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The boat lounge?

237K views 4K replies 142 participants last post by  Maximum_Download 
#1 ·
You may remember me from such threads as:

"Sell the tiguan and buy an fj?"
"Should I diesel swap my mk1 TT?"

Well I traded the tiguan for an e70 4.8 x5 and am in the process of parting out the TT.

Clearly I make great life choices...

So it should come as no surprise boating is my favourite activity.


Seeing the return of Barry and his amazingly detailed build threads/adventures in rebuilding things has inspired me to take TCL on my journey of buying this everyday aluminum runabout and turning it into less of a dumpster fire.

Follow along as I slowly lose my mind...
 
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#847 ·
Good for you man. I’m not trying to convince you to do anything. I’m talking to people who are thinking about buying a boat.

Last time I checked I’m allowed to have an opinion. Sorry you don’t like it, the good news is, you don’t have to, just like I don’t like your boat.

Also reporting all your posts where you are calling names like child having a tantrum.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#848 ·
Good for you man. I’m not trying to convince you to do anything. I’m talking to people who are thinking about buying a boat.

Last time I checked I’m allowed to have an opinion. Sorry you don’t like it, the good news is, you don’t have to, just like I don’t like your boat.

Also reporting all your posts where you are calling names like child having a tantrum.

C’mon, there’s only one person acting like a child in this thread.

You keep accusing everyone of trying to silence you and your opinion like you’re some kind of victim. You were being an ass before, and thankfully you toned that down for a while. But multiple people, myself included, have squarely said that sharing your opinions is exactly what this thread is for.

But as you’ve pointed out, we don’t have to agree with your opinion either. If you make silly recommendations like a 40 year old race boat to a potential first time boat owner, people are going to call you out.

It’d be like me telling someone shopping for a reliable, comfortable family car that can tow that a ‘77 Trans Am like mine is the obvious answer because it’s more interesting than a boring Grand Cherokee. And you could get one cheap, fix it up and still spend less. And then pushing the issue by insisting they could just put a hitch on the Firebird and wear ear plugs and it’ll do everything they’re asking. That’s insane and you know it.
 
#855 ·
Yeah, because of Covid forcing all work to be done remotely we were able to spend two months here on Champlain instead of a few weeks. Still had to work, but if you’re going to have to work anyway, may as well work someplace with a view. Of course, couldn’t do nearly the same number of things we would normally do up here bc of the virus, but still hope to make another run to Burlington, or even North Beach, before we go home.

I also have fun imagining what the original owners of this rural 120-year old cottage would think of the current owners having not only running water & electricity, but also laptops computers with Wi-Fi.

That said, all good things must come to an end so we’ll be heading out in a couple of weeks. Boat will come out of the water, be winterized & put in storage when that happens.

I think this boat is going to inform the purchase of my next car. While my Volvo V60 has a surprisingly good tow rating (3,500 lbs) I think the boat & trailer exceed that by about 400 lbs (I’m also trying to imagine my FWD Volvo scrabbling to get traction pulling a boat up a wet ramp). I’ve always preferred cars to SUVs, but since I would like to have the ability to pull it out of the water myself, I suspect that will be my next choice. Unfortunately I tend to buy cars on a 10-year/150k-mike cycle and I’m nowhere near that right now....
 
#857 ·
Unfortunately I tend to buy cars on a 10-year/150k-mike cycle and I’m nowhere near that right now....
come on down to Fletcher Jones Audi and Boat Mart and Brandon will set you right with a new or gently used CPO Audi tow rig. you want a little extra oomf, he'll be happy to show you an S or RS model, then you can really enjoy your 10-years/150k miles in power and style.

cue the jingle!
 
#860 ·
And since we're talking about boats we want to own, here's my emotional choice - I grew up at a Bayliner dealer, and my weekends were hanging out on the dock with friends, rafting up in remote coves and spending all day in the water, and long weekends sleeping on the boat.

Bayliner's cruisers were a part of my childhood, and I still think they are the roomiest, most comfortable, best looking cruisers on the water, at any price, period.

And this was one of the best - the 2850 Contessa. One of the only 28 foot express cruisers you can buy with a totally private, door'd off aft cabin. Sleeps 5 comfortably. For a few years they made this optionally available with twin V8s, and every once in a while one pops up in the Salt Lake City area (high altitude) with that rare engine option. I came close to buying a few of them.



I loved these boats new, I still love them now, and I still want one.
 
#861 ·
heres another teamtalk cross post.

https://teamtalk.mastercraft.com//showthread.php?t=105500

we were looking for one of these before we got our x9, but theyre more rare and usually quite a bit more spendy than our 9.
its a hell of a direct drive as far as ski wake and space are concerned! 21' long, with wraparound seating on the drivers side of the engine box. sort of a v-drive-ish interior layout but with the engine in the right spot :)





no one really makes a boat like this anymore, though i think nautique has a 200 they sell with a tower thats similar, but doesnt have as much seating.
 
#862 ·
no one really makes a boat like this anymore, though i think nautique has a 200 they sell with a tower thats similar, but doesnt have as much seating.
I understand their use, but I hate the towers. I just want a sleek ski boat because I like the shape and inboard. :facepalm: :D

on boats with those towers bolted to the top of the hull, can they be removed and patched/sealed? or is that not worth the hassle?
 
#883 ·
best method is to get to operating temp, drain oil, fill with fresh oil, and store. some thoughts are to go a step further and store with cheap-o oil and filter and repeat the process in spring, but generally it's better to store with fresh clean oil than used oil in case of contaminants (fuel dilution, water dilution, etc).

certainly don't go out and start up the engine to hear that V8 idle after a few beers on a cold winter evening since that'll induce condensation (did that with my R32 one winter). :laugh:
 
#884 ·
i dump all the water as were packing up at the ramp after the last run. leave everything open/undone so it shakes loose and evaporates some on the drive to the shop. then dump the oil when its all warm still, refill, button up and shes off to storage.
makes for quick startup in springtime as we just repack all the gear into it and head to the lake.

then again itll dip into the 20s for a day or two here in the winter. if i lived somewhere properly cold maybe antifreeze would be good.
 
#885 ·
If you have proper climate controlled boat storage you need not worry about most of these things.

Or just own an outboard, throw some sta-bil in the gas on your last outing, and never think about it again until spring. :laugh: :laugh:
 
#923 ·
I have the under deck and underwater lighting package on my Barletta and it is a really cool feature. We go on sunset cruises as well as idle around in my slough at night and it is always a big hit. The speakers and cup holders also are LED lit and the whole thing adds a really cool vibe. It’s totally for show, but I like it as well.
 
#928 · (Edited)
And there's my childhood, right there....I managed to find a pic of one of the VERY few red 1986 2450s made, of which my dad's boat was one of them...



Wonderful boat. We used the hell out of that thing.

Here's the only digital pic I have of it. This was taken at Picton Island in Clayton NY in July 1988. That's 10 year old me on the swim platform, and my dad is up on the sunbridge.

We were rafted up with some good friends of ours who had just bought that 1987 2850 Contessa. It was literally just taken out of the wrapper a few weeks prior.



It was 1 of 2 red 2450s shipped to the 1000 Islands, and ours was the only one with the big 5.7 Volvo in it. The year after we bought it, the other red 2450 had a cabin fire and was totalled, so until 1991, our boat was the only boat in the region like this.
 
#934 ·
Like a previous poster said, this thread has sent me down a rabbit hole.

A few weeks ago, the wife and I went out with some friends for a non-social distancing day on their boat. I honestly can't remember the last time I had so much fun as an adult. Subsequent internetting shows me they have a Bayliner VR6, with a Merc 4.5 I/O. That's a thing, right? Would this be a Camry in the boating world? Functional, and kinda fun if you don't know any better?

We cruised around a touristy bay in Kemah, Tx, tied up at a restaurant for a quick bite and cruised around some more. We swam, we drank beer, we went fast, it was a blast. Now I've started half-assed researching used boats, storage, and maybe the wife needs to drive an SUV capable of towing......ugh
 
#935 ·
As a guy who got into boating late (as a 45 year old) I love it. We rented a boat first and I had the same reaction you did.
I encourage you to jump in.

Side note, this has become one of my favorite threads in the CL. As an added bonus all the banner ads are now for Bayliner. :laugh:
 
#936 ·
I grew up with a a brand new 1994 Ski Nautique on a small lake near Lake George, NY. Lots of great times on that boat. We recently sold our Lake House, so the boat is just sitting at our mechanics house. Probably put around 400 hours on that boat.

Not my pictures, but the boat is identical





Miss these good times



 
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