I guess this is an appropriate weekend to post this story. I lost my dad in the fall of 2007. He had an immaculate TR-19 with a Yamaha 150 VMax on the back that he bought brand new in 1999. After he died I ran the boat a few times over the next couple of years until my mom got up the nerve to sell it. At the time I had a nice Skeeter and even though she offered to give me the boat I turned it down as I wanted her to just sell it and have the money. I ended up selling it for her to a friend of mine I work with. He's had it ever since. The boat truly looked brand new when he bought it from my mother. My dad was that guy that kept everything washed and waxed and vacuumed out all the time.
I have since sold the Skeeter and fished out of an Xpress for the last few years. I pretty much grew to hate that Xpress for a number of reasons, that aren't pertinent to this story, and had a strong urge for a fiberglass boat again. I tried for a few months to buy my dad's boat back from my buddy but he didn't want to sell it. Well, he has triplet teen boys that are now driving and they had one older Tahoe to share and that was not working out real well and they were having to drive daddy's brand new Denali pickup on occasion and he wasn't keen on that at all. So, a couple of weeks ago he walks into work one day and says, "I've got to buy another truck". He explained why and I said "you want a 2005 F-150"?. He says "yes how much do you want for it, I'm serious and I'll pay cash". Long story short I traded my truck for the boat, title for title. I had been threatening to get a new truck for the last couple of years anyway (got one now). My buddy did not fish much and he always kept the boat in storage and kept it super clean. It still looks like the same boat it was the day my dad died with the exception of a little wear on the seats and carpet, but they are still in quite good shape.
When I got the boat from my buddy everything worked except for the manual bilge, which I already fixed, and the trailer brakes, which I still have to go through. The electronics were still the ones my dad had on there and were super outdated so I'm in the process of changing them out now. I got a Lowrance Elite 9Ti for the dash and an Elite 7Ti for the bow. The motor runs great but will probably be making a trip to Hydro Tech in Nixa this fall for a little warmup.
It's great to be back in a real bass boat again and it's even sweeter that it was my father's boat that he loved so much. I should have never let it slip out of my hands but I couldn't be any more happy to have it back. Father's Day is though when you don't have one anymore and especially when you lose one before his time. You guys make sure you spend time with them while you can if you still have them.
I'll post a few pics once I get the new electronics all mounted up. It's probably the cleanest 19 year old boat you will see. I've got the bow and console kinda half tore apart right now working on the install. Looks like I'm a Triton owner! It rides great and runs pretty dang good for a 150hp. I figure my dad is smiling and I know I am.
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Good story & good deal. Congrats.
Originally Posted by ChrisH
