1980's 46 SS vs. 48 SS

Hello: I have had a 1984 46' Ocean with the 3 stateroom layout, and last year changed to a 48' Ocean express. I had the 46 for about 10 years and thoroughly liked/enjoyed it with many offshore fishing trips. The later era 48's (1995 and later) did have a hull changed and is best described by the Powerboat Guide. I found the Powerboat Guide to be very useful and can be downloaded from their website. Here is a cut and paste of the description from the 1995 and later 48's.

Latest in a series of 48-foot convertibles from Ocean Yachts, the
most recent 48 Super Sport has a wider beam than her predecessors
with a more rakish profile (the house is carried farther forward
on the deck), greater bow flare, and a deeper forefoot for an
improved headsea ride. Like all Ocean designs, her low-deadrise,
tapered hull is quick to accelerate and fast across the water—performance
characteristics common to most Jersey-style fishing
boats over the years. A pair of galley-up floorplans are offered in
the Ocean 48, one with three staterooms and the other with two.
Both layouts have walkaround queen berths in the master stateroom,
and both have two heads with separate stall showers. The
cockpit comes fully equipped with a bait-prep station, freezer, engine
controls, transom door, teak covering boards, and an in-deck
fish box. Additional features include cockpit engine room access,
wide side decks, and a spacious, well-arranged flybridge. Among
several engine choices, early models with 535hp 6V-92s cruise at
24 knots (about 28 knots top), and later models with 660hp Cats
(or 680hp MANs) cruise at 28 knots (30+ knots top).

Good Luck, it's a fun experience. We have several Ocean's at my marina, and the 46 and 48' (pre- 1995 included)owners are all very happy with their boats. Of course, the 48' will ride a little bit better than a 46' while burning a little more fuel. I suggest paying particular attention to what engines and their condition when you start looking. Ask your local diesel mechanic about the ability to get spare parts, and the cost to "major" the engines. With the older boats, the standard Detroit engines are getting close to the end of their useful life. OEM spare parts are no longer made and are hard to get. I suggest subscribing to boatdiesel.com and research the engines you are looking at. Boatdiesel is an excellent source of engine information.

You can get any of the older DD 2 stroke parts you want. They still make rebuild kits for them and there is plenty of support for them.

The 48 does ride a bit better as you would expect a larger and heavier boat to do. That doesn't mean the 46 has a bad ride, it's just a bigger boat has a bigger boat ride. I thoroughly enjoyed my 46' for more than 10 years.

My personal experience with the DDs in the Northeast is getting OEM parts is increasingly difficult. Aftermarket (not OEM) parts are available. As you will see on Boatdiesel, aftermarket parts have had a varied success unlike OEM parts. That is what I have experienced also. I chose to do a repower on my 46 instead of performing another major for these reasons, as well as my DDs had nearly 6,000 hours with rebuilds along the way. At that point, all the major bolt on components were tired, such as exhaust system components, coolers, starters, transmissions, etc. They all were very tired and worn. For me, the cost of a repower was justified.

Not really. I ran either a 48' or 46' express many years ago in 3-5's and it was a good running boat. I recently ran a 40' FB with 3126's and it ran well also. But my main experience with oceans is I managed/maintained a 63' SF for decades. I also mated on a 53' SF that had 10 cylinder Man's stuffed into her and cruised at 37 knots in 1991!

Hi docjr in response to your original question with regards to the difference between the ocean 46 which was built up to 1985 and the ocean 48 built between 1986-1991. the 48 is based off of the 46 hull and is pretty much a refined version of the 46 with more curves in the deckhouse and a better helm layout. the interior layouts of both boats appears to be identical. both boats had the same power options which were 450hp or 485 hp 6-71 dd or 550 hp 6v92s ( very rare). I am not too sure where the additional 2 feet went to make the 46 into the 48, however my best guess would be that it went into the salon and cockpit.
hope this helps. Gmax