300 Sundancer questions.

A couple of other variables to add to the equation:
I have 2.00:1 outdrives.

For every 2 inches in pitch, RPMs either increase or decrease by 300-400. For example: I went from 22p to 20p and my RPMs increased by about 500 RPMs. That put me into the recommended WOT range of 48-5200 RPMs @ 5000.

If I went from 22p to the 26p that was on the chart, that increase of 4 inches of pitch would drop my RPMs by about approximately 800 RPMs. So from the original RPM of 4500 minus 800...well that puts my waay below the range.

I assume you bought new outdrives also when you repowered with the 383s, in hindsight is the 2.00:1 drive correct for these engines or do you think the 2.20:1 would be better ? It's my understanding that 4 blade props create more drag, certainly with the B3 setup it's even more pronounced.
 
The 5.0s were fine for power in my boat - fully loaded in benign conditions it cruised at 30mph at 3800rpm. I always planned for 1mpg - I would imagine one with 5.7s or 6.2s would cruise at the same speed and a lower rpm for a similar fuel burn - so go for the bigger motors if you have a choice, but the boat is not underpowered with 5.0s....I generally planned stops after 100miles, but in the right conditions you could push as many as 150 miles - the boat carries 170 gallons. The boat handles very well, it does not like to go under 24mph though (thats with 5.0s and B3 w 20p 3 blades) I only ever used tabs compensate for uneaven loads - Perhaps drop fins, 4x4 props and/or more power will keep the boat on plane at lower speeds. My drives always needed to be trimmed fully in as they would otherwise cavitate. In short moderate chop (3-5) the hull will pound a bit. I can tell you its a BIG difference from a 320 with v-drives - I almost bought one but backed out when I ran one 40 miles fully loaded......


I had a 2002 for 3 years before the Tiara I have now and cruise that boat all over the west coast and keys of Florida. Great boat! I had 5.0L engines. I agree it plenty of eng and the preferred for general cruising. I wanted the 6.2L but after seeing the actual fuel burn charts from Sea Ray the 6.2 was not for me. The only real difference is at the top end. The 6.2 have a little higher top speed and the cruise fuel burn where you actually run the boat was slightly higher. I wanted max range. The 5.0L actual best cruise is at 4000rpm. I hated pushing them that hard all the time so I used 3400 to 3600 rpm. Yielded about 28mph. Fast boat the size. Great till it got rough cause as others have said it didn't like going slow even with drive trimmed all the way in. My real fuel burn numbers were very close to the Sea Ray chart most of the time. Although I do remember seeing fully loaded, ie full fuel,water,water, food for a long trip, and a 9'6" dinghy on the platform with i think 5hp eng seeing 24gph at cruise. She was a great boat. Just got to the point where my trips out classed the range and definitely need a bigger boat. For comparison my Tiara has 5.9L Cummins and burns around 18gph at 20kts and has 400 gal capacity. She is kinda slow but has the legs for what I want. Lol lately I have even been running one eng at a time for some slow cruise 5kts running and got the fuel burn down to 1.5 gal per hour. A damn sail boat passed me the other day and I didn't even care. :D
Hope this helps a bit. Look at the Sea Ray charts.
 
I had a 2002 for 3 years before the Tiara I have now and cruise that boat all over the west coast and keys of Florida. Great boat! I had 5.0L engines. I agree it plenty of eng and the preferred for general cruising. I wanted the 6.2L but after seeing the actual fuel burn charts from Sea Ray the 6.2 was not for me. The only real difference is at the top end. The 6.2 have a little higher top speed and the cruise fuel burn where you actually run the boat was slightly higher. I wanted max range. The 5.0L actual best cruise is at 4000rpm. I hated pushing them that hard all the time so I used 3400 to 3600 rpm. Yielded about 28mph. Fast boat the size. Great till it got rough cause as others have said it didn't like going slow even with drive trimmed all the way in. My real fuel burn numbers were very close to the Sea Ray chart most of the time. Although I do remember seeing fully loaded, ie full fuel,water,water, food for a long trip, and a 9'6" dinghy on the platform with i think 5hp eng seeing 24gph at cruise. She was a great boat. Just got to the point where my trips out classed the range and definitely need a bigger boat. For comparison my Tiara has 5.9L Cummins and burns around 18gph at 20kts and has 400 gal capacity. She is kinda slow but has the legs for what I want. Lol lately I have even been running one eng at a time for some slow cruise 5kts running and got the fuel burn down to 1.5 gal per hour. A damn sail boat passed me the other day and I didn't even care. :D
Hope this helps a bit. Look at the Sea Ray charts.

You mentioned Sea Ray fuel burn charts for the 5.0L and 6.2L engines, could you please direct me to them, can't find them anywhere.
Thanks
 
You mentioned Sea Ray fuel burn charts for the 5.0L and 6.2L engines, could you please direct me to them, can't find them anywhere.
Thanks

The Sea Ray dealer had the chart when I saw it. It was in their specs book for all the different models. I have no idea if that would be something you can get a hold of now. Sorry wish I could help more.
 
Thanks, I will check with a dealer. In the mean time I found this fuel consumption estimator. How does it stack up against what you all are getting on your boats ?

https://www.boat-fuel-economy.com/mercury-mercruiser-3.0-181-fuel-consumption-us-gallons
While they don't show the 383 (350hp), I'll use the 6.3 (320hp) as a reference:
According to the RPM gauge on that site,
at 3500, they show 11.5 gph. I use 13 gph
at 5200, they show 24.5 gph, i use 25 gph at 5000. I can't do 5200. I also don't have other numbers that'll translate.
I do have numbers for 3200: 11.3 gph
At 3350: 12.2 gph
At 3400: 12.4
 
20200401_123910.jpg So I've had this idea to update the white on white with gold piping cockpit upholstery.

Took a chance with some Duplicolor Desert Sand vinyl/fabric paint. Will work on the helm seats and and bench seat butt cushions later. 20200401_121657.jpg20200401_141007.jpg
 
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Those look great, I assume you took the cushions apart to do such a nice job. Did the paint make that part of the cushion feel any different / hard ?
I did not take anything off/apart. Just a judicious process of taping and masking. It looks really good, if not just like new colored vinyl. The visible texture is there, 100% flexible with no cracking and just as pliable as before.
Just did the gold piping today on the aft facing bench seat. Hard to tell in the pics...but I can tell.
20200401_123910.jpg 20200402_124317.jpg
 
I have read every post on this thread twice since buying my 2005 Sea Ray 300 in the summer of 2018. The boat was previously owned by a CSR member (bel_mar_pointe) and we'll cared for with only minor upgrades needed mainly navigation electronics. After installing new simrad gps, VHF and radar it was time to conquer the slanted v berth. At 6ft tall the wife and I didn't find the v berth in the stock configuration comfortable so it was time to modify the v berth. I wanted to add an extension that was permanent but easily removable so it could be returned to the stock configuration. Added an extension that attaches to existing screws, new front fascia used 5" pvc trim board molded with heat gun to make the 90 degree bend. 7/8 SS railing and fittings that attached to the bulkhead wall as a support and a 6" memory foam mattress cut to fit. Turned out very well and we can now sleep with head to the bow very comfortable. Will finish the front fascia board with vinyl that matches the couch.
 

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I have read every post on this thread twice since buying my 2005 Sea Ray 300 in the summer of 2018. The boat was previously owned by a CSR member (bel_mar_pointe) and we'll cared for with only minor upgrades needed mainly navigation electronics. After installing new simrad gps, VHF and radar it was time to conquer the slanted v berth. At 6ft tall the wife and I didn't find the v berth in the stock configuration comfortable so it was time to modify the v berth. I wanted to add an extension that was permanent but easily removable so it could be returned to the stock configuration. Added an extension that attaches to existing screws, new front fascia used 5" pvc trim board molded with heat gun to make the 90 degree bend. 7/8 SS railing and fittings that attached to the bulkhead wall as a support and a 6" memory foam mattress cut to fit. Turned out very well and we can now sleep with head to the bow very comfortable. Will finish the front fascia board with vinyl that matches the couch.
thanks for sharing.
 
Luckily the PO had done something similar. I'm 6'2 and my SO is 6' and this mod has been awesome! Not a fan of the slanted styles of beds. We also added a 2.5" one piece of memory foam and it works for us. I look forward to sleeping on the boat, not that I need much encouragement.

My pic doesn't show it but the mod goes all the way to the STBD corner. I do like your setup though and I'll modify mine to open up the lower part with a pair of support struts on both sides. Getting rid of the arch.

Like said above, thanks for sharing.
 

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I was planning on installing 2 struts but after putting the port side in it provided enough support. By using just the 1 strut it left plenty of room to access the storage door under the v berth. I like your finished arch that looks like a good solution too.
 
So I think im pulling the trigger on a 2006 sea ray 300 Sundancer very soon... Just curious when you have a 3 to 4 people on the boat and u are just cruising in a no wake zone or sitting at the dock.. Does the boat Lean.. Looks like everything is on the Starboard side... Nothing on port??
 
So I think im pulling the trigger on a 2006 sea ray 300 Sundancer very soon... Just curious when you have a 3 to 4 people on the boat and u are just cruising in a no wake zone or sitting at the dock.. Does the boat Lean.. Looks like everything is on the Starboard side... Nothing on port??
Batteries are on port side. Fuel tank on each side. Water tank right in the center. Empty it's a level boat. Use your trim tabs to keep it level if passenger movement makes it list to one side or the other when on plane. At dock or at trawler speed I never noticed anything bothersome with several adults on board.
 
So I think im pulling the trigger on a 2006 sea ray 300 Sundancer very soon... Just curious when you have a 3 to 4 people on the boat and u are just cruising in a no wake zone or sitting at the dock.. Does the boat Lean.. Looks like everything is on the Starboard side... Nothing on port??
At cocktail speeds I don't notice a lean to either side. At cruise speed, I do have to lean on my STBD trim tab to maintain level. The aft seats and helm seats do put the weight of pax towards the STBD side.
 
So I think im pulling the trigger on a 2006 sea ray 300 Sundancer very soon... Just curious when you have a 3 to 4 people on the boat and u are just cruising in a no wake zone or sitting at the dock.. Does the boat Lean.. Looks like everything is on the Starboard side... Nothing on port??
Most often we are running with 4 adults & it doesn’t have a noticeable list when at rest or cruising at displacement speeds. They’re surprisingly heavy & a lot Beamer than a 280 for instance.
 
Most often we are running with 4 adults & it doesn’t have a noticeable list when at rest or cruising at displacement speeds. They’re surprisingly heavy & a lot Beamer than a 280 for instance.
I would agree with that. I was concerned about the layout before moving from a 280 to the 300, but it was a non-issue. The 300 does feel and act a lot larger than a 280 for sure. Makes sense...a lot more displacement.

At times I had a lot of stuff on-board. I have an annual boys weekend where we go a short distance to camp and raft-up with a couple other boats. With 8-9 guys (~2000lb worth of guys), all their gear, 4-5 full coolers, we could still crawl up on plane with full tabs.

I have a picture somewhere, taken from behind the boat, of 4 or 5 200lb+ guys sitting on the starboard side in the cockpit. The boat lists a little, with the swim platform almost touching the water on starboard, and about 2" out of the water on port...trying to dig it up.

It is a very neutral boat typically. Here is a shot with just my wife and kids at the back:

upload_2020-5-2_9-32-8.png


Even though a lot of the seating is to starboard, the person sitting to the left at the helm is pretty much on centre, as is the person in the port-side forward seat in the cockpit. You can seat 4 on the aft bench, and when you do, one is port of centre, one centre, and two starboard. With all seats full, you have three full starboard, 3 centre, one a little port, and one more a little more port.

It has an effect, but pretty minimal.
 
So I think im pulling the trigger on a 2006 sea ray 300 Sundancer very soon... Just curious when you have a 3 to 4 people on the boat and u are just cruising in a no wake zone or sitting at the dock.. Does the boat Lean.. Looks like everything is on the Starboard side... Nothing on port??
One thing to mention...if you do go for the 300DA, definitely check out the posts here on modifying / extending the sideways V-berth.

I saw a few really nice jobs on here recently. The PO of our boat did a pretty good job (not as nice as the ones I saw here), and it makes a huge difference. You end-up with a massive sleeping area.

Before buying our 300DA, we were bouncing between an '03+ 340DA (my first choice) and a 320DA. At over 6' tall, I found the V-berth too short for me on the 320. While trying to find a good 340 in our price range we stumbled across the 300 with the modified V-berth and we ended-up buying it.
 

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