My First Pre-Owned Speed Boat
I knew nothing about speed boats when I decided to buy my first one a few years ago. So I watched lots of eBay auctions and got a feel for how much different boats were selling for and what I could afford.
I realised that the actual boat – the hull – wasn’t that important and on its own was almost worthless. What really mattered were the engine and the trailer – particularly as I am no mechanic. Without a reliable trailer in good condition, you can’t get your boat to water. And without a reliable engine in good condition, you can’t go anywhere in your boat once you’re on the water!
The first boat I bought was a Picton 170 GTS with a Johnson 85 HP 4 stroke outboard engine.
At 17’ it was about the right size and I was attracted to it because the trailer had been specially made for the boat only the year before so I knew it would be in good condition.
But here’s a word of warning …
The seller claimed the engine was about 20 years old. What I didn’t know was that all engines have a serial number from which you can tell its age. I found this out after I had bought the boat and when I checked the age of the engine it was actually about 30 years old!
And sure enough, the engine gave us quite a few problems. I know nothing about engines and had trouble starting it. In fact, we ended up naming the boat “Bob” because it spent more time just bobbing in the water with the engine not working than with the engine running!
It became clear that the former owner had kept the engine running by “tinkering” with it. It had the wrong spark plugs and the idling wasn’t set properly. Unless you know what you are doing, I strongly recommend that you have the engine professionally winterized, de-winterized and serviced each year by a professional marine engineer, like I do.
I also recommend that you get the serial number of the engine so you can check its age and ask to see the service history of the engine before you commit to buying.
My First Pre-Owned Speed Boat
Despite these problems, the kids loved our first boat “Bob”. It originally had 2 sleak-looking sports car bucket seats. But when we turned the passenger seat round to face the back (sorry – stern!) so the passenger could act as a “spotter” when towing a wakeboarder, the high back of the passenger seat obscured the driver’s view.
Having only 2 seats also meant that any more than 2 people in the boat got an uncomfortable bumpy ride, particularly when the sea was choppy (boats don’t have suspension!)
So I removed the 2 bucket seats, sold them on eBay, and bought 4 new seats. I also bought a second-hand ski pole on eBay and fitted this to the boat.
We had a lot of fun in “Bob” but despite having it professionally serviced each year, the old engine was unreliable. I considered buying a replacement engine but new engines of an adequate size are VERY expensive and buying a second-hand engine would be problematical. Engines of this size are very heavy so transporting it would be difficult. I would also have to pay to have the old engine removed and the new one attached (as this is not a job I felt qualified to do). I was also very suspicious of anyone selling a second-hand engine. Why would anyone take an engine off a boat unless the engine was unreliable?
We also decided we could do with a bigger boat so we could fit more people in so we decided to sell “Bob” on eBay. In the eBay listing I emphasised that there were problems with the engine which obviously reflected the price I eventually sold “Bob” for but I’m an honest guy and didn’t want to rip anyone off.
We then bought my second pre-owned speed boat …
