I picked up a 2018 Sundancer 460...

[lady_Patricia]

I picked up a 2018 Sundancer 460 on Feb 1st. While out on the weekend, the center and starboard sliding cockpit doors would not lock in to the open position. My 400 with the same door system required either the small lock slide or the door handle be operated to release the door. MarineMax is telling me that according to SeaRay, these doors are not supposed to lock in the open position due to the danger of fumes getting into the cabin. I can not accept this answer as being correct. If the door unexpectedly slams shut while underway, it could be very dangerous

[lady_Patricia]

Oops, premature posting. Also, it would imply that you can only run the boat with the doors closed. Anyone else have issues with the sliding doors?

[CPIGUY]

Yes, I was told the exact same thing by my dealers sales department when taking delivery of the boat. They actually said you need to run the boat with the doors closed as well. That’s absolutely ridiculous!!! I’ve appealed to my service manager who said they should lock like they do on the 400. My 460 is currently in the Boat yard having a Seakeeper installed and taking care of my punch list of items. I will be talking to the service manager tomorrow and will report back on what he found out about the doors. I will not run the boat with my doors closed, so there better be an answer to this issue or I going to loose my shit!

[Bobm1]

Good Morning, Arnie

[lady_Patricia]

CPGUY where are you located? I am dealing with MarineMax Fort Myers. Since I made the above post I took a very good look at the door, and there is a spring loaded pin at the top of each door that is supposed to go into a hole in the top track. It looks like someone measured wrong. My dealer contacted the door manufacturer (Taylor Made) and they confirmed that the door should lock into the open position. Sea Ray is now working on a fix. Probably a small shim screwed to the track. If the door flies shut while someone is going though it, Sea Ray is liable to be sued!

[lady_Patricia]

rmeyerson7 Who is Arnie?

[CPIGUY]

Good Morning Bob. Patricia, please keep me posted with what you find. Btw, I’m Arnie.

[lady_Patricia]

Arnie, I am Neil not sure where Bob came from. Where are you located?

[CPIGUY]

Bob’s a good busy of mine. He has 2018. 400. He was just being cute by saying hi. We’re located in Southern California in Channel Islands.

[andytemte]

Was told the same thing when mine was delivered. I'm going to have the techs design a workaround mechanism to lock them in place (likely a pin and/or straps/snaps).

[lady_Patricia]

Andytemmte I just traded my 2017 400 for a new 2018 460. The doors on the 400 are exactly the same and they worked perfectly. The pin's and mechanism are all there on the 460. they just don't connect properly. The top track is about 3/16" too high. The fix is easy they need to install a shim (with a hole that lines up with the existing hole) on to the top track so that the pin will connect. Us 460 owners need to put some pressure on Sea Ray to get this fix done now before someone get injured by a flying door. Their line that the door is supposed to be kept closed while underway is total BS. Someone screwed up!

[andytemte]

Thanks for the info - my last boat was a Marquis 40SC and the latching mechanism was built right in. I'll give your note to our techs. I will definitely talk to my SeaRay rep - my guess is that a lawyer who's never had a boat made up that line...

[lady_Patricia]

Andytemte The doors are manufactured by TaylorMade, they already confirmed through my MarineMax contact that the doors are supposed to lock in the open position. Don't let them off the hook!

[Captdkw]

Mine lock when open. As a mater of fact someone did get a little pinch when the door wasn't opened all the way and the boat rocked while on a mooring and hit them. No injuries but since then I tell everyone operating the doors to make sure they push them open all the way until they lock open.
Although its possible to operate the boat while the doors are open I think it could be dangerous. Hit a wave and dislodge to door lock and then have the door slam shut someone could loose a finger or worse. I keep mine closed at all times while underway at speed. PLUS I don't want the salt spray coming into the interior. Just look at the door glass after a long run. All salt spray., 2017 460 Fly.

[lady_Patricia]

They added a wind scoop to the 2018 Sundancer 460, so you don't get any back spray on the windows, at least not in the conditions I| have sailed in so far. They should lock in both the open and closed position. With my 400, I never had any problem with them releasing without the slider lock being activated. The doors were very secure whether open or closed.

[CPIGUY]

The 460 is my 9th boat and all have had sliding glass doors or eisen glass doors which were never kept closed while cruising. I have a 2017 460 and haven't experienced any spray in the cockpit on the few trips we've taken so far, I totally agree with Neil, the doors need to lock securely in the open position and anything else is unacceptable. My dealer has still not figured it out.

[Captdkw]

YUP the 2017 & 2018 Sundancer have a wind scoop. My boat is the Fly bridge model which has NO scoop. Yes the doors lock securely in the full open as well as full close. But for me I'll still keep them closed while running at speed (20Kts cruise). Slow running conditions I have no problem leaving them open. But at speed there is so much motion you need to be hanging on to something. So there's no serving hors d'oeuvres etc. LOL. I don't want someone grabbing the door handle and having the door close on them.
This brings up another question. Someone mentioned having a Seakeeper installed in a 460 Sea Ray. Since the engine room is the same between the Sundancer and Fly models I'd like to ask where are they installing the Sea Keeper? Anybody know?

[CPIGUY]

Yes, I’m the one that’s having the sea keeper installed on my 2017 460. What they do is move the generator forward approximately 18 inches, and install the sea keeper behind the generator on the port side. The installation will be completed in about two weeks, and then I’ll be picking it up and take it for a test run. I bought the boat brand new approximately six weeks ago under the condition that the sea keeper would install properly and work effectively. We’ll see soon enough.

[lady_Patricia]

CPUIGUY I don't have plans to install a Sea Keeper, but I am very interested on in hearing how well it works.

[CPIGUY]

We’ll keep you guys posted.

[Captdkw]

Thanks CPIGUY, I too am very interested in seeing how this comes out. I'd be interested in a photo or two attached here if you don't mind. I wish my boat had one. The fly bridge can rock n roll some especially when you get into another boats wake. Thx

[CPIGUY]

This was after they started moving the generator forward to make room for the Seakeeper

[Captdkw]

So you have Zeus Drives. Very nice. Would love to hear your real world performance numbers compared to my conventional shaft boat. My gen set is just aft of the port motor athawartahip. Basically whee your port drive is. Thx for the pictures. Keep them coming. BTW. Who is installing the Seakeeper?

[CPIGUY]

Yes, I have the Zeus drives. I run 30k at 3100rpm and 34.3k wide open at 3350rpm. I’m also curious how it compares to the shaft drive version. The Seakeeper is being installed by Bason Marnie in Newport Beach. The cost was approximately $70k. It better work... lol. By the way, my name is Arnie Friedman.

[Captdkw]

Hi Arnie, That is a fast boat. I previously had a Zeus boat (2010 450 Sundancer) that was fast and efficient like yours. My current boat is the fly bridge model so it weighs more and has conventional shafts. At cruise RPM 2850/80% its doing 20 kts. at 44gals/hour. Wide open it will do 25-27knts. 56gal/hr. I very rarely run it above 80-85% load. Dave

[CPIGUY]

Yeah, I was quite surprise with it’s speed. That was full of fuel and water and 600lb tender as well. I will probably lose a couple of knots after the Seakeeper installation because of the weight. I believes it adds almost 1000lbs.

[lady_Patricia]

My doors now lock in the open position, MarineMax made the adjustment on Tuesday. It turned out to be a very simple fix. the is a screw on each door frame near the bottom, you simply turn the screw clockwise to raise the door slightly and engage the locking pin.

[CPIGUY]

Interesting. I haven5 heard back from the dealer as to if or how they fixed mine yet. Don’t understand why all 460’s ship with this issue. Seems odd!

[lady_Patricia]

I think a lawyer got his finger in the pie and concluded that fumes could get into the cabin if the doors were open, so they deliberately set the door so that the pin would not engage. Seems totally dumb to me.

[CPIGUY]

Probably right! Just speaking for myself, I wouldn’t even have bought a coupe style Boat that has to be run with the doors closed.

[CPIGUY]

Visited the boat yesterday and the sliding doors now lock automatically when opened all the way. Yeah

[lady_Patricia]

Happy to hear they got it fixed for you. We are currently o a three day boat trip at Captiva Island. The doors work great now.