380/638 Santego owners/knowledgeables

C

cmariner32

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Just got back from a lovely cruise down the coast of Florida from St. Pete to Captiva Island for a week of relaxation. For some reason, my wife is talking about moving up in size-boat size. While I'm putting up a valiant fight against buying another boat, she usually gets her way. She (we) have our sights set on a 380 Santego. Also, the 638 seems to be the 380-can someone edumicate me on this and the years 638 was made? Can anyone tell me what shape hull they have-flat....keel...etc. and how they handle in bigger water. We don't venture out in the gulf much, but when the bay gets choppy, the ride in our 32 Mariner gets somewhat uncomfortable. My year Mariner was the only year they made with a keel-which I love as it protects the props. Our price range will limit our search to years 87-93 or so. Any problem areas in this era boat? I kinda recall a slip in quality in early 90's. Any insight/advice/sharing of knowledge is greatly appreciated.
 
I've got a 91 638 Santego. I believe it was essentially the same boat from 90-93 according to Carver brochures. 89 and before was actually wider and a different hull, same idea though. In 94 they changed the interior. IMHO, the changes, while perhaps making it seem more spacious, gave up a LOT of excellent storage space. I believe that from 90 an on, the hulls were the same. There is no keel. We're on the Mississippi, so largest water I've been on is Lake Pepin which is a couple miles wide and 20+ miles long. The day we brought her back, the winds were 30-35+ all day right in our face, no problem for the boat. In the shallow water (around 10-20') the waves were pretty choppy. She seems very solid and handles well. We generally run at around 1250 rpm as we can get close to 2mpg at this speed. On plane cruise is around 3200rpm and 21-22mph, but it's pretty thirsty at that speed. It does handle well and feels very stable at that speed. The interior layout is great for a couple or a couple with a kid or two or two couples for a long weekend. Sight lines are excellent from the helm, I can easily see the corners of my swim platform when backing in. Any other questions, I'll try to answer.
 
Cmariner,
While I have ZERO experience with the model, I want it to be my next boat. I love the cabin layout plus the walk-thru bridge to the foredeck. Good luck on your search!
AJ
 
Thanks for the info Mike. What kind of fuel burn are you seeing at 3000-3200? I've read in other threads that big blocks get about 1/2 mile to the gallon whereas I get almost 1 mpg at cruise. My 350 Crusaders burn about 11-12 gph each at 3200 but drop down to 9-10 gph at 2800 rpm. Guess what rpm we cruise at? Is the hull flat or is there a deadrise? I saw a pic of 380 on the hard-not sure what year it was now, but it looked like it had a keel. Is there any protection for the props? We have a lot of shallow water here and while I now know from experience where the skinny waters are, its sure nice to have a keel to protect the props when I explore unknown areas.
 
When I bought my Santego (454 Crusaders) four years ago, a helpful fellow, (can't remember his name darn it), sent my this chart:
RPM *GPH MPH Cruising Range Cruising Hours
650 2 4 432 Miles 108 hrs 0 min
1000 3 6 432 Miles 72 hrs 0 min
1500 7 8 247 Miles 30 hrs 51 min
2000 10 10 216 Miles 21 hrs 36 min
3200 32 23 155 Miles 6 hrs 45 min
3500 36 25 150 Miles 6 hrs
4400 50 30 130 Miles 4 hs 19 min
From this chart, looks like hull speed and best efficiency is somewhere around 1000-1200 rpm. I typically run at around 1250 and have avg. around 1.8 mpg at that speed. There is very little wake, you can feel that the boat is not "pushing". Anything above that and the wake starts to increase and it is definitely starting to push water and suck more fuel.
My own experience seems to be close to this chart. At 3000 rpm it is struggling to be on plane. At 3200 it runs nicely, probably around .75mpg at that speed.
There is a slight deadrise at the rear, but definitely no keel. The older ones may have had a keel, but not sure about that.
 
Thanks again for the info Mike. .75 is affordable, .5 would double my fuel costs. Gonna have to ponder having no keel or prop protection. We frequently stern-to the beach, the keel has been a money-saver when I've misjudged the depth backing down.
 
In 1989 was the first year of the 638/380 hull. It was called 34' Santego. The 34' model was in 89,90. In 1991 and may 1992 at was a 638. Then 1993 to 2002 it was called a 380. The 38 Santego back in 88, 89 was actually a bigger boat, 1.5'wider and 2'longer. The 34/638/380 never had a keel, just a standard v-hull. Very popluar model, common with Crusaders... Mike if your getting 1.8 mpg, don't sell that boat... Several of my friends have these with Crusader's or Volvo's (GM blocks)and about 1 mpg is the best unless you shut one motor off. One friend with Flow scans, claims 1.8 mpg with one motor running. The newer models about 1994 and up may get a little better, the boats were lighter and then fuel injected. If you compare the 1991 with a 1994, you'll see lots of interior pieces stripped off, even the exterior wind screen around the helm was removed... Everyone I know that has one of these models "love it". I bought a 1990 that needed some work, so I ended up redoing a lot, check the picture on the second page of the "Post your Carver pictures". My wife is driving, she actually picked this boat, I was looking at some thing else. Happy hunting!!!
 
Hard to believe you can get 1 mpg with big blocks at cruising speed. I barely get 1 mpg with twin crusader 350's pushin a 12,600 boat. More good info on Santego...thanks Night Moves.
 
To clear up any confusion on the Santego that is in question and it changing hull shape, I would like to offer the following info:

The 34/638/380 Santego has always had the same hull. It has changed names over the years. It was a deeper V hull (19 degrees) and smaller in size than the less common 38/640 Santego. Here is a brochure with the details. This vessel was the same model from 1989-2002.

http://media.channelblade.com/boat_graphics/electronic_brochure/Company624/_17_427200793854AM.pdf

Here's a breakdown of what it was called in what year:

1989: 34 Santego
1990: 34 Santego
1991: 638 Santego
1992: 638 Santego
1993: 638 Santego
1994: 380 Santego
1995: 380 Santego
1996: 380 Santego
1997: 380 Santego
1998: 380 Santego
1999: 380 Santego
2000: 380 Santego
2001: 380 Santego
2002: 380 Santego

Because of name changing for marketing purposes, the above vessel is often (and currently in this thread) being confused with the following model of Santego. It is completely different in that it has a 12 degree dead rise, weighs at lease 3000# more and has different dimensions. This boat was not as popular as the 34/638/380 Santego but is often confused for being an earlier model of that boat. Here's a brochure to see the differences:

http://media.channelblade.com/boat_graphics/electronic_brochure/Company624/_17_427200793933AM.pdf

Here's a breakdown of what it was called in what year:

1988: 38 Santego
1989: 38 Santego
1990: 38 Santego
1991: 640 Santego
1992: 640 Santego

Hope that helps!

The 34/638/380 was 41'10 LOA, 13'2 Beam, 40" draft, and 16,000# dry.

The 38/640 was 44'4" LOA, 14'0 Beam, 43" draft, and 19,000# dry.

-Jim Howell
 
Excellent info Jim. Explains alot about the misinformation by boat brokers and sellers. I've printed out the spec sheets-for future reference. Thanks for your contribution.
 
It is also interesting to note that the 34/638/380 actually offered two floor plans during its production. This could lead to someone thinking there were three different models/designs of the larger Santego's.

Thanks,

Jim
 
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