Newbie to Boating and SeaRays - questions

[SoothingBlue]

Hello all, first post and first boat! A friend of ours took us out on his boat, and after the trip my wife and I found ourselves saying that we wanted to get a boat, too. We did some searching to figure out what we wanted, and found an excellent deal on a well-maintained 1987 SeaRay 230CC. Although both of us had been around boats some as kids (my wife moreso than me), neither of us have a tremendous amount of experience with them. But, the boat fits our needs and given that we're both very mechanically inclined, fly airplanes, etc., we felt comfortable with what some have said is a bit on the big side for a first boat. The reality is, anything smaller wouldn't have fit our needs, and therefore wouldn't have been much fun. The boat has under 700 hours with a Mercruiser 260/5.7L. The boat's name is "Soothing Blue." Not crazy about the name, but it's what it came with, so we'll stick with it.

Yesterday was the first proving run, and it was a blast. We had a great time, and truthfully only found a few little things that need to get worked on. And so with that, I have a few questions for the gurus, mostly trailer related.

1) The bow stops need to be replaced. I'm curious if anyone has recommendations for a good replacement. Something a bit more durable than the rubber would be nice, but I suppose that's hard to accomplish without being too hard to potentially hurt the boat

2) I'd like to add some side guides for the trailer. It seems that 6-7' will be what I need, and probably also add some "goal posts". It seems like this would be a good place to start:

http://cesmith.com/product/208/bunks/27600K75

But I'm wondering if those who've dealt with these before would think I'm better off with the 75 degree or the 90 degree. I'm thinking 75 will probably contour the side better, but not sure about how it ends up working in practice.

3) The road cover is in bad shape, and the boat will be stored outside. Is there a good recommendation for a replacement cover? One that covers the whole top of the boat would be idea.

4) The plastic for the side "smoking window" has gotten brittle broken. Is there a recommended place for getting parts for these old things, or am I mostly out of luck?

We're looking forward to more fun boating! Appreciate the insight.

 

[randmhall]

Welcome to boating!

Bow rollers are easy. Your local boat store or even wal-mart will have them. I like the clear yellow Poly rollers, they don't leave black marks on the hull.
I ordered a replacement cover from Overtons for my boat. It was an exact fit, made out of sunbrella. They should have a pattern for your boat as well.
I don't use side guides. if your bunks are set up right you shouldn't need them. i do use the PVC upright "goal posts" I added the lights to the tops wired as extra side markers. they really help line it up if you are coming back to a ramp after dark.

Good luck, and happy boating!

 

[SoothingBlue]

My bow doesn't have rollers, it's the y-shaped setup. It looks like I need to measure width and then buy/order, we'll see. I'll check out the covers, thanks!

I might try just the goal posts and see how that does first, then see about the sides if I don't like the goal posts. I see the CE Smith 60" ones for $130. They look good quality, but I'm open to other options that are better and/or less expensive.