Hello All,
Several weeks ago I took my 10 year old son out crappie fishing. I rented a 16 ft Lowe Aluminum boat and off we went for the day to the bass capitol of Texas Lake Fork. I managed to even convince my father to tag along. Anyway after that I got the fishing fever and started looking for maybe a 17 or 18 ft Bass Tracker or something like it. Needless to say I checked Craig's List 2 or 3 times a day seeing if anything interesting poped up. I never had any luck and what I did go actually look at was either a piece of crap or they wanted to much for their boat.
I have a co-work who's brother has a 1992 18 ft Stratos 285 PRO XL with a 1992 Evinrude 175 Intruder Spitfire Series V6 and a 54 pound Motor Guide trolling motor, 2 live wells, cooler, removable front deck platform, 3 batteries - one for the motor and the other 2 runs all the rest of the stuff I assume. It also has a 1992 Stratos trailer that is made for the boat.
The guy told me that it has sat up under a leantwo off of his shop for about 2 years with a custom cover over it. However as time went by the cover became full of leaves and made he cover sag and thus it began to leak water on the boat. The floor catty corner to the console has a hole in it about the size of a softball. Looks like to me that was where a drain used to be located but the wood flooring in that particular spot is rotten. I am a pretty good carpenter and replacing the wood does not scare me at all. I know I can do it!!!
I have read several blogs and articles on how to replace the flooring. From what I gathered I can used either regular BC 3/4 inch plywood or 3/4 inch treated plywood. Some say use an epoxy resin to seal the wood before I place it in the boat and some have suggested using fiberglass resin to coat the wood. Even one person said that he used industrial strength polyurothem on his wood. My question is what the best way to treat the wood so keep moisture out?
Also can I replace the carpet with a high grade outdoor carpet like from a hardware store instead of using the marine carpet? I am sort of on a budget!
I decided to buy the boat and I brought it home this evening, Made it home right before dark so I will begin to take some pictures to show what I bought. I paid $2500 for the deal. I hope I did not make a BAD deal in buying it. It looks pretty decent but needs a good clean up! The motor has stabuild in the gas and believe or not it started right up and ran good. Once I get the deck issue address I will be to tackel the motor by replacing the lubricate in the lower unit, putting on a new water pump, changing out the spark plugs and wires.
Any suggestions, comments, or advice would be great apprecaited. HAPPY FISHING...I will be using this site extensively for suggestions and advice since this is my first bass boat!!!
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