HI,I would like to introduce myself....

[ron_berman]

HI,

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Ron Berman and I am the VP of Product Portfolio for Sea Ray Sport Yachts and Yachts. I am going to begin to participate in the dialog with you our owners to gain valuable insights about your boating lifestyle. Your boating experience will help drive our product line and future new models. From time to time, I will be asking questions or posting a feedback poll to gain input on various topics.

Thanks, in advance for your feedback and for being a Sea Ray owner.

[Brian11]

Welcome aboard Ron. It's always good to have an open dialogue with the mother ship.

[ron_berman]

Brian, Its nice to meet you and thanks for being a Sea Ray owner.

[slande]

Ron, it would be great if you could help stimulate dialog in this group.

[ron_berman]

slande,

One of the reasons I am starting to participate to increase participation and the community activity. For example, I launched a poll last weekend and am looking for our owners to provide feedback on the topic. If I get enough hits, I will likely have a weekly poll or discussion topic.

Thanks,

Ron B

[slande]

Ron, it's great to have you onboard. I suggest that you solicit from the members of this group a list of discussion topics in which they would be interested in participating. Even better, you could provide a list of 20 topics of known interest, and conduct a poll on that. Thanks, Steve

[Stewart]

Good to have you with us Ron. Loved the lineup at the Miami Boat Show. The L650 Fly is an awesome boat.

[Webb]

I think having this focused on larger boats will be helpful. So far much of the discussions have been around older and smaller boats. I hope we get into sharing about upgrades that people are doing to their boats. We are on Sea Ray boat #4-- a 58 Sedan Bridge bought new, but now almost 10 years old.

[ron_berman]

Webb,

It would be great to learn about all the upgrades our owners have made to their boats. This type of information is very helpful to address the needs of our owners. Are there any upgrades you have made to your 580 you can share? Pictures are always helpful if you do share.

Thanks

Ron B.

[Webb]

There have been several upgrades:

-- we added outdoor stereo speakers so we could be on the front sun pads and listen to music

-- added the Xenta joystick control to make it easier for my wife to dock the boat in an emergency

-- we had a canvas shade made that extended from the tracks already in place for the rear canvas to supports placed into the rod holders. This allows us to have some shade in the afternoon.

-- changed the engine room lighting to LED fixtures

-- reconfigured the drawers in the base of the dining table to hold our Sea Ray flatware, glasses, etc

There's more that we're working on!

[wingless]

Webb,

Thanks for sharing.

The wife also wants rod holder supports for the aft sunshade, but I am concerned about a location to stow that large hoop. Where is the support stowed when not in use?

My thought is to fabricate a hinged support that rotates forward to stow against the edge of the aft bimini when not in use. It looks like this won't obstruct egress when deployed or stowed.

Also, how do I resolve these differing views w/ the wife?

[Webb]

We didn't use a hoop. We have two extendible poles. When fully extended there is plenty of clearance. When collapsed, they're much shorter and store in the swim platform storage locker. There is an attachment strap near the lower part to attach to the side cleats to keep the wind from lifting it. The top of the pole has a snap that attaches to the edge of the canvas. Total cost was about $800 and was done by our canvas guy here in the Chicago area. We thought about putting a pointed end on the poles so they could go through a metal hole in the canvas with a strap to hold it down. But the snap has worked well even in strong winds.

I would offer a photo, but we are in winter storage right now! We still have snow!

[slande]

We solved the desire for shade on front and back of our 60 DA by purchasing 4 Sun Fly struts from Performance Textile in Annapolis MD. We installed 2 struts and 2 pad eyes in front and back. Our canvas installers made light mesh shades that cut 80% of sun but let in some light and air, although not rain proof. The struts fold and the set up is easy and stores well in canvas bags.

[ron_berman]

Shade is a big deal on a boat. Nearly all of our current models offer a foredeck shade and cockpit shade systems. What is the groups thoughts on shades that are supported by poles as described above vs the powered Sureshades now popular on many models?

[Webb]

We have worked with our Sea Ray dealer on a powered system for the back cockpit. The cost of $7-9,000 was more than we wanted to spend.

[slande]

The strut system is much less costly and very effective, but not motorized, so it requires assembly, disassembly and storage. Photos attached

[slande]

Rear shade

[wingless]

For my application the aft sunshade must be effective, must look good and must be a strong / solid implementation. It must stow properly when not required. My custom canvas enclosure includes the aft curtain shown. This aft curtain must be able to enclose the cockpit when the sunshade is stowed.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m52/wingless-pics/Sew/AftOutsidewSunshade_zps2547eb91.jpg

My initial implementation will use the existing aft sunshade with these telescoping poles inserted into the aft rod holders. I have a pair of these poles that I will use w/ my existing aft curtain to explore using this as part of my aft sunshade.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252365032100?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

My expectation is that this aft curtain on poles will be an insufficient long term solution, but these poles will permit measurement and analysis to get to the final implementation. I think that this curtain won't be long enough to the rear, wide enough on the sides and able to drain rain properly.

For my aft curtain, I think I will need a three bow stainless support rail, hinged at the cockpit rear corners. It will be something like this three trail kit. My thought is that the bows will pivot forward to within the aft Bimini top when not in use. Then when deployed it will swing to the rear, with one hinged forward bow, that supports the middle of the existing aft curtain, plus one hinged and extending rear bow, that goes over the swim platform. There will be downward pulling straps, from the rear bow to the swim platform corners. There will be a permanently attached canvas panel, between the two rear bows, that attaches to the bottom and sides of the existing aft curtain.

This way I use my existing canvas, plus extend for complete afternoon sun protection, plus get a solution that integrates nicely w/ the boat.

http://www.sailrite.com/1-Stainless-Steel-3-Bow-Frame-With-Fittings-Max-106-x-60

[wingless]

There are more important canvas issues than planning for future features.

The OEM canvas provided w/ my boat never fit properly. There were gaps on the sides that could never be closed. It was not an issue of improper dealership installation, the enclosure was wrong.

Another disappointment was the enclosure would leak when raining. We would need towels to stay dry when operating the boat in the rain.

Hands down my biggest canvas disappointment was the thread. The thread started disintegrating after two years and the enclosure started falling apart. Sea Ray should do an immediate and an across the board change to PTFE thread on all canvas because it is impervious to sunlight degradation.

The custom enclosure I designed and built uses PTFE thread, fits tightly w/o gaps and is dry in a torrential downpour.

[Scotter]

Ron
Glad to see you on the site
thanks

[Bratpack]

Hey Rob
We have a 2013 58 Sedanbridge
Looking for anchor rollers- who made them? Also having issue finding replacement the anchor - yard is stumped and they’re really good Thanks!
[email protected]