purchasing 2000 Sundancer 260 - random questions

KeithD

New Member
Jul 16, 2007
149
Lindenhurst, NY
Boat Info
310 Sundancer 2000
Engines
350 Mag Bravo III (2)
Hi,
I would be first-time boat owner; my wife grew up with boats, and a few of our friends are boaters. We're test-driving a 2000 260 DA this week.
Looks pretty clean, low hours (140?), and a perfect size for my family (2 kids - 5 and 4).

We're buying from MarineMax in Lindenhurst, LI. Here are a few questions:

-What do I need to ask about the boat? Mercathode-thing to help prevent oxidation, that type of thing.
-Also, they are going to give us info on aftermarket warranties. Any opinions on these? Are they expensive and also limited, so whatever breaks isn't covered?

Sorry if I'm vague at this point - just trying to ask questions first...
FWIW, I have a good gut feeling about the boat, and the marina.
Thanks in advance,
Keith
 
Hi Keith,

I think you are making an excellent choice in going with a slightly used 260 Sundancer as your first cruiser.

This boat is very Versatile. It’s a cruiser, it’s a runabout, it’s a tow rig for tubes, it’s a swim platform, it gives the kids a place to sleep in the afternoon, its trailerable, it’s re-sale'able.

Some things to look out for, in my opinion:
- Make sure it has at least the 5.7L engine. The 5.0L 305 cubic inch is underpowered. The 6.2L or big blocks are even better but the 5.7L is not a bad choice.
- Please make your offer contingent to the boat passing a marine survey. Once accepted, have an independent third party marine mechanic give the boat a survey. Make sure the mechanic includes testing the engine compression, pulls and inspects the outdrive, tests the hull for moisture and gives every system a check. This will be the best $350 - $450 you will spend.
- My opinion, the full camper top (attached behind the bimini) and full enclosure make this boat much more usable for a extended season and in a lot more conditions. If not included, I would add this via Great Lakes. If it does not have it already, get a price from them so you know how much its going to cost. http://www.greatlakesboattop.com/
Great Lakes makes the tops for Sea Ray.
 
I will 2nd Doug's opinion on the engine choice. Make sure it has at least the 5.7 in her. Get a survey. Make sure you do a sea trial and load the boat up with the amount of people you usually have when boating. Make sure you get all the right options. AC, Windlass, Camper, etc. Pay special attention to the condition of the Bravo 3 drives. This was a problem on some boats during that year. Are they giving you a good price? I noticed a 1999 260DA with a 7.4 liter with the right options is under contract at MM Brick NJ for 34,900. Just to give you an idea of prices. Good luck with your search. Take care, Brian
 
What Doug and Brian said -- get a survey. If possible, get the repair/maintenance records from the previous owner(s). We bought from the original owner at the dealer/marina where he kept and maintained the boat, and they were able to give us their complete records. For privacy, they blacked out the owner's contact info, but all the important info was there.

The 260 is a great boat. As Doug said, it does a lot of things well: tubing, cruising (the longest we've spent on her was two nights, though), day trips, etc. It's our first boat, and has been very forgiving while I've climbed the learning curve. The BIII drive helps with maneuverability, as it eliminates the torque steering during low-speed maneuvering, and the boat backs straight.

The 5.7/Bravo III is an adequate power combination, but with a couple of guests and the usual junk, you're probably not gonna pull water skiers. It pulls tubes just fine; we haven't tried skiing because it takes quite a while to get on plane. Maybe if we unloaded her a bit.... :grin:

As your kids grow up, you'll find it gets a bit crowded for overnighting, but we can sleep five: one child on the cockpit sunpad, two kids in the aft cabin, and us on the v-berth. It's a bit of a chore getting set up for the night but once everything is arranged, it's fine.

We have the camper canvas, and it is definitely worth looking for. However, during the season we typically use the mooring cover and biminis, and keep the isenglass in the cabin in case of rain or to keep the dew out when overnighting. It is much faster to remove and replace than the isenglass. Great Lakes Boat Tops can supply either the mooring cover or isenglass.

Mechanically, we have been very lucky. Our surveyor found a bad gimbal bearing which the seller replaced, and since then we've only had a couple of non-routine repairs. The windlass solenoid failed, and we had a fuel-filter "incident". One thing to pay close attention to is the sliding cabin door. If it is hard to operate, it could be a big (expensive) repair, requiring removal of the windshield and helm. Be sure to keep the tracks (both upper and lower) clean, and use a silicon-type light lubricant.

Best of luck with the purchase! It's a great boat.
Jeff
 
Thank you for all the info - I'm having a surveyor check it out this week, then a friend will look it over (he know boats very well) and then we test drive on Saturday.
My initial concern is starting out with a 26' boat - but if we went with a smalller cuddy cabin, I know we'd just be upgrading in two years. I'm a pretty responsible cautious guy, so we should be fine.
I've also signed up for the boaters safety course in the beginning of August.

The boat has the 5.7 EFI BIII engine, so we should be all set. The toilet is not the pump-flush type; but there is a pump-out hose connected to the holding tank so that should be OK.
It also only has the bimini top, with no sides / back / plastic, so I've emailed Great Lakes about the cost for a Camper top.

-Keith
 
Had the same boat for 4.5 years and loved it. We had a windlass which was nice ours had pretty much all of the options. With good maintenance program it should be a trouble free boat. We had very few issues with ours. I upgraded all of the latches on the doors from plastic to stainless and changed out the cup holders to stainless from plastic. So - as you could see I was searching for things to do on my 260. It was a great boat. I had a 7.4 MPI and the boat ran great.
 
KeithD said:
My initial concern is starting out with a 26' boat

This is our first boat, too. I suppose it depends on where you're boating, but I think this size is very good for learning. It has the ability to do watersports and day trips but also can overnight, it has scaled-down versions of many of the systems on larger cruisers so I'm learning how to use/maintain them, and as I said above it's very forgiving from a handling and maneuvering standpoint.

We love ours and recommend it highly.
Jeff
 
A very interesting and timely thread - my wife and I are also looking at a 2000 260 Sundancer. This one has the 7.4 MPI and the Bravo III. The only area of concern with the boat is the Bravo III which is rather corroded and slated for replacement before the sale.

So my question is if we get a brand new B III and have all the appropriate preventive equipment installed (namely a pair of mercathodes, a galvanic isolator on the shore power line, etc.) and make sure that the bottom paint is applied correctly is there anything else that we should be doing to stay out of future trouble?

The boat will be stored mostly in the water (75% of the time) in a slightly brackish river if that makes a difference ...

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Stuart
 
Make sure that it has the correct anodes on it. The Big Block is a great setup. The boat has a galvanic isolator on it already.
 
skolbe said:
Make sure that it has the correct anodes on it.

Thanks for the feedback. I assume that by 'correct anodes' you mean the correct type for the water in our marina, i.e. fresh vs. brackish?
 
The big block should be great. Wish I had one!

One thing to check on the replacement drive -- the newer BIII drives have an anode in the center of the prop. Also, we have the auxiliary mercathode system (the two puck-like units on the transom), which the dealer installed on all BIIIs they sold. I believe in 2000 this was not standard equipment, so you might need to have the dealer install it.

This is our first season in a wet slip (the original owner kept her in the water, though) so I don't have direct experience with the corrosion issues. When we bought her, she had been in a wet slip in fresh/brackish water seasonally for four years, though, and the drive was in good shape.

Jeff
 
Jeff,

So with the mercathodes (and I assume the anodes) what sort of preventative maintenance is required? Do you have to go in the water to inspect them periodically? It might get a bit cold where you are in the upper Bay in January or February!

That said we're planning to get a custom trailer and will haul the boat to our neighborhood's RV storage yard for the coldest months ... but for the rest of the year I guess that I'll have to get wet occasionally. That's OK, it's a boat, right?

Stuart
 
There are usually divers that will dive and inspect the boat if you do not want to. A word of caution on the BIII's. I bought a 98 boat in 2002 and the drives needed replaced. I assumed that if they lasted 4 years the first time, then I could at least get 4 years afterwards. I was wrong!! I replaced those drives twice in the three years that I owned it. If they start to go, sell the boat before they corrode too much. Preferrably sell it to someone who will store it our of the water. I did just that and they are extremely happy (I make full disclosures before I sold it).

That said, I would not have another BIII that I kept in the water. Great mileage and performance though.
 
Stuart,

The supplemental mercathode system is two 2" or so diameter units on the transom. They are in addition to the OEM mercathode system, and operate from the boat's electrical system. As far as I know, they aren't supposed to need maintenance. During our survey we were told that one should be clean/shiney and one dull (is one an anode and one a cathode?).

We will pull the boat in the fall, and I have been checking the sacrifical anodes regularly this season, as its our first with the boat in the water -- until now we've been in a boatel. Not sure what shape they'll be in after 5 or so months in the water.

Jeff
 
BTW: Depending where you live, it may be cheaper to have your boat professionally hauled than buying a custom trailer (and suitable tow vehicle?). For me. . the annual cost is $400 for hauling and blocking the boat at my house (round trip). I add in another $400 in my budget for a maintenance mid season haul to the house (and I am doing the mid-season haul in two weeks)
 
comsnark said:
BTW: Depending where you live, it may be cheaper to have your boat professionally hauled than buying a custom trailer (and suitable tow vehicle?). For me. . the annual cost is $400 for hauling and blocking the boat at my house (round trip). I add in another $400 in my budget for a maintenance mid season haul to the house (and I am doing the mid-season haul in two weeks)
Fortunately I already have a Dodge Ram 3500 with a high output Cummins turbodiesel (325 HP, 600 lb-ft of torque) so the tow vehicle's good to go. I want the flexibility to get the boat out of the water and out of harm's way whenever a hurricane heads in our direction because our neighborhood marina is rather exposed. It's a trade-off for being able to keep the boat within walking distance of the house ...
 
brimanst said:
That said, I would not have another BIII that I kept in the water. Great mileage and performance though.

OK, so this whole Bravo III corrosion thing is really starting to make me nervous. Is the problem isolated to the Bravo III's? I understand that electrolysis and corrosion can happen to any metal objects left in the water but this all seems to be rather extreme. Are the Alphas and Bravo II's OK, relatively speaking?
 
sw23185 said:
OK, so this whole Bravo III corrosion thing is really starting to make me nervous. Is the problem isolated to the Bravo III's? I understand that electrolysis and corrosion can happen to any metal objects left in the water but this all seems to be rather extreme. Are the Alphas and Bravo II's OK, relatively speaking?
I suggest you do a search here for 'galvanic corrosion'. This has been discussed quite a bit already, and this should bring you lots to read.
:grin:
 
Pulled the trigger

Well, the surveyor gave it a thumbs-up, my buddy also couldn't find anything serious to comment on, so on Saturday we take posession of a 2000 260 Sundancer.
Now I have to learn how to drive her, dock her, tie knots, anchor her... etc etc etc... Being from the Bronx I already can curse pretty good.

I'll be back with a thousand more questions in the upcoming weeks, so thanks in advance to everyone out there!

KeithD, Lindenhurst NY[/b]
 

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