Having lived on freshwater all my life and owning ski type boats, we are now snowbirds staying 2-3 months per year in SE FL on a canal connected to the ICW in Cortez near Badenton. We dragged our kayak down for the last 4 years, but all the paddling was getting old, so this year as soon as we arrived in mid March we went on the hunt for a boat. Didn't take long as the new dry rack storage facility adjacent to our RV park just added a boat sales rep. When we gave him our budget (under $10k) he offered his personal boat as he was looking for a larger one. It was a white/blue Cobia 194 center console with a top complete with rocket launcher, just what we were looking for. Only downside is that we would have liked a 4 stroke motor in place of the 130 hp Yamaha. But the engine has been good so far. His wife took us out for a test ride and all went well. I checked two other 194CC's that were basically the same age, and this one was at least a grand under the others so we made a deal at $8900 with no trailer as we will be keeping it in dry storage. He gave us the papers to take to the FL tax collector to get the title transferred. On our second test run, the papers, in a gallon size Glad bag, few out, unbeknown to us and ended up in PalmaSola bay. Several days later someone found them, dried them in their microwave and returned them to the marina, who then promptly called me. So all was well. We replaced the original Garmin GPS/Fish finder with a new Garmin 441s chartplotter as well as the old VHS (it was so old it was made in Japan) with a West marine model. I had it detailed and I fixed up a few minor issues, bought a few items from West Marine and Kmart as well as 3 fishing rods. By the time we left 7 weeks later we had put 35 hours on it, fished at least a 20 times, never got skunked, but never cleaned any fish either. Biggest thrill was fishing out in the gulf at 3 mile reef when I hooked a three and a half foot shark on my 20 pound spinning rig. Oh, and finding out that West Marine will match price, even looking up internet specials from known retailers. Saved a bunch on that chartplotter. Downside is filling up that 65 gallon gas tank, bummer. Thanks for reading.
Also, I love the dual batteries, self draining cockpit, hydraulic steering, live baitwell and tee top.
I forgot to mention, we had visitors 3 times for several days that otherwise might not have stopped by. Had something to do with boat rides. That was nice.
Also, I love the dual batteries, self draining cockpit, hydraulic steering, live baitwell and tee top.
I forgot to mention, we had visitors 3 times for several days that otherwise might not have stopped by. Had something to do with boat rides. That was nice.
