hi.. i thought this might be a good place to start, as i am now first-time owner of a new watercraft. just browsing the posts here, i can see that most of the users on this board know their stuff, and there's alot of knowledge and experience here.. maybe i can get some help, or at least some ideas/opinions. first, a little background..
i have moved to south florida after living my entire life (25 yrs) in the midwest. needless to say, being surrounded by water is a new experience for me. i enjoy vehicular projects (i do work on my cars and i did a restoration of a classic bmw bike, my first foray into motorcycling) and i felt it was time for a new project, and since i just moved into a new place on a large (50 ft wide, 10 ft deep) canal with a boat ramp, i thought the time had come to get a boat. i have never owned a boat, nor do i know much about them, though after living here for 6 mos i've gained a little knowledge.
i aquired a boat from a friend of a friend, in a deal made sitting around the campfire. lots of talk and a few beers aside, i ended up with a 15 ft tri-hull bowrider (looks like a glasstron) with a pass-thru windshield and an outboard. the inside had about 6 inches of random outside debris (boat stored outside, uncovered, last registered '02), the trailer looks like it's seen better days.. it's got a 50hp mercury model 500 outboard with tilt/trim, other than that i'm in the dark.
i bought the whole deal for one dollar. from what i've heard this might be a dollar too much. at any rate, i plan to rebuild this boat. i was told the shell is in good shape. the motor had a broken spark plug which i have since removed/replaced, according to the seller it should now "fire right up" although i've not tried to start it. was told it has hydraulic steering, although the wheel is stuck. it has no seats or anything inside, the floor seems pretty soild. there was a square cut into the floorboard, i pried it up to find nasty, bug-infested strips of bouyant foam, between which was 6-7 inches of nasty water. most of the panels on the insides were rotted wood and pulled off easily by hand. i got the boat home, cleaned it out, pulled off any paneling/carpet/interior trim that would come loose (almost all of it) and pulled the broken plug out of the motor.
i guess my first question is.. now what? i have a vague idea of what i'd like to do to the boat, but lack the skills/equipment to do most of it. i'm assuming that if the shell is good, that a new boat can be built on top of it. i have no idea what that cost would be or how difficult/easy it would be. i would also like to have the boat painted (looks are a big factor to me), and throw on a bigger motor (plate says 75hp max, does this really mean 75hp max?) as i'm a speed freak. what i'd really like is to get the shell refinished, floors and side panels replaced and the body how i want, then i can do the seats, instruments/eletricals, motor, etc. myself. am i totally insane?
any help would be appreciated..
thanks
i have moved to south florida after living my entire life (25 yrs) in the midwest. needless to say, being surrounded by water is a new experience for me. i enjoy vehicular projects (i do work on my cars and i did a restoration of a classic bmw bike, my first foray into motorcycling) and i felt it was time for a new project, and since i just moved into a new place on a large (50 ft wide, 10 ft deep) canal with a boat ramp, i thought the time had come to get a boat. i have never owned a boat, nor do i know much about them, though after living here for 6 mos i've gained a little knowledge.
i aquired a boat from a friend of a friend, in a deal made sitting around the campfire. lots of talk and a few beers aside, i ended up with a 15 ft tri-hull bowrider (looks like a glasstron) with a pass-thru windshield and an outboard. the inside had about 6 inches of random outside debris (boat stored outside, uncovered, last registered '02), the trailer looks like it's seen better days.. it's got a 50hp mercury model 500 outboard with tilt/trim, other than that i'm in the dark.
i bought the whole deal for one dollar. from what i've heard this might be a dollar too much. at any rate, i plan to rebuild this boat. i was told the shell is in good shape. the motor had a broken spark plug which i have since removed/replaced, according to the seller it should now "fire right up" although i've not tried to start it. was told it has hydraulic steering, although the wheel is stuck. it has no seats or anything inside, the floor seems pretty soild. there was a square cut into the floorboard, i pried it up to find nasty, bug-infested strips of bouyant foam, between which was 6-7 inches of nasty water. most of the panels on the insides were rotted wood and pulled off easily by hand. i got the boat home, cleaned it out, pulled off any paneling/carpet/interior trim that would come loose (almost all of it) and pulled the broken plug out of the motor.
i guess my first question is.. now what? i have a vague idea of what i'd like to do to the boat, but lack the skills/equipment to do most of it. i'm assuming that if the shell is good, that a new boat can be built on top of it. i have no idea what that cost would be or how difficult/easy it would be. i would also like to have the boat painted (looks are a big factor to me), and throw on a bigger motor (plate says 75hp max, does this really mean 75hp max?) as i'm a speed freak. what i'd really like is to get the shell refinished, floors and side panels replaced and the body how i want, then i can do the seats, instruments/eletricals, motor, etc. myself. am i totally insane?
any help would be appreciated..
thanks