290 or 270 ??

garryowen

garryowen

New Member
Mar 3, 2008
689
colorado river
Boat Info
230 weekender-

-310 sundancer
Engines
454 Mercruiser w/Bravo III-

-twin 7.4 mfi w/Bravo III's
gerry and i are looking to move up from the 230 weekende:smt100r.
[i know; dumb move after spending what it was worth last summer:smt021 on a B III and new transom assembly]
looking to leave 230 at lake mead and not trailer back and forth any more.


any way looking at a nice 2000 270 that has pretty much every thing and would fit in our slips we now have at lake powell and mead.

would have to get larger slips for 1999 290 we are looking at.

both are single motor 7.4 mpi and 270 is a b3. not sure but would guess 290 would be a b3 also
need to look more at the 290 but was wondering if any one here has owned or used both, and could throw some insight at us this morning.

have a spec list on the 270 but sea ray customer service sight is down for maintenance and cant get specs on the 290 yet

thanks gary:huh:
 
I had the 270..Wide beam...nice boat.
If it isn't the wide beam go for the 290...you will never say you had too much room in a boat.
 
the beam on the 270 we are looking at is 9'2"

the 290 is 6" or so wider. not real sure till i get the spec sheet but i know it's a little wider
 
I have a 2000 270 which I love. I think the 290 is almost identical in terms of layout. Specifically they both have an aft facing lounger on the port side. The aft facing lounger is one of the best features of the boat.

We spent 7 days on ours with 2 adults and 2 children traveling down the Tennessee River last year. As the kids get bigger it will get tighter but for now we do well on the boat. My only complaint is a little lack of power to get up on to plane when fully loaded with fuel, water, and 6 adults.

If you have any specific questions just ask.

John
 
i was on a 290 last month but not really looking at it. when i looked at the 270 this week end thats what i though of--the 290. i was have a hard time trying to remember the difference. but the lay out is really close to the same.

gerry and i are ok with the room on the 230, not saying more wont be nice, but the things we are really looking forward to is the ac unit, microwave, in the galley, built in gen set, hot water, and pump out head.

as much as we move the 270 would a lot be better, but hate get one and regret not looking at the 290.
thanks for comment on the power on the 290. wondered about that, as a lot of them shown advertised use twin motor combinations.
 
well its mute point now. the guy with the 270 backed out and is returning my deposit.
 
Sorry it did not work out. Another will come along. That is how we ended up with our 270. We had planed on an older 270 in worse condition but it fell through and we ended up with our newer one for almost the same cost and in better condition.

Since you travel you might check on the size of the 290 with regards to trailering it. I know the 270 can be trailered fairly easily.

John
 
everthing's irie said:
With prices the way they are right now why not include a 340 in the mix?
Click to expand...

a little to big for as much moving and crossing state lines as gerry and i do.

the 290 was pretty much as large and heavy as we wanted to trailer on a regular basis.

lone ranger; your right. there are a lot of boats for sale out there.
gerry just told me she heard on the radio to day, gas is supposed to jump pretty good this summer.
that should make it harder on any one trying to sell

how would the 270 do with the twin v-6 option?
 
garryowen said:
how would the 270 do with the twin v-6 option?
Click to expand...

I have the narrow beam 270 with twin 4.3's and I love it. Handles great, cruises nice, fairly easy on fuel and has a good layout in the cabin and cockpit. I cruise at 3200 RPMs which is 28-31 MPH depending on conditions and WOT is 4400 RPMs at 39-42 MPH with usually full gas,water, 4 people and 2 big goofy dogs as well as bottom paint.

Time to plane is good and we pull various size tubes off the back with good success using a bridle to the rear D rings. We've spent many a night on the boat - my kids are 10 and 13 - they and the dogs take over the v berth and my wife and I get the mid cabin. The shower is a bit tight but it's workable. The A/C works well and keeps it nice and cool - even on some of our hottest days. I don't have a genny but we usually stay overnight at a marina so we can have restaurants nearby and be able to walk the dogs.

Engine compartment room is a little tight... trying to be nice there! :smt101 But - I can change plugs on either engine in about 15 mins, oil changes are about 15 mins per engine (remote filters on top of port side of each engine), batteries are easy to get to and check but don't look forward to the day when I have to remove them all and fuel/water seps are easy to get to. I'm taking a page from Todd's book (Nehalennia on here) and making a platform to cover the bilge pumps so I have a better way to stand down there and work without having to stand on the stringers.

If you are interested in a project boat - there was a 270 like mine in a different thread here recently that was going for about $13k - needed some work and supposedly $5k was discounted to account for the work. Might be something to consider as a lot of the things needing work would most likely need to be replace/repaired anyway on a 13-14 year old boat.

Here's the link to the 270 thread: http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27954&highlight=exhaust
 
Beam on the 290DA is 10'2" on the 1998 and 1999. The 1999 has a bit moe headroom inside. A foot wider beam on a boat this size is meaningful.

You don't want to trailer this boat....10,200 dry. With gas, water, and a trailer, this is a 14,000 or better pull. Needs a good 3 axle trailer and very good brakes.
 
All this talk of a 270 makes me even more excited. We've been looking for some time now at 270's around the Mid-Atlantic states; preferably the Chesapeake Bay area. Same age range, but a wide-beam (9'2") version's. But over the winter, we started looking at 280's. Haven't thought about a 290...is that similiar to a 280, just named differently?

We recently were on a 28' boat of another manufacturer at an indoor boat show, and it had a radar arch. Love it. The headroom under it was great, lighting from above, etc. So now we'd really love a boat with the arch. Not to mention they just look more modern and cool (maybe easier resale?).

Downsides are trailerability. Now, I have my own pier at home, but I want to be able to work on it at home, store in the off-season at home, and pull it when a hurricane decides to blow through. If I don't have or can't trailer, the expense goes up dealing with all that.

While twin-engines seems great and I'd love to have it, the cost in maintaining and running them have me a bit concerned, versus a single big-block 270.

Decisions, decisions...that's why this thread has my interest...!
 
I have a 1999 270 with the 9.2 beam. Single 7.4 bravo 3 Great boat. I am also in the process of buying and selling. I also looked at the 290, this boat really needs twins, the layout is the same as the 270 but you will notice the width but without the right power it won't matter. We looked at both but it wasn't enough to make us pay the extra money at the time. My 7.4 is great and has plenty of power we have 6-10 people on the boat ussally and have no issues. Sleeping is ok with 4 adults and 2 kids. I know with the way prices are right now you can get a lot of boat for the money but it all comes down to being comfortable with the boat and your slip.

FMI- what was the price of the 2000? Just wondering
 
Gunn, my concern as well. I love the fuel range and maintenance of the single. The only issue is how much you travel. I'm looking at twins only because when we go accross Lake Michigan or travel 4 hours north, the security of having two vs a single would be nice, other than that I would stick with a single.
 
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