Hey guys, new guy here (and fairly new to owning my own boat) and thought I would introduce myself! My name is Dallas, I'm 27 and live in Panama City,FL with my wonderful wife and 2 kiddos. I'm a mechanic by trade, original job/passion was hot rod building, restoration, high performance upgrades etc. I'm currently a Manager for a Diesel Repair and Performance shop here in Panama City. We build custom trucks, hot rod diesels, and of course do your normal diesel repairs, maintenance etc. I've been around boats and the water my whole life (helps that my Aunt/Uncle own a large boat rental), and I currently own 3 boats, 2 that "work", 1 that works great lol. My first boat and current non-worker is a 1991 Sunbird Corsair 218:
It's in real good shape, real solid all around but has a blown head gasket and need to get around to fixing it. Picked it up for $1000 with trailer because of the headgasket issue. Didn't realize with job/kids/wife and ending up with a nice working boat that I wouldn't be spending anytime working on it lol. So now I'm considering selling it. My 2nd boat is a 1982 Hydrostream Ventura:
It's in excellent shape (aside from a few clear coat spots peeling), the 77' Johnson 140 on the back runs excellent and is just a BLAST to drive. I traded a 1996 Ford Taurus Wagon and a 2004 Diamo LS200 Enduro motorcycle (had $1250 invested in both) for it. I know it's not a saltwater boat but it sees time in the Bay here and handles it great. We like to go out to Shell Island and this is what has led to the purchase of my newest boat, a 1990 SeaRay 160:
I picked this one up for $2000. It has a 79.5 Mercury 115 inline 6 on the back, had it fired up at the PO's house and seemed to run good. Having a few issues with the boat right now but seems to be all electrical issues (PO had fuel cap ground hooked up to positive terminal, dash gauges, stereo, lights etc not getting power). Exterior is excellent on the boat, interior is decent but found a couple soft spots in the floor and after digging in a little more tracing wires I think I'm going to have to tear everything out and replace floor and I'm guessing stringers too. I'm not to happy about that BUT my wife really likes the boat and it's a better family boat for what we will use it for so I think it's worth keeping it and fixing it up (what do you guys think). Well enough about me, glad to have found a good boating forum and looking to absorb all the info I can from you fine folks
It's in real good shape, real solid all around but has a blown head gasket and need to get around to fixing it. Picked it up for $1000 with trailer because of the headgasket issue. Didn't realize with job/kids/wife and ending up with a nice working boat that I wouldn't be spending anytime working on it lol. So now I'm considering selling it. My 2nd boat is a 1982 Hydrostream Ventura:
It's in excellent shape (aside from a few clear coat spots peeling), the 77' Johnson 140 on the back runs excellent and is just a BLAST to drive. I traded a 1996 Ford Taurus Wagon and a 2004 Diamo LS200 Enduro motorcycle (had $1250 invested in both) for it. I know it's not a saltwater boat but it sees time in the Bay here and handles it great. We like to go out to Shell Island and this is what has led to the purchase of my newest boat, a 1990 SeaRay 160:
I picked this one up for $2000. It has a 79.5 Mercury 115 inline 6 on the back, had it fired up at the PO's house and seemed to run good. Having a few issues with the boat right now but seems to be all electrical issues (PO had fuel cap ground hooked up to positive terminal, dash gauges, stereo, lights etc not getting power). Exterior is excellent on the boat, interior is decent but found a couple soft spots in the floor and after digging in a little more tracing wires I think I'm going to have to tear everything out and replace floor and I'm guessing stringers too. I'm not to happy about that BUT my wife really likes the boat and it's a better family boat for what we will use it for so I think it's worth keeping it and fixing it up (what do you guys think). Well enough about me, glad to have found a good boating forum and looking to absorb all the info I can from you fine folks
also it will take about a lot of hours of work to get that boat perfect lol so once again welcome aboard.