The NEW new Billy V

[Billy V]

The deal that I had on the 288 Predator ended up falling through, so the pics I posted over the winter aren't of my new boat after all. As luck would have it, the day after we parted ways on the 288 I was talking to a local tackle shop owner and he told me about a Penn Yan 295 Prowler for sale over in Sodus. For me it was a Penn Yan or nothing. There's just something about those boats that I love. I went and looked at it two weeks ago and knew that this was the boat. We sea-trialed it last weekend and brought it home to Fair Haven yesterday. This is my third Penn Yan, and I'm really looking forward to running it this season. It has an 11'beam, twin Mercruiser 350's, Furuno radar & sonar, Raymarine GPS/Chartplotter and autopilot, Fish Hawk probe, VHF, etc. About the only thing I plan to change are the riggers. I'm going to be putting new Cannon's on it soon.

[GLF]

Nice and clean fishing machine!

[IRISH56]

Saw her up close this weekend - pic's don't do it justice, she is a beauty!

DAN

[GLF]

Hey Bill....I have never seen a Penn Yan up close. Whats it like in the back of it? How deep are the sides? Are there engine covers? Can you get a picture coming out of the cabin showing the back of the boat?

[Priority1]

VN boat. You know I'm a hardtop man.

[Billy V]

Mike,

I'll snap a pic for you of the dance floor next time I'm up. Engines are beneath the seats, so the dance floor is wiiiiiiddddeeee open! Gunnels come up above your knees or thereabouts. Here's two shots that illustrate it well.

Actually, here's a pic of the dance floor of the 288 I was going to buy....the 295 is the same hull and layout, just with a hard-top, so this'll give you a good idea of how much room there is:

I'll snap some more pics and post them here soon.

Here she is on the water this past weekend:

[GLF]

Perfect Bill! I saw that picture before and forgot about it. On my Sea Ray, the engines are underneath the dance floor, so the gunnels come up a few inches above the knees.

[Billy V]

We got the new name on it yesterday and had our re-naming ceremony. I've also replaced the lexan rod holders with new Traxstech aluminum holders. Just about all that's left to do equipment-wise is to replace those downriggers. The new Cannon's have been on back-order but are supposed to ship today.

[Priority1]

VN indeed.

[Billy V]

OK, we FINALLY got the Scotty's off the boat and outfitted it with some new Cannon's. Now THAT'S how a downrigger is SUPPOSED to look! I'll be adding a new Depth Raider soon...

[Billy V]

I just got the boat back from having some cosmetic work done on the gelcoat. I think she looks fantastic now that the topsides match the rest of the hull:

[Nailer]

It looks great Bill. I love the looks of a nice Hard Top.

[medic]

Very nice, Bill...Very nice indeed!!

[salmonquest]

waddaya kiddin me that's a goodlookin craft.

[justenough]

Looks Great Capt. Bill I don't see the need for poli-glo

[Billy V]

Yeah, we decided to pass on the poli glow this year. Just a day of buffing and waxing and she came right back and looks fantastic!