Official 380 Thread

Thanks Chris ! I hope to get this resolved tonight and have AC units pumping out lots of cool air for the weekend !

Cheers
Sudsy !
 
I was able to find the triggers last night and switched them around and was able to determine that one of them is faulty ! Just working on ordering a new one and will likely replace them both !

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction !

Sudsy
 
Im looking to change my outdated electronics and I'm looking at a Simrad combo ( radar , chartplotter , fish finder ). Just wondered if anyone has done this on their 380 Sundancer and if you happen to know the degree of the transducer for the boat ? My boat is still in the water and I'm not sure of the degree .

Sudsy
 
Tom who???
Sorry, didn't see the notification.

Tom Frauenheim. He's the broker who I dealt with on mine. Professional as the day is long. Great experience.
 
Has Anyone changed out the boot/top stripes from black and gold to just black, thinking of doing this and updating to newer emblems.

if you have and have pics that would be great.

Thanks Jamie
 
Has Anyone changed out the boot/top stripes from black and gold to just black, thinking of doing this and updating to newer emblems.

if you have and have pics that would be great.

Thanks Jamie
Definitely curious also, since I'm going to be restriping, re-badging and likely going to black canvas this winter.
 
02501170-40ED-4BB9-81D8-14F590165BAD.jpeg
Has Anyone changed out the boot/top stripes from black and gold to just black, thinking of doing this and updating to newer emblems.

if you have and have pics that would be great.

Thanks Jamie

Removed the top gold stripe, and gold shadowing on the Sundancer and 380 logos. Looks much cleaner.
 
I’m very happy with my 340, but I really don’t like the wet head, and my kids are at an age where a proper door/ stateroom would be very nice.

We also do 3 or 4 trips per season that are 4 hours or more, ranging between 80 and 150 miles each way. This has me wanting diesel power. However, I’m dreading the idea of giving up a lot of speed. Could some 380 diesel owners share their cruise speed, gph, and wether your spinning 3 or 4 blades.
 
I’m very happy with my 340, but I really don’t like the wet head, and my kids are at an age where a proper door/ stateroom would be very nice.

We also do 3 or 4 trips per season that are 4 hours or more, ranging between 80 and 150 miles each way. This has me wanting diesel power. However, I’m dreading the idea of giving up a lot of speed. Could some 380 diesel owners share their cruise speed, gph, and wether your spinning 3 or 4 blades.

I’m not a diesel 380 owner, but I looked at a few when I was boat shopping a few years ago.
Started looking at 380 gassers because we love the boat, but a buddy of mine convinced me to be open to diesels in a boat that size.
BTW: I’m very glad he did. I get about a mile per gallon on longer trips (longest is usually 6 hours) where I cruise at 2400 RPM which typically gives me a speed of between 23 &25 mph depending on conditions. Came back from Fire Island (1/2 hr ride) at 25 mph on the GPS this morning.
Anyway, there were very few diesel 380’s for sale in the country when I was looking. I came across 3 over an 11 month period. One was a 4 hour drive away, described as mint, and turned out to be not as described when I got there. Two more were in Florida. I had someone look at one for me and the report wasn’t good. Never bothered with the other Florida boat because it was priced crazy high.
Because of the very limited number of diesel 380’s, the asking prices seemed to be about the same or close to asking prices for diesel 410’s.
Diesels are very common in 400’s/410’s so there were a lot more boats to choose from.
Basically the same boat but a few feet longer with a bigger beam. The extra space gets you a more private aft cabin with pocket door and separate head. That’s the most noticeable difference. You’ll also get a bit more space in the salon, cockpit and between the Caterpillars in the engine room.
While mine isn’t for sale, I’m not too far from you and you would be more than welcome to come down to my dock, walk around and get a feel for a 410. Might give you something to compare to when you are looking at 380’s.
Bottom line: If you really want diesels you might be better off shopping for a 400/410.
If you’re happy to stick with gassers, then the 380 is a beautiful boat.
 
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JVM. thanks for the feedback and offer to check out your boat. The slip that I have is limited at 37 feet. I’ve got plenty of room to fit, it’s just what the marina mandates, so I’d be asking for an exception going with the 38 (unless the registration for a 380, actually reads less, like my 340, actually reads 33). In the end, I’m confident they would let me slide with the 380. But, don’t think the 410/420 would be allowed.

However, the 410 with the extra head and more private rear stateroom would be ideal with two kids, but I also don’t want to give up my slip or have to move marinas. So I might be limited to the 380.

I’m guessing your burning about 25 gallons an hour running between 23 and 25 mph? Did you upgrade your tabs or props to get those numbers, or that how she runs from the factory.
 
JVM. thanks for the feedback and offer to check out your boat. The slip that I have is limited at 37 feet. I’ve got plenty of room to fit, it’s just what the marina mandates, so I’d be asking for an exception going with the 38 (unless the registration for a 380, actually reads less, like my 340, actually reads 33). In the end, I’m confident they would let me slide with the 380. But, don’t think the 410/420 would be allowed.

However, the 410 with the extra head and more private rear stateroom would be ideal with two kids, but I also don’t want to give up my slip or have to move marinas. So I might be limited to the 380.

I’m guessing your burning about 25 gallons an hour running between 23 and 25 mph? Did you upgrade your tabs or props to get those numbers, or that how she runs from the factory.

That’s about my burn rate. I’ve made several trips of 6 - 7 hours in length since I’ve had the boat and I get about 1 statute MPG on those trips.
With the no wake zones we have down here I don’t really keep track of the fuel economy on short local runs because the numbers would be so skewed, but because of the time spent at idle speed in those zones the economy is much better locally. The diesels barely sip fuel at idle speed.
My diesel generator is also very efficient. It probably uses .5 to .75 gph.
It draws from the starboard tank and I can only calculate that number roughly by seeing how many more gallons the stbd. tank takes at fill up and comparing it to how many hours I ran the genny.
I haven’t done any modifications to the tabs, but I’m probably going to at least add drop fins this winter in an effort to get the stern up a bit and hopefully improve efficiency a little. I’ve also thought about adding a second set of tabs over the tunnels.
The factory put 22 x 23 4 blade props on it. The previous owner had them re-pitched to 22 x 22 to improve the hole shot. I had them tuned last winter. For a big heavy boat, it gets going pretty quick.
If you stick with a 380 to keep your slip you’ll still be gaining a major upgrade with the forward stateroom door and separate shower. Those are the two things that got us looking at 380’s. My wife hated the wet head in our old boat and in the last few years we had it she passed on some overnights because of it.
The forward stateroom door is really great too. Especially when one person sleeps later than the other or when we have someone else sleeping over on the boat.
The 380 is a fantastic boat! We looked at a lot of them and even put a deposit on one (deal fell through) 6 few months before buying the 410.
After the 380 deal fell through, I was talked in to going with diesels and my dock is 50’ long so the 410 worked for us.
 
JVM Thanks for sharing this info. From what your sharing, it sounds like I’m looking in the right direction.

We love the 340, it’s easy to handle solo, not too much work when it comes to spring detail, or the regular summer cleanings, it’s quite roomy when it’s just the wife and I. However when my daughters want to bring friends with them, that extra separation of a separate room up front seems like a huge bonus, as dose the separate shower.

Since we’ve done a lot of work to sort out our 340 we will take our time in seeking out the next boat, and I’ll start seeing how much flexibility the marina will offer.
 
You'll find the 380 just as easy to single-hand. I take ours out regularly solo.

Also, when we first started looking at larger boats, after touring a few, we decided there were a few non-negotiables. Separate shower was 1, full-sized fridge was the other. The pocket door/separate forward berth is a big bonus.
 
JVM Thanks for sharing this info. From what your sharing, it sounds like I’m looking in the right direction.

We love the 340, it’s easy to handle solo, not too much work when it comes to spring detail, or the regular summer cleanings, it’s quite roomy when it’s just the wife and I. However when my daughters want to bring friends with them, that extra separation of a separate room up front seems like a huge bonus, as dose the separate shower.

Since we’ve done a lot of work to sort out our 340 we will take our time in seeking out the next boat, and I’ll start seeing how much flexibility the marina will offer.

The larger boat will be just as easy to handle solo once you get used to it.
Spring detail is what it is. The bigger the boat, the more work it is to clean, polish and wax the exterior.
 

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