Yet another change for chumbucket
 

Welp, after a couple years with the Scout, I've decided it's just not the boat for me. There are a lot of great qualities to the boat. Fit and finish are very nice. The problem I have is up here in the northeast, that boat is too light. Maybe fine for southern waters, but we have more days than not where there is a constant chop. The Scout wants to wave hop too much for my liking. I wanted a heavier hull with more deadrise to cut through the chop.
I've been looking for a while and was tempted to pull the trigger on a lot of boats, but I had to step back and keep my priorities in line. Didn't want anything too big. I wanted a decent beam and deadrise though along with some extra free board. So on Sunday I picked up the windtalker to get him out of the house for a bit and took a ride to have a look. Ended up striking a deal with the owner on this 1988 Biddison 1800. Some of you Florida guys may recognize the name. They were built in St Pete but only for about five years or so by the Biddison brothers (Mark Biddison does design work for Mako now). It was an over built center console with a few unique features. 8' beam and a 21 degree deadrise. Very roomy, lots of free board, and a unique tilting console with storage underneath.
The boat needs a good cleaning and some cosmetic work, but she's very solid. I'm looking forward to putting it to good use in the spring when my knee is fully healed. :sun:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/DSCN0610.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...DSCN0608-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...a/DSCN0609.jpg

Now THAT's a sweet looking rig. I like the idea of the console tilting to allow for access to storage underneath.. simply a good idea... and I'm sure that it also allows for convenient access to the backside of all gages and controls... a plus in any language. Congrats on the new toy. Hope it's what you are looking for. What kind of engine is with it? :head:

Yeah, you can really access everything very easily.
She's got a 2001 Johnson 115 hanging on the back. I'm not expecting it to be a speed demon with that power, but it's mostly for fishing anyways. Owner said she goes pretty well with it though.

This is a shot of another Biddison 1800 under the console when it's tilted. Easy access to everything.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...derConsole.jpg

God... I wish all boats were laid out as nice as that. Cuddys usually seem to be a tad "lacking" in the wire access and management dept.

Congrats on the purchase. Did you sell the Scout yet?

I have someone coming tomorrow to have a look at the Scout.

Speaking of the windtalker, he sat in my truck while I was negotiating the deal as he's not exactly too graceful on his feet these days. He almost put his head through the side of my truck. Anyways, I don't know what he did inside the truck, but here it is two days later and multiple doses of Fabreeze, air fresheners and anything else I could think of, I still cannot get the stink out. He dropped something on the ride back that was not of this world. WOW!!!! All windows open!!!!!!!! :cen:
Next time we take his truck. :bat:

I like it Chum, thats one big 18 footer and whoever wired it definetly knew what they were doing.

Sweet boat! Congrats.