First Boat - Please shed me some info if possible

[dbarrett0928]

Hello Evereyone,

Just bought a boat yesterday - my first. It is a bayliner Capri i believe. The guy advertised it as a 1989 19ft but the dmv claims its 16.10 ft and is a 1988. The motor is an outboard johnson 125, 50th anniversary. I am being told it does between 40-50 mph in the water. Just started the upholstery most recently. Where can i go to get a manual scan? Anything i should know about this boat? It is my first ever and i bought it for fishing and family river use. I live near the columbia River in Oregon we just moved here. Thanks in advance. My avatar pic is the boat

 

[vfrkent]

Re: First Boat - Please shed me some info if possible

Well welcome to iboats forum dbarrett0928, the thing to be aware of with any boat that old is to verify the transom, floor and stringers are not rotted out, that is very common in older boats and is a real safety issue, I'm also live near the Columbia river in Gresham.

As for the the manual you can just order the engine manual on line here at iboats and there really isn't a boat owners manual other then just a general boating manual.

Regards,
Kent

 

[dbarrett0928]

Re: First Boat - Please shed me some info if possible

sir - thank you for your advice. I am a complete noob to boating...what is a transom? and stingers etc? When you walk in the boat i know it does not feel spongy. Its nice and crisp (hard)

 

[badkins50]

Re: First Boat - Please shed me some info if possible

dbarrett welcome to the world of boating. the transom is the back or aft or stern wall of the boat. the stringers are under the deck (floor) and part of the inside hull of the boat that usually runs from the transom to the bow and keep the boat from falling apart when hitting waves. there is usually some foam in there as well that can get really heavy if saturated with water. you can either take it to get it surveyed or do the ole tap and listen test, but you'll have to know what to do and listen for and usually doesn't give you a great idea of what you have.

On the transom, usually on the starboard side (if you are outside of the boat, looking from behind it would be the right side) on top is the hull id number. The last 2 digits in that number is the year of the boat.

I think it would be a great idea to go through an online safety course to learn about boating as things can get very bad very fast.

There are a great bunch of people on iboats willing to help as long as you help them with as much information as possible about whatever issue you may have. Good luck.

 

[NYBo]

Re: First Boat - Please shed me some info if possible

Welcome to iboats!

If the DMV is correct, you have a 1700 Capri Bowrider or a 1700 Capri Cuddy (open bow or closed bow with cabin area), and it's overpowered. These boats have a maximum HP rating of 85. Is there a yellow capacity sticker on the port side console in the walk-through area? As badkins50 said, the last two digits of the HIN will at least give you the model year.