Hey SW, I just bought my 1st boat.
If you've got a kid on the water having a toilet is a must. My boys
would have a hard time standing on a bucket to get it over the side.
My daughter would be out of luck.....
This guy that runs this website (Broke boats) has some words of wisdom
http://www.brokeboats.com/newowners.html
Great website I might add.
I got a 23' 4winns. Its a cruiser style with a cuddy cabin (Portapoti). MercCruiser 260HP ( 350 Chevy) Merc alpha 1 outdrive. I then
drilled holes in the gunnels for rod holders.. Works great...30 in rear,
then 15 then straight. In other words I put in 6 rod holders. A good
do-it-yourself project.
Now I picked up the boat for $2300 and spent $1850 on repairs, tuneup,
de-winterization... New belts just installed too.
My horn was broken, navigation lights needed fuses, just changed the
beerings in the trailer, got a couple of fenders cause the crash brothers in
the next stall smashed or popped one. They also broke the dock too.
th_icon_loll.gif
Bought a new sounder fishfinder...yadda yadda. $400
All was going great when I tried to go out last Thursday evening. Bought
a dozen worms, a few beers and some ice...Off we went. Half
way out the bay the engine overheated. Went back in to the dock and
tied off at the slip and drank a few beers. Oh, make sure you keep your
keys to your car in your pocket if you car pool.
Well I changed the thermostat...Good small do-it-yourself task. Went
according to plan...reasonable anyway. Now boat still overheats.
Well had to take the boat onto the trailer and need to have water pump
service in the outdrive.
I spent most of my day yesterday changing the beering in all 4 tires on
the trailer.
The best money I've spent:
$280 -- So far that's what I've paid for the slip at the marina. When
I leave...the boat stays there! I leave in the time it take to gather
my crap together.
$109 -- 2 sets of belts when my first set snaps, I'll have another set.
$400 -- A color Fish finder. So when it gets dark I can still see the depth
of the water!
$230 -- replaced all 4 sets of beering...Instead of just repacking and
stuffing in the old ones. (the thought did cross my mind!)
The boat doesn't meet all my needs...That'll be my next boat. While I have
this one, I won't mind hitting the dock a few times and spilling sh*t all
over the place. Oh yeah, I can drill as many holes as I want (just nothing
below the water line)!
My next purchase...GPS (yup still on the list). A big cooler that
seconds as a bench chair (I want to remove the other set on the boat
it just gets in the way. I still have to bring on a cooler).
I'd love to have shore power... It sucks having to ask someone for a plug
to plug in my extension cord.
Now, the weight of the boat. Light boats will go faster...Mine's heavy!
its got an inboard/outboard...
It seems my boat can handle the smacking of the chop pretty well.
But it won't go that fast.
My next boat will have 2 Outboards, and the works for electronics. I'm
getting the electronics along the way and they're all coming with me
when I get rid of this boat. My ultimate boat is a really nice Grady white.
However, I've recently seen a few other boats that are far less $$$$$.
In one case, it was a decent hull (Manufacturer??) but had a brand
spanking new 2006 Merc Outboard. New electronics radar arch
set up for fishin...
Low transom...hardly any really. My kids would be scared to go back there. Not such a bad thing. Still it had a walk-around like a grady but
could've used a few more inches on the beam... The moral here is to
search around and keep searching...
My search took me a full year to take the plunge. I'm broke....My wife
was dead set against it. She comes on the boat last weekend and says
Qoute
"Can't you buy a better boat...Put some money aside each week etc etc."
I nearly died right there! That's likely to be the 1st and last time she'll
step foot on the boat! Course my kids were dumping chips all over place.
I had just vacuumed the boat...Carpet floor, yuk!
I'm no where done spending money, but as the Marina owner stated.
I got a trailer with a boat on it. Course the trailer was a piece shit but
the boat aint half bad. I got all the PFDs I need in case it sinks.
My VHF works great in case I need to call for help. The harbor master
already knows me for helping out some other knucklehead when
his boat caught on fire...
So far the experience hasn't been too bad...Maybe I'm lucky...I think
a little has to do with having a half a brain.... The other half is toast!
--cal...Rock on!
:cheers: