Re: Taking her out this weekend..This forum has me scared to death, though.
My title was meant to be a bit sarcastic, but I agree this place definitely shows you what can really go wrong when owning a boat. As well, all the information to fix whatever nightmare you've encountered. a great resource.
The scariest thing for me, is seeing the number of newer boats with structural issues. Just can't believe early 2000s or mid 90s boats with completely rotted stringers, etc. I'm almost afraid to ever pull back the carpet on my 79, ignorance is bliss - right?
..kidding, i'd actually like to do do that over winter and if needed replace any issues.
Appreciate the advice. I will say, each thing i've checked on the boat has built confidence about it's condition(Hope I didn't jinx myself) and previous owner's attention to it. Started out with a boat that we assumed had a bad motor(since owner couldn't start it for us 4 years ago, and gave a weak excuse why). She cranked, sounded strong. No water in oil. Dropped out drive, no water in gear oil. Impeller wasn't in 10000000x pieces. No scrapes under the boat, hell even the majority of the dash switches work once i wired up a key, including the wiper lol. Each project I tackle to 'inspect' the boat i'm thinking 'man if I pull this off and find a show stopper i'm going to be so pissed!', fortunately it's been quite the opposite.
I'm hopeful of a good test, this weekend is really more about leaks and that everything checks out. I have lots left to do. The trim rams bleed down, throttle cables stiffer than i'd like, interior will be a work in progress, continue catching the boat up on maint(gimble/ujoint/bellows), etc.. All of these things i'm willing to tackle, however I know a boat can perform night and day different on muffs vs water. I'd feel ALOT better dumping this time and money once the boat floats, doesn't take on water, and planes under it's own power... and when I get back to the shore I don't find any nasty surprises like watery oil, or gear lube... If I can accomplish those things, i'm all for putting in the time to completely restoring this boat. I'm not looking for a shortcut or to cut corners, I want to do this all right. I feel i've gotten it to a point where I should be able to safely test it in the water.. Though I really do want to take a look at the gimble and ujoint first, and might Friday before I take it out... those two things and leaks(bellows) are the two biggest concerns for me, since i haven't been able to confidently inspect/check them.
Growing up we went through 2 different boats used by the family, and I had an old bass boat I took out on my own in Highschool/College that came in through our business. We only once had a real issue, impeller went out on a yamaha I/O, burnted hydraulic cables to out drive.. this was on a hurricane deck boat. We limped back to shore though. Other than that never had any issues.
