And in the with the um, old.
We've had the same boat for about 7 years now.
A beautiful 23' Wellcraft Eclipse that Ed has done an
excellent job of maintaining in near perfect condition.
We've had the same boat for about 7 years now.
A beautiful 23' Wellcraft Eclipse that Ed has done an
excellent job of maintaining in near perfect condition.
Old Red:
After some thought we decided that the boat
was just too big for our needs anymore.
On a typical day to the lake, we really just like to swim,
float around in our tubes and BBQ.
And a boat of this size and speed seemed wasted on us.
Granted, the kids really enjoyed
being able to hide in the cabin if it rained,
but it doesn't rain often enough to warrant
keeping it for that reason alone.
So, we sold her! (And quite easily actually!)
Finding a new boat, however, was a bit trickier. We
decided that, for how we spend our time on the lake,
a pontoon boat was the best bet. The search was on!
If you've ever bought anything from a classified ad,
whether it's Ebay, Craigslist, or the Sunday paper,
you'll have learned that the "condition" of an
object is highly objective. It shouldn't be, but it is.
What one man thinks is "Well taken care of" will be
found by another to be: "Left-it-out-in-the-rain-without-a-
cover-and-a-racoon-made-a-nest-and-died-under-the-deck".
It didn't seem like we'd find anything that met our (Ed's) standards.
Enter the hero: My brother-in-law, Dan.
Dan heard of our dilema and came to the rescue!
Offering us his 1980-something pontoon boat at a price
even the tightest of tightwads could not have refused!
Yes!, he warned us, it was older, outdated and
needed renovations, but the engine ran, and
the "bones" were as good as they came!
With hopes high, we left the comfort of TN, to meet
the new boat, "Blue", in South Carolina!
About an hour into the drive, the Suburban started
to act a little wonky. Nothing spectacularly worrying,
but enough to make us all perk up. Luckily,
we made it to the Lake house without any further incidents.
Our luck didn't last. As Dan was backing the Suburban up to the trailer,
he ran the Suburban aground in a ditch that had
been covered by high grass. After some head scratching
he called a truck in to pull it out, and all was well.
For a short while anyway.
After loading the pontoon and securing her down,
we began the 1.5 hour treck back to Asheville.
I think we made it 10 miles before the Suburban
decided it'd lost the will to live and stalled.
On the highway. In the middle of nowhere!
(I don't say that lightly, I live in Rural TN,
I know "the-middle-of-nowhere" when I see it!)
So began the awful, hot, horrid, hilarious FIVE HOUR adventure back home!
One of many roadside stops!
If you're wondering why we didn't just
give up and call a tow truck.... we tried.
Numerous times. It was "easier", and I use the
term as loosely as I can, to nurse the Suburban back.
It was slow going, about 10 miles at a time, but we succeeded!
As for now, the pontoon has been stripped of it's former garb, and is being outfitted with all new goodies! New Seats, new console, new sound system, new bimini, new cover...the works!
And we'll STILL be thousands below what we
would have spent on a new (to us) boat!
I'll have more picture updates soon!
After some thought we decided that the boat
was just too big for our needs anymore.
On a typical day to the lake, we really just like to swim,
float around in our tubes and BBQ.
And a boat of this size and speed seemed wasted on us.
Granted, the kids really enjoyed
being able to hide in the cabin if it rained,
but it doesn't rain often enough to warrant
keeping it for that reason alone.
So, we sold her! (And quite easily actually!)
Finding a new boat, however, was a bit trickier. We
decided that, for how we spend our time on the lake,
a pontoon boat was the best bet. The search was on!
If you've ever bought anything from a classified ad,
whether it's Ebay, Craigslist, or the Sunday paper,
you'll have learned that the "condition" of an
object is highly objective. It shouldn't be, but it is.
What one man thinks is "Well taken care of" will be
found by another to be: "Left-it-out-in-the-rain-without-a-
cover-and-a-racoon-made-a-nest-and-died-under-the-deck".
It didn't seem like we'd find anything that met our (Ed's) standards.
Enter the hero: My brother-in-law, Dan.
Dan heard of our dilema and came to the rescue!
Offering us his 1980-something pontoon boat at a price
even the tightest of tightwads could not have refused!
Yes!, he warned us, it was older, outdated and
needed renovations, but the engine ran, and
the "bones" were as good as they came!
With hopes high, we left the comfort of TN, to meet
the new boat, "Blue", in South Carolina!
About an hour into the drive, the Suburban started
to act a little wonky. Nothing spectacularly worrying,
but enough to make us all perk up. Luckily,
we made it to the Lake house without any further incidents.
Our luck didn't last. As Dan was backing the Suburban up to the trailer,
he ran the Suburban aground in a ditch that had
been covered by high grass. After some head scratching
he called a truck in to pull it out, and all was well.
For a short while anyway.
After loading the pontoon and securing her down,
we began the 1.5 hour treck back to Asheville.
I think we made it 10 miles before the Suburban
decided it'd lost the will to live and stalled.
On the highway. In the middle of nowhere!
(I don't say that lightly, I live in Rural TN,
I know "the-middle-of-nowhere" when I see it!)
So began the awful, hot, horrid, hilarious FIVE HOUR adventure back home!
One of many roadside stops!
If you're wondering why we didn't just
give up and call a tow truck.... we tried.
Numerous times. It was "easier", and I use the
term as loosely as I can, to nurse the Suburban back.
It was slow going, about 10 miles at a time, but we succeeded!
As for now, the pontoon has been stripped of it's former garb, and is being outfitted with all new goodies! New Seats, new console, new sound system, new bimini, new cover...the works!
And we'll STILL be thousands below what we
would have spent on a new (to us) boat!
I'll have more picture updates soon!
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