I had those off on my zuki when working on the steering. 2 of the bolts holding the cover plates on the bottom snapped trying to remove them. On the bright side, the bolts you are concerned with were in great shape.

I appreciate the estimate. I am going to call them tomorrow and ask them to price the repair and go from there. It is a consignment boat by the way.

I like that Dusky and the Contender, except for the etec's...although the Contenders is still under warranty. I have always liked the Laguna as well, I wonder how the motor mount bolts look...

Keep em coming!

Love that Dusky, great price and nice setup, a truly comfortable walk around. Three piece construction is a big plus I feel too. Only thing I'd change is the canvas to anything but red. Florence SC is a lot closer to NC. Would be a lot more comfortable of a sea boat than the other two, especially the Laguna.

Check out how low the gunnel height is on the Laguna in the pictures with the guys standing up. Guy says he's put 12 dive tanks in the forward locker, can you imagine plowing into any kind of head seas, or God forbid, following seas with that much weight forward on that boat? If the deck wasn't flush to the bow it would have a forward casting deck. Pretty sure Searays have cored hulls as well.

Guess I don't care for that one, lol.

The Contender is a pretty hull. It's lineage and merrits stand on their own. Seems like a good price for that level of boat in that condition. I like the color scheme and looks like a fishing machine, not that I would know.

I looked at one of the Lagunas when they were new, that box up front could sleep 2 people comfortably. It's been 20 years since I have seen one, I bet I don't like them as much now as I did then.

BTW, I wasn't busting on etec's, I just prefer 4 strokes.

:love: I'm drooling over this gem.

That's the money shot, bradford.

100 hours on a 12 year old motor

It can happen. When we got our Sundance it was 5 1/2 years old with 55 hours according to the ecm run time record. It's gotta be close to 100 now even with as little as we've used it. Some people don't use a boat but 1-2 times a year. Unfortunately old low time engines tend to have the most trouble. Age without useage is harder on seals and such than using them. And if left to sit that long and it wasn't fkushed, washed, and put away correctly can lead to alot of corrosion issues.

What do ya'll think of the 22/23ft cat hulls? Sea Cat, Prokat, World Cat, Glacier Bay? My old sore back likes what I've read about em, even with the handling differences b/t cat vs. mono. I've never ridden on one. Also really like the thought of twin 140 or 150 4 strokes on the back.