounds as though you've had a bad experience with SeaRay, sorry to
hear this. I'm considering buying an 89 SeaRay 30 " Weekender. I'm told
this is the last year that SeaRay was independently owned and that this year
hull had prop pockets. Would your criticism include this model year? The
price, $30 to 45K seems reasonable.
Paul

Of course it would depend on how the boat was cared for, but I'm
worried about the Brunswick Boats. This one was built before the
Brunswick Beancounters took over and the blown-in chop replaced hand
laid real fiberglass the craftsmen used to build.

If you get a chance, pull off a hull fitting and look at what the hull
of it looks like in the hole. Fiberglass has layer after layer of
fabric coated with resin you can see. If it looks like putty....RUN!



Larry W4CSC

Isn't it becoming more practical by the day to make
Iraq's desert the new World Nuclear Waste Disposal Site?

Of course it would depend on how the boat was cared for, but I'm
worried about the Brunswick Boats. This one was built before the
Brunswick Beancounters took over

No, it was built three years *after* Brunswick acquired Sea Ray, but why let
the facts screw up a line of anecdotal, dock talk BS that's already worked up a
head of steam?


and the blown-in chop replaced hand
laid real fiberglass the craftsmen used to build.

If you get a chance, pull off a hull fitting and look at what the hull
of it looks like in the hole. Fiberglass has layer after layer of
fabric coated with resin you can see. If it looks like putty....RUN!

The "blown-in chop" you advise against
doesn't look like putty. And it isn't "blown in", it's pumped. And the area
surrounding a through hull is commonly a fairing block molded into the hull and
is quite likely atypical of the rest of the structure area.
The presence of a solid rove and resin fairing block is even more likely on a
hull that *is* cored, with any material. So much for "pull off a through hull
and look for putty."

Anybody interested in watching a movie that shows how new Sea Ray boats are
*actually* built can find the movie at this site:

http://www.searay.com/index.asp?disp...ab=0&cid=1729&

I guess they cleverly edited out the part showing the guys trowelin in the
"mystery goo" from 55-gallon drums. :-)

Paul Schilter wrote:

Larry,
It sounds as though you've had a bad experience with SeaRay, sorry to
hear this. I'm considering buying an 89 SeaRay 30 " Weekender. I'm told
this is the last year that SeaRay was independently owned and that this year
hull had prop pockets. Would your criticism include this model year? The
price, $30 to 45K seems reasonable.
Paul

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message


Larry probably knows less about solid boat construction than anyone who
posts here regularly. He's a mentally challenged, high-school dropout
with all sorts of delusions. I believe he owns some sort of little
jetski boat he's managed to keep afloat for about seven years despite
his abusing it continuously by parking his lard-butt in its driver seat.



--
* * *
email sent to will *never* get to me.

Good movie Chuck, thanks for the link. I'm not the biggest fan of Sea
Ray boats but have to admit that watching those robotic drills and
routers swoop in and start cutting holes in the hull is pretty cool
stuff. They are obviously achieving economies of scale that no small
builder could ever aspire to.

I thought their new technology where a single, continuous thread of glass is
laid in the mold by the robot, and then a another mold placed on top and the
layup saturated with resin was particularly interesting. They show an entire
hull being
produced this way, but if you check out
the small parts on Sea Ray it's easy to see which are produced with this
technique, they have a "finished" appearance on both sides.