so you think you have had problems

[sherman51]

im not really crying on your shoulders. i just wanted to see if after reading this you think you had troubles this year.

we went up to erie back in july for 2 weeks. when we got there my boat would die every time i put it in reverse or neutral. but it did just fine going into forward, so we went fishing, and the fishing was great. then my son had to go home for a few days and work. so this was a good time to see about getting the boat fixed. i put it in the shop, and they just adjusted the shift cable. and told me the water line from the outdrive was leaking. but it had been doing ok. he said i should get it fixed after our vacation was over.

well our next trip out we started back in, i looked down and she was running alittle hot. about then the motor started to rattle. i slowed down and stopped and shut her down. anchored down and waited for it to cool down. then started back up and headed on in. i could run about 12 mph, anything over that and the heat would start going up. we made it back in ok. the boat was still running good at this time. we only had about 4 days left of our vacation. and nobody had time to get to the boat right away. so we just camped the next few days.

we got home and i thought it out. we had started having trouble with the motor dieing again when i shifted into neutral and reverse, so i decided to go ahead and have the shift cable replaced while they was replacing the water line. i also decided i might as well get the bellows replaced they were getting pretty old. so i decided to go ahead and get a new gimbel bearing and u joints while i was at it. this is an older boat but i had a new vortec 350 put in it back in 07, so i planed on keeping it for awhile.

i put it in the shop and told them to replace all this stuff. they call me up after they remove the outdrive. said the drive coupling was wore completely out, and they want me to come out and look at it. so i tell them to go ahead and replace the coupling. everything costed 2018.00 for labor and parts.

i get the boat back and go down to brookville lake. we go out tubing and everything was great. i pull up in this cove and we go swimming for awhile. then we head back out on the lake. my son and his son get on our tube, and i try to take off, the boat doesnt want to go and is making this wierd noise. i put it back in the shop thinking something they had done was screwed up.

they give me a call and say both head gaskets are blown. i go out and look at the motor. he says he has checked the heads and they are still good. i am at a loss as to why the head gaskets blew. i knew i had got it hot up at erie, but had run the boat for a couple of hours getting on in, and had tubed down on brookville for about 1 1/2 hours with no problem. i thought about just buying another boat. but i,ve just invested 2018.00 in this thing. they said it would cost alittle over 1500.00 to fix it and put new risers on it, that it needed. so i gave in and said to go ahead and fix it.

yesterday i get a call from them, i was told that everything with the head gasket job seemed ok, but at wot it didnt want to run, so he tore the carb down and the plating inside the carb was coming off and had stopped up one of the jets. but he didnt want to put it back together with the plating coming off. and he was stuck he didnt really know what to do at this point. lucky for me i just happened to have another carb with new blocks in it and that was what was peeling on the old carb. hopefully this will fix this problem.

so up to this point im up to alittle over 3500.00 in this 86 21 ft boat plus whatever he charges for all the work on the carb at 70.00 per hour. and i might be able to get 3000.00 to 3500.00 for the boat if i decide i wanted to sell it. and i still dont know for sure if everything is fixed.

this all started with a 13.00 water hose that the marina that adjusted the shift cable didnt have time to replace. and i guess alittle stupidity on my part for going ahead and using the boat knowing it wasnt at 100%.

so now that you,ve read about my problems this year. do you think you had problems,LOL. i sure feel your pain if you do.

sherman

[KJ pluggin]

Sorry to hear about the boat issues Sherman.

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

You really went thru the mill Sherman, next season has to be great, as you have fixed everything there was to fix. Good fishing and luck for years to come.

[Leafybug]

Not to down play your problems but welcome to boats my friend. Bring On Another Thousand! My experience is that all things will break at about the most in-opportune time, and they break for no reason at all. I like to think of my "issues" as gremlins. I'm always chasing the little buggers all over my boat, sounds like yours are in your engine well. Keep your head up and best of luck to you, I feel your pain...

[Far Beyond Driven]

Put $1000 into mine 3 years ago, $1700 last year. Years in between I piled up the hours without an issue. This year first trip out bilge fills with oil. Front main seal is going, so I had to keep the hours off of her and limp it through the season. And yes, the water leak I spent $1700 chasing down was back after three trips.

However, I hosted people from Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas, and New York on my limited trips this year, and fished one tournament taking third out of 60 boats. Three newbies caught their first salmon, and as the engine's coming out any way, I bummed my dad's 21" prop for a while and on a flat calm night I ran down and passed two go fast boats that were racing down the coast, with my net up and rods in the holders. Not supposed to run a 26 year old V8 that hard, but she didn't miss a beat, just a little oil.

So really, when she's good, she's oh so good, so I stick with her when she's naughty.....

[TAKIN IT EZ]

Sorry to hear about your BAD run of luck ,or lack of luck this year. I also remember you losing your brother too. I know it dosn't help you any,but the 4 DR weights I bought from you this year worked just great! Hopefully better days & years are coming. Rudey

[flyman013]

Sorry for your troubles. My boat broke down last year in July and I chased those "gremlins" for the rest of the year and finally put the boat down for the winter broken. Chased the problem some more in the spring and finally fixed it and it is running better than ever. It is frustrating, but to be able to fish the Great Lakes to me is worth the headaches and hassles. Keep up with it and good luck to you!

[ChampionShip]

Bosses replaced 9 motors this year with 10 and 11 on the way over the winter......that doesn't include all the other pumps and stuff that go wrong regularly

[fraidknot]

Sheesh.....you could be banned from GLA....now thats a bad deal!!!!

[Phishy]

ummmm....yep...i know the feeling....mine started with a lund from the factory being t-boned on a highway....then insurance screwing me...then finding the right boat and having serious electrical issues..in the end if you weigh pros and cons and the pros of the boat outweigh the cons...keep her...... but be truthful in your list

[sherman51]

i knew alot of you guys would understand where i was coming from. and it does get frustrating sometimes, but i do love my lake erie fishing. im not ready to give up yet but it seem i got a whole darn family of them gremlins at one time,LOL. every time i get something fixed they find something elce wrong. but maby once they get the carb fixed i,ll be good to go next year. i plan to do alittle more fishing on erie next year anyway.

and yes i did lose my brother and best friend, i think he passed on the 10th of may. then i went to tenn for our family reunion on the 24th and the next morning i get a phone call that my next best friend down there had died. so i,ve had alot rougher things to deal with this year than my boat. the old boat can be fixed or replaced. but there is nothing we can do about losing our friends except pray that time will help heal the pain alittle. i can see the housing addition where my brother lived from my livingroom. so every time i look out my front window i think about him and miss him. and i,ll say to my wife you know it just dont seem like he should be gone. he was only 52 yrs old.

sherman

[Paulywood]

Sorry you had a tough year Sherman. Makes me realize how lucky I have been this year. I always figure things will even out, so to me it seems that next year should be your year. Good luck.

[SUPERTRAMP]

Its what u get when u own a boat, Break Out Another Thousland, or better yet its a hole in the water u pour money into. This season we had no major breakdowns, other than our Graph finally gave up on us. Not a huge deal. However we are looking at a $3K rebuild of the engine either this winter or next. Don't know if the boat is worth it.

[sherman51]

Its what u get when u own a boat, Break Out Another Thousland, or better yet its a hole in the water u pour money into. This season we had no major breakdowns, other than our Graph finally gave up on us. Not a huge deal. However we are looking at a $3K rebuild of the engine either this winter or next. Don't know if the boat is worth it.

yea thats kinda where im coming from. if i had knew at the start what i was going to have to spend on this boat i would have just invested in alittle bigger boat. but like you say, its a thousand here and 2 thousand there untill i,ve got more money tied up in it than its worth. but i plan on keeping this boat for awhile now, so maby i,ll get my moneies worth out of it yet,LOL.

sherman

[Priority1]

Sherm, I truly feel for you. $4000 (OUCH!!!) can make for a quite a few fishing trips. Once you start down the repair road it's tough to quit. We have all been there with trucks, cars, bikes, boats, etc. On the other hand all it did was bruise your wallet. You and your son are OK and will fish and maybe even smile at this when you recover financially. Be glad it was the boat and NOT you. At this point there is nothing left you can do and I hope this makes you feel just a little better.

[Hazzard]

Sheesh.....you could be banned from GLA....now thats a bad deal!!!!

For Life!

[ginger]

Sherman sorry to hear about your brother and friend passing,Ive had a similar year as yours as far as boats are concerned. I bought a new to me CC 25 last year with 50 hours on a rebuild engine, had a bunch of work done on it over the winter with electronics and rigging,fished the mechanics port for the first five weeks of the season and then drove up to my port the end of may and pulled into my slip and got stuck two feet from my dock ,couldn't move the boat,lift up the engine and pull the boat in,didn't even need to tie it up if I wanted to,the harbor filled in with silt and mud over the winter,made arrangements to dock my boat on the river until they came up with a solution,took the boat out the next day and about two miles out the alarms start sounding and smoke is filling the cabin,shut the Eng off and trolled in on the kicker,blew the engine,the screen filled with mud and baired the temp gage,had the engine replace 10000,and fought with the mechanic all summer about it not running right and electrical issues,final gave him an ultimatum to fix it,so he pulls the boat from my slip and leaves it on the side of his shop while he gos on vacation for 9 days and the boat gets broken into and they clean me out of 41 reels and spoon boxes flys,flashers and plugs about 8000 in stuff,I ask his employ why they didn't put in the yard and he said they would of claimed over the fence,why didn't you put it in your shop,there was a boat in there and ask about the other 8000 feet,it really proves you cant fix stupid. I like your attitude Sherman,and choose to look at the positives as well,I had allot of guys offer me there boat to use and more guys offering to take me fishing,they caught the guys that broke into the boat and in the end its just a boat there's so much more to life. Hope next year gos well for you Tony

[ChampionShip]

For Life!

I think a bunch of guys have been axed..............

[Pioneer]

Sherman, sorry to hear about your troubles. Things will get better.

[Priority1]

Sherm, So sorry on the passing of your friend and brother.

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

What a horror story from you too Tony, that's bad news, so sorry to hear about that stupidity and your grief, that mechanic needs to be sued.