Partially similar, I'm familiar with a Sundancer V245 of about the
same vintage. We've had anumber of problems with the water pump for
cooling the exhaust jacket. The problem is that it uses a rubber
impeller, which needs frequent replacement. (Every year is a good
idea.) It's not tremendously critical to most folks because if you
run lots of RPMs then it doesn't matter as much. But if you troll for
fish about idle, watch your temperature!

Also the boat we bought came from the Chesapeake bay, but we only run
in fresh water. So we've spent a lot of time trying to get all that
salt water junk cleaned out of the water jackets. Anyway, I'm sure
there's some maintenance that should be done to keep your jackets
clean, but I'm not the one to describe them.

We've had the boat for five years and only rebuilt the outdrive once.
Seems fairly reliable. Obviously expensive to rebuild, so we did it
ourselves, which was time consuming but not too difficult. I think
your boat will have a different outdrive than ours though.

In the end we've had good luck with it. A few minor problems here and
there as parts fail etc. But mostly a good boat for us!

On Sat, 6 Mar 2004 18:17:44 -0500, "pmiller"
wrote:

After several years of looking and saving I am finally ready to buy my
first boat. Ive looked at boats from 26 to 34 ft and based on advice from
many people here I am
eliminating everything over 30' as too big for a first boat.
Today I looked at a 30' Sea Ray Sundancer 1989.
The boat will be used on the Chesapeake Bay in the Annapolis MD area.

Is there anyone here familiar with the Sundancers of that
age?

Id love to know if there were any problems with those boats or anything in
particular to look for.

I will of course have a survey done prior to purchase
Ive taken the powerboating course and have a little experience with a 19'
runabout and a 24' Cruise Along
which is now in the Calvert Marine Museum.

Thanks

Paul