29 Amberjack 2005

C

CaptMike15

Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
RO Number
2348
Messages
64
A friend of mine will be looking at a Amberjack with the inboards on Saturday. The engines have 220 hours on them and are FWC so needless to say check the risers and manifolds. He will have it surveyed but I wanted to know any of your likes or dislikes of this boat. It will be used for 70% cruising and 30% inshore fishing. How does it handle with the twins, any structural issues we should look for?
Thanks for your help.
Mike
 
I owned a brand new 2003 290 Amberjack, had it one season till I upgraded to the Silverton I presently own. I put 120 hours on the boat that year.

The boat is mint, handles great, and is built very well. I highly recommend the boat and would buy another if I ever downsized. Only reason why I got rid of it was I needed a bigger boat, the Amberjack was to small in the cabin for a family of 5.

Plenty of room to work on the motors, the remote oil filters are mounted upside, so changing oil can be messy. The aft cabin is good for kids or a very short adult, the table converts to a berth and is comfortable and good for two teenagers or one adult.

The boat can handle rough seas, this boat is no pu$$y. It has a larger beam than the 29 sundancer, if I remember correctly the 29 sundancer has a 10' beam and the Amberjack has a 10'6" beam.

Great boat IMHO

Walter
 
What is your friend going to use the boat for.

The AJ is a pure fishing machine. One will give up a little cruising comfort "stuff" for that. That said, the AJ is a great day cruiser and weekender for an adventuring couple even if you don't fish. The wider beam is great. I would not hesitate to look into one..
 
Thanks for the replies.The boat has the 5.7 litre mercs with fuel injection. 300 HP each. He will use the boat mainly for cruising and has wanted one for 10 years. I laughed because he has the 24 foot searay Laguna with twin 150 mercs that he just put a lot of money in. New electronics,all new gauges, the engines had stainless steering arms installed. He takes care of things with an open checkbook.
And now he is strongly considering this boat, go figure.
 
capt mike
I am the original owner of a 2000 290 AJ w T7.4 FWC Mercs B3 drives. I can only agree w walters excellent description. I have well over 800 hours on my second set of blocks. We live in East Rockaway and regularly run this boat to Montauk, Block Island and Newport. Spent 2 weeks straight on it the only option im missing is the generator. Extremely well built w oversize quality hardware throughout. Added a camper back to gain a little extra space. This boat is an amazing machine for its size and price.
Be aware that the inboards cruise much slower and burn more fuel than the IO setup. IO's are definately more maintenace though
Any other questions, ask away.
 
quote:
Originally posted by walterv

the remote oil filters are mounted upside, so changing oil can be messy.

Click to expand...


I know its not a SeaRay issue, but why would any engine designer with even a half of a brain design an engine with the filter mounted upside down? Heavy into drugs? Designed it while high on crack?
 
A friend of mine has an 05 AJ and loves it. He has the 5.0 with B3's.

A simple trick of dealing with upside down remote oil filters is to poke a hole in the center and let it drain before trying to remove it.
Rob
 
It's a Merc thing. that's why the engines are black. When you spill all that oil because of the upside down filters, you won't see it on the engine. Everytime i see those upside down filters, just shake my head and say WTF!
 
I guess Crusader thought this out well ahead of time when they decided to paint their engines blue.

I just can't believe a design team would let something like that happen. I can see one person not thinking straight, but you know dozens of people signed off on that design before going to production.

I'm glad my old Merc 7.4's weren't like that.
 
Not to change the subject, but on the upside down oil filters - if you punch a hole in the top before you remove them most of the oil will drain out. Then take them off slowly and not as much mess. Still a stupid design. I second the opinion on the Amberjack, I think engine options in those years were 5.0 or 5.7's coupled to I/Os or V-drives. Good solid boat with either engine package.
 
What I did when I changed the oil was to use a plastic trash bag around the filter, this kept the spill overto a min. Also had lots of rags around
 
So we go and look at the boat sunday at Port of Egypt. The boat was across the street from the marina and filthy. It looked as if it had been sitting there in the elements for a year. Topsides were chalky, helm seats were weathered and the boat and cabin were dirty. You think it could have been washed. Thanks for all the feedback.
 
quote:
Originally posted by CaptMike15

So we go and look at the boat sunday at Port of Egypt. The boat was across the street from the marina and filthy. It looked as if it had been sitting there in the elements for a year. Topsides were chalky, helm seats were weathered and the boat and cabin were dirty. You think it could have been washed. Thanks for all the feedback.

Click to expand...


After years of looking at boats for sale, I've come to the conclusion that dirty, crappy boats are the norm. Clean, well taken care of boats are the exception.
 
That sounds like 30k off the price.........make an offer
 
That's what I told him. But i did not make a good first impression and he would not even consider it. He is now looking at a cleaner boat on the north shore.
I do not understand if a buyer is looking at the boat, wash the stupid thing. Must be nice not to dare if you sell a boat or not.
 
Great thread and agree with all written! We have a 2004 290 Amberjack with 250 hours and the 350MPI VDrives. Summers spent cruising Block Island, Newport, Cuttyhunk and Martha's Vineyard. No generator set but carry a Honda 2KW portable which will run anything on the boat (by itself) including heat / AC. Looking to sell as my kids are now teenagers and outgrowing the platform! We have the Taylormade camper canvas and a full Raymarine Radar / GPS / C80 setup. Let me know if you are interested and I can forward you some pictures and a marked-up SeaRay brochure that highlights all the options. We are located on RI and the boat is in it's slip at the yacht club...
 
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