the story-
the story-
Do tell. With a name like "Root Beer Guy" it's got to be good. Wished I'd have thought of a name that cool.
*sigh* ......I can never tell if someone is being sarcastic online or not. the name comes from me being a root beer snob. yes, you read it right. micro brews, specialty ingredients, etc.
I can't reply very fast on here, I work days and the computer at work won't let me log into the site, because I have "beer" in my screen name, and that is a blocked word on the computer at work. So I can only log on in the later evening.
Anyway- the story so far:
My father in law inhereted this boat about seven years ago when his dad died. he used it a few times, and then "put it in storage".
"storage" to him meant leaving it out in the field behind the pole barn unprotected, and tossing the motor under the trailer he lives in because "its always real dry under there."
we got the boat as a "present" to us, since he and his wife stiffed us on our wedding eight months earlier. we were told it was in perfect condition, and there wasn't anything wrong with it.
as time went on, things kept coming up to prevent us from picking it up. it would rain, and he didn't want to go get it then, etc. each time it got cancelled we would find out a little more he would say was "just a minor deal", like it needed tires for the trailer.....but he had just changed the bearings and the lights on it. we eventually found out he lied about both- the light wiring was wrapped with duct tape (no kidding) and the bearing buddies were filled with water when I took them off.
all the keel rubber was spilt in two. the trailer was rusty, the winch was seized and rusty ("might want to replace that rope too") the trailer had obviously been in a crash, because the bolt pattern in the last rung did not match the first three- someone had welded it back on UPSIDE DOWN.
the boat itself was filled with years of garbage. the land owner where he had stored it (his mother) had covered the inside with mothball crystals because she was worried about mice. that is why we named the boat stinky. "I'm going to go work on stinky before I call it a night.", "okay, wash your hands before you eat anything."
the carpet was rotten, pulled that up to find out all the wood was rotten. pulled that up to find the styrofoam blocks were now home to thousands upon thousands of carpenter ants. the seats were full of mold, the locker was filled with garbage, and the live well......dear lord......I'm embarrassed to say this......the guy noticed that it filled with water when it rained, so he drilled a hole in it to let the water out. straight out the bottom.
the transom you have seen. it was missing a bolt when we got it, and he said, and I quote this; "you probably should replace that bolt thats missing, but don't tighten it too much, you don't want to crush anything." when I went to pull it out, I found out, of the six bolts, one was missing, two were loose, and three of then snapped off when I tried to take them out. all of them were rusted beyond recognition, most the the bolt itself was eaten away, like a bite mark was taken out of the side of each.
the outboard took 35 tries to start (not the "six pulls" he promised) and the reverse gear doesn't work. I pulled the cover off to find all the insulation was covered with mold.
there's probably more, but that's all I can write right now.
I have since completed the trailer rebuild, I'll post that later in the trailer section.
today I just bought the exterior grade plywood for the transom, and am about to stick her together.
wish me luck-
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