270 Dauntless with Seakeeper 1 Gyro-stabilizer

[WAZ]

[Give me] your thoughts on having the SEAKEEPER 1 gyro-stablizer installed on a 270 DAUNTLESS boat.

[The SEAKEEPER 1 gyro-stablizer] is compact and uses less electrical power than larger models [of SEAKEEPER devices].

Would the Boston Whaler factory consider a special order [to install a SEAKEEPER Model 1 gyro-stablizer during] the build process [of a 270 DAUNTLESS]?

Note: there are several certified aftermarket installers [of SEAKEEPER 1 stabilizers].

Back story: everyone in my family is prone to motion sickness.

[Jefecinco]

The Seakeeper is usually (always?) installed below deck. That makes it difficult to install on a 270 Dauntless. Perhaps in a console but that would also be problematic. Perhaps boating is not the best recreation for a family prone to motion sickness.

[jimh]

Your wish to have a SEAKEEPER 1 installed at the factory as part of a custom build order for a 270 DAUNTLESS is an interesting idea. As a retail customer, you probably cannot order directly with Boston Whaler, and will have to go through a dealer. I recommend you contact a dealer to see if that is possible.

I suspect there may be some resistance at the factory because there could be considerable new engineering and design needed to alter the stock 270 DAUNTLESS to be able to properly mount a SEAKEEPER 1 device. On the other hand, perhaps the factory would welcome a customer who was will to pay a premium for this option, so they could see how it worked on that model.

Generally custom work is done by the commercial boat division, Brunswick Commercial and Government Products (BCGP), formerly Boston Whaler Commercial and Government Products. That operation is located in Edgewater, Florida, at the same factory. They are more accustomed to accommodating special orders than the Boston Whaler boat standard production line. I believe you can contact BCGP directly by telephone at 386 432 2900.

According to SEAKEEPER's website, at the present Boston Whaler offers a Seakeeper 6 as a standard feature on the 420 Outrage and offers an option for a SEAKEEPER on these models:

• 330 Outrage, Seakeeper 2;
• 350 Outrage, Seakeeper 6;
• 350 Realm, Seakeeper 3;
• 380 Outrage, Seakeeper 6; and
• 380 Realm, Seakeeper 6.

[jimh]

Due to its compact size and very low height, the SEAKEEPER 1 can be installed on deck. A product presentation shows a SEAKEEPER 1 installed in a center console boat under the helm seat in what would have otherwise been a live well.

[jimh]

...everyone in my family is prone to motion sickness.

There are six axes of motion on a boat:

• forward and backward or surge
• port and starboard or sway
• up and down or heave
• rotation around the longitudinal axis or roll
• rotation around the transverse axis or pitch
• rotation around a vertical axis, or yaw

The SEAKEEPER devices are designed to reduce roll. Roll is most annoying when the boat is at rest and abeam the waves or swell. When a boat is underway the hydrodynamic forces of the hull and water interfacing often tend to improve hull stability. In rough seas the motion on a boat becomes very complex. Certainly there is an expectation that a SEAKEEPER will reduce roll, but it will not remove all motion from a boat.

[Phil T]

Given the amount of engineering required, it would not be practical, or worth the obscene amount of money to do this.

I suspect Boston Whaler (at HQ, not the salesman) will decline the custom request.

Given their little or no capacity for custom work, Brunswick, Boston Whaler's parent company recently shut down their made-to-order Commercial/Military boat division (BCGP) that used Boston Whaler models due to unprofitability.

Consider a boat that already offers the Seakeeper as a standard factory option.

I would not consider SeaKeeper to ameliorate your passengers tendency to suffer from sea sickness. Dramamine would be a better investment.

[biggiefl]

"I would not consider SeaKeeper to ameliorate your passengers tendency to suffer from sea sickness. Dramamine would be a better investment."

These help but do not eliminate the motion of the ocean. It would be a blatant waste of money in my opinion for people who are prone to turning green on the open waters. I would love to see a video proving me wrong.

[jimh]

To suppress seasickness, consider using a scopolamine patch. They are very effective.

I remember hanging upside down staring into a deep cockpit locker working on a bad fuel filter while the boat was banging around in 8-foot seas and 55-MPH winds in the middle of Lake Huron, and thinking to myself,"Boy I should be puking about now but that scopolamine patch I am wearing is really doing a good job of suppressing seasickness."