dburne
New Member
Greetings all,
Here I am finally, at the age of 54, and now own my very first boat. I grew up on a lake, my father had a boat, and I have wanted one for many years. My wife and I had been talking about it for a while, early last year we bought her a new Ford Sport Trac truck, so we now had a vehicle that could at least pull a smaller boat. A couple weeks ago, we decided rather than going in debt on a new boat for our first, we would find a used boat we could pay cash for, and hopefully run it for about 3 years and see if we still wanted to stick with it, and maybe by a newer one around that time.
So earlier this week, after looking at many and deciding the one we were most interested in, we went to the lake with the seller and did a test run. It is a 1990 Sea Ray 180 Bowrider , with a 4.3 Mercruiser Alpha One drive. While the boat is older, I understand the engine is only around 3 years old and has less than 100 hours on it. That, combined with the hull looking in great shape, gel coat still has a good shine, and upholstery in very good condition, prompted us to go ahead and purchase it. It seemed to run great on the water, engine sounded very smooth, and no grinding when shifting from neutral to reverse, or forward. After pulling the boat out of the water, pulled the drain plug and no water came out to speak of.
So hopefully I made a wise choice and this boat will last those three years or so. I know buying an older boat is a roll of the dice, but decided to go ahead and take a chance with this one.
Ok sorry for rambling, wanted to give a little background.
Couple of questions:
The left trailer fender is damaged, just the plastic fender part. It is usable, but I would like to replace as it is an eyesore, it is a Shorelandr trailer with plastic formed fenders, including step pad front and back of fender. Reckon I could get a replacement for this? I am sure it is the trailer that came with the boat.
On the back of the boat, the right rear seat if I am facing forward - if I lift that cushion, underneath there is like a white plastic shell - and toward the bottom appears to be like a shaft with what looks like some kind of knob on the end. Can anyone tell me what the purpose of this " tub" looking thing is?
Thanks for any tips - I am sure now that I am a boat owner, this forum will be a great resource of info for me!
Here I am finally, at the age of 54, and now own my very first boat. I grew up on a lake, my father had a boat, and I have wanted one for many years. My wife and I had been talking about it for a while, early last year we bought her a new Ford Sport Trac truck, so we now had a vehicle that could at least pull a smaller boat. A couple weeks ago, we decided rather than going in debt on a new boat for our first, we would find a used boat we could pay cash for, and hopefully run it for about 3 years and see if we still wanted to stick with it, and maybe by a newer one around that time.
So earlier this week, after looking at many and deciding the one we were most interested in, we went to the lake with the seller and did a test run. It is a 1990 Sea Ray 180 Bowrider , with a 4.3 Mercruiser Alpha One drive. While the boat is older, I understand the engine is only around 3 years old and has less than 100 hours on it. That, combined with the hull looking in great shape, gel coat still has a good shine, and upholstery in very good condition, prompted us to go ahead and purchase it. It seemed to run great on the water, engine sounded very smooth, and no grinding when shifting from neutral to reverse, or forward. After pulling the boat out of the water, pulled the drain plug and no water came out to speak of.
So hopefully I made a wise choice and this boat will last those three years or so. I know buying an older boat is a roll of the dice, but decided to go ahead and take a chance with this one.
Ok sorry for rambling, wanted to give a little background.
Couple of questions:
The left trailer fender is damaged, just the plastic fender part. It is usable, but I would like to replace as it is an eyesore, it is a Shorelandr trailer with plastic formed fenders, including step pad front and back of fender. Reckon I could get a replacement for this? I am sure it is the trailer that came with the boat.
On the back of the boat, the right rear seat if I am facing forward - if I lift that cushion, underneath there is like a white plastic shell - and toward the bottom appears to be like a shaft with what looks like some kind of knob on the end. Can anyone tell me what the purpose of this " tub" looking thing is?
Thanks for any tips - I am sure now that I am a boat owner, this forum will be a great resource of info for me!
