# Vantage Refresh



## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

Sold the Lostmen on Saturday and picked up the Vantage Monday evening. I am still very gracious that the seller was kind enough to let me get everything in order over the weekend as this is the exact setup I have been looking for. 2010 non-VHP hull with offset console, 2020 Suzuki 140. Looking forward to more family time on the water while still being able to get in the creeks and on a flat every now and then. I’m only about 80/20 troll/pole so I really think this will be the perfect skiff for me. I know these boats take a lot of tab and talked to the previous owner at length about the best running setup, but if any regular hull Vantage owners have any tips/tricks I would love to hear them. I will post more pics later, but I couldn’t stand to not take one this morning after getting home late last night.


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## Zika (Aug 6, 2015)

Congrats. Enjoy the new ride.


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## Ericb1130 (Sep 16, 2020)

Congrats on the new ride, she looks clean! I just upgraded from a gladesmen to a fury and have no complaints.


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

Very nice. I don't know the prior use of the skiff, but how does a black hull look after 11 years as far as scratches?


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## FishWithChris (Feb 6, 2019)

Boat looks great; besides just pure size difference - what made you make the jump ? specific zones targeting, ride? 



Sublime said:


> Very nice. I don't know the prior use of the skiff, but how does a black hull look after 11 years as far as scratches?


Good thing is you can usually just hit a quick spray-paint and hide them!  I do it on the Xpress often 🤣🤣


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## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

FishWithChris said:


> Boat looks great; besides just pure size difference - what made you make the jump ? specific zones targeting, ride?


The Lostmen is a fantastic fishing platform, but it just didn't really have the ride I needed for my area in Georgia. I have to cross some bigger water sometimes, and I don't really enjoy getting wet and the wife and kids definitely don't. With the good floods being limited in GA I wasn't able to take full advantage of the skinny water capabilities of the Lostmen very often so I decided to get something more well rounded for my area.


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## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

Sublime said:


> Very nice. I don't know the prior use of the skiff, but how does a black hull look after 11 years as far as scratches?


The hull looks surprisingly well. It does need a good buff to get it to really shine again, but it has been taken care of and really has minimal scratches considering it’s age and where it’s spent the majority of its life, in the oysters of South Carolina to N. Florida.


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## csnaspuck (Apr 2, 2013)

She will squat a little if you are solo and on the platform on the back. Try and get as much weight on the front to balance it out and it will get you an inch or 2 of draft back. Are the batteries in the console or up front?


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## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

csnaspuck said:


> She will squat a little if you are solo and on the platform on the back. Try and get as much weight on the front to balance it out and it will get you an inch or 2 of draft back. Are the batteries in the console or up front?


Two group 31 TM batteries in front hatch. House battery in the console.


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## jay.bush1434 (Dec 27, 2014)

I used some tab on take off and then adjusted tabs again when I was at cruising speed. Just enough tab to keep the boat from porpoising then fine tune running angle and feel with the engine trim. My Vantage poled backward pretty good from the front. Since you are mostly on the TM, it won't matter much to you. From someone that came out of a Vantage to an EVOx for the opposite reasons, I think you picked the right boat and will be really happy with it.


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## Goose (Jul 15, 2019)

I echo Jay. You’re going to want to bury the tabs at take-off. Don’t go too heavy on the tabs while you’re underway the vantage platform wants to air out, she just has a big ass due to the sponsons so she needs a little help. Play with the trim, tabs, and weight.


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## [email protected] (Oct 23, 2012)

Damn she is fine! Be good to her man. She sure treated me well.


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## Fishing123455Y (Jan 7, 2022)

Nice


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## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

Well, I picked her up end of November, and after the holidays and such had a chance to fish her a few times, but I just couldn't get over the birds nest of wiring and decided it was time to tackle it before springtime. What started as "I'll install some new speakers and just clean things up a bit", resulted in a full rewire. I wouldn't say I bit off more than I could handle experience and technical knowledge wise, but I definitely underestimated how much time and physical pain it would take to get it done. I didn't keep exact track, but I'd say I have well over 20-30 hours of work in it. With over half of that hanging upside down through the bilge access with only one hand to work with. If I ever get to build a new Vantage it will absolutely not have rear buckets.

What it looked like when I started. Several amplifiers and versions of bluetooth receivers had been added and removed over the years. Along with a motor replacement.


















Cut it all loose.


















Start pulling all new Ancor tinned copper wire back in. Same from the factory.









After plenty of heat shrink butt splicing start tying it all back up.









Finished Product.


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## fishnpreacher (Jul 28, 2018)

Looks awesome! Wiring done right is a thing of beauty. It can be technically wired right, i.e. everything works as it should, but still look like a rats nest. You nailed it!


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## Mac 763 (11 mo ago)

Great job!


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

Who does the wire labels?


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## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

Sublime said:


> Who does the wire labels?


It’s made for wires. It prints on a nylon fabric material.


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## scrapiron (Jun 13, 2020)

Congrats! What an improvement! Just doing some minor work on my Vantage, I can certainly appreciate folks who don’t get buckets installed.


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## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

Completed the last part of the full rewire over the weekend. The Vantage has a huge front hatch compartment but all of mine was being taken up by trolling motor batteries and charger. After consulting the masses with a few different threads on here, I decided that it was needed to move them both to the console.

How it was set up when I bought the boat.










After the work was done. So much storage space, and cleaned it up with a new hatch.










When I bought the boat I was told a new battery tender TM plug had recently been added. "Great all the TM wiring should be good." Wrong. When I cut into the TM wiring more than a foot from the splice the dreaded black corrosion. Ok. I'll pull in new 8/2 tinned copper. Take the plug out of the deck, tie on the new wire and start to pull from inside the hatch. Pulling great, then it stops. I look underneath the deck, through the "hatch in a hatch", in the far up corner and see this. Each wire run separately through drilled holes just big enough for the wire. So out comes the dremel laying upside down in a hatch through another cut out. Two days later and I still hurt from this one. But now it has brand new wiring all the way from batteries to plug.










There was no inline fuse or breaker for the tolling motor so I put one in.










It is as tight as it could possibly be, but a Group 24 House/Cranking and two Group 34 AGMs will fit in the console.


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## War Bird (Jul 6, 2020)

Looks great


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## lowcountryreds (Oct 23, 2017)

Awesome job!


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## RollTide1000 (Jul 27, 2020)

Cool thread!!


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## Renegade (Aug 30, 2015)

Nice work. I LOVE my Vantage.


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## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

New aluminum powder coated fenders and starboard backs from Ram-Lin, new bunk brackets and hardware, and a full hull detail. Two rounds with cutting compound, then polish, and wax. Man, my shoulders are sore.


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

Looks really really great sir! And awesome job with the wiring. Did you find a good deal on the wire or get it from worst marine. 😂I'm about to start buying the rigging for my project. Thanks, Michael


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## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

Mike Haydon said:


> Looks really really great sir! And awesome job with the wiring. Did you find a good deal on the wire or get it from worst marine. 😂I'm about to start buying the rigging for my project. Thanks, Michael


Actually bought it from Amazon. Ancor marine grade tinned copper $0.30/ft.


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## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

First island beach trip of the summer. She’s a true family skiff.


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## Jason M (Aug 13, 2017)

Nice job. That old wiring must have made you crazy.


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

Nice job. Looks incredible. I'm putting a bimini top on mine too. I do have a question, wouldnt it be better to mount the trolling motor on the other side? Seems tou have everything piled down that side and maybe it would help counter some of that. Just a thought.


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## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

Mike Haydon said:


> Nice job. Looks incredible. I'm putting a bimini top on mine too. I do have a question, wouldnt it be better to mount the trolling motor on the other side? Seems tou have everything piled down that side and maybe it would help counter some of that. Just a thought.


Trolling motor and powerpole are on port side. Offset console with batteries is to stbd.


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

C_Wheeler said:


> Trolling motor and powerpole are on port side. Offset console with batteries is to stbd.


I didnt see the console was offset. Now it all makes since. Sorry bud.


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## C_Wheeler (Jan 14, 2014)

Mike Haydon said:


> I didnt see the console was offset. Now it all makes since. Sorry bud.


No problem. There aren’t all that many of them out there. Actually with moving all the batteries to the console there is a very slight lean to stbd at rest when running it alone. I’ll go lithium in a couple years and fix that.


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