New owner and first time boat owner

[v4lu3s]

For 15+ years my wife and I talked about having a boat given we live 10 minutes from a popular lake for recreation and fishing. In 2017 we went and looked the FSH 190 and FSH 210. We also considered a pontoon boat. We couldn't decide and didn't want to finance so we went back to wishing.

Back in March I saw an ad for a 140 hour 2017 FSH 190 nearby at a dealer, originally listed at $29,995, but it had been dropped to 25999, then 21995 and then a "one day special 19,995." I stopped in and took a look at it, it was at a higher end recreational boat dealer, and they asked me if I was interested. It showed signs of salt exposure (salt corrosion on the hatch latches, little bit of rust on the stainless parts, and salt corrosion on the intake grate. It was offered to me at $20k out the door, so I put a downpayment on it.

About 90 days later we took delivery. The dealer found it had a few issues, both with their service department and the boat. The tech that was supposed to go over and make the trade ins ready was billing for hours of work not done. My boat ended up with a new relay or two, a new start solenoid, a new intermediate shaft bearing/seal assembly, and new temperature sensors. Unfortunately, they had to fix one problem at a time to figure out the next.

Last week we picked it up, paid the balance, they threw in 6 brand new life jackets, a throw float pad, bumpers and mooring lines, and did not make me feel like a low budget boat buyer despite most of their boats being 5x higher in price. Our boat had the Thrust Vector XL already on it, a Lowrance Hook 7 (yeah kind of obsolete now but it works and works well enough!) as well as a forward deck fishing seat added. I rebuilt an old Riptide trolling motor from 12v 55lb to 24v 80lb and am putting the factory trolling motor mount with a 1/4 aluminum backing plate under the gunwale with 2x12v LiFePO batteries mounted somewhere. I am replacing small hardware like snaps, rocker switch covers, and the speakers right now.

We have had it out on the water for about 7-8 hours so far and it tops out about 43mph with me alone and less than half a tank of fuel, and 34ish with my wife and daughter in the boat. The cleanout hatch kill switch has already struck as well, so I have put a pad on the bottom of the hatch for now.

So far its been a really great boat. My wife is looking around for used tubes or similar to put our 15 yo daughter on, and we are both eager to be the first one to catch a fish from the boat. I still need to trouble shoot the live well fill pump, not sure if it is a dead pump or a dead fuse, or just clogged...but for now we will just be catch and release or catch and cooler, the livewell may be for bait later on....

 

[Beachbummer]

Congrats on the new boat. We all like pictures!
Practice makes perfect.
a humble word of advice...You will soon enter the danger area of potential over confidence as you build some muscle memory, and everything seems easier with practice. (as it should) Keep your head of a swivel and be ready for surprises yet to come, and all will be well!!!

In my area the discount sports store has items well priced. for towables and other things that are "wear" items, it's not a bad bet to purchase new and do your best to make them last as long as possible with care, but knowing these are wear items and not eternal in life.

Best of Luck! It's rarely cheap, can be done on a budget, but it's a fun way to spend time and money for sure!!!

 

[v4lu3s]

I will definitely need to get pics, my wife took one or two, but for now every time I see the boat I am putting in the water.

A jet boat is a different beast than the rescue and evac boats I use at work, but its coming pretty easily. Most of my experience boating is in fire service boats, often in waterways in city limits and really weird and challenging places, rather than open water and one of the busiest lakes in Texas. Way too many idiots on rental jet skis out here, but I try and stick to weekdays and earlier the better.

Fortunately before the fire service I was a dealer tech at a powersports dealer near the lake, and had some good experience on jet skis (rotax and kawi powered), and a lot of electrical experience from car work for decades, so I am capable of doing most work needed at home on my own, however I am really impressed with the ease of access of most stuff so far! Storage and insurance are running me about $2000 a year, and If I am spending ~$70 for every 3 trips on the boat (and right now there are not sit and fish or swim trip, but constant movement to get seat time), that means a lot of fun for the money!

I appreciate the advice and feel great about what I got at the price I got it at!

 

[Beachbummer]

LOL, I totally underestimated your boating experience based on your recent boat ownership. My apologies. I'm sure you can give us some good lessons based on your commercial and fire boating experience.

 

[v4lu3s]

No apologies needed. It's a VERY different experience. We have 17ish foot "evac" boats with a console and 40hp Evinrudes with plastic props with blades that can be replaced in a minute or two, we run these on flooded streets and train on bayous and the ship channel. We have done some training on lakes that involve things like nosing up to piling, docks, jetties etc so we can load an unload without tying off, and they are also moved on double decker trailers. The other stuff is 22-26 ft boats with or without a pump and deck gun for extinguishment. They are basically oversized skiffs and slow.

Owning a boat and operating to go fishing, tubing, and just fun on the water is a bit different. I have a lot to learn, the jet drive I incredibly different, and the fiberglass hull is a different animal than the overbuilt aluminum commercial type hulls. Even at all out none of those were remotely fast boats, and being able to hit 40+ on open water is nothing like running a bayou (day or night). I will NEVER turn down advice, I learned a long time ago we all see things a bit differently, have different experiences, so I am willing and able to learn from anyone.