Last summer I bought a 15 foot, 1976 Starcraft Tri-haul for $25.00 from a guy that wanted the trailer for something else. I actually gave him $40.00 because he went through so much work to get it up our very narrow, unpaved driveway, on a very narrow street. It was like he wanted to get rid of the thing!
Keep in mind this was for fishing and was not a "restoration" project. I wanted something big enough that I could walk around in it, but could handle it by myself at the dock. Never having had a boat before, it was a good choice.
I spent a good part of last summer re-building the transom and making it "pretty"inside. Checked the floor and stringers and found them solid, so that was not a problem. Added a live well as well.
Found a "free" trailer that onely cost me a $100.00 to get road ready.
I tried to find a outboard last year I could afford on my limited budget, but everything had something wrong with it. Found a 80hp merc, but the driveshaft was rusted in and a 50hp merc with a bad distributer, way to much to fix that.
I finally found a few weeks ago a 1976 (perfect year for this boat) 50hp, 4cyl Merc that had been cared for and serviced recently. It purrs
Well waiting to find a outboard, I decided I did not want the passenger side console, so I cut it out with the trusty chainsaw. The boat is much more functional for fishing without it.
I was not planning on painting the boat, but I found marine paint on clearance for $6.00 a pint at Gander Montian and had to do it.
We took the boat out this past weekend to one of the local lakes and it ran beutafully! No problems with it. Even caught fish.
My $25.00 boat so far as only cost me about a few thousand. Yes, I could have bought something ready to fish for that amount, but I learned alot and have a custom boat to my specifications.
Keep in mind this was for fishing and was not a "restoration" project. I wanted something big enough that I could walk around in it, but could handle it by myself at the dock. Never having had a boat before, it was a good choice.
I spent a good part of last summer re-building the transom and making it "pretty"inside. Checked the floor and stringers and found them solid, so that was not a problem. Added a live well as well.
Found a "free" trailer that onely cost me a $100.00 to get road ready.
I tried to find a outboard last year I could afford on my limited budget, but everything had something wrong with it. Found a 80hp merc, but the driveshaft was rusted in and a 50hp merc with a bad distributer, way to much to fix that.
I finally found a few weeks ago a 1976 (perfect year for this boat) 50hp, 4cyl Merc that had been cared for and serviced recently. It purrs
Well waiting to find a outboard, I decided I did not want the passenger side console, so I cut it out with the trusty chainsaw. The boat is much more functional for fishing without it.
I was not planning on painting the boat, but I found marine paint on clearance for $6.00 a pint at Gander Montian and had to do it.
We took the boat out this past weekend to one of the local lakes and it ran beutafully! No problems with it. Even caught fish.
My $25.00 boat so far as only cost me about a few thousand. Yes, I could have bought something ready to fish for that amount, but I learned alot and have a custom boat to my specifications.
