Re: Boat Purchase Decision Help - 1993 Glastron 17.5' Merc. 3.0l - 4 cylinder I/O
Picked up the Krusty Krab today - will get some pics up soon (was dark by the time I got the boat home and it's supposed to rain the next few days.
Was one heck of an adventure getting it: After all the truck research I had to go back to the UHaul option. They quoted me $19.95 and $0.99/mile - talked to them and they gave me $0.69/mile. Started heading for my rental when they called me to confirm my 10' box truck - I had asked for a pickup truck. It turns out they have no pickups in my area because of lack of demand, so the smallest they have is the 10' box truck. Talked to them some more, explaining that a box truck was going to eat up more gas because of the giant box on the back....they lowered the per mile rate to $0.59/mile. Went to pickup the truck - filled out all the paperwork, signed everything, gave them credit card/license/etc. We went over to look at the truck (they only have one at this location, they're a storage place and do the UHaul thing as a side business)....they then realized that they had lost the key (apparently whoever last checked the truck in may have accidentally brought the key home with them and they were down the shore). Fast forward another 30 minutes or so and I'm at another UHaul location filling out the same paperwork. Finally in the truck by 1230-1245PM (was hoping to be in the truck by 1030AM). Drive down to the seller's house and we go to install his 1-7/8" ball onto the draw bar when we realize that the shank width on his ball is 1" but the shank hole on the draw bar is 3/4". Back to a local UHaul to get a 1-7/8" ball with 3/4" shank. Luckily, the seller wasn't upset about all the delays and hassles - he was actually quite nice about it. We installed the new ball and then went to hook up the trailer wiring....turns out it was about 2" too short!! We realized it was the ground wire that was holding us back so we cut that (thinking that the metal-to-metal connection between trailer tongue and truck hitch would act as a circuit ground...and it did). Finally, at about 4PM I was on my way home.
Stopped at the West Marine and another marine shop on the way home to get myself some good 2-cycle marine oil, gear oil for the lower end, new spark plugs, 2 new bumpers, tarp, etc.
Got home 7PM with the boat and attempted to get it through the gate that is about 1 foot wider than the truck - by some miracle my landlord was working on the apartment upstairs so I gave him a call - he drops his boat in via the ramp at the apartment, so he was able to get it backed in on the first try. The boat is now sitting at water's edge waiting to go in (we were going to put her in tonight but there's rain in the forecast and I didn't want to see her sunk with the bilge pump running the battery dry). Oh how I wanted to take my new toy out on the water as soon as I got it home (and being as it was dark it was a good time to take the expired-registration-having-boat out for a short spin (granted at night may not be the best time for the first voyage on an unfamiliar boat).
All in all, things went well - one heck of a process to get down there and to get the boat back but was fun (glad I took the day off of work and didn't only take a half day). The owner was great in setting me up with the boat - he put new grease in the hubs (has bearing buddies) and put some oil/grease on other important areas. He walked me through his entire winterization process for the boat (lower unit, fogging oil, spark plugs, air filter, fuel filter, grease ports on the motor, steering cable shaft (he puts ATF into it). He even said that during the winter, every month or so, he puts some ATF into each cylinder and turns the flywheel a few revolutions to make sure the cylinders are well protected (obviously this means that it smokes like heck the first time it's started in the spring). He's got a trickle charger hard-wired to the electrical system to charge the boat when it's sitting (just have to run an extension cord).
Pictures and official stats on the boat and engine to come (need to find out the exact year of the motor, we know it's from the 90's sometime and the boat it turns out is actually made by "Traveler" and was created sometime in the mid 60's (it's on the title but don't have it in front of me)).
Very excited, but of course making sure that common sense wins out when it comes to putting the proper pieces in place before taking her out on the water.
