What in the heck did I just do?

[Short timer]

Hi folks,  I have been reading this forum for the last couple of months and it seems like there is a wealth of knowledge here.  A little background, I am 63 years of age and just moved to north central Kansas to be near the only family I have, my daughter and her husband and two grandkids.  I was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer, stage four about a year ago.  At that time the medical profession said there was basically nothing they could do for me as it was in my bones and lymph glands, they said to expect about 2-4 more years.  OK, now that that is out of the way, I just bought a 1997 Ranger R72 Sport with a 115 Evenrude Intruder on it.  It meets all the requirements of a true "barn find", has about 22 hours total on the whole rig, garaged in a climate controlled building etc.  It looks showroom fresh, I would challenge anyone to find a scratch on it (that is until I take it out for the 1st time!), the previous owner garaged it in 2002 and has kept up with everything maintenance related.  My questions are:  How reliable are these outboards, Is this a decent boat on big water, what is a boat like this worth? What kind of top speed will I see, it does have a Raker SS prop. Thank you all for your wisdom and listening to my woes!

[Log Catcher]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Hope you can recover from your health problems. There should be someone on here that can help you with you boat questions.

[Short timer]

Thanks, LC, I have never seen a forum like this with all the knowledge in one place, it seems like you folks have all the answers!

[Dirtyeggroll]

=>Welcome to the forum.

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. Glad to hear you're not giving up the good fight.

 

I recently purchased an R70 (same boat as the R72 without the dual console).

 

The R72 boat performs well being a 17' boat. Most people say it fishes two people comfortably. The biggest complaint people have about the R72 is that the rod lockers can't fit rods bigger than 6'6". The R-series hull is a strong Ranger hull and handles water conditions well for its size. The Intruder is a good motor and will move that boat probably in the lower 40-mph range. The boat is rated for up to a 130 horsepower motor.

 

In the condition you describe that boat is probably worth about $6-8k, probably toward the higher end of that.

 

[Bluebasser86]

Welcome! Sorry to hear about your situation but at least it sounds you're making the best of it. I'm guessing you're located somewhere around the area I'm originally from (Manhattan area). Sounds like you've found a very serviceable little boat that will get you around just fine. Those Intruders were great motors and very dependable when taken care of. 

[Short timer]

Thank you for the opinions, yes I am going to live every second of my time left!  Sounds like I have a pretty decent rig to play with.  Yes, Blue Basser 86, I moved from CO about 8 months ago to Clay Center, I am sure you know where that is.  Again, thanks for the responses, any other words of wisdom you can bestow on me would be welcome, as I am a total newbie to bass boats and bass fishing for that matter!