New to me 2004 Caravelle 187 BR

[tlombard]

So, I just agreed to purchase a 2004 Caravelle 187 BR and pick it up Friday. I was planning on waiting until spring to buy and went about $1000 over what I told myself was my max price but I think I still made a good deal. For one, it comes with a wake board tower and bimini top however you can't use both at the same time. Since I don't have any use for the tower, I am going to sell that and hopefully recoup a nice chunk of that extra grand (although I will have to fill the stupid holes on the side of the boat from the mounts). Plus outside of my budget to buy the actual boat I had planned on spending more cash on the necessities like life jackets, anchors, etc. since I can't take them from the pontoon which will still be used by my dad as well as planning to spend a few hundred on a Bluetooth stereo because I don't have CDs anymore but I can store gigabytes of music on an old phone with a memory card and have music for days like that. Well, after making my first offer on the boat he came back and said it would take $1500 more. My first offer was only $500 under my desired max so that I thought that extra thousand was a deal breaker until he kept talking and said he would throw in all the life jackets, bumpers, anchors, extra prop, etc. and mentioned he has already added a Bluetooth adapter to the stereo. Suddenly I don't have to spend ANY of that extra money that I was planning on so that made the extra grand a bit easier to talk myself into and once I realized I can sell that wake board tower to make up the difference... DEAL!!!

I am fine with the price I'm paying after justifying that final grand so I feel confident I got a really good deal in the sense that the price is one that I'm happy with and the seller is happy with so who cares what others think of the price. I got it for $3000-3500 under average retail based on what both of us agree we find online (and I'm not financially ruined even if it blows up tomorrow) and he's happy to have the cash before Christmas and have the boat out of his garage since the other half of the garage is filled with kids toys and stuff. To me that's a good deal. Not trying to get verification/admonishment as to my deal making abilities.

So with all that being said, what are people thoughts/love/hates/things to look out for on a 2004 Caravelle 187 BR? I've never owned one myself as the few boats I have owned before were all old and basically throw away. By that I mean the price was cheap enough that I had a few seasons of fun with them and then got rid of them when the work they needed got to be too much. This will be the first truly nice boat that I've ever owned myself. Growing up my family purchased a brand new VIP and ever since my dad sold that for a bass boat, I've dreamed of owning something nice like the VIP again.

I love the walk through transom and all fiberglass construction. I never thought I would find anything with those two features in something I could actually afford until they got quite a bit older! I'll also have the controls for the stereo on the transom which I never even considered possible at this time. Basically until spring when I can finally get it into the water (I'm in St. Louis, MO) I will be dreaming daily about getting out on the water!!!

 

[Bayou Dave]

Photos would help everyone to determine if it was a good deal or not. Did you take it for a sea trial? Are there any soft spots in the floor? Do all instruments work properly? What engine? etc. etc.

 

[tlombard]

Like I said, I'm not worried about whether I got a 'good' deal or not because I'm happy and so was the guy I bought it from (other than the four texts he sent by noon the next day with general tips on maintenance which leads me to believe the wife was the motivating factor behind the sale).

Eventually I'll figure out how to do pictures better but for now, I just have this link to some I uploaded to Flickr. Took all but one of them when I dropped her off in a warehouse to store until spring.

Anyway, wasn't able to go all the way and water test since it was the middle of December here in Missouri. Risky but at the same time, it really helps with the price and I was able to verify that it runs great on muffs in a garage at least so I'm not worried about the motor. Also included a receipt from when he had the lower unit gone through and checked out while the motor was being replaced last winter. Stuff breaks and the NADA value is $3500 more than I paid as it is optioned so I'm not terribly hosed if I need to put a little into it in the spring. That's always a concern after a winter around here even if everything is 100% perfect when you put it up. Been around boats enough to know that stuff happens so I'm prepared.

Powered by a 4.3L Volvo with 14.6 hours on it (wasn't winterized properly by the original owner, not the guy I bought from). As for soft spots, none of those and no wood to rot with the all fiberglass construction.

The interior is new.

Upgraded stereo with all new marine equipment including Bluetooth, all new speakers, two amps and a 10" sub if you like that sort of thing. Stereo controls mounted on the transom.

I'm keeping the wake board tower after all. I don't want to mess with fixing the holes in the boat that removing the brackets would leave. Plus I kind of like the lights that are mounted on it.

Included 9 life jackets/flotation devices, tube, raft, 12V pump, flares, new fire extinguisher, air horn, collapsible paddle, spare prop, anchor, bumpers, rope. He included receipts for everything back to the original owner's insurance paperwork from 2004. Heck, I even have a receipt for a $5 koozie from a lake in central, IL that was bought in 2004.

Anyway, that's about it. I can't wait for spring. It takes all I have at times to keep from going to the storage place and just staring at the boat for hours on end. And yes, I have sat in the driver's seat making motor noises even though I'm 37 years old.

 

[mr 88]

As far as the Tower goes, as mentioned you probably can sell it and then have some nice stainless steel cover plates made that wouldn't look out of place to cover the base plate holes. The odds are at your age that some of your friends are going to want to wakeboard, ski or tube and that will come in handy. Also its something to grab while your cruising or anchored, again handy. I would think with a little bit of ingenuity you could also rig up your bimini off the tower so you could leave the tower on and have shade on a hot day. Check the expiration date on your flares.Motor noises ? I love doing that with the Mrs ,haha Good luck with your new toy !

 

[tlombard]

Yeah, I might head to the warehouse this weekend to check out the bimini a little more and see what I can't do with that. There has to be a way. Or maybe I sell that and buy one designed to work with the tower. Just like everything else, the top is brand new and only used once. I also think I forgot to mention in my last post that the guy even added a second battery with a selector with the upgraded stereo. As for the flares, brand new last summer according to the receipt so they should be good for a bit longer. I'm not sure what the expiration is on them. And honestly, at the lake I will be at 95% of the time, you can just yell and somebody will hear you anyway. It is only 410 acres with houses surrounding the entire thing. There is literally nowhere on that lake you can go and not be seen or heard.

It also started out as a joke but I'm starting to consider this idea more and more seriously. The stereo plays DVDs. I have no idea why he went that far but this guy seriously went all out when he decided to upgrade. There isn't a monitor anywhere at this time but a friend joked about getting a portable projector that I can just set on the rear sun deck and hanging a cheap screen from the tower so we can float around off the back of the boat at night and watch Jaws (or some other water based disaster movie). The more I think about it, the better the idea sounds. I can use a plain white sheet and weight it down/stretch it out for the screen and battery powered portable projectors are getting more common and cheaper. I could pick one up for a couple hundred bucks with no problem. Doesn't have to be anything super HD or fancy to be fun.