My 'new'/first boat!

[Abbeysdad]

2002 Glastron, SX170 SF, 90hp Mercury OB
(In such good condition it seems brand new at half the cost.)

Happy birthday to me!

[nofearengineer]

Nice fish'n'ski. Did you drive it before you bought it? I only ask because with a 90hp, it might have trouble pulling skiers out of the hole. I assume you want to ski a little (fun! ), because it will hold you back a little on the fishing end of things. I almost bought a beautiful Tahoe Q3 for about half of what my bass boat cost me, but knowing what I know now (it was my first boat too ), I am soooo relieved I didn't buy a fish'n'ski.

Either way, if it makes you happy, you got a great deal! Now get out there and enjoy your new boat.

[Bassboss]

Well it ain't a bass boat.. but it's a boat!

Catch some bass out there for me!

[JB]

Nice Boat wtg, i owned at 79 glastron bassboat for 5 years and loved it. Hope yours performs as well as mine did (back in the day) mid 80s lol

[boater]

Nice purchase . I thing I will never buy NEW ,to much depreciation the first couple years and they don't get used that much. like you said Almost new

[MallenManson]

Nice boat!

[Abbeysdad]

I only ask because with a 90hp, it might have trouble pulling skiers out of the hole.

I'm in my mid 50's and not much into water sking - boat is for pleasure boating, touring and some serious lake fishing (We live a stones throw from several of the finger lakes (Cayuga, Owasco, Skaneateles). I won't be able to take her into water less than about three feet deep due to the draft, but converting the open bow and stern into fishing platforms seems pretty niffty.

What I think I'd like to do is convert the rear in some way to provide multiple rod holders for trolling.

I guestimate that the boat will top end at about 45mpg and that's not fast enough for racing, but it'll pop up on plane and get me where I wanna go.

Trailer hitch tomorrow and need to get an emergency flag 'n flares for regs, then we'll be looking for some nearby water!

Oh and yea, it's not a 'bass boat', but I'm thinkin the fish won't know the difference!

[bcklash]

Don't worry about it not being a bass boat. Me and the Bassinbandit have a bass boat togather, but I keep a 21' deck boat on our home lake and catch fish out of it all the time. I love it.

[MallenManson]

Originally Posted by bcklash

Don't worry about it not being a bass boat. Me and the Bassinbandit have a bass boat togather, but I keep a 21' deck boat on our home lake and catch fish out of it all the time. I love it.

Gotta agree there! That boat would get me across lakes that my trolling motor won't!

[Abbeysdad]

I thing I will never buy NEW ,to much depreciation the first couple years and they don't get used that much.

The Dealer I (er WE) bought it from sells Starcraft, Glastron and Stratos - he said nobody is buying new boats and they're selling used ones as quick as they get them. When asked if there was any wiggle room in the price, he smiled and said "none, this boat will be gone in two days". He was almost right!

I should fess up and confess that with the economy and all, I had given up on getting a boat - just not practical. The day (Friday) before my 55th birthday, my wife called to suggest I leave work early. I was thinking early b-day present so I was game... "Oh and there's something wrong with the garage door opener". So I came hope, in through the front door and first thing went to see what was wrong with the door opener - I opened the kitchen door to see the boat and my daughter Abbey with the BIGGEST GRIN.
After my eyes popped back in, I got a little misty. She had kept her eyes open and found a sweetheart deal. God love her and so do I!

[nofearengineer]

Wow...that's one heck of a birthday present!

We should all be so lucky to get a surprise like that sometime in our life.

[bamabassman]

not bad at all abbysdad. nice rig . hope you have a lot of fun and catch a whole lot of fish.

[Abbeysdad]

Thanks guys. Now ya gotta laugh...I got the trailer hitch installed today. They said it came with the wrong wiring harness but they got one from a local dealer. (remember I've never had a boat/trailer before) - I pick up a draw bar w/2" ball and a locking receiver pin on the way home. So I get home and try a 'dry fit'. I soon realize the receiver draw bar (w/2" drop) is too low and needs to be in the rise, rather than drop position...but I can't get the ball nut loose (to reverse it) to save my soul! Then I also realize they wired it with a flat 4 plug and the EZLoader boat trailer I have needs a flat 5 plug (6 wires)! So I gotta call 'em back tomorrow and see about a "do-over".

Now as a newbie, I wasn't gonna put her in the lake on the week-end of the 4th (too busy), but was hoping I might sneak her in before the week-end, but not likely now...oh well.

[Abbeysdad]

So I call 'em up and tell 'em they wired a flat 4 connector but my boat trailer has a flat 5 connector. They go looking for a harness with a flat 5 plug (6 wires) for my vehicle (Buick Rendezvous) - I call back, but they aren't finding anything.
So I go out on the web - I find a flat 4 to flat 5 adaptor that has a blue wire coming off to connect to the back-up lights. I check with the boat dealer who tells me this will work. So I call the place back and tell them - "where did you see that?" "ETrailer.com" - "Oh on the web.".... uhm, we'll call you back...they never did so I'll call them again tomorrow!

[Abbeysdad]

So they have me bring it in, but when I get there, they don't know what to do - they say they called all over and nobody has heard of a flat-5 on a boat trailer? They tell me the flat 4 should work fine...
I call the boat place and they laugh. The guy I talked to said he doesn't know what trailer I have but if a flat 5 is on the trailer, you need a flat 5 on the vehicle. The difference is the blue wire that hooks into the reverse lights.
To make a long story short, I went to the boat place to get a flat 5 harness, but after I got there, I realized I didn't need it!
Some of the newer trailers have hydraulic brakes - simple really. An actuating tongue acts like a brake peadal and applies the braking action. The blue wire (hot in reverse) trips a solenoid that disengages the brakes, allowing the trailer to be backed up an incline if necessary.
However, MY TRAILER DOESN'T HAVE BRAKES!!! Why it has a flat 5 harness is a good question (I'll need to see if I can see where that blue wire even goes).
Anyway, everything seems to work just fine with the flat 5 plugged into the flat4!

So now I just need some good weather and a quiet day at the boat launch.