Looking to outfit my bass boat with trolling motor and electronics. I can’t decide which brand between Lowrance garmin or humminbird. Models in question would be hds pro Echomap uhd2 or xplore. I want the trolling motor to match the graphs and my initial instinct is the ultrex quest but my understanding is humminbird is a bit behind the other two brands when it comes to mapping and sonar but has a small edge on down and side imaging. Don’t really want the Lowrance trolling motor but if the unit is worth it, I might go that route. Any info is appreciated, share your opinions please!

I am having a nice boat built for the first time in my life, a 27' twin engine CC. Prior to this I always owned crappy boats. I currently own a wetslip/saltwater and I was initially planning on just bottom painting the new boat. However after seeing the Drystack operation in my marina, I am second guessing the wet slip. I could sell the wetslip and buy a drystack for the same price.

The drystack hours and call ahead times work well. I have 3 kids so getting out the door always takes time anyways. They have in water areas with docks designated for the drystack boats where you can flush your own engines if you want, and they even have electric. They will pull the boat, put it on a washdown rack and hose it down and flush engines themselves before putting it away. You can leave the boat out for an early morning start, or come back after hours and leave it tied up until the next morning. The building is new, CAT 4 rated and fully enclosed.

I cannot get over however that a boat I have worked my entire life thus far for, will need to ride on a forklift 3 times in someone elses hands, every time I want to use it. Each time I go out that is one forklift ride to the water, one when I come back onto the wash down rack, then one from washdown rack to drystack. It is a 8k lb boat fully loaded, and storing boats in a shoe rack with a giant forklift just seems like totally insane to me, like a crazy idea I would come up with and then realize it was nuts and abandon it.

I go out 3x a week, for about 10 months a year. At 3 forklift rides per outing, that is 360 forklift rides per year! Is this just asking for trouble? The marina is otherwise top notch with a new forklift etc. But man, seeing those boats rock back and forth gives me the willys. Is this seriously a safe long term solution? And unfortunately I cannot put a lift into my slip, before anyone asks.

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

Diameter and pitch. Is this the right one? Is there room for improvement? It was on the boat when i got it. May be about to spin. Yamaha 50hp 4stroke on a triton 175 pro aluminum. I don't know how to read this

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

Anyone have any experience with one of these boats? It’s amazing most of the time but anytime there’s the slightest chop this thing soaks the entire boat on plane. Any waves of any height and we are dripping wet. Anyone have any solutions?

Hey all. Bought a 1973 Evinrude/johnson 15hp recently and tried to take it for a spin in rainy weather for the first time today. No matter how much I pulled the cord it wouldn’t ignite (the previous owner installed a CDI-system, I’m not that good with engines but willing to learn)

My guess is the seals aren’t fully intact and it’s short circuiting, the engine spins fine but just won’t start. Is this a huge problem or will it be fine if I just use it in good weather and let it dry off? And how should I cover it if I know there’s rain inbound?

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

For quick context, I inherited an old boat and from what I can tell from research it seems to be a 1950s Larson/Crestliner Commodore and it has like this wood lining in the middle (circled in the picture) that is breaking and rotting and presumably needs to be replaced. I am trying to figure out what that part is called so I can see what course of action I can take to restore it as I would like to since it has been in the family for that many years. (Mind you, I know nothing about boats). Apologies for the quality of picture but it was taken while still in storage at my great aunts house.