420 Sea Ray Aft Cabin

Source: David Lockwood, Boatpoint Magazine

David Lockwood heads for the wide open spaces… inside the Sea Ray 420 Aft Cabin – a production cruiser with lots of space, including three decks

I spoke to the accountant, as one does from time to time, a little goggle-eyed chum who offered his usual pearls of mathematical wisdom. He said many of his clients regret paying off their mortgage. This seemed strange to someone indebted to the banks, till he dutifully explained that there are better things to do with your money. Like buying a boat…

The SeaRay 420 Aft Cabin is just the kind of cruisy craft that will provide handsome lifestyle dividends and memories to tide you through your golden years. It’s a medium for going places and bringing the family together, with appeal not just to the over-50 demographic, but also to young couples.

With split-level living, and a voluminous interior, the aft cabin is regarded by many boaties as money well-spent. This one comes with three decks, each with a different ambience, offering everything from seclusion to conviviality, depending on how many people you pack aboard and the circumstances in which you set off.

On the one hand, the split decks afford privacy should painful Aunt Muriel tag along on one of those family outings. On the other, the big aft deck can host a party well into the night. And in typical SeaRay fashion, the boat will entertain a discerning couple in splendid style with all the mod cons at hand.

Setting this boat apart are details such as protected access to the bulwarks and wide sidedecks. This makes the 420 a particularly safe boat to stroll about in a seaway or at anchor. Outdoor seating areas can cater for 10 people, but the floor space on the raised aft deck or rear balcony can handle a party of many more.

During my time aboard, I gauged the SeaRay 420 to be quite stable and certainly not as top-heavy as the popular aft cabin displacement cruisers. The boat lurched only so far before coming back up again as a result of its planing hull with prominent chines. Deadrise is quite sharp at 18°, so there shouldn’t be too many thumps when crossing boat wake.

Fitted with twin 430hp Cummins diesel engines, the boat also has some get up and go. You can hightail it to that picturesque anchorage across the bay, set the anchor and entertain. At the same time, this is a handy liveaboard boat, as it has separate cabins with island beds, ensuites and televisions, a washing machine, impressive entertainment centre, fridges, built-in coffee machine… Pretty much the works.

AMERICAN DREAM
One of the biggest production boatbuilders in America, SeaRay is renowned for making high-volume cruisers with a little more panache and pizzazz than other US marques. The lines of the 420 Aft Cabin are quite sleek and defy the internal volume of this big boat.

The aft cabin is topped with a fibreglass hardtop – not a canvas chicken coop – which creates an outdoor living area with headroom, protection and a feeling of permanency. There are also opening sidedoors leading forward to the bulwarks, which are wide due to a broad 4.34m beam.

The passage forward around the decks is safe thanks to a bowrail with welded stanchions, intermediate rails and life lines, and moulded toerails at deck level. The custom SeaRay cleats are through-bolted, the rubrails have stainless inserts, and there is a for’ard washdown.

Stern, courtesy and internal hardtop lights illuminate the smooth, bump-free decks. There are moulded aft steps leading down from the bridge to the aft balcony and from there to a swim platform with lots of lockers. The engine vents on the cabin sides are pretty.

Ventilation comes via a big foredeck hatch, six portholes (four of which can be opened), and standard issue reverse-cycle “zone control” air-conditioning. With the canvas strung up on the bridge and around the aft deck, you can use the 420 Aft Cabin for cool-climate cruising.

If not the deck design, then it’s the details that make the off-the-shelf Aft Cab appealing – nothing much is left to chance. The optional bowthruster is a must-have, but just about everything else you need is built in.

AFT DECK AND BRIDGE
When it’s time to celebrate you can relax in the knowledge that moulded skirting around the aft deck will keep merrymakers contained. And snap-in carpet liners on the aft deck and bridge help with post-party clean-ups.

A moulded amenities centre on the aft deck comprises an icemaker, sink, cooler, drinkholders, and garbage bin for the empty sushi trays, while a six-stacker Clarion CD plays a cool tune through the surrounding speakers.

There is a hot/cold deck shower – useful after that midnight swim with the Noah’s Arks – and an optional aft benchseat is fitted to the aft cabin, along with a moulded moveable table. But I’d sooner forget both because the 420 Aft Cabin already has plenty of seating, so the floor space for entertaining is best left unchecked. A cruising couple need only add a loose teak table and matching deck chairs to create a brekkie and lunch spot to die for.

With the canvas off the bridge, the view is pretty good. The aft lounge seat can seat three people and the adjoining sunlounge another three. The skipper rides on a pedestal seat that’s more like a recliner, with flip-up footrest, armrests, pneumatic vertical adjustment and swivel capability.

There are lots of lockers and drinkholders, and a feeling of something old, something new, on the bridge. This feeling is derived from the ship’s bell contrasting with the modern walnut dash, which is fitted with serious electronics. The engine throttles with gold anodised knobs have optional synchro mode.

A detail lacking (or at least I couldn’t find it on the bridge) was an intercom to lodge your lunch order with the galley slave – I mean, Dear Beloved – hiding down below.

INTO THE ENGINE ROOM
You need to lift the deep-pile carpet in the saloon to access the engine room. This is one of life’s little compromises with many aft-cabin cruisers. But with the hatches off, access to the twin Cummins was surprisingly good.

A patented underwater exhaust system keeps noise to a minimum, while a standard issue 9.6kW Westerbeke petrol generator looks after power demands (upgraded to a 6 or 8kW diesel with the diesel engine option). The boat comes with a oil-change system, colour-coded wiring and coded seacocks.

Fuel capacity is 1325lt. This is a bit light-on for a planing hull setting out on long passages, but adequate for more sedate cruising. On most occasions, you should be able to hop from one port to the next, but on longer hauls you may have to ease the boat back to displacement. At 454lt, water capacity is also adequate.

IN THE LAP OF LUXURY
That line from Hotel California about mirrors on the ceiling (they’re just about everywhere else inside the 420 Aft Cabin) and pink champagne on ice comes to life on this Yankee cruiser. The saloon is swish with direct and indirect 12V halogen lighting, trick blinds, handcrafted wood trim (which is actually a stencil on ply backing), and even an internal vacuum system.

Headroom is generous and the surrounding windows offer views when seated. With the curtain drawn, privacy is assured at the marina. A big curved lounge to port is finished in soft-touch Ultrasuede and set around a dinette table. There are two built-in recliners for watching television after dinner.

The entertainment centre to port houses a generous 20in TV/VCR combo, six-stacker Clarion CD player (go the Bose upgrade) and a computer desk with stool. The view of the TV screen from both recliners and lounges is excellent. The starboard side lounge converts to a sofa bed.

The galley is set down three steps to starboard, sans views and shielded from the living area. The U-shaped space has moulded mock-granite benchtops that contrast with the mock cherrywood joinery. The sink has a Corian cutting lid cover and is fed by a trendy Grohe mixer.

Amenities are almost over-the-top. There is a built-in coffee maker, freezer, convection microwave, fridge, three-burner stove, receptacle and dishwasher. All this comes standard, making the 420 Aft Cabin one of the most fully-cocked production cruisers you can buy. Even a washer/dryer is nearby.

FIVE-STAR CABINS
With their own entertainment systems and bathrooms, the double cabins at either end of the boat provide privacy when living aboard. Guests get the bow cabin with island berth (innerspring mattress), make-up centre with poof, and cedar-lined hanging locker space.

The forward head, which doubles as a dayhead, doesn’t skimp on space. There is a separate shower with standing room, VacuFlush loo, and vanity. All the surfaces are moulded fibreglass including the various lockers. An extractor fan is provided.

Owners retiring to the aft cabin descend down three steps from the saloon. Sleep is assured at the most steady point of the boat, where there is plenty of beam and not much in the way of water playing on the chines.

The Queen-sized bed has a cream bedspread with a leaf-motif and pretty lighting. The lockers are mirror-backed, a TV is recessed in the wall, there is plenty of storage under the bed, a dressing table, and an ensuite with separate shower stall.

I thought the interior of this particular SeaRay was very well finished. Wherever I poked my nose, I found polish and pretty mouldings. There is a nice choice of colour options and interior decorator packages, including either light maple or darker sovereign cherry timber.

DRIVING ALONG
As I mosied along the serpentine estuary channels on the Gold Coast – feet on the dash, music playing in my ears – I thought this boat was well set up. Everything is there for entertaining, cruising for views, living aboard for weeks at a time, or hanging out at the marina.

Dirty propellers and a hull covered in marine growth prevented me from accurately gauging top-end speed. Suffice to say, the optional bowthruster made close-quarter parking a snap at busy Marina Mirage, and the Cummins should return 20kt cruise speeds. Along the channels, the boat was comfortable ticking over at displacement speeds.

The SeaRay 420 Aft Cabin is designed to pay healthy returns. It’s not the most seaworthy, far-ranging or distinctive boat you can buy, but it’s certainly one of the best all-rounders from a production yard which designs boats with everything, including the kitchen sink.

HIGHS

• The interior fitout with everything built-in.
• The finish on this particular SeaRay was excellent, and the walkaround decks and big entertaining spaces appeal.
• Despite being a high-volume boat with a big interior, it retains quite sleek hull lines.

LOWS

• Never much liked the SeaRay carpet, couldn’t find a remote on the bridge, and on a high-volume cruiser a bowthruster should be standard.
• Fuel and water are adequate but not copious.
• Not sure how the perspex sidedoors will stand-up to serious boating.

Boat Specifications: 420 Sea Ray Aft Cabin

SeaRay 420 Aft Cabin

Options Fitted Engine and genset upgrade, bowthruster, engine synchro, wooden galley floor, aft deck benchseat, Vitraport cherrywood joinery and Regent Raffia interior package

General

Material: Fibreglass

Type: Moderate-to-deep vee planing hull

Length (overall): 13.84m

Beam: 4.34m

Draft: 0.94m

Deadrise: 18°

Weight: 12,247kg dry w/std motors

Capacities

Berths: Four – six,

Fuel: 1325lt

Water: 454lt

Engine

Make/Model: Cummins 450C

Type: In line six-cylinder diesel engine w/ turbocharging

Rated hp (ea): 430hp

Displacement (ea): 8.3lt

Weight (ea): 856kg each plus gearboxes

Gearboxes (Make/ratio): Twin Disk

Props: Four-blade Nibral