If you get a boat, you will never, ever, ever be done working on it...

[ocdata]

So – I recently got into fishing with the family and during this lockdown we really got into it.
Like almost every day. We have a little stream we have been able to get some decent experience in and I already had started heading down this road of buying a bunch of gear

My friend invited me out to go fishing with him a few times for late night crappie fishing and I got it…

The boat bug….

So I set out looking for one – so many to choose from and so little money.. by luckily my friend gave me some great advice.

• Cheap usually means no title or some bad underlying issues
• If you get a boat, you will never, ever, ever be done working on it.
• “don’t ever get a boat, its dumb”

Anyways, I don’t take advice well and I started getting impatient – and finally said screw it, I’m going to buy one really cheap and put some sweat equity into it. I mean, how hard can it get right?

I find a boat on fb for like nothing! so I send my friend a message on the boat and price and I’m like damn – lets do this!

My friend laughs and says send pics…

So I show up, this boat looks like it had been the family’s yard trash can for the last 10 years. To be fair he was only selling the trailer but dang. This boat was trashed…
The motor was completely disassembled, junked, and I could smell this stench coming from the boat. I had to pass – I literally would have been doing this guy a favor and he should have been paying me to take his boat to the dump for him.

| Pic 1 | pic 2 | pic 3 | pic 4 |

My friend took that as a que that if you are going to be dumb, might as well buy my dads boat that’s been sitting in the driveway for 2 years. $600 for the boat $600 for the trailer. Boat / Motor is titled.
So, after a trip to Dublin, we came home with a 1988 Mercury Mercrusier 3.0 liter SkiBoat.
rotted and trashed upholstry...

This thing…. Whew. Sat under a tree, no cover for at least a couple of years. It was I no way as bad a shape as the previous boat I went to but dang… anyways I was happy and excited to get started.

| Pic 1 | pic 2 | pic 3 | pic 4 | Pic 5 |


I didn’t really care. I just wanted a boat and to get it over for the first one so I could learn all these lessons everyone keeps telling me about.

Everything is great… right?

Except a couple things – no place to work on it. Seems to be a big issue for a boat that needs a lot of work. So I parked it my work parking lot in the back by the warehouse and hoped I wouldn’t create any issues while I figured out a place to work on this thing since I live in a small community with an HOA and a garage that was only 16.9ft long (boat with stern is like 19ft on the trailer)

First thing is first – I had a plan. Clean it up, get the cover that was shoved in the floor of the boat cleaned up and then work on getting the boat started and running for a test run at the lake. Do what I can to make it presentable, replace carpet and upholstery and polish up all the gelcoat.



So I get to work. get all the trash out, clean it up a bit and then first project is motor first. Ive rebuilt a 72 cutlass engine before and this would be an easy thing for me...

The next Saturday I get free I have a friend help with the clean up. We begin by pulling out all the stuff from all the compartments, the old cover, etc.. I power-wash everything down and use a shop vac to get all the years of leaves and acorns out. The pressure washer destroys the upholstery, like disintegrates it. The smell is awful, mildew. The skis compartment is completely wet and rott smell coming out of it...

Video of the boat after initially pulling out all the trash on top
[video]photos.app.goo.gl/7yY8kkb25JDMWXjV7[/video]

I have some concern..... the frame around the ski hold is soft and the screws just pull right out. Something tells me the deck is not ok... (i know nothing about boats really at this point.. other than, Im gonna rip the carpet up and put down new floor.

we do quite a bit more cleaning

* Washing the cover
* Found some tools
* Video Some more inside after cleaning out the junk
* The motor
* Found a top


Anyways this is getting pretty long, next step was to start the engine - ill type more on this later.
I plan on updating this thread as I go and I need to learn more on how to embed images/video. For now links to google is what I got.

I plan on posting all of the videos of this restoration to my YouTube in hopes I can help someone else from making this decision like I did or maybe they can at least know what they are getting into.

I am from from an expert in boats, restorations, fiberglass, etc... I am just a dude trying to get a boat so I can fish in better spots with the fam.

Until Next time!

 

[gm280]

Well you got a boat. And from the verbiage in your post, you sound excited and full of energy. BUT, let me be the first to tell you, you got a lot of issues to deal with. Like so many other first time boaters, you can't even imagine everything that could need addressed with any boat at this time. But on the flip side, you came to the best place to get help, suggestions and directions to make your new-to-you boat a nice setup and safe as well.

Post more as you get everything figured out ,cleaned out and running if possible, and we will try to explain about everything you need to check and test before getting too ready to splash it in the water. Remember, safety first!

I also suggest you read all the stickies at the top of the forum for rebuilding boats. Tons of quality information there and you will start to understand the boating lingo and how boats are built and assembled. A must read for sure...

 

[ocdata]

Well you got a boat. And from the verbiage in your post, you sound excited and full of energy. BUT, let me be the first to tell you, you got a lot of issues to deal with. Like so many other first time boaters, you can't even imagine everything that could need addressed with any boat at this time. But on the flip side, you came to the best place to get help, suggestions and directions to make your new-to-you boat a nice setup and safe as well.

Post more as you get everything figured out ,cleaned out and running if possible, and we will try to explain about everything you need to check and test before getting too ready to splash it in the water. Remember, safety first!

I also suggest you read all the stickies at the top of the forum for rebuilding boats. Tons of quality information there and you will start to understand the boating lingo and how boats are built and assembled. A must read for sure...

I am very happy - sort of. HAha. I have a mountain of work ahead of me and I am already two months into it almost done with the demo .... I think.. but I am trying to keep the posts short. I have a ton of pics and stuff and I read alot from here and other YouTuber's and alot of just exploring on my own.

I have read more now that you pointed me to the posts and found that I have alot more to go. What originally started as just a clean it up enough to get on the water has now turned into a complete overhaul.. ill continue the story more when I get more time to.

The post: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO REBUILDING A ROTTED FIBERGLASS BOAT W/ PICS & VIDEO! has been very eye opening to what is ahead of me. This one is going to be a little different in that I plan to convert this boat to a center console fishing boat - that I can also use with the fam for fun out on the lake for tubing and water skiing. Im not a fan of the driving from the side on a boat.... just feels wrong and I like the freedom of walking around I've seen on center consoles.. maybe its weird but hey! its definitely going to be a learning experience.

I also didnt realize I cant edit - so I will post more pictures later once I figure out how to get embedded through this WYSIWYG...

 

[Cutlass172]

Updates please i got the same motor??!?! Lol

 

[todhunter]

You can only edit your post for about an hour after posting it.

Plan on it taking at least 12 months and plan on needing to replace all the wood structure (floors, stringers, bulkheads, transom). Before you go crazy ripping all the rotten stuff out, take lots of pictures and make lots of sketches with dimensions. I saved as many of the rotten pieces as I could, and you'd be surprised how often I've pulled out pieces of rotten stringers, bulkheads, etc. to pull a measurement off of when making a new one.

 

[GA_Boater]

This thread is closed.