Bought 1st boat monday- second guessing decision

[swag]

Hope this turns around. I am a first time boat owner, so I am learning alot of lessons the hard way

So I got a fair deal on a "camo" 14 ft v hull with a 25 evinrude. Bought it Monday night here in Greenville NC. Got a few days off school, so I drove to my parents house in Chapel Hill the next morning, planning to mess around on Jordan lake to get used to the tiller.

Pulled in the driveway to realize the bearings on the trailer had disintegrated during the 100 mile drive home. Seals busted out and hanging in plain view on the axle. Great. I don't know a whole lot about bearings and such, so I took it to a mechanic shop to ask them to look at it. Axle was ruined as well.

Nearest trailer parts store is 45 min away. Ended up making 2 trips there on Thursday for parts. Brought the new axle/bearings/hardware (and some new tires- didn't realize how badly it needed them) to the mechanic and had him put them on. Wishing I had done it myself now after paying the labor costs! ugh.. didn't have any tools with me. My "fair deal" had now turned into a raw one.

Finally made it to back parents house at 3 pm today with a working trailer, ready to take the boat out at 5pm when Pop got home. Parked on the road and went inside to chill.

30 minutes later, a giant CRASH outside! What could that be??

A truck towing a wood-chipper had slammed into the back of my boat, knocking it off the trailer and gouging the rear passenger side of my car! Winch post torn off the trailer. Quarter size hole punched in the bow. They are going to pay for the damage (mostly to my car), but here I am, still stuck without use of the boat.

Someone please tell me stories of how awesome it is to own a tin-boat, because I am pretty disgusted with it all right now.
Or maybe share your own horror story?

swag

 

[steve76]

Talk about a rough start. I don't have any horror stories for you but I can tell you i love having my tin boat.

 

[Mizzie]

Sorry to hear about that! I can tell you that once you finally do get her in the water, get to a nice cove and start catching fish... All the previous nightmares will quickly fade away! Don't get discouraged. Until you get the trailer fixed, fix the bow hole, tie the boat to your roof rack and get on the lake!

We all have a little bad luck once in a while, I could make a novel about my luck in the past haha but since were talking about boats... When I bought my tin, it was advertised as having a small leak. After buying it, sanding it down and removing the patch it ended up being a foot long tare in the hull. I paid more to have it welded than what I paid for the boat! I then bought a trailer for the newly acquired tin, after a 40 minute ride home the trailer started making a lot of rumbling noises... Got it home and found out it needed bearings as well. Replacing bearings/races is an easy job, I'm sure the mechanic over charged you (unless he was a friend).

All in all, not everyone is made to be on the water but if you have a heart for fishing and boating, you will take it all with a grain of salt and be prepared to pull out your wallet many more times. I have put a lot more into my boat than what I paid but the rewarding tranquility of having your little boat on the lake makes it all worth it.

Give it a try, you'll be decking that boat out in no time. Good luck!

Mike

 

[donmac]

Rather than paying for just most of the damage to the car - why isn't the truck paying for all damage to boat/trailer/car?

 

[muffin]

Rather than paying for just most of the damage to the car - why isn't the truck paying for all damage to boat/trailer/car?

+1

 

[GTS225]

+1 Your vehicle was parked.....not moving, and the guy with the truck wasn't smart enough to drive around it with enough clearance? HORSEHOCKEY!!....He owes you full compensation for repairs to car, trailer, and boat. If he wants to give a hard time about it, let your insurance company know. If you have uninsured motorist's coverage, your insurance company will cover it, and file lawsuit(s) against him.

Roger

 

[jigngrub]

Did the previous owner happen to mention that the boat's name was Christine?

 

[CodyPomeroy]

I've been ok with the boat and trailer, but motors gave me fits at first. I got my 1960's 12' with a sea king 3hp that hadn't been used in 20+ years. I got it started, but after MANY hours of frustration I came to the conclusion that the impeller was bad and wasn't worth fixing. The next motor, my current one a 1968 Johnson 6hp, came from a neighbor up the road. He said he had had some problems with it but changed the fuel lines and spark plugs and put fresh gas in the tank and it was working great. The first time I took it out it would run for a few minutes and die, run then die, and so on. Thankfully it was simply a bad fitting at the tank.

Don't give up! Once you get the kinks worked out it will be great. I LOVE my boat. Good luck...

 

[nomowork]

Well, where do I start?

The first real boat I bought (first floating thing was a new kayak) was a cheap glass runabout. The motor was noisy as heck, smoked a lot but ran. After the first outing to the closest lake, I noticed that the port side trailer tire was wobbling on the way home so pulled off the freeway to check. The bearing obviously failed but luckily a trailer shop was nearby so we hobbled there on a side street. The front door was open but nobody was home except for dogs barking in the rear work area. We notified the neighboring business so he went to check it out. I found another trailer shop and stopped in but they said they didn't have that size bearing, so we hobbled home very slowly on side streets. After removing the bearing which had a mickey mouse fix on it, the spindle was shot. Buyer beware when buying used!

I always thought that driving with the hitch ball on would be a great deterrent in traffic until I was rear ended in stop and go traffic on the freeway by an off duty policeman at that! The hitch didn't look any worse from the hit until my GF said the hitch looks like it's sagging a little. No big deal, I have a life time warranty for free replacement on the hitch. The trailer shop that installed it said it's sagging and bent because of the bent truck frame!

 

[hooah212002]

Rather than paying for just most of the damage to the car - why isn't the truck paying for all damage to boat/trailer/car?

It sounded like he said they were paying for (all) the damage, just that his car took the brunt of it and was worse than the boat.

 

[muffin]

Rather than paying for just most of the damage to the car - why isn't the truck paying for all damage to boat/trailer/car?

It sounded like he said they were paying for (all) the damage, just that his car took the brunt of it and was worse than the boat.

oops my bad for not reading thoroughly. thank you

 

[swag]

Thanks for the encouragement ya'll. Yes he is going to pay for ALL the damage... hoping to have it all fixed up next week sometime. I'll post some pics of the boat when I finally get it up and going.

@grub- no the previous owner didn't mention a name... do you recognize the boat?

 

[Kismet]

Hang in, Swag.

Stuff happens.

However, the woodchipper incident gives you a GREAT reason to take the motor to an engine shop and have them go over and repair/replace all the stuff that was damaged by the collision.

So, if I read your posts correctly, the boat has performed perfectly for you in the uses you have put it to.

Seems to me you got a perfect boat, but live in an imperfect world.

It'll get better.


:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[user 7806]

Man that is a rough start, I to being a 1st time boat owner buying my 1st in Feb. No horror stories like yours though. I have done a lot of work on my boat, mostly because I felt the need to change something the PO had done.

I am enjoying the heck out of mine so hang in there better and fun times to come.

 

[earl60446]

Well, I hear gardening is nice and the neighbors appreciate someone with a nice garden. Home grown tomatoes, yum... or bicycling, little cruise around the hood but gardens are safer.

Hang in there dude, those are little things in our life. Maybe 2 months from now you will catch a state record fish. Good luck.

Tim

 

[Palmer812]

Thanks for the encouragement ya'll. Yes he is going to pay for ALL the damage... hoping to have it all fixed up next week sometime. I'll post some pics of the boat when I finally get it up and going.

@grub- no the previous owner didn't mention a name... do you recognize the boat?

Must be young! LOL!

 

[Palmer812]

Swag. Christine is the name of an old movie about a car that was possessed. I didn't think I was old being 39 but I guess I am. sad.

 

[jasper60103]

Thanks for the encouragement ya'll. Yes he is going to pay for ALL the damage... hoping to have it all fixed up next week sometime. I'll post some pics of the boat when I finally get it up and going.

@grub- no the previous owner didn't mention a name... do you recognize the boat?

Grub was injecting a bit of humor. "Christine" was a movie about a car that was possessed.

Congrats on your first boat. I'm sure it will all work out.

 

[fishingmich]

Dude! Trust me, you're not alone. Bought a used 14' jon boat and trailer from y buddy's dad and used it quite a bit. Me ad another buddy drove 4 hours to fish in a bass tourney. When we were backing it into the water, I heard one of the hubs start squeaking. Did'nt have time to mess with it so I had to let it go. When we pulled the boat out we did'nt hear it anymore. Long story short, we got 15 min from home and the bearings disintegrated.! Fast forward to 2010, took my 9 year old son to the Upper Penninsula for a few days of fishing. The night before we left to come home, I noticed one of the wheels was wobling. Got up the next morning headed out and got on the road. About 20 minutes down the road, the hub got so hot, it expanded and the bearing buddy just fell out! I was about 30 miles from the nearest town to get it fixed and still almost 400 miles from home. Found a heavy truck shop that was wiling to work on it and they saved me BIG TIME! 2 complete hub assemblies, $35 each and $25 in labor! Those guys were definitely life savers. Trust me, it will get better. Now that I have a boat, I can't imagine not ever having one!

 

[azekologi]

Thanks for the encouragement ya'll. Yes he is going to pay for ALL the damage... hoping to have it all fixed up next week sometime. I'll post some pics of the boat when I finally get it up and going.

@grub- no the previous owner didn't mention a name... do you recognize the boat?

Grub was injecting a bit of humor. "Christine" was a movie about a car that was possessed.

Congrats on your first boat. I'm sure it will all work out.

...ok, now that's funny. When I read the first "Christine" post I laughed and thought "good analogy". When I saw swag's post asking about the reference I thought "****, I must be getting old" (I swear, I still think I'm 25 on the inside).

It's kinda funny when you reference movies like Jaws, ET, Goonies, Gremlins, etc. and the kids now days just look at ya like you're crazy. [-(

BTW...my wife's name is Christine :shock:....WHAT THE HECK WAS I THINKING?!? 8)