Oh and also make sure the trailer is in his/her name....what a pain that can be....

Thanks for all the feedback.

Planning to visit a boat dealer this weekend.

Long day today....Drove 50 miles to check out a boat...

visited a couple of used boat dealers in lewisville...

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/boa/2142051135.html

This one looked decent..Any thoughts..

Make sure you either take someone that knows about boats or get a mechanic to check it out. See if they have reciepts for service and contact that person. Always take a test ride. From what you are saying I might go for a fish/ski, they seat your family better and you can still fish out of it.

I know nothing about boats...

Im trying to get a mechanic to check it out this week ans seal the deal if the boat is good.

Any recomendations for a mechanic?

I have never liked that 3.0 engine. Plus it looks like that engine is underpowering that boat. IMO

That boat is definately going to be more ski than fish. Usually an I/O is difficult in shallow water. I'd try to find a early 90's dual console bass boat. This works real well as a fish and ski. I own a 91 Champion 201 DC. It is primarily a bass boat and works great as a ski/tubing boat. I try to find something like that. $5K to spend is probably going to low to spend but lots of decent boats in the $10K range. Any boat in that price range is still going to be hit or miss at best. I probably spend about $1200 a year in repairs on average and I still do most of the little stuff myself. Be patient and good luck

+1 on looking for more of a bass boat set up vs ski boat fish/ski set up... You will regret buying a ski boat and trying to fish out of it... I have skied on all the bass boats I have owned... Install a stereo and ski pylon and off ya go!

Here is my current fish/ski!!



Stereo

Nice one.


Im going to take it slow for the first boat. I will take a mechanic to check it out this week and see how it goes.

If I end up make a bad decision on the boat, how much will it cost to replace the inboard engine?

oh geeze, did you buy that sunbird?

I wouldn't own an in/out board but that's just me... I feel outboards are easier to work on/get to, require less maintenance but can me more expensive to work on/get parts for...

You can always register it as a home built trailer. Ive done that a hundred times

No. I did not end up getting the sunbird.

Here is another boat Im looking at

Any feedback on this one?

Thanks a lot