New here, new to boats, so I'm trying to decide what to do here...
TL;DR, we live near the lake, been using kayaks and canoe for a while but I have some severe damage to the shoulder, waiting for surgery and then 6-12 month recovery, so I decided to get a boat so we can still enjoy the lake. Only access is through the boat ramp so unless you own lakefront property or some flotation device you're SOL...
Did some research, wanted a wooden boat but I will not be able to do any work for a while so I settled on cheap and convenient 14' bowrider that was for sale few miles away, came with a Honda BF50 which is probably worth what I paid for the whole package (motor needed work, but it's all set now)
I would like to upload photos but some server error is blocking it, so I'll do my best to describe it.
Hull is fiberglass, made in 1988 by Aquasport, branded as Laval Sport or sprint, it's 14.5', 60 hp maximum, with 666kg total capacity motor, gear, passengers. Internet search shows nothing, except some company has a dead link with that name, so I assume it's worthless...Upholstery is junk, all the seats on the front need to be remade, seats in the middle (whatever you call that part, like drivers seat, total trash, rotten through and through, so I tossed them. Pulled up the carpet and the fiberglass looks good but it has cracks on both sides, right near the edge, about where the seat would end and drivers seat would be, going forward. Floor feels solid but when I installed a cheap captain's chair screws pulled out with some soft, wet wood (I assume) so I'm guessing the floor is wet and rotten under the fiberglass.
Didn't help that when I launched the boat few weeks ago, maybe my second time out on the boat, and with game warden watching, I forgot the drain plug and nearly sunk the boat, had water coming over the top of the transom where the cut out for the motor is. Pulld it out, drained it and all seems well.
Boat seems quick with me and one other person in it, with two passengers (my GF and my son) it still gets up on the plane but struggles to do so, so I'm guessing it might be waterlogged?
I did the math, 666kg is 1468 lbs, motor is about 220 lbs and other misc gear is probably another 100, so safe to say it still should carry at least 1000 lbs and the 3 of us are about 500 lbs total, so with 50hp I assume it should easily get up on the plane? I think with couple more people on board it will sink, definitely not gonna get on the plane...
It doesn't seem to sit too deep, doesn't leak much (a quart of water will drain after all day in the water)
I'm OK with this boat, although wouldn't mind something bigger, big waves in Sebago are a challenge, also it's cramped with 3 people and a dog, can't imagine having 4 or 5 passengers.
Gelcoat has some cracks around transom, also come damage on the bottom from trailer, small area maybe 2" that is worn out through gelcoat and down to the fiberglass, plus it needs seats, carpet etc... wondering if I should cut the losses and find another hull, keep the engine and trailer and swap it over or try to repair it because anything cheap and old will be in the same rough shape?
Not doing anything this year, except maybe some small repairs and upholstery (if I'm keeping it) will have to wait till I recover from surgery. For now I'm just gonna keep using it as long as I can (till snow flies) but I would like to know if it's a dead end and I should start looking for something else.
TL;DR, we live near the lake, been using kayaks and canoe for a while but I have some severe damage to the shoulder, waiting for surgery and then 6-12 month recovery, so I decided to get a boat so we can still enjoy the lake. Only access is through the boat ramp so unless you own lakefront property or some flotation device you're SOL...
Did some research, wanted a wooden boat but I will not be able to do any work for a while so I settled on cheap and convenient 14' bowrider that was for sale few miles away, came with a Honda BF50 which is probably worth what I paid for the whole package (motor needed work, but it's all set now)
I would like to upload photos but some server error is blocking it, so I'll do my best to describe it.
Hull is fiberglass, made in 1988 by Aquasport, branded as Laval Sport or sprint, it's 14.5', 60 hp maximum, with 666kg total capacity motor, gear, passengers. Internet search shows nothing, except some company has a dead link with that name, so I assume it's worthless...Upholstery is junk, all the seats on the front need to be remade, seats in the middle (whatever you call that part, like drivers seat, total trash, rotten through and through, so I tossed them. Pulled up the carpet and the fiberglass looks good but it has cracks on both sides, right near the edge, about where the seat would end and drivers seat would be, going forward. Floor feels solid but when I installed a cheap captain's chair screws pulled out with some soft, wet wood (I assume) so I'm guessing the floor is wet and rotten under the fiberglass.
Didn't help that when I launched the boat few weeks ago, maybe my second time out on the boat, and with game warden watching, I forgot the drain plug and nearly sunk the boat, had water coming over the top of the transom where the cut out for the motor is. Pulld it out, drained it and all seems well.
Boat seems quick with me and one other person in it, with two passengers (my GF and my son) it still gets up on the plane but struggles to do so, so I'm guessing it might be waterlogged?
I did the math, 666kg is 1468 lbs, motor is about 220 lbs and other misc gear is probably another 100, so safe to say it still should carry at least 1000 lbs and the 3 of us are about 500 lbs total, so with 50hp I assume it should easily get up on the plane? I think with couple more people on board it will sink, definitely not gonna get on the plane...
It doesn't seem to sit too deep, doesn't leak much (a quart of water will drain after all day in the water)
I'm OK with this boat, although wouldn't mind something bigger, big waves in Sebago are a challenge, also it's cramped with 3 people and a dog, can't imagine having 4 or 5 passengers.
Gelcoat has some cracks around transom, also come damage on the bottom from trailer, small area maybe 2" that is worn out through gelcoat and down to the fiberglass, plus it needs seats, carpet etc... wondering if I should cut the losses and find another hull, keep the engine and trailer and swap it over or try to repair it because anything cheap and old will be in the same rough shape?
Not doing anything this year, except maybe some small repairs and upholstery (if I'm keeping it) will have to wait till I recover from surgery. For now I'm just gonna keep using it as long as I can (till snow flies) but I would like to know if it's a dead end and I should start looking for something else.
