Your first boat story

[oldjeep]

Maybe there is already a thread like this but here goes.

My wife had grown up around boats and her dad used to take us out every couple weekends after we were married. In 2003 my wife decided that she wanted a boat of our own and I reluctantly agreed. She sold her 1970 Triumph Spitfire to pay for the new toy (big mistake, that was a beautiful car).

We looked around a bit and not knowing any better I bought a non running 1987 Bayliner 1950 3.0L with OMC drive on a trailer. It had been taken in on trade by the local BL dealer. It would crank over and start but not run correctly - I was pretty good with engines and figured I could either fix it or replace it. The boat had been stored outside - uncovered for some time and was a dirty mess. The floor was solid except right around the ski locker so it couldn't have been out in the weather too long. We had been looking around for a while and all we could find in the under 4K price range was little 17ft boats which were not going to be big enough for our family of 5. Paid $2000 for it and pulled it home to start work.

The motor started and ran fine in Neutral, and had no water in oil, or water spraying out the block.
When the motor was put into the forward gear it would chug and stop almost immediately. After poking around with it, I noticed that the shift cables looked like they had been replaced, and according to the manual were adjusted improperly. I got them fairly close to where I thought they should be, the boat now goes into forward and reverse pretty well.

Had it in to the local OMC shop to get the cables adjusted better, and check the compression. 1: 75 2: 50 3: 80 4: 125

Took it back home and pulled the head off and sure enough the steel rings in the gasket was burned up between the 2 middle cylinders - checked that the head was not warped, ran out to get a gasket, installed, did a quick valve adjustment and sure enough the engine was running decently in the driveway. Immediately took off for a local lake to try it out and aside from some occasional clunking noises in the drive it was working fine.

Took it out the next weekend and the trim pump fell off into the bilge - loose lag screws, and the battery pretty much melted - bad alternator

All the mechanical stuff sorted out, I did a hack job floor repair to make it solid around the locker, bought a couple new seats, carpet and some vinyl to get the boat looking half decent.

Used the boat for the rest of 2003 and the 2004 season without any real issues - drive still clunking/slipping every once in a while I knew what it was and what it would cost to fix, so we just ignored it. Boat was still kind of ugly but worked well.

2005 season started out OK, but then the engine started running poorly - randomly. Checked everything I could think of and then it would seem to go away until one day in early Aug skiing at dinner time and the engine would turn but not restart. Nobody was out on the small lake and we were on the wrong side. Started swimming and towing the boat while the wife and kids paddled with skis. Luckily one of the lake residents saw us, got in their boat and towed us to the launch.

Couple days later I see an ad in the paper where the local BL dealer is selling brand new 2005 195 Classics for 12K. The exact boat that we have but brand new - show my wife and we are over at the dealer when they opened - with our old boat in tow. They give us 2K for the old non running boat on trade in - which made me laugh since they had sold me that same non-running boat for 2K 3 years before. Couple hours later we leave with the new boat.

 

[projo198]

Re: Your first boat story

I guess I am still living my first boat story, but here it is.

I let one slip through my fingers last year, had a family friend with a BEAUTIFUL VIP boat with a V6 I/O. This boat was CLEAN, not a mark on the upholstery and she was going to let us have it for $3200. The wife and I agreed to each save up for half. I saved a little over my half, she never did. We missed out on that boat.

So this spring I began squirreling money away. A little from my checks, work trips, selling stuff and working on guns on the side. When summer hit I didn't have much, only about 1500. But she had no knowledge of it so I knew it was safe!

I spent weeks scouring Craigslist until I found a 1988 Bayliner Capri in Missouri for $1000. After all the garbage I had been seeing in my price range I called right away. There was one guy ahead of me to look at it, but he cancelled that evening so the next morning I headed to Missouri. I was tired of playing the looking game!

Bear in mind I didn't know ANYTHING about boats, but had a pretty decent mechanical background. The boat wasn't perfect, but better than most I had seen. It started on muffs, but wouldn't shift into gear. In hindsight and knowing what I know now I should have passed. It was a gamble. Luckily I didn't. Talked him down to 900 bucks and after a new shift cable that problem was fixed, After a crash course in boating I eventually disovered a bad distributor cap that was causing the boat to die in the water.

I don't regreat taking so long to find the problem though because I learned a lot in the process. We have had the boat out almost every weekend since and she runs great. I am in the processing of doing little things here and there as I can afford it, but overall I am very glad I bought this boat and only wish I had gotten an earlier start this summer!

This is still the original Craigslist ad pic lol... I haven't had chance to take any others!

 

[Another retired guy]

Re: Your first boat story

Strangely we also sold a Triumph Spitfire (1964) to help finance the boat purchase. No regrets.
My first story is one of embarrassment when I picked up the boat from the marina. The full camper top was up so I started to dismantle it and dropped one of the key structural pieces into 4 feet of muddy bottom water at the marina dock. An employee changed into swim shorts and went mud diving to find it for me. I gratefully rewarded him and that marina has a customer for life!

 

[Slide]

Re: Your first boat story

Growing up, my dad had a badass 1986 Larson Senza V-195 - little 20' cuddy cabin that he had souped up with a 454, Bravo drive, and thru hull exhaust. It was mean, loud, and fast. When my younger brother and sister came around (8 and 10 years younger, respectively), dad had to "grow up" too and get a more family friendly boat, so the Larson got sold to a family friend.

Fast forward a couple years, I'm warming up to the idea of getting my own boat and I hear the Larson is for sale for a steal of $3k. The friend had a kid and didn't have the time to use it or the spare cash to keep feeding the 454 fuel, so I immediately scrape together the cash and start getting excited about it. I tell one of my best friends (call him B) about it, and B instantly catches boat fever and we start hatching harebrained summer boat trip schemes.

Sadly, it was not to be - found out the old girl hadn't been treated quite so nice. Floor was soft, transom rotten, motor mounts squishy. I'd have loved to restore it, but didn't have the time and money to invest in it at the time. So, our boating dreams slipped away...

...until B, still sick to death with boat fever, starts digging around local marinas and Craigslist, wanting to buy one himself. I go with him to look at most of them since he was a novice, and we happen across a really nice 1997 Maxum 2300SC cuddy cabin being sold by a super nice guy near where I live. The whole thing was in great shape, ran awesome, and was a steal at 12.5k (it still NADAs for 14 with a trailer if I recall). We're driving away from the first look and B brings up the idea - "so what would you think about going in on this together..."

The rest is history!

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Your first boat story

Dad had a 13' whaler; mom had a wooden row boat, then when I was about 10-11 started in the sailing program so he bought a Turnabout, about 8' wooden single sail. That's when the work began, unscrewing the planks, painting inside, hull, bottom, varnishing the mast, boom and tiller. Learned a lot including the work first then play, do it right, take care of it in the meanwhile ethic.
At about 14 added a 16' starcraft which we ran through high school and beyond. Many boats later or added, still work first then play, do it right, take care of it. Them.

 

[tswiczko]

Re: Your first boat story

I was driving down the road and saw a big cardboard sign on my boat that said for sale $5,500 so I bought it. I put a cap, rotor, plug wires, rebuilt the carb and starter and away we went. Since then other than regular maintenance I redone the floor because of a soft spot.
Mach 1 Magnum MV2450

 

[ivianiac]

Re: Your first boat story

Well I haven't driven my first boat yet, I am still working on it

At the beginning of summer I had a goal to fix it by July 4th. I now have a goal of Labor Day, which I am on track for.

I got ahold of an 1980 18' Galaxy Bow Rider with a Mercruiser 140 Stern drive. These forums have been my crutch in getting this thing running. But I finally have it running! All I have left to do is install a steering cable I ordered and purchase and install a new trim pump.

Boat and Trailer ($200)

When I bought it it would turn over but not start and the Carb wasn't getting gas. The person who sold it to me spent some time and money trying to get it to start and got very close. They bought a new distributor cap, coil, points and condenser. A thread was stripped on the distributor, so I filled it with epoxy and tapped it out. Then I spun it 90 degrees so the ?weak? threads only held the breaker plate, not the cap. The wire from the points to the coil was missing so I installed that.

Now I have spark ($0).

The Spark Plugs needed to be replaced so I replaced those ($12)

I got spark and heard the boat run, now I needed to figure out how to get gas to the Carb. At this time I was trying to figure out where the electrical wires to the fuel pump connected. I learned what I thought was only a fuel filter was also the pump! So I took the pump off the boat and tried to press the lever that activates the diaphragm causing pumping. It pressed hard and seemed to create no suction. Then I saw a brass fitting that went into a nasty (what I thought was a vacuum line turns out it's a "tell tail" to see if your fuel pump fails and keep gas from entering the boat). I disconnected the brass fitting and the pump worked! I cleaned out the brass fitting, reinstalled it and I was pumping fuel!

I replaced the clear line ($1.00)

My throttle "didn't work" so I took the control apart and saw it was moving the shifting cable but not the throttle. I watched the pieces moved and was able to get it to open the throttle when I pulled "too far" in reverse. It didn't occur to me to try forward. Anyway a friend came over and saw this and told me that is how far the lever is supposed to go. I added 2 screws in addition to the 2 that were there to mount the control to the boat, it was loose and I thought I was breaking the control when moving the control.

Now my boat runs in the drive way on muffs! But I can't steer it or activate the trim pump. I tried everything I could to make the existing steering cable work. I actually hooked one end to a tree then pulled the other end with my ATV Winch. I had to use a block and tackle in order to create enough force to pull the cable (6,000lbs)! I was trying to defy the advice posted on the forums and lost . I did however meet someone on the forums that is from my hometown!

I bought a steering cable that I will receive early next week. ($105)

I have yet to purchase the trim pump I am waiting on an auction that ends at 8pm EDT tonight. So I should have a trim pump next week.

Trim motor should be about $75.

I also have yet to do an oil change on the motor and outdrive (I'm guessing ~$30, I don't know how much outdrive oil and the pump costs yet)

This boat will continue to be a project. It needs interior work after I get the mechanics all done.

 

[JimKW]

Re: Your first boat story

My wife and I had never been around boats at all other than I was on a ship when in the Navy and my wife had been out once with friends as a teenager. This was around 1988, so our children were 5, 9 and 11 at the time. When we drove from the DC area to the Pittsburgh area we would cross the Youghiogheny Damn Reservoir and see all the boats out and it looked like fun. We decided to look at boats and get a feel for them. We looked at a couple classified ads and ended up at a small marina in Dumfries, VA.
They had a couple used boats from the late 70’s/early 80’s for a price we could afford and the salesman was a really big guy. As a matter of fact I found out later he played Offensive Line for the Buffalo Bill and blocked for O J Simpson. When he told my son that, he said Who? That was before OJ became even more famous than he was as a RB.

Anyway he had two Welcraft 196’s, one a bowrider and one a cuddy. Both had the 470 Mercruiser outdrive. I had never driven a boat before, but we bought the bowrider with the agreement that Waddy would give me a few lessons on how to drive it. I’m a very left handed person and had a heck of time getting used to using the throttle with my right hand.

Well we went out on the Potomac a few times and I was starting to get the hang of it so Waddy let me back it out of the slip saying be careful because Larry’s (his Boss) yacht was behind us. Well I pulled it into reverse and the boat took off way too quick for Waddy. He jumped up out of the passenger’s seat, broke the cover to the ski locker and fell into me driving the boat, knocked it into neutral and took over the boat. It scared the crap out of him, my wife and me. Honestly I think I had it under control and would have slowed down and turned it before hitting Larry’s Yacht, but Waddy wasn’t taking any chances.

We had a lot of fun with that boat for four years before something went wrong and it would not go in reverse. I was tired of it by then and Larry ended up buying it back off of me. Waddy wasn’t there any longer. It was 18 years after I sold that boat that I bought the one I have now.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Your first boat story

I don't remember my first time on a boat! Not due to beverages either I was so young that while there are pictures of my brother and I out on the boat, I don't remember. Over the years I got to drive and work on/with every manner of boat - rowboat, kayak, canoe, pontoon, outboard fishing boats, paddle board, sunfish, sloop ...

I probably would never have bought one if I hadn't moved 700 miles from our lake. But, now I've got my project

 

[Vegas Naturist]

Re: Your first boat story

Wow, where do I start? I was stationed at McDill AFB near Tampa at the time, and a couple of friends from the base had boats. They would invite us on their boats and, although I wanted one too, 3 young kids, a mortgage, and a service-mans salary = no boat.

I then got stationed at Nellis near Las Vegas (and Lake Mead/Mohave), and swore I was going to get one. My wife was only mildly warm to the idea. I went to the base's Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) office and found out they rent boats. I got the idea to rent a boat and take the wifey camping on the lake. After out campout, she was warmer to the idea, like "this could be fun, but $$$". She's the family accountant LOL. Anyway, I still had the itch and it wasn't going away.

Soon after, I retired from the Air Force I took a job with the local public transit agency. Being low man on the totem pole, I got stuck on the graveyard shift. Take note, my wife worked day shift. This left me kinda free during the day, unsupervised. I was visiting a friend and, on the way home, passed by a Bayliner showroom. This was around February '98. Out front, they had a left-over '97 Capri 1950 with a sign basically saying "take me home". I had to stop and take a look! Not only was it a prior year left-over, but it was also their showroom display boat for that model and year. While it did show signs of people checking it out, slight carpet wear, minor scratches and such, from being their showroom boat, it was in extremely good shape, and had never been in the water. Full factory warranty! Out comes the salesman and I had to talk price. I don't recall the actual numbers, but it was like a $14K boat for $11.5K. They just wanted to move their last one.

Uh-oh...

After some further negotiations, not so much on price, but things like throw in all the safety gear, put a hitch on my truck, and we might have a deal. So I call the wife, who is still at work, "honey, can I buy a boat?". Holding the phone at arms length, I could still her shout "NO, where are you at?". "At the boat store" :redface: Her next statement was along the lines of "What have you done and what's it going to cost me?". "But honey, just come down and check out the boat I'm looking at and the deal I got". Woops...:facepalm: "Deal you GOT, as in PAST TENSE?" "Honey, I love you, I just need your signature on the papers and we can be out on the lake next weekend! They'll even do the delivery with a test ride at the lake." She finally calmed down after flying to the dealer (I thought for a moment she had a hover conversion done to the car as fast as she got there), but boy did I get THAT LOOK when she got there.

And the rest is history!

John

P.S. In her defense, she's really not a meaney or anything, but she's the practical one in the family, and I can kinda be the rebel without a clue sometimes.

 

[emoney]

Re: Your first boat story

Well kids, let me tell you about a time BEFORE Al Gore invented the internet, and iboats didn't exist. It was about 24 years ago and I had been married 2 years and we'd just been blessed with a baby girl. Growing up, my parents had never owned a boat even though I was "sorta" named after a local lake. I was still a kid, working as a car salesman at the time, when the dealership I worked at took a rather rough looking 1970 Mark Twain, 15 footer with a 100hp Johnson in on trade. The manager at the time didn't put much in the boat, something like $300 and I said immediately, "I want to buy it". My wife had never even been on a boat and I had never driven one, let alone owned one, NOR did I have any mechanical abilities. The first Sunday we took that old boat to the lake, I saw a look come across my wife's face that has been replicated many times, but only when we've been on the water. Of course, after a couple of weeks, that old Johnson started getting cantankerous. She'd run like a top in the bucket at home, but get to the lake and she'd get allergic. This was LONG before I knew words like "powerpack". So, longish story made short, I sold that boat after a frustrating 3 months. Actually, I traded it to a guy I worked with for a motorcycle which I turned around and traded in on a newer boat. He had it for 10 years without much issue (He, in fact, DID know what a powerpack was). And my wife and I owned a boat the entire time we were in Kentucky.

However, for some dumb reason, when we made the decision to move to Florida 14 years ago, we though it would be smart to sell everything we owned, pretty much, to make the move easier and that included the boat. For an even stranger reason, it never entered my mind to buy another boat, even though we lived in a "year-around-boating-season" area? Go figure, right? Thankfully, however, that ether finally wore off a couple of years ago and we've been at it full bore ever sense.

That first "trade a motorcycle for a boat" thing, however, planted a seed that has always stuck with me. My wife will confirm this, as will most anyone that knows me, I'm a 'Bartering Billy'. This current boat, 4 boats removed, started life as a $600.00 Gibson Les Paul Studio that I traded for a 22' Sailboat. That's a whole different thread, in of itself though.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Your first boat story

My first boat, was my father's first boat. I remember us driving down the street in our hometown (might have been after a soccer practice) when my dad spotted the boat sitting with a for sale sign on it in front of a small machine shop. It caught his eye because his father had had a Mark Twain of a 60's vintage that he had spent a lot of time in as a kid. We pulled up and I climbed in it (me being all of about 12yrs old) with my father looking it over. It was in pristine condition for a 19yr old boat at that point. We then went back home and my father began checking out pricing and specs on the boat, and we later went to check it out again. My father left on a weekend to go take it on a sea trial (unbeknownst to me) and showed up at home later that evening with the boat in tow.

We really had no issues with it until around 2006 or so when we had some fuel delivery problems (tons of dirt got into the tank) and then the lower shift cable left us backing through the cove to the boat trailer. The transom had gone soft over the years as well. So we were left with the decision to sell the boat as-is and find another boat for $4-5K (to find something comparable in quality) or repair the transom. Well, we decided we couldn't find a boat in as good of shape for what we wanted to spend, in addition to buying a boat with a bunch of unknown quirks and problems. We pulled the engine and repaired the transom with SeaCast so that transom rot wouldn't be an issue for this boat ever again. Then we put the engine back in, and NOTHING!. The engine, while sitting in the shop, had somehow gotten some water in the cylinders and rusted the cylinders up! So we resolved to put a new powerplant in, and new everything else as I'm the king of the "while I'm in here" projects. So today, we have a 1976 boat, with pristine original interior, new 351w with all new parts/gaskets/wiring for every component in the bilge including a new trim pump. So aside from the hull and the interior cloth, we have a new boat.

So after the boat being 36 years old, and in our family for almost 20 of it, I don't intend on getting rid of the current boat any time soon since it does everything a modern runabout does, save for lacking a few cup holders and the walk-thru transoms. I'm always on the lookout for a nice teak swim platform, though. In any case, I like that Blue Oval engine under the hood that I can't get in a newer boat.

 

[Jstumbough]

Re: Your first boat story

My first boat was a 16' Koffler drift boat made in 1986 that I bought from my father in law. Paid 1400 bucks for it and it's never given me any problems. It doesn't have an engine though, so I suppose as long as my arms hold up, it should always run.

I've put new oars, rope and an aluminum diamond plate floor in it since I've had it. It is probably one of the best investments I've ever made. I LOVE IT!

 

[Solittle]

Re: Your first boat story

You guess the year - Was out in Biscayne Bay near Key Biscayne with my son in our first outboard - 15' 33 hp. The Secret Service flashes their strobe lights, hits the siren and roars over to where we were putzin around. They demanded we leave the area post haste.

Why did they stop us and what year was it?

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Your first boat story

You guess the year - Was out in Biscayne Bay near Key Biscayne with my son in our first outboard - 15' 33 hp. The Secret Service flashes their strobe lights, hits the siren and roars over to where we were putzin around. They demanded we leave the area post haste.

Why did they stop us and what year was it?

Are you talking about the Bay of Pigs?

 

[ZacUSNYR]

Re: Your first boat story

Not my first boat, but my fathers. He bought a smallish (~17') old boat with an outboard (early 70s). He got as a cheapy - something to get out on the water. This was in the mid to late 80s. I was probably around 7-8 years old. I came home from school and we'd spend a half hour home alone (my sister and I) until my mother got home from work. A friend from the neighborhood stopped by and instead of playing nintendo we decided to "play" with the "new" boat in the drive way.

This boat didn't have an electric horn so my father just bought one of those air horns. Throughout our playing we emptied that sucker. First time out on the boat, my father got stopped and safety checked. Went to use the horn.

He got a ticket. He had "guesses" to what happened and I had denial. I guess my sisters denial was as good as mine because he didn't know which one of us to accuse. He found out the truth over a decade later when I told him.

 

[Brewman61]

Re: Your first boat story

Back in High School (in the old days), my best buddy picked up a 60's vintage Crestliner 16' fiberglass runabout with a 55 hp Johnson O/B. We put that poor boat thru the wringer, not sure how we managed to put 4 or 5 in that boat and pull someone on skis. But we had a blast with that boat. Memories.......
Early 1990's same buddy sells that boat and gets brand spankin new 19' crestliner combo fish/ski rig with a 115 Johnson. We spent many more years having fun on that rig. He still owns it to this day.
I didn't jump into boat ownership till much later. In 2006 a co-worker wanted to get rid of one of his boats, his bowrider.
Boat is a 2003 Crownline 18.0 bowrider with the Mercruiser 4.3L MPI w/alpha 1 gen II outdrive and Karavan roller trailer. He wanted to get out from the payments so I bought the boat for his loan balance, a very good price. Rig only had about 30 hours on it when I got it in 2006. Still running and enjoying that boat, has been spot on reliable, with only routine maintenance and a new impeller and bellows/gimble inspection every few years. I do my own servicing, owned outright. Sits on the water all summer on a space I rent on a privately owned dock, about a 3 mile drive. Extremely nice lake, no public access bs to deal with, all in all a great experience I wouldn't trade for the world.

 

[capecodtodd]

Re: Your first boat story

Reading about all these firsts reminds me of the clunkers and decent ones I have owned over the years. A lake front property has been in my family for well over 125 years now so I grew up on boats every Sunday in the Summer when we would go visit my great grandfther play on the lake and have a cook out later. We always had soem form of boat even though most were rowboats.
My very first was a small 2 person inflatable that I paddled all over and used a plastic bottle filled with sand as a anchor. When I got older out of school and working I bought my first motor boat a early 70's 17' Glastron trihull with a big ole 1960's 75HP evinrude that had a bad clutch dog that would kick out with a loud bang. Sold it and bought a mid seventies Century with a newer 100hp evinrude. I used that boat to fish and ski alot for several years. The next upgrade was a 1988? Starcraft 1901 with a 175hp OMC I/O Nice heavy and powerful boat that I used in both salt and fresh to fish and play but after several years it was getting a soft floor and I didn't want to repair and I wanted something newer so I sold that and bought a 1998 Stingray with a 3.0 I/O in 2003? I do wish I still had that OMC. The Stingray is a nice comfortable boat and with money being tight I don't see a newer boat in the horizon at all. Besides it is really sharp looking and has a nice trailer most of the other boats had crappy trailers but luckily I only needed to haul in and out once a year.
I say the common theme among all these stories is we get the itch for a boat buy the best one we can afford, love it to death then eventually move on to maybe bigger and better or after having bad experiences sell and never look back.
Happy Boating

 

[09zkrankin]

Re: Your first boat story

Well my first boat story isn't all that happy of a story lol. My parents had an old bayliner for a while and I don't remember much ab it. Just being out tubing behind it, and my grandpa has had a 1984 ranger that looks like it is off the showroom floor. I've went through spells thinking I might want a boat but they always go away. Well my fianc? and I were out on my Harley one day and drove by the river and there were people everywhere on boats. Well she wanted one and I said no, I fought her off for about a month because of the standard reasons, money pit, we won't use it etc. and finally I told her I would go buy a fixed upper and fix it so I could prove my point.

Well I drive 1 1/2 hours away one day while she was at work and looked at an 1988(?) bayliner capri 18' with a 3.0 and cobra drive. At this point I knew NOTHING ab boats b it have always been mechanically inclined. The guy wanted 600 for it but he couldn't start it. The motor turned over by hand but that was it. The carpet was junk, it had been in the rain for a LONG time. The was no floor at all in the bow and the entire boat was full of crap. Do I talked him down to $300 and bought it, I know big mistake. Well over the next month I had the starter rebuilt, got it running( very roughly) rebuilt the elec motor in the trim pump, drained ab 100 gallon of water out of it and cleaned it up. As well as putting new floor in it and rebuilding a few seats. I was ready for the lake. Took it there and it fired right up then died after ab 5 mins of idling and would not start back. I fought with it for ab 45 mins and finally got mad and went to take it home. I had already decide that it was for sale. Well on the way home I blew a tire which just added to it. When I finally got it home I parked it and the next morning posted it on Craigslist as a TLC ad lol, it's prob on here somewhere, for $1200 a guy called within 10 mins and came that eve and gave me $900 for it, $600 proffit hell yea.

Next day I traded my mint 2006 700 raptor on a 1993 Baja 180 islander with a 5.7 and thru hulls and I absolutely love it. I'm on it every weekend and like to think of it as my first real bot lol, sorry for the long winded post

 

[rowlex]

Re: Your first boat story

ok i read everyones stories and wanted to throw mine out there..wish i had the pictures to prove it. and sorry for revining a dead thread.

I was about 5-6 years old when my dad got a boat together. I don't recall the details but my older brother filled me in. It was a 16' aluminum bottom boat. No idea what kind but it did have a 60 or 70horse johnson outboard. at some point during its life with my father, he and his brother (1985 ish) re-riveted the entire bottom, and removed the closed bow. they rebuilt the deck with plywood and blue paint mixed with sand to give it some grip. they built two shifty consoles one per side. Wired up the throttle(if i recall correctly to the left side of the right console...) and a steering wheel.

There were no seats in this boat. Had to stand to drive it, passengers had to stand or sit on the floor/cooler. Luckily the boat had tall sides to it. My older brother recalls an outing in the puget sound where apparently I almost sunk it as dad was holding me and says "Go ahead chase the birds scott" WOT and a left turn sent everyone scrambling. Luckily no one was hurt or thrown over. This boat always leaked a lot of water as well. My dad was prepared for this with two strong bilge pumps. One last thing about this boat...my brother and I recently chatted about this.. the boat originally had a closed bow, it was cut away and nothing put in its place. My brother recalls at cruising speed the sides of the boat shaking quite a bit more then it should have. no wonder it leaked and possibly lucky it never split down center and sunk.

next up i finally had saved up enough $$ to buy my own boat. I worked 2 jobs 70 hour weeks to save up 3000$ to buy something. A friend of a friend was selling his 1989 1950 bayliner capri. well taken care of. during the test drive with the owner we are checking everything. eventually I notice water coming from the bottom corner of the left side console. i mention this to the owner and he shruggs it off saying they had just sprayed the boat down..ok your the expert, we continue on. Then I notice the rear transom area wet, i let the owner know again.

This time he investigates, pulls up the ski locker and there is 3" of water in there. then pulls the top off the doghouse and thats getting pretty full as well. He starts freaking out, we are quite a ways away from the trailer and the "beaches" in this section of the columbia river are big rocks. He turns on the bilge pump and guns it back to the trailer. As we are pulling in he is yelling to our friend to get the trailer as fast as he can were sinking! our friend non shalantly waves, takes another sip of his beer and gets the trailer in the water in no rush...(for those who are curious the problem was whoever summerized it did not put the drain plugs back on the risers).

I end up purchasing the boat. Had two incredible summers on it, beat the heck out of it, tubing, wakeboarding, kneeboarding. all I ever did to it was basic maintenance.

Then one day, we have 7-8 people out on the boat we are on the lake that we have been to 40+ times. It's a small lake, we know every part of it.. my girlfriend is driving and my younger brother and I are out on two tubes tied off at the same length having a good time. smashing into eachother trying to knock the other off. We are going counter clockwise around the lake, and to my left I notice a bouey. I've seen this bouey before, but I've never seen it from this spot. To our right I see a big rock sticking out from the ground probably 2.5 feet. As I notice this my little brother who is also to my right figures out what is happening at the same time I did. We both start screaming for her to stop the boat. Were in the shallows we know it, no one else does.

Then the boat comes to a quick stop. My brother and I look at eachother and wonder if she heard us? then we look down and see 1.5 foot to the bottom and decide to stand up and walk to the boat. We ended up limping it back to the dock, luckily it made it because other then one jetski we were the last boat out on the lake. and the jetski'er refused to tow us in. this is what the prop looked like:

My ex-gf and I spent two days(and three weeks) taking the outdrive off, gathering parts, and rebuilding it. The 1.25" propshaft had quite the bend in it also. Boat ran great for another two seasons afterward. I sold it to a friend, he beat it up for 1 or two seasons and then sold it. That was a tough boat.

I've now got a 2001 Bayliner capri 2150. It has taken good care of us and is a great boat as well.