If you had to rank your boat upgrades - what would be your top two or three???

[Irie308]

Looking at something like the 420 DA, I don't see why they couldn't split that rear sleeping quarter similar to how they did on the 48 DA. I think Cruisers did this on their similar sized yacht and made use of a filler. My 11 yo daughter got over sleeping next to her 8 yo brother about 2-3 seasons ago. But i guess we wouldn't be loving our 42 DB as much as we do now. Which in keeping with this thread would be ranked in our "top 3 upgrade"

 

[JVM225]

As promised here are some photos of the bunk I added to my 400. I finally got it installed last night. I initially built the bunk with a fair amount of "hoping and wishing" it would fit through the door in one piece. Of course...it's a boat project....it did not fit through in one piece. I added the hing and some supports on the inside over the past two weekends. Fits like a charm and is a substantial improvement over my "Bunk 1.0" since this one does not have a center support.

I crawled up on it last night. I could easily sleep on this thing. Lots of room for growing kids! I can also sleep under it, on my side, with no problem. A bit less room underneath than my 340 but should work perfectly even if we have guests overnight.

I used leftover EVA foam from my swim platform project to protect the vinyl where the wood meets the boat cushions and walls. That's the only reason you see the gray bits stuck on. Otherwise it's all cheap lumber and leftover wood stain...a cheap project.

Looks great!
At some point Sea Ray got the hint. My 410 has a factory drop down bunk in that location.

 

[Stee6043]

I'll throw another low dollar upgrade out on this thread. I finally snapped a few photos of a helm cover I made this spring. From a distance I think it looks pretty darn okay. Get a little closer and it becomes clear that this was my very first time using a sewing machine...ever.

 

[JVM225]

I'll throw another low dollar upgrade out on this thread. I finally snapped a few photos of a helm cover I made this spring. From a distance I think it looks pretty darn okay. Get a little closer and it becomes clear that this was my very first time using a sewing machine...ever.

Looks pretty good to me.
What kind of machine did you use?
Having zero sewing machine experience I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for a good and inexpensive used machine to play around with a little canvas and vinyl work. Just a few simpler pieces. Figure if I’m terrible at it I wouldn’t have a lot invested and if I get decent at it I can always upgrade.

 

[Stee6043]

Looks pretty good to me.
What kind of machine did you use?
Having zero sewing machine experience I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for a good and inexpensive used machine to play around with a little canvas and vinyl work. Just a few simpler pieces. Figure if I’m terrible at it I wouldn’t have a lot invested and if I get decent at it I can always upgrade.

Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.

I picked up a Sailrite machine during a "raging sale" over winter after striking out on a craigslist deal. I've had an ever increasing list of things I'd love to have but am not willing to pay to have done properly. Helm cover, floor runners, a shade for the back of my boat, a shade for my deck at home, maybe new curtains for the cabin of the boat, etc. and so on. Nothing complex but still expensive to have the pro's build.

 

[JVM225]

Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.

I picked up a Sailrite machine during a "raging sale" over winter after striking out on a craigslist deal. I've had an ever increasing list of things I'd love to have but am not willing to pay to have done properly. Helm cover, floor runners, a shade for the back of my boat, a shade for my deck at home, maybe new curtains for the cabin of the boat, etc. and so on. Nothing complex but still expensive to have the pro's build.

Which model did you get? I’ve been hoping to pick one up on Craigslist or EBay.
I’ve got a helm cover already but I want to make up a shade that runs off the back of my Bimini, a backrest cushion, start on the canvas covers for my kids 18’ bowrider and work my way up to doing their cushions on that boat for them.
I’ve done vinyl combing and some other odd flat pieces on my old boat and it was pretty easy so now I’m looking to branch out with some winter and rainy day projects.
The good part is that vinyl itself is not crazy expensive so it pays to give it a try.

 

[dvx216]

Haven't done that many things to our 310 but getting rid of plastic sink in the cockpit that I ruined with a rag that had MEK on it and replacing carpet in the cabin with Plasteak vinyl.

 

[stephens013]

As one member said before, going from a 400DA to a 510 DA is my biggest up grade. Only have 1 hour at the helm but have already installed a new thru hull depth finder with panaramic bottom view, under water LED lighting and up graded Garmin chart plotter.

 

[Stee6043]

It's been a hot minute since this thread has been active but it's a good 7 pages of content.

I think a new swim platform has made it's way to the top of my list at this point. It changed both the way we enjoy the boat when parked (swimming, sitting, relaxing) but also enabled me to upgrade my dinghy.

I'd say number 2 is solidly my Garmin chartplotter installation. Though they are small, I really enjoy having these things running on longer trips. It'll be even better this year with the engine data I've now got after installing Fox gateways late last year.

What have you guys been working on??

 

[SKybolt]

It's been a hot minute since this thread has been active but it's a good 7 pages of content.

I think a new swim platform has made it's way to the top of my list at this point. It changed both the way we enjoy the boat when parked (swimming, sitting, relaxing) but also enabled me to upgrade my dinghy.

I'd say number 2 is solidly my Garmin chartplotter installation. Though they are small, I really enjoy having these things running on longer trips. It'll be even better this year with the engine data I've now got after installing Fox gateways late last year.

What have you guys been working on??

I have to agree with you, the new swim platform was one of the best upgrades we went with. My wife was arguing not to do this, it wasn't needed. Now she thinks is was the best thing ever. To your point it completely changed being out on anchor and gave us a "porch" to sit out on. http://clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/new-swim-platform.103618/page-3#post-1234063

Also the second thing was all new electronics last year and (hopefully) the new dash panel from tecnographic. If I ever receive it that is, so no pic's just yet.

The other nice upgrade was adding a wine/beer fridge in the galley, that was also liked better then I thought it would be. http://clubsearay.com/index.php?thr...989-discussion-area.83064/page-3#post-1307600

Also the Stereo upgrade which seems to be ongoing was a big hit also.

Going to finish the Lonseal Lonwood flooring next, but I think that may be a next year thing.

 

[Stee6043]

I have to agree with you, the new swim platform was one of the best upgrades we went with. My wife was arguing not to do this, it wasn't needed. Now she thinks is was the best thing ever. To your point it completely changed being out on anchor and gave us a "porch" to sit out on. http://clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/new-swim-platform.103618/page-3#post-1234063

Also the second thing was all new electronics last year and (hopefully) the new dash panel from tecnographic. If I ever receive it that is, so no pic's just yet.

The other nice upgrade was adding a wine/beer fridge in the galley, that was also liked better then I thought it would be. http://clubsearay.com/index.php?thr...989-discussion-area.83064/page-3#post-1307600

Also the Stereo upgrade which seems to be ongoing was a big hit also.

Going to finish the Lonseal Lonwood flooring next, but I think that may be a next year thing.

If it were easier to remove the H30 davit I'd do this just about every Friday on my "porch"

But we still enjoy the heck out of the extra room. Even with the davit in place.

 

[SKybolt]

If it were easier to remove the H30 davit I'd do this just about every Friday on my "porch"

But we still enjoy the heck out of the extra room. Even with the davit in place.

We do the same, even though the H3O is "Removable" I never remove it. No good place to put it and it's a little tight fit and needs a little persuasion to remove/reinstall it as well. It's funny that my wife refers to the swim platform as a "Porch", I laugh every time she refers to it as that. I finally got her to say Line instead of Rope ...

 

[Pirate Lady]

We do the same, even though the H3O is "Removable" I never remove it. No good place to put it and it's a little tight fit and needs a little persuasion to remove/reinstall it as well. It's funny that my wife refers to the swim platform as a "Porch", I laugh every time she refers to it as that. I finally got her to say Line instead of Rope ...

My wife laughes whenever she hears someone say rope. She been at this longer than she admits.

 

[Maybe A Dancer]

I've owned my boat since 1997 so I have replaced a lot of stuff. Even though I made improvements for function and technology when I replaced something like changing a monochrome plotter to a color MFD when the old plotter failed, those aren't really upgrades as muh as replacements. Some of the additions to the boat we've done that added the most usability or reduced labor the most have been:


Bennett ATR (auto tab retractor)..when I switch off my electronics master, my tabs retract
Complete custom aft enclosure
120V bilge lighting ….let there be light, and a lot of it!
Tornado holding tank flushing devices
Clock at the helm
Digital volt meters …no more trying to guess if I had 12 or 14 volts showing on the Sea Ray gauges
Digital tachometers
LED instrument panel lighting
2nd VHF ….
Custom made tables for the cockpit and salon
Nylon extensions for the AC cooling outlets and deck drains to keep the algae and black marks off the sides of the boat.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Would love to hear more about the TORNADO . . .

BEST !

RWS

 

[Blueone]

I’ve upgraded a ton of crap….. most of it you cant see…. Like AC ….battery charger…. Etc. if I had to pick one you can see I would say the polycarbonate for the windshield…. I really like the look and the clarity

 

[SKybolt]

I’ve upgraded a ton of crap….. most of it you cant see…. Like AC ….battery charger…. Etc. if I had to pick one you can see I would say the polycarbonate for the windshield…. I really like the look and the clarity
View attachment 141742 View attachment 141743

Are you sure it's not the JL Audio speaker(s) in the hardtop?

But to your point, the polycarbonate is great for the front windscreen. I love it also.

 

[Blueone]

Are you sure it's not the JL Audio speaker(s) in the hardtop?

But to your point, the polycarbonate is great for the front windscreen. I love it also.

I bought the boat off a buddy….. he put the kick ass sound system in the summer he sold it to me…… the crazy bastard spent thousands on it.
His son pesters me every year to buy the boat back….

 

[SKybolt]

I bought the boat off a buddy….. he put the kick ass sound system in the summer he sold it to me…… the crazy bastard spent thousands on it.
His son pesters me every year to buy the boat back….

Now that is a kick in the ass, for him that is.

Really nice boat by the way.

 

[Captsteve427]

Great thread, don't know where to start?! Too many to list, but here's my top-10;

- FLIR camera
- Polycarbonate cockpit glass & rear canvas
- Flexiteak on swim platform
- JL speakers/sub & Fusion RA770 - integrated into Garmin 7612's
- Mercurys touchscreen 502 VesselView with WiFi
- Lumitec under water LED lights
- Overhead cockpit LED lights ~ Red/White/Blue
- Custom bow cushions with cup holders & cover
- Custom teak cockpit table & pole

& this month: FLIR joystick controller & Garmins GHC50 auto pilot, in place of original Raymarine ST8002 AP. {anybody interested in 8002 pm me}

 

[Doc O Rock]

My number one was a Garmin autopilot. Great for traveling.