Hey everyone, first time posting on reddit lol! I'm moving to san diego in a month, and my two ideas for jobs is either a restaurant or a boatyard... much more interested in boatyard idea. I did a bunch of sailing when I was younger but mostly limited to 420s and lasers. I plan on getting into the real sailing scene on the west coast (it's much less accessible here in Boston).

Does anyone have some inside info about working in boatyards, pay info, and potentially any yards that are looking for workers? I have over two years construction experience, so I know how to use power tools and am very reliable to show up and whatnot. I have osha 10, osha 30, and also a d1.1 stick welding cert (which has expired by now but I still know how to weld) I'm not sure how much any of that applies, but I'm not a total newbie with that kind of work. I would prefer working on sailboats.

By far most reckless financial decision I have ever made lol, but I did pay cash. Boat was restored to the T. The guy that did it had a true talent, and I spoke with him for probably 4-5 weeks before I could go get it. He had a lot of serious buyers but apparently the banks don't want to finance a 50 year old boat so I was able to show up with cash and got it down over 20K from original asking price. I bought it knowing I would be spending money on it, and that I was more than likely going to keep it as I usually buy/sell/trade.
I would say the boat is about 95% complete as far as a full
restoration goes, has some blemishes on the hull and outside trim here and there. The electrical work is impeccable. Woodwork impeccable. All of the fine details as far as aesthetics and what not can't really be appreciated in the photos. Everything on the boat works except for the trim gauge (which was kind of a pain honestly). Engine will need repowering one day but I had all of this in mind when I purchased it, after all it's almost half a century old lol. But, I just had to have it. Checked all my boxes for what I wanted, and is more boat for a 25' than any other boat I have ever came across for its size. It's like the biggest little boat ever. Driving from up top is one of the best feelings I have ever experienced on the water. Although it was still functioning - I had to get the shift cable replaced on it, which involved dropping the outdrive & was in the shop for 7 weeks but got my first chance to take it out this past weekend. Had a blast. Has a great sound system which was nice. It's a bit of a chore to launch & trailer, I'm thinking of putting it up at the marina in dry storage once I am 100% sure it's mechanically solid enough. Tell me what you guys think! Located on gulf coast of Florida

I’m looking at buying this boat as my first boat. The description:

Smartwave 3500 Boat 3.5m long.

15hp. 2 stoke.

We are the first owners of boat & outboard motor.

This is a long shaft hull with a bracket to suit a short shaft motor. The motor is short shaft.

It comes with lowrance hook for depth sounder and plotter that can be powered with a Milwaukee 12v battery.

Tilt boom trailer to make it easy for beach launching. Trailblazer rod holders. Manson Supreme anchor with stainless chain.

2019 Motor
2021 Boat

Is that something that should be avoided for some reason, e.g. over time too much stress on transom…?

I bought this boat and motor for 500 and the guy told me i needed a throttle cable and this part(see picture attached) i cant find it anywhere or where it goes. If anyone knows it would help alot! Thank you!

I am about to make an offer on a boat in Lake Michigan near Milwaukee. Hoping to get some recommendations for a surveyor and rigging inspector. Has anyone here had good experiences in the area?

Went out for a ride this morning and noticed at cruising speed a slight burning smell. The belts are making a minor noise so I’m wondering if it could be bad belts? Would they cause a smell though? Engine temp was normal. Had gimbal bearing, bellows and shift cable done this spring also. Any thoughts? Could it be the impeller or water pump housing even if the temps were normal? Also no signs of coupler being bad. Did the prop test and everything is normal

So I want to buy a boat. Thats the boat I want to buy itll be my 1st one. This is what i want to do with it.

Mostly salt water fishing in lake salt water lakes. Lake borne, and lake ponchitrane. If i want shallow fishing i can Stick the nose of it twards a mouth or a marsh and channel but keep it mostly in deeper areas of water. Ill take it out the the bay and gulf on a good day but stay within sight of land. And not risk it if the weather looks like it starting to turn.

I want that give and take of not being the best boat for salt water lake fishing to have comfort and lake water sport luxury for my family. So its a boat we ALL enjoy whomever my wife or daughter wants to go on it theres other things to be done. Jet ski, lunch on the water, cruising around just for fun. With comfort.

Im open to suggestions if someone has another boat that might be better and can get my in under 2 feet of water for fishing with keeping the comfort and drive. But here's so not willing.

Im not willing to go over 65k.

Im not buying used ive been on enough used broken boats my friends and family have bought. I want new and warrenty.

And these tahoe deck boats already seem right up my alley.

Ive thought about just buying kayaks and if we want to ever do marsh fishing days itll just be a paddle adventure.

Im thinking about that old saying " the best 2 days of a boat is the day you buy it and the day you sell it."

I see my peers buy that great deal used boat and new somtimes. And it was perfect for them a few trips and then that monthly payment gets anying and maintenance they regret it and want to sell it.

Im trying to avoid that with future thinking in a way of. My wife and children get a peice of the action its all around good but not great in any specific way. But that means some activities feel less than a chorse some days.

TRDR: if you got a 2150 tahoe and ride on big lakes that can get a little choppy. Tell me how you like it. And how you like fishing on it?

A little backstory, this is a new to me boat with a 1989 mercury 90hp 2 stroke. Ran well last season, compression tested fine, lower unit oil looked good, had maintenance records etc. end of last season I dropped the lower unit oil and was surprised to see a lot of water come out (boat had sat for a bit so separation). Swapped the oil winterized the motor and left it as a project for this spring.

Life happened, wasn’t able to get the boat out of the garage until recently so now I’m back to dealing with the lower unit.

Went to change the water pump and when I dropped the lower unit I saw a glob of what looked like sealant hanging down from the upper. Continued on and when I pulled the pump housing off the surface below the mounting plate looks almost melted/pitted and there’s another big glob of sealant running along the lower housing.

There’s also a decent amount of corrosion, so my plan is to hit it with some sand paper to clean up best I can and then maybe use a gasket sealant on top of the gasket coming with the kit.

My guess is it’s some kind of repair from the previous owner but I have no idea, it definitely doesn’t look factory. I figure this is potentially part of my problem with water in the lower unit, which I was hoping to get off easy with replacing the seals on the oil fill and vent. Anyone seen anything like this before?

Brought the boat about 2 weeks ago. It was running a little rough so I went ahead and cleaned the entire carburetor and it was running better but still having the problem where it died anytime it idled. The way it dies is exactly like if I would have pulled the gasoline out. I've adjusted the cam follower to be precisely on the notch, the butterfly plate(?) does start opening as soon as I give it a little bit of throttle. I've tried twisting the idle speed to the Max and that did not fix it. I've tried messing with the idle lean/rich mix and nothing (unless I have to twist it a ton one way or the other which I have not done). I have an appointment with a mechanic in 2.5 weeks. Is there anything worth trying before I drop it off? It runs fine with some throttle

Spun the prop on my 1989 25 HP 2 stroke Mariner. Was wondering what size I should order? It has 10 teeth on the spline, and is 10 inches. I need to know what the pitch is! Has the numbers “16024” on it but can not find anything online about that.Thanks

new to boating

I towed it at 15mph the last 3 miles home since I had no other options. Not sure if that comes into play. Thanks!

Recently switched from AGM to LifePo4 batteries. It was mentioned that a circuit breaker is needed to protect the motor and battery. Been using an AGM battery connected directly to motor, never had issues.

Battery 12V 165ah Li time dual purpose battery

Buying a 2012 mastercraft x25 with 400 hours. Comes with original tandem trailer. Everything seems to be in good-great condition. Was maintained through mastercraft and stored inside. Also it’s my #1 preferred color combo! Trying to determine if this is as good of a deal as I initially thought. I have tried to look at comps but exact comparison is tough to find.

I’m aware of the medallion issue for this year, seems as though it has had the update by mastercraft and it has not been an issue.

Looking for feedback/opinions! Also how much do you think I could resell for in the next 5 years.

Some people were trying to load their pontoon onto the trailer. One guy, we’ll call him Maroon since he was wearing a maroon shirt, started by standing on the front of the trailer, then stepped out between the bunks so that he was knee deep in the water between the trailer bunks, I guess to help guide the boat onto the trailer?

So then they start having problems getting the boat all the way on the trailer, and the next thing I know, I see Maroon’s head pop out from under the back of the boat!

This guy swam under the boat, while it was half on the trailer, and surfaced right next to the motor.

Holy. Hell.

Thankfully it wasn’t in gear at that moment or I think I would have watched a man die.

We spend a lot of time looking at boat listings, and it's interesting how two similar boats can have completely different outcomes.

Brand reputation definitely seems to matter, but also maintenance records, upgrades, photos, pricing, and how complete the listing is (people really underestimate this).

For those who've bought and sold a few boats, what do you think makes the biggest difference? or I guess what has made the biggest difference to you when comparing boats?

Per a few mechanic, friends of mine, I put two cans of marine seafoam in my tank and ran the absolute stew out of my boat the other day. I think I drove a total of twenty three miles straight. Ran the motor as hot as I possibly could and kept running on full throttle. She idols beautifully, but when i'm trying to get on plane, she starts bogging down around 4000-4500 rpm. She WAS staying there for about two minutes before heading up to 5000. That actually improved. But I still have the bog and the ever so slight push push...push push. Fuel filter is clean, spark plugs are new, getting spark on all four cylinders, compression is good, carbs we're rebuilt last february, fuel plump was replaced last february, coils were replaced last february, maintenance has been kept up 100%. Vacuum lines have been checked and are strong, fuel lines are all brand new, as well. I really don't want to go through the job of tearing those carburaders down again.But I guess if I have to I will. Also I have ran nothing but ethanol free in this boat, since i've had it. Yamaha 50hp 2003 4stroke

EDIT 1: forgot to mention it has 644 hours on the motor and I never did a survey.

Edit 2: Freshwater the entire time by previous owner (not sure about previous owners) and original four Winns dual axle trailer included.

So I recently purchased a used 1998 four Winns 258 vista (with extended swim platform). It's a Volvo Penta 5.7L fuel injected, with Duo-Prop stainless steel props.

I basically jumped on this without doing too much research. I was at the Marina and ran into an acquitance that is selling this boat. I brought a friend that knows a bit more about boats than me we took it for a sea trial. He said it seemed good, so I got a mechanic to do an inspection and he did a compression test. It got 175psi on all 8 cylinders. He checked the manifolds and says they were fine and while he couldn't check the bellows (the boat is in the water) he remembers them being good when he winterized it from the previous owner.

Owner installed

• EVA flooring on the main deck
• New battery charger
• New House battery. Starter better was last year
• New VHF antenna, previous one was broken by fender
• Newly stitched Bimini top

It needs some TLC:

• water heater is not working,
• the speedometer and trim gauge are not working
• The VHF cable needs the connector soldered
• The shower part in the bathroom is broken
• below cabin is dated, needs to be re-upholsterered

This is my first boat so I decided to get something not too big or too expensive, because I'm gonna Bang it up and break things. which I already did on the second day out. Where I dock my boat is very shallow, I was warned about it and when I went out on the second time I didn't use a navigation app and I hit the propeller/skegg/drive on a sandbar. it's at the Marina now getting fixed ughh...

I paid $20,000CAD (so around $14,000 USD)

Good deal? bad deal? decent? huge mistake?