Meridian 490

I am considering a 2007 Meridian 490 with 380 QSBs as my next boat - moving up in size to accommodate a few onboard guests, enjoy the fly bridge, gain some speed and enjoy river boating in the Portland area as well as potentially a passage up North.

Does anyone have experience or history of these boats and/or an opinion?

Cheers

helgerso, welcome to TF. As an owner of a non-trawler boat I have learned a lot from the guys and gals on here. It's a great place to hang out, have some fun, ask some questions and get great answers.


I don't have direct experience with a Meridian but years ago I chartered a Bayliner 4588 MY and found it to be a great boat. Spacious, nicely finished and a comfortable bow to cruise in.


I don't know if you're new to boating or not, but if you don't yet have favorite places to have work done, you have two of my favorite places right there in Portland. Carol's Custom Canvas is just off the Columbia on Hayden Island is the place to go for any canvas work, and Multnomah Yacht Repair on the Multnomah Channel is a good place to have mechanical work done. I've used both and can give them a "Two Thumbs Up".


We'll be bringing our boat to Portland in March to have Carol's redo our fly bridge canvas. it's worth it to me to make that ~235 mile journey down the river to have them do the work.


If you want to cruise to a great area, head your boat upriver to our area then head up the Snake. Great trip!

The meridian 490 is basically the same as the Bayliner 4788. Actually they were the same, and as the model matured it of course changed a little. The Meridian 490 was until 2003 the Bayliner 4788.

They are very good boats for what you are intending. I have a Bayliner 4788 and think it is a wonderful boat.

There is a very active owners club for the Bayliner boats, and to a little less extent the Meridian models. with a ton of information. It might be biased towards these boats since the members own them, but there is allot of great information.

There are also several TF members that have that same model boat, I’m sure some will chime in as well.

Best of luck in your search!

We are relatively new owners (June 2017) of a 2008 Meridian 490, and we love the boat so far!

We did a lot of looking at boats in the 50' size range and found the Bayliner 4788s and Meridian 490s to offer a great deal of value. We were initially looking for a late model 4788, but ended falling in love with the newer QSB Cummins (quieter running,a bit more power, and electronic controls). However, if we had found the right 4788, we would have jumped on it (as they probably represent the very best value in this range).

As Ksanders mentioned, the 490 is essentially a 4788 - a few upgrades and few downgrades - all in all very similar boat (identical hulls).

Some other things I really like about the 4788/490s is the excellent visibility from both helm stations, this is not found in every boat.

Web sites to check out:
https://www.baylinerownersclub.org/forum/current-topics-gc6/motoryachts-gc15
Meridian Pilothouse Yachts | Meridian Yacht Owners Forum

A wealth of amazing information on the Baylinerownersclub site, if the question hasn't already been answered, someone will provide the answer within days.

Good luck in your hunt!

Thank you for the great response! Can you tell me what your cruising and top speeds are with the Cummins qsb is? Thanks!!

We typically cruise at around 8.5 knots burning right around 5 ga per hour total...

Top speed we have experienced (during sea trial) was 23 knots (calm conditions in fresh water). Boat was fairly lightly loaded, but we did have 7 people on board and at least 1/2 tanks of water and fuel.

Cruise easily at ~17 knots at approximately 2400 to 2500 rpm.

Our 490 has underhulls, which is a hard chine kit that provides a bit more stability and buoyancy - I believe there is a debate as to whether the hard chines improve performance, but our boat definitely sits higher in the water than a friends 4788.

Welcome GMS and Helgerso to TF. We are locate down river from you Helgerso in Longview. Lots of fun ahead and good info for you here and the Bayliner site.