The conversion is complete. New Boat.

[No_Regerts]

I can see uses for center consoles on rivers and on wider bay boats. They end up taking up a lot of casting room on a 16 footer. I am going to keep my new boat in the garage and I only have 19 feet. A 16 footer with an outboard and swing tongue eats up 19 feet pretty quick.

 

[Caveman Jim]

So you've already experienced 3 of 4 of the best days of your life!


1. Bought first boat (check)

2. Sold first boat (check)

3. Bought second boat (check)

4. Sold second boat (pending)

What chew talkin bout Willis. Yous fogot to add de paht bout loosin $$$$$ too boot.
I on the other hand had sold two sleds (learner vehicles) and made money on both of them!!!!
I am a shrewd negotiator. I always ask them if they are seriously serious about buyin my boat, if the answer is no then.

 

[mkwerx]

Excellent. I still need to fix or replace my trailer, finish wiring, and obtain a new outboard for mine. Or just sell/donate the damn thing and open up my driveway space and get a canoe

 

[Caveman Jim]

Do what I did and get a center console design, best of both worlds. Mine isn't an outboard,( In board jet ) but the space and comfort are really an advantage especially for long runs like putting in at Ilwaco and going out to the race track, or a 70 mile run from St Helens down stream and back! Another area this has advantages is for crabbing, I have a tone of space to work in a 23 foot hull.
Here she is, Classic 23 foot MAKO
View attachment 344202

Nice, I've seen a bunch of those type boats down south on the salt water but they all had them spinning cutting death thingies on the motors... I love my JET!!!

 

[Ura-Ki]

I picked her up after Katrina, was an insurance buy out and was sitting in a salvage yard. Mine was originally an inboard V-Drive with a tunnel cut out and rudder. I cut the bottom out, re glassed it for a Kodiak Pump and installed a 5.4L Ford supercharged out of a wrecked Cobra! It's a bit heavy, but I can drive it up on the sand and not have to worry much.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I picked her up after Katrina, was an insurance buy out and was sitting in a salvage yard. Mine was originally an inboard V-Drive with a tunnel cut out and rudder. I cut the bottom out, re glassed it for a Kodiak Pump and installed a 5.4L Ford supercharged out of a wrecked Cobra! It's a bit heavy, but I can drive it up on the sand and not have to worry much.

Nice, I'm a lifelong Ford man!!!!

 

[x2ndxall]

I liked boats. Twice.
Then I stopped wishing I was fishing for a fish.
Never more

I do believe that belongs here:
Poems You've Memorized

 

[jsparks747]

Since the stellar 2014 ocean salmon season, salmon fishing opportunities out on the coast and in the sound all but disappeared. My $45k boat became an expensive lawn ornament. I started getting irritated with making a payment on it monthly and not using it. I tried using it for the lakes and it was a total pig to operate (try creeping around docks fishing for bass in a 21 foot boat using a transom mounted kicker.....in the wind).

So, I sold it. And after a winter of reading brochures and bugging boat people, I found me a new boat that will suit my new dedication to warmwater fishing for bass, panfish and walleyes. I decided I wanted the room of a tiller with the ability to fish bigger water with a V-hull. With my new boat, a Lund Fury XL, I should be able fish a lot more.

@Caveman Jim , I'm taking you bass fishing!

View attachment 343898

What type of boat was your old one? My opinion on big boats is that the only place to use those is on the sound and the ocean. A big boat is just cumbersome to maneuver in rivers, lakes, and docks. A big boat belongs in the ocean.

 

[jsparks747]

Do what I did and get a center console design, best of both worlds. Mine isn't an outboard,( In board jet ) but the space and comfort are really an advantage especially for long runs like putting in at Ilwaco and going out to the race track, or a 70 mile run from St Helens down stream and back! Another area this has advantages is for crabbing, I have a tone of space to work in a 23 foot hull.
Here she is, Classic 23 foot MAKO
View attachment 344202

I agree with the center console.

 

[jsparks747]

Man, after going to the Sportsman's Show and seeing what is available, and the cost of boats now, I still love my boat after 16 years. The day I bought was a "Best Day", and the day I sell WILL be a very sad day. It will mean that all the fisheries, and time we enjoyed in boats, (Owned a 13' Smoker Craft for 10 years before the current 17.5' Smoker Craft), will have come to an end. It 's already depressing that so many anadromous fish runs in the NW are a fraction of what they were 20 years ago. I'm just lucky that my boat is set up to troll/anchor for salmon, and set up with an electric for bass and panfish too.

@No_Regerts Sometimes I still wish I had that little 13'er, it towed so nicely and I took it bay fishing for salmon a bunch. I won't put my current boat in salt, too many places for sea water to get in and corrode things. But then the bay/tide water fisheries are also depressed from what they were 20 years ago. As I've aged I've become partial to a windshield boat though! So no more open boats for ME!

I loved looking at the boats at the show but I would rather buy a nice used Boston Whaler liveaboared for $60,000 or a used Kingfisher for $75,000 than a new one for $300,000 and $475,000.

 

[No_Regerts]

What type of boat was your old one? My opinion on big boats is that the only place to use those is on the sound and the ocean. A big boat is just cumbersome to maneuver in rivers, lakes, and docks. A big boat belongs in the ocean.

It was an Alumaweld Stryker 20 with hardtop. It was a pig on a lake or anywhere with any wind. Not enough room on the bow for a bow thruster, soI had to do everything with the kicker. In tight confines, it was a real beotch.

 

[jsparks747]

It was an Alumaweld Stryker 20 with hardtop. It was a pig on a lake or anywhere with any wind. Not enough room on the bow for a bow thruster, soI had to do everything with the kicker. In tight confines, it was a real beotch.

That's a nice boat but I can totally see maneuvering being an issue. Especially with V hulled boats.

 

[Ura-Ki]

AH, Not So Fast! With a Jet, equipped with a place diverter I can out maneuver any prop boat with or with out bow thruster and Kicker. Wind doesn't effect me very much, it's the incoming tides that cause the most trouble.

 

[jsparks747]

AH, Not So Fast! With a Jet, equipped with a place diverter I can out maneuver any prop boat with or with out bow thruster and Kicker. Wind doesn't effect me very much, it's the incoming tides that cause the most trouble.

Well... a jet is a lot easier. A prop is hard because if you go into reverse too quickly you can damage the motor and you need to be a lot more careful when you don't use an impeller.