Sounds good . Where in CT are you located? Im always up for a day of footin. Give me a call next time your heading out & we can meet up. --- will send you a message with my contact info--

 

Chris

 

As for stereo speaker locations I have not yet figured out what to do.  My boat did not have a stereo in it when I bought it and I have not figured out how to install one and make it look nice.  If you get any ideas post them up on here because I would sure be interested in how it turned out.  The other Barefoot Sangers that I have seen did not have good stereo set ups either.

 

As for props I keep a couple as well for different uses.  I have a three blade 21 pitch that will make the boat just fly but it is really not that great for barefooting.

 

Looking forward to the pictures.

 

Paul

 

Thank you so much for the reply.  I am lucky enough to have the best of both worlds and am keeping my Nautique as well as the Sanger.

 

Couple of follow on questions; where is your manual tank switch specifically?  Back seat? port/starboard?? 

 

Don't konw why the dual battery set up, but since you bring up stereo's, any suggestions on where to mount speakers?  The boat currently has a real pile of a stereo and only one speaker placed on the dash where the original mirror was mounted.

 

I agree 100% with the rot.  I checked this boat throughout and could not find even the slightest sign of dry rot.  My fingers are still crossed, but it looks pretty darn good.  I will keep it on a hoist on my dock covered with a canopy cover over the slip.  In the winter I will probably keep some kind of a warmer or drying agent in there. 

 

Thanks so much for the other info. I will pick up the prop you mentioned.  I was thinking that I might keep a couple of different props on hand for different applications.  To be honest, part of the reason I bought the Sanger was to be able to get up and get somewhere a heck of a lot quicker than I can in the Nautique.

 

Pics are coming in the next few days!!

 

Best,

 

Greg

 

Welcome!  I went through the same thing you are about 2 1/2 years ago.  I had owned an inboard for 13 years and knew how to maintain it and where the weak points were in the boat.  Then I went out and bought at 92 Barefoot Sanger with a 94 Merc 200 XRI and after 2 1/2 years all I can say is it was the best move I ever made.  I will try and address some of your questions based on what I have seen and done.

 

1.  I use google to seach for a lot of things and I have found multiple vedors this way.  I searched for SS cupholders awhile ago and found a couple of different vendors for them.  Just make sure you measure yours so you get the correct size.  As for switches and other misc. parts I use http://greatlakesskipper.com/index.cfm they have all kinds of parts and stuff and the inventory changes all the time.

 

2.  My boat has a manual fuel tank switch and it was that was when I purchased it.  The switch on the dash only changes which tank the guage is reading from.  I do not mind raising the seat to switch tanks.  I looked into converting mine but decided that I did not want to spend the money required just so I did not have to get up and raise the rear seat.

 

3.  I would say wood rot is the biggest thing to look out for; the older Sangers use a lot of wood and not all of it was coated in fiberglass.  If you do not store you boat indoors I would put a warmer in the boat when it is covered to try and keep it dry.

 

4.  Not sure why you would need dual batteries unless you are pushing a large amp for a stereo.  I don't have dual batteries on mine and I have never had an issue.  It might be nice from a back up standpoint if you tend to go to places where it is hard to find help if you end up with a dead battery.

 

5.  Jack plate?  I have seen Barefoot Sangers with them but I do not have one on mine.  I have access to three other Barefoot Sangers and they all have jack plates, these boats are also running E-Tec outboards and it does change the wake and table.  I personally don't think that it is a good change and with the motor you have on yours I would not install one.

 

6.  Hands down the best prop set up is a Merc. High 5 in a 19" pitch.  It will make the table very smooth.  They only thing that you have to watch is that if you trim the motor up with that prop you would overrev it.  With it trimmed down this is not a problem with my boat.

 

7.  Yes the large tank in the back feeds the small tank on the top of the motor.  It is a pressurized system so if the caps are not on tight is will not work properly.  If the small tank on the motor gets low on oil an alarm should go off.  DO NOT IGNORE THIS ALARM UNLESS YOU WANT TO BUY A NEW MOTOR!  You will get as many opinions about oil as there are people that have outboards.  I use any good quality two-cycle outboard oil that is rated for a Mercury outboard.  I usually use West Marines in store brand but I have used Mercury oil as well as Penzoil.  One thing to watch out for on these motors is the gear on the crankshaft that operates the oil injection pump sometimes goes out.  Mine did when there was about 500 hours on the motor the only way to fix it is to completly tear down the motor.  I decided that it was not worth tearing it apart when everything else was fine so I just had the oil injection pumped removed and I pre-mix now.

 

I have been very pleased with how little I have had to do in order to maintain my motor.  It is way less then what I had to do with my inboard.  There are no more oil changes and really the only thing you need to do is change the impeller and the foot oil.  I put about 125 hours a year on my boat and I change the impeller once a year just to be safe and the foot oil about every other year.

 

When you get a chance post a picture of the new boat.

 

Paul