Sea Ray 220 Sundeck
 

I'm looking at upgrading to the Sea Ray 220 Sundeck. I currently have a Sea Ray 190 Bowrider that has been a great boat, but want more room to move about and take more guests..... I'm also considering models from Four Winns and Chaparral. Any opinions on the Sea Ray?

Sea Ray
 

Great boat. You won't regret buying one.:liplick: Perfect boat for the lake with 10 aboard or 2. The boat is alot of fun and can handle all the toys.

Searay tends to get pretty high marks. Four Winns and Chaparral are pretty popular on the lake as well. I'd consider the dealer as much as the boat, this is especially true if you're buying new and want easy warranty service.

Ask your Searay question here: http://www.searayowners.com

Check out customer satisfaction here: www.jdpower.com

In the name of full disclosure, I have owned two Searays, including my current boat.

I'd recommend looking at both the bow riders and "sundecks" from all three manufacturers before buying. I reciently purchased a new Four Winns Horizon 240 bowrider from Melvin Village Marina. It had everything the Four Winns Funship had, as much room, and a much better ride in rough water. Be sure to do an in-water test before you purchase.

Knomad:

Did you get a deal on a slip at Melvin Village as well? That seems to be one of their selling points.

220 Sundeck - Great Boat
 

I bought a 220 Sundeck at the beginning of this season (new 2005 model). It has been great. A vey versatile boat. I use it on lake winni. and out on boston harbor. Lots of room for friends, but the thing that sold me on this boat as opposed to others was the little enclosed head. It really is a deck boat squeezed into a sport boat hull.

Good luck with your decision.

I believe that the 220 and 240 Sundeck are Sea Ray's most popular models. We have a Dancer (our 2nd) and I can attest to the quality as well as Irwin's service.

I don't know anyone that regretted buying a Sea Ray. They seem nicely put together and seem to hold their value. When comparing to Four Winns, Chaps, and other quality boats, you really ought to shop for features you prefer, and dealers you like, not brand names. There are mnay quality boats out there but features and dealer experiences can be all over the map.

Some folks would prefer to have a choice between Volvo and Merc power and Sea Ray does not offer Volvos, so that may be an issue. I've never owned a Sea Ray but I've owned both brands of drives and they were both good. Merc would never deter me.

Good luck. I think you'll find there's a world of difference in the way any 22 footer is going to handle chop compared to your 19 footer. We went up 4 feet each time we bought our last two boats and were shocked by the ride improvements.

Give Bill Liakas a call at Channel Marine. They are a Crownline dealer, which are comparable to cobalt etc.
(603)366-4801

Don't know what your budget is,but you ought to check out the 26' Hurricane deck boat......enclosed head/changing room and room for 10-12.Handles big swells with ease.With only 14" of draft you can drive it right up to the beach.We use ours in NH and Fla.and love it.

Is this like yours?

http://www.newboats.com/product.jsp?ID=70284

http://www2.worldpub.net/images/newb...ts_6633_03.jpg

searay 220 sundeck
 

:D also check out the Azure by bennington boat Co. channell marine has the franchise. last year in june i bought the AZ200 sport deck boat. Its Incredible has a small head with porta potty. room for 10, 5.0 L V-8 Volvo penta. The rougher the water, the happier she Is. sure beats my two other stingrays hands down. Oh and the large rear seat lays down to form a sunpad. has tons of storage. Ski locker and floor locker. So much storage I had to buy more stuff.

;)

Bravo III concerns
 

I agree with your post but want to mention this issue for anyone looking to buy a used boat from the late '90's with a Bravo III sterndrive. The were enough reports of corrosion that BoatUS got involved and tried to help out. Our B3 was made after the years affected (supposedly), and I've not seen abnormal corrosion, but still I'm a bit leary of recommending a Merc B3 (especially given MerCruiser's response to the whole issue). Given a choice I'd go with a VP Duo-prop but that wouldn't be the deciding factor in a new boat purchase for use on Winni.

Another Thumbs Up for the 220SD
 

We got one a few seasons ago, and it is great. The high freeboard is great for our little ones, and it handles the chop very nicely. I am a big fan, but now that I have it, should have looked at the 240 more closely...

The 240 is a great boat. We had lots of traffic on it at the Boston Boat Show this past weekend.

SunDeck
 

We also bought a SunDeck and LOVE it. I previously owned a Four Winns and Larson. All 3 were brand new and the 1st two were Volvo/Penta's ..... to date, I really can't complain about the Sea Ray or Merc.

This is a fantastic boat. Responds fantastically in rough water and plenty of room.

Irwin is definitely the BEST dealer that I have had the pleasure to deal with so far. Not a complaint yet!!!

Very close,GWC.....but with twin o/b's. Nice picture.

more like this.... that is an older style deck boat
 

[QUOTE=GWC...]Is this like yours?

I have one of the "Bad" Bravo 3 drives. The biggest mistakes with these drives that lead to corrosion (in Winnipesaukee anyway) are not knowing to leave the battery switch on and not changing to proper freshwater sacrifical anodes. The big stainless props on the Bravo 3 offer a huge cathode that is more noble than any other part of the drive. If you combine this with an aluminum drive housing and the aluminum anodes they all seem to come equipped with, the drive housing is going to corrode about as quickly as the anodes. Switch to magnesium anodes and the drive corrosion stops.

In addition to the protection offered by the sacrificial anodes, Mercruiser also installs an active corrosion reduction system called "mercathode". It is only active when it's powered so leaving the battery switch in the off position while the boat is in the water keeps this device from protecting the drive.

If you intend to have a Bravo 3 in Winnipesaukee, plan to leave the battery on and get the proper anodes. Mine has been corrosion free this way. I also take the time to make sure the drive paint is in good shape every year.

If you have shore power (not likely on a 220 Sundeck), it's a very good idea to install a galvanic isolator to stop low the voltage DC from riding on the AC line. That DC can overcome both the mecathode and the anodes and do some serious damage.

Mercathode
 

Switching to magnesium "zincs" is a must for Winni. There's no reason not to have them on any boat. The Mercathode system is something of a mixed bag IMO. According to Mercury it should be connected directly to the battery but if it isn't and you have to switch the battery on, then you have more potential problems. Combine the Mercathode with a CO detector and perhaps other stuff that's now drawing current and they'll drain a typical starting battery flat in a week. Brand new batteries and deep cycle models (only applicable if you have a 2 battery system) tend to last longer I'm told. If you have a 2 battery system you'll want to be careful to switch on the "correct" battery. The auto bilge pump is often only connected directly to 1 battery. If this goes dead then your bilge pump won't run if needed. Run your Mercathode + stuff off the other battery (if you even have one). So now your battery might go flat, and even if you aren't worried about the bilge pump, you'll want to avoid leaving your battery that dead for any length of time. Next you'll want a charging system for the battery that's left on. If done improperly this can be the worst thing for your BIII. DaveR is spot on re: needing a galvanic isolator if you're going to leave your batt(s) charging up on shore power. Perhaps a really low power solar cell might be an option. And again ditto on the outdrive paint ! I've got to get ours done this year.

FWIW - I recall Mercruiser doing some changes to the BIII in 2000 or 2001 but I still see many complaints re: corrosion on these newer units. While I'd guess that stray currents in a marina environment, salt water and poor maintainance account for a good number of these, it makes one wonder. Especially since Mercruiser specifically states there is no corrosion problem on the BIII and it's all the customer's fault if anything goes bad. They want a galvanic test performed weekly and daily checks on the "zincs". That's just plain silly, even in salt water. Luckily here on Winni, what I think is a poor design, is not as "stressed" as it would be elsewhere.