Re: Tin finally scores!
 

I admire TheTinMan for exercising a good deal of restraint in dealing w/ the owner of the Seacraft......I woulda had a tough time NOT takin' a swing at him......

Re: Tin finally scores!
 

Tin - That's a hell of a plan B . . . You did the right thing down there in the land of cheap boats. Good Work . . . You'll love it!! Glad you made it back safely.

Just remember 4wd Low pulling her up the ramp :)

Re: Tin finally scores!
 

HOMERUN, Tin!!!...nice BMT Combo 8)...I'm like Mac...what's the story on findin' the V20 on short notice??...methinks there's more here than meets the eye ::)...

HIGH FIVER on dodgin' the green BULLET :P...

Re: Tin finally scores!
 

Guess you could say I was lucky. After the Seacraft episode, I was fit to be tied! I drove to Bradenton to check out an 18SC, not for me. I was thinking of bringing the laptop and decided there was no need....WRONG! I could have searched from the hotel room. Instead, I had phester on the phone checking boat listings for me. I did buy a boatrader mag and the Center Console was in there and boatrader.com. I called the guy to tell him my situation and that I only brought so much money to buy the other boat (which was quite a bit less than he was asking). He said he could only go down so much. I said I understand and thought I would at least ask. Awhile later I was on the phone with the guy in Bradenton and the guy with the V20 called and left a message, he said he wanted to talk and see if I would like to at least the boat. The boat was located in Ocala, not too far out of the way heading home. Seller was a real good dude, beautiful home, nice vehicles, huge diesel pusher motorhome, immaculate garage, you could tell he kept all his stuff nice. I checked out the boat and said it was beautiful but I didn't have the money....long story short...he came down, I came up...I got boat!

What turned out to be a nightmare, ended up a wet dream!

Re: Tin finally scores!
 

Thanks All....especially Bigshrimpin and Phester for helping a brother out in a time of need.

NOW LET'S WARM UP AND GET FISHIN ALREADY!!! ;D :D :D ;D :D :D

Re: Tin finally scores!
 

First thing I see when I walk up to the boat is a badly redone transom. Outside of the transom was uneven, wavy, a slight crack already. According to him transom was redone from the front side??? Next, I look at a huge puddle of lower unit oil on the pavement! He has an estimate on $300 to fix that (no mention of that at all previously....was told it was a "Low hour motor") If you take the lower unit and move it back and forth there was a lot of play in the pivot shaft (not sure what you call it). I was pissed, said "low hour motors don't have play like that!" Motor was sprayed black under the cover and all over the outside and shaft and lower unit, runs all over the place. Even painted over corrosion on the lower unit! The paint job on the boat was just as bad if not worse. I specifially asked about the quality of the paint job. Was told there was 1 run.....The WHOLE freaking boat had runs all over it....that is where the paint stayed on, there were many areas where the green came off and the original yellow could be seen. The transom was several shades of green different than the rest and was painted with a brush!

In the pics you can see the deck drains in the stern on either side of that hatch. They drain right into the bilge, no longer self bailing!

The straw that broke the camels back for me was when I crawled under the trailer and saw 2 wheels that had the bearing seals falling out and grease all over! These were supposed to be brand new, just installed bearings, remember? I really don't think that trailer would have made the long tow. I was able to wobble one wheel with the weight of the boat still on the trailer! Was assured all 4 tires were good, 2 were just about bald and 2 were fair at best. Looking straight back at the trailer wheels, on one side the after wheel was tilted, not in line with the front wheel! He tells me it's the way he's parked, he's parked on a flat paved parking lot????

I never even hooked up my compression tester, at that point it didn't matter.

Right before I left NY, I called and to make sure I wasn't going to be dissapointed and that everything is as good as he described. I was assure it was. He could have taken pictures of the problem areas, but decided to "hide" those.

I leaned a lesson big time! I'm just so happy in the end it turned out great. If I came home without a such a great boat, you probably would have seen me on CNN. :o :o :o

Re: Tin finally scores!
 

Hey Tin...did the guy you got the V20 from know about out little community here?... 8)...he would make an excellent contributor to the board's well of knowledge... ;)...heck, he'd probably see how much fun we're havin' here and run out and buy another one!!

Remember me ''stalking'' you and what I was sayin' to ya at the time?...guess what? ;)...

Re: Tin finally scores!
 

Tin - It makes a great story . . . Ups and downs, the tragic figure . . . and a wonderful happy ending. You did damn good!!

Re: Tin finally scores!
 

Now that you towed a V20 with the Yota, I belive you have CB thinking again? Now that he can tow one.

Great story Good Luck!!

Re: Tin finally scores!
 

Funny....I was just telling phester about that today, lol......"You know what to get"...I remember...and you were right!

Phester just pulled out my driveway. He came out this morning for the maiden voyage, which didn't start off too good. Had the batteries on a trickle charge all night. Wouldn't start this morning, cranked slow, then just clicks....nada.....BAH!! Thought maybe the batteries were shot. Got the meter out and starting battery has 14.3 volts. Won't turn over, just solonoid clicking. Checked the volts at the solonoid, only like 10 volts...hmmmm.

The problem had to be between the batteries and solonoid. Only thing it could be I thought was the battery switch. Unmounted the switch, turned it over.....bad corrosion, one wire broke off very easily. Wired the starter battery directly to solonoid and fired right up!
A new swithch and a couple of wires and I'll be good to go.

We couldn't stand just listening to the motor run on the muffs...so we hooked her up the Yota and headed for the ramp in Mattituck on the Long Island Sound side. Had a nice cruise out to the inlet...wind NNW at 25 kts. Had to see how she'd do. 3-4's with an occasional 5 footer, took some spray....brrrrr...at 40 degrees. She gets up and goes like a scalded ape!

Got back to the ramp, phester backed down Yota and I drove right up all the way...gotta love bunk trailers!

What started off as an agravating day turned out great...probably the last time the "V" will get wet with out fishing rods on board though.

Here's a couple pics of some die hard boaters:

Tin:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...2740Medium.jpg

Phester:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...2738Medium.jpg

Stinky!!! Is that you?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...2739Medium.jpg