Re: Friscoboater's 1986 Glastron Carlson CVX-18 Complete restoration thread
Hey guys, I have been away for far too long. My business is really growing and life has just been getting in the way. I promise to get this thread updated with all the pictures soon.
One of the things that has been taking so much of out time is the purchase of a larger boat. Don't worry, we are keeping the Sea Ray! The more time we spent out at Pier 121 with my Dad, and meeting new boat friends, we decided it was time to step up. Pier 121 Marina has a huge dock culture, and we just love that life. So we started looking.
We actually started looking for a Sea Ray 330 or 340 in the late 90s early 2000s range and just did not find any good specimens. Either they were just neglected and the person wanted too much money, or they were a thousand miles away. One afternoon I was searching the net and a 1999 3575 came up about 100 miles from me, and I liked the look of it. The wife REALLY liked the space, so we took a road trip up the the lake where it was sitting. It was a really nice boat, but the guy had redone the seats is a very dark color, and I got worried about heat. He also had replaced the fridge with a dorm fridge instead of a proper dual voltage, and cut the wood to get it to fit. Don't get me wrong, this boat was really nice, but needed some changing to get it right. Well the wife fell in love and said this is the one, and we started negotiating. Once we settled on a fair price we drove back to Dallas and started the process of finding a surveyor, and finalizing the money. I started calling around for a transport service first, and found out it would be pretty expensive to move her from a muscle infested lake to a non infested lake, and the transport guy said to call this broker in Dallas, and that he had tons of big boats for sale. I blew it off and called the guy I was buying the boat from and told him that I was not prepared to pay for the shipping, and this might not work (I was not happy about having to buy a new fridge, and other things)... but, then he said he would cover all charges... SCORE!!!!
Anyway, so now I need to find a surveyor and so I googled surveyors in that area. The first guy I called turned out to be a bust because he did not service that lake any more, but asked me what I was buying and that he might have a guy that could help me. I told him a Cruisers Yachts 3575... and he said funny... I just picked one of those up, and should have it ready for sale soon. To be honest It just went in one ear and out the other until he mentioned the price. Almost HALF what I was going to pay. Yes I said HALF!!! Ok... new plan... I had to see this boat. The best thing about it all was... in was IN OUR MARINA!!!
Now here is the really funny part. I got to looking at my notes from the transport guy and realized this was the same guy he told me to call earlier that day... and I randomly called him looking for a survey. Talk about fate.
Soooo the wife and I went down to the boat to check it out. She had been sitting for at least a year and was really... really... no... SUPER DIRTY, but I can look through all that. We went aboard, looked around, and decided this was the better one to have. She needed alot of work as far as servicing but the seller took care of all that for us in the purchase price, and had her totally detailed to boot.
So... sea trial and survey. The survey went great, and everything checked out with the exception of a few minor thing (crap I like to work on), but for the price I am not complaining. The sea trial was prefect except for a vibration at about 1500 RPM on the starboard engine that was very noticeable. The surveyor said that most likely it was a nick in the prop, and that we should have her pulled. She needed a new bottom job anyway, and I was going to pay for that. The seller agreed to pay for a prop resurface if there was an issue.
When she got pulled, I was there with my camera ready. When she came out we saw exactly what the surveyor stated... a nick in one of the props. So the seller said he would have them both pulled and sent off for resurfacing. We had the bottom inspected and had a few blisters that need to be delt with, but nothing serious (any boat this age will have a few) and now we just have to wait for her to be finished. The yard said two weeks... which means a month on lake time.
It took them about three weeks, but got is done (thanks water works) and we loaded her back in the water last Friday. I did some small repairs, and we have been enjoying every minute with her.
Now I need to get back on the Carlson
Here are some pictures
This is how I first found her. Dirty and neglected
Sitting in our slip waiting for a trailer to come available for pull out. The bimini was off getting redone, and it was cold!
Hauling Day!
Well there is the problem!
