Thinking about buying questions for the 300se owners

[zx6rr33]

Hi Everyone,
I've been out of cruisers for the last couple of years but I'm now looking at getting back in. The Doral 300SE has caught my eye so I had a few questions. The boat that I'm looking at is powered by twin 4.3 LXH's with Bravo 3 drives. The engines seem to be well maintained but have 900hrs of salt water running. Will those engines be powerful enough to plane easily with several people on board? What will the cruise RPM be? How may hours will those engines last if properly maintained? They look to be set back in the hull behind the engine hatch opening, has anyone ever pulled a pair out and what was involved? Thank you for any info you can provide.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Thinking about buying questions for the 300se owners

When I was looking at 28 foot boats, twin 4.3's were a bit light for those boats. So, it would seem to be only worse on a 30 footer. The Bravo 3's help, but only to a point.

With salt water, consider both age and hours. So, what are we looking at for age of the engines? An I/O that is run in salt water may be good for 15-20 years, but expect to do manifolds, etc every 5-8 years.

As far as taking the engines out . . . usually, you have to remove the engine hatch, etc. That is a process in itself.

 

[MolsonCanadian]

Re: Thinking about buying questions for the 300se owners

My 30 footer with twin 4.3's is fine. I'm not breaking any speed records, but I have no complaints.

 

[zx6rr33]

Re: Thinking about buying questions for the 300se owners

Hi Guys,
Thanks for the response. Does anyone here have experience with the exact boat? I would think that the performance could vary drastically between different hulls.

 

[TeamPCBeach]

Re: Thinking about buying questions for the 300se owners

Not the exact boat, but we have a 1999 300SE with twin 5.7s and Bravo 3s. Our marina repair shop has told us the boat is very quick for a hull of this size. No problem getting on plane and running 20+ knots with 8 adults on board. With just my wife and myself we have run 45 knots trying to beat a storm back to the dock.