Man I Miss Summer

[dbwaller]

Good day Ladies and Gents,

I just bought my first boat from a guy that took crazy good care of it. It is a 2001 SunScape 23 LSV. It seriously had wax on it from him wet waxing it the season before last. It has always been covered and garaged. Best part is it only had 48 hrs on it. He changed oil every fall as part of his winterization and wet waxed the entire boat before putting it in his toy shed. I worked for eight hours and still haven’t gotten all of the wax off it yet.

The five times we had it out it was amazing, I never knew boating could be so much fun. With it sitting in storage I want to start tinkering with it. I am thinking about putting a tower on, I am looking at the Aerial FreeRide in black, any input is appreciated. I also want to get a new propeller so I can keep the factory one as a spare. I need help deciphering all of the code everybody talks about. Our lake is Lake Tahoe, (yeah it may be colder than a witch’s !it but I like the views). Last ride out the water was complete glass, I decided to see what it could do WOT, it was only 42 at 4700 rpm. Is this because of the altitude? There were only three adults and my baby daughter in the boat. Please help if you can. Here are a couple of pictures. Just so you know I feel I got a great deal and I have never been so happy with a purchase.

Edited January 16, 2012 by dbwaller

[MalibuNation]

Looks like you're having pbs with your pics ... might want to load them to photo bucket and put a link to photo bucket.

Tell us what other options you have ... sure we can spend your money for you. What about a heater, Perfect Pass, flush pro? Ballast?

[Malibudude]

Congrats on the new ride! The speed will be limited since your at 6k in elevation. It depends upon which engine you have and prop will make a big difference. The higher you go less hp so out of the hole and speed will be reduced because of it. You can counter act the out of the hole and speed issue to some degree but you'll give up something to get it.

[dbwaller]

Got some help with the pictures, now I'm rockin!!!

Hold on Summer, here we come.

[dbwaller]

Congrats on the new ride! The speed will be limited since your at 6k in elevation. It depends upon which engine you have and prop will make a big difference. The higher you go less hp so out of the hole and speed will be reduced because of it. You can counter act the out of the hole and speed issue to some degree but you'll give up something to get it.

Thanks for the ideas, any idea of what would be a better prop? Less pitch or more, larger diameter or how about the five blade from OJ?

Thanks again,

[A-hole]

10 years & 48 hours.WOW.Brand new, SWEET 2001 BU.Let me guess, the person bought a new boat?You did good & got really lucky, on this 1.

congratulations.

[Malibuzer]

Thanks for the ideas, any idea of what would be a better prop? Less pitch or more, larger diameter or how about the five blade from OJ?

Thanks again,

Before anyone gives you any suggestions for a new prop you need to answer a couple of questions.

1. What watersports do you plan on doing?

2. Altitude (Already answered) 6000ft

3. Are you after more holeshot or more speed?

One thing to remember is that these boats are not meant to be really fast. I have the Monsoon in my 2011 VTX on a cut diamond hull and am at 3400 ft and we top out at 43 MPH.

Nice boat and welcome to the crew!

[dbwaller]

Kind of funny, the guy I bought it from didn't think he wanted a boat anymore. Gave me all the extra gear then ended up getting scolded by his wife and had to buy a different one. They bought a mid 90's Sanger. His loss my gain.

As for what sports I'm thinking all, we have skis, a board a knee board and a three person tube. I think I will just end up getting the same prop we still have or one with a little less pitch for more hole shot at elevation. I'm working with ACME marine and I hope to hear back from skier to skier soon they are local.

Thanks again for the words of advice.

[hethj7]

Congrats on a beautiful boat! I can't believe the previous owner boat another boat, because obviously he didn't boat much.

I will say, the second picture made me cringe a bit. I know plenty of people do it, but I try to avoid beaching my boat. I bought my boat used and the hull was scratched up from the previous owner beaching it. If it is possible, try a Shore Spike and Anchor Buddy. Then again, if you are out with an infant, it may not be practical to anchor off shore.

[Malibuzer]

I am not trying to start a fight, but I beached my 2007 for 3 years and never had a mark or scratch in the hull. The bunks on the trailer caused more damage. I will say it does depend on the type of bottom you have. Ours is quite sandy and has not gravel at all.

[Malibudude]

Kind of funny, the guy I bought it from didn't think he wanted a boat anymore. Gave me all the extra gear then ended up getting scolded by his wife and had to buy a different one. They bought a mid 90's Sanger. His loss my gain.

As for what sports I'm thinking all, we have skis, a board a knee board and a three person tube. I think I will just end up getting the same prop we still have or one with a little less pitch for more hole shot at elevation. I'm working with ACME marine and I hope to hear back from skier to skier soon they are local.

Thanks again for the words of advice.

Where ever you plan on purchasing the prop make sure to ask if you can exchange. Most do provided that the original isn't damaged. This can be a trial and error type of thing until you figure out what works for you but that way you aren't stuck w/ something and have to get all wrapped up making a decision. I'd recommend trying a few props before you settle. If you want to ski and board, just board/surf or ski/tube those all have different rpm levels and take different props. The stock prop isn't good at any one thing but ok for many hence why it was chosen. Also if you like to cruise then that will also determine the prop to have. Bill at Acme or Eric at OJ both can set you up w/ their respective props and can tweak them if needed to fit your needs. Are you planning on hitting other lakes regularly at lower elevations? I personally would get a high altitude prop that worked for my needs then a less aggressive prop for say Shasta.

[shawndoggy]

If you are doing tahoe... you are doing tahoe. With mussel inspections, etc, I'm assuming you are ruling out other lakes. 43 @ 6k' really isn't bad out of that boat and I wouldn't expect much more top end whatever prop you put on it. Presumably it has an acme 537 on it? You could definitely get a lot more holeshot if you need it, but on an unballasted boat like the sunscape you really might not need more holeshot, unless you do decide to sack it out. If you get a lower pitched prop, you will run out of top end sooner. That said, that generation of sunscape is a FLAT bottomed boat and I can't imagine you'll get a chance to test the top speed limits much at all on Tahoe (more likely you'll get to test your rough water driving skills, your kidney belt, and your ability to avoid taking one over the bow). If it were me I'd jump down to an acme 1235 in a heartbeat on that boat at that elevation, but we run heavy and surf, and top speed is of no consequence.

If you put a tower on it, take a long hard look at the titan 3. That tower looks sick on your boat. The arial... not so much. If you want a forward swoop type tower, take a look at the samson one... it appears to be a much better constructed (and looking) tower than the arial one.

Do a search for a member named Hammertime. He has your boat with the Titan Series 3 and it looks just about perfect (and that was a factory-ish tower, so you wouldn't hurt resale).