The story?
It?s all
g0nef1sshn?s fault! LOL! :lol:
He posted the C-list ad for this boat and called it to my attention. That?s all it took. One look and I was hooked on the boat. So was my wife! It was just what we?d been looking for.
I contacted the seller and went through a great harangue because there was no current title or registration. That was a major issue but eventually a way was found to overcome that obstacle.
But the PO insisted on releases of liability, certified this and notarized that? totally unnecessary. The PO could have filled out a single Georgia form to get the sale done along with a simple bill of sale, but instead he chose not to go that way. So I had to take the long route. Ridiculous. :rant:
I knew it would take time to get the title worked out. My wife and I decided to just go for it and make the deal and take whatever time was needed for the paperwork. And we?re both glad that the waiting is finally over.
One item of confusion was that the seller stated that the boat was a 1977 (as in his ad) when in fact it?s a 1976. The wrong year got put onto several of the documents, but was finally corrected. The good news was that the seller drastically reduced his price.
The boat was 500 miles away and a road trip was in order! :car: This was fine with my wife because she and the boy are from the Philippines and hadn?t been out of Florida since arriving here in mid-2012.
We?d agreed to meet the seller at his place in Athens at noon the next day. We took off on Nov. 13[SUP]th[/SUP] after my wife got home from work and drove from our place to Valdosta, GA, arriving about 9pm, where we stayed overnight. We?d not told my stepson what was going on so that it was a surprise for him. He really loved staying in the nice motel in Valdosta, GA. Other than that he was pretty bored during the travel portions of the trip.
The next morning we got up early and hit the road, arriving right on schedule at noon at the seller?s house in Athens. We checked out the boat and trailer and made the deal. Then we had to work on the trailer lights. The PO had said they worked fine but such was not the case.
Spent a couple hours getting them straightened out but they were finally fixed. We also did some other prep work for the trip by covering the boat with a blue tarp. That didn?t work out too well once we were rolling, so it was removed along the way.
We stayed overnight in Athens and the next morning made the journey south back home in one trip. It took about 11 hours since we were on slow back roads for the first 100 miles. Once we hit the interstate it was smooth, speedy sailing the rest of the way. The trailer tracked straight and true and the Chieftain rode with grace and style, garnering a few admiring looks along the way. And my old truck performed flawlessly.
All in all, I?d do it again!
eace:
