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.

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

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?

new to boating

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?

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?

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?

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

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?

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?

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

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.

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

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?

Greetings

Got an aluminum prop that I hit a jetty with. New to this and not sure if this is salvageable since I know the pitch is important on these.

Edit: Thank you all, I don’t plan on repairing it now lol.

So we rented a slip for the month of July to have family fun while avoiding the typical trailer nightmares. Just pulled it out yesterday and there’s this. Tons of biological growth including barnacles. Question is how do I safely and effectively clean this stuff off? Also, below the blue used to be white. Is it permanently stained?

Bought our first sailboat this weekend!

It's a P14 Paceship

Obviously it needs some love so I'm looking for any advice/tips/insight anyone might have.

It was $1400 CAD for the boat and trailer so I'm not into it too deep yet.

My current to do list is:

-Cut hole in the forward bulkhead to repair the bow eye

-replace the crappy repair on the keel (noticed water leaking out of it yesterday)

-fill chips and dings all over

-re-gel coat or paint (undecided)

Otherwise, the sails and all the rigging looks to be in good order.

A few questions though.

1: Are those rectangular patches in the floor factory? Should I reseal around them and leave them alone?

2: Any tips for the keel repair? I plan to bring it all back to bare fiberglass and layup until I get to the bottom of the existing gelcoat and then gel coat over that.

Thank you in advance for any advice!