took my boat out 1st time

[sportsnut87]

I posted earlier regarding Buy a 175 sea ray.

Well I made the purchase, 59 hours 1997 searay with 130 horse IO. extremely clean, 8500.00, some folks said it was way to much ect, but i figured with around 900.00 of extras that came witht he boat I would do it. I took it out today for the first time. I LOVE IT. only went out for a hour due to the weather. AWESOME boat, looks great, handles very well in ruff water, and believe it or not, I litterally dropped it in the water and it started 1st crank. dove it for about 30 minutes, then opened it up and got 48 MPH.(no load of coarse just me and a friend.) Looking forward to some family time on it, I know it wont be fast, but good enough to learn with. At this point I told my wife(who thinks I am crazy) that this boat will last 1 or 2 years, then we are going to 23 foot plus with a big boy motor. She laughed and said what ever. Living in Northern Illinois where the boating season is fairly short, I didnt want to spend 30 or 40 grand on a boat, After day 1 I will be spending that just to have more fun.

Thanks for all your feed back on my earlier post.

 

[roadrunnr]

Re: took my boat out 1st time

Congrats on the new to you boat! 59 hours on an 11 year old boat is nothing. Searay's are well built with good resale value. Enjoy and happy boating!

 

[boatradioman]

Re: took my boat out 1st time

have fun on your boat.Good luck. By the way your boat is not that slow.

 

[180shabah]

Re: took my boat out 1st time

Congrats on the new boat!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: took my boat out 1st time

when were the bellows last changed, if the are the original they will be dry rotted, and could sink you in a hurry.

 

[dvan1901]

Re: took my boat out 1st time

Congrats on the "new" boat. I kind of did the same thing you did; bought a used 19' boat, and then after two years talked the wife into a bigger, new, deck boat.
As tashasdaddy says, be sure to check the mechanicals; bellows, oil (maybe change the oil and filters), impeller...