I have been considering getting a newer boat since pretty much the day I bought the Winner fish and ski. I have kept a Craigslist search going, as well as looking on various social media spots to see if there are any deals.
My criteria was simple. Year 2000 or newer. 150HP or higher. Under $8000. 19′ so we would have a bit more room as a family.
A real gem showed up on a listing. A listing with no photo, so nobody really looked at it. I pounced on it immediately.
19’ Javelin fish and ski – 175 Johnson V6, new power head in Feb 2020. 15 hours on it. $7500
The seller wanted right at the NADA guide’s middle of the road price. I negotiated a bit and got it for $1500 less. I was pleased. The seller was pleased. I’d call it a good deal!
This is a 2000 Javelin Renegade 19FS with a 2000 Johnson 175HP V6. FS means fish and ski, like the current boat. The design is a bass boat, with a portion of the rear fishing desk removed for a row of seats, and a portion of the front fishing deck removed for a place to sit and lounge. This boat is 2 feet longer that the Winner, and more importantly, twelve years newer and basically a new motor on it.
This now poses a problem. I now have two boats! One has to go, and its not going to be the one I just bought. Craigslist provides the solution once again. Easy come, easy go. I listed the old boat.
I got a response within an hour. Somebody wanted to come out today. I was busy, so maybe tomorrow. Agreed. No show.
Next one asked 1000 questions, then went silent.
Next one asked appropriate questions and said there was another boat they were going to look at today, but if they didn’t get it, they would call me to see mine. No call.
I got about 20 calls on the boat during the first few days. It ended up with one guy actually coming out to look at it. He thought it was ok, but there was a soft spot on the deck, right at the floor drain. He said he was going to look at another one and would buy mine if he didn’t get that one. No further calls.
The calls dried up. That’s it. I just left the ad, and figured it would eventually expire and I might list it again next spring.
Then, a call. He wanted to come out that evening to see it. I told him all the problems it had (just got tired of the game) and he was still interested. The guy showed up and looked it over. Agreed with me that a few things needed fixing, but the price was right and accounted for it. I started it up for him, and he thought it sounded pretty good.
Slight negotiation and Sold, pending his partner looking at it. He put two $100 bills in my hand to secure it. Well, ok then.
He called back the next day and asked if they could see it run on a lake. I thought about it and agreed that I could do that. We picked a Sunday at 10:00am at the lake I usually fish.
That meant that I needed to go put the boat in the water Saturday and shake down the work I did on it. Would the fuel pump and fuel bulb make the difference? If there was a problem, maybe I could get it fixed before Sunday.
I headed out Saturday at 8:00am and had the boat in the water at 9:00. It felt like it was idling good, but the real test would be when it was opened up.
Just crossing the no-wake buoys, I gunned it. It ROARED to life. Oh man! A little trim and it was flying on plane. I made a pass down the lake and turned around in calmer water to get my cell phone out. I wanted to see how fast GPS said I was going. The next pass, with it trimmed just right, and I hit 37 mph. That’s the fastest the boat has ever done in my presence.
I just grinned. I giggled a bit. I finally fixed this thing! Yeah!
The boat was running great and I figured I’d run it hard for a bit. After all, if it wanted to run, I was going to run it. I took another fast pass down the lake, made a 90 degree turn at speed and headed for the dam. The boat just felt right. The return trip was the same. Flawless!
There may have been a few dirty looks from some fishermen, and some others, but I was beyond caring. The boat was finally fulfilling it’s potential. It’s tired old potential.
A half-hour later and the boat was on the trailer going home. It would be back the next morning and would show off what it could do. The happy new owners would take it home.
<Morgan Freeman Narrator Voice>, “Sadly, things would not go as planned”
These stories of mine always have a catch, right? This one is no different. The boat had one last little trick up it sleeve. I got to the lake a little early so I could have the boat ready for the buyers. It idled great off the trailer and I tied it up at the load/unload dock. About the time I got the truck parked and back to it, the buyers showed up.
I suggested one of them sit at the controls while I rode in the back. The one partner had run one before, and had it out of the dock and on the way to unrestricted part of the lake in no time. I was confident things would run great. After all, it ran GREAT the day before.
The buyer passed the no-wake buoys and gunned it. The motor bogged down. No power. He took it back to idle, and did it again. It started to rev, then NO POWER!
My face flushed in embarrassment. I apologized for wasting their time and suggested we go back to the dock. The guys asked me a few questions. How did it run last time? (great), what changed? (nothing). They asked if I wanted to try fixing it while they were still there. I said sure.
We got back to the dock and I took the cowling off. There was a bit of fuel splashed around, but I didn’t see anything around the fuel pump. I moved the fuel filter and it was wet. I gave it a little squeeze, and it leaked on my hand. It had a crack in it. I mentioned to the guys that I think I found the problem and set off to the marina office to see if they had a replacement.
They did not, but suggested I go around to the boat mechanic in back. I explained my situation to one of the guys there and he was all over it. He said, yeah, I got a filter for ya, but its used. I said that I didn’t care, as I just wanted to get my boat sold. He grinned and grabbed a screwdriver and took one off a gas tank he uses for running motors in the shop. I objected as it was needed for his business and he waved me off.
I asked how much for it, and he said its yours, just recommend my shop if you or somebody needs some work done. He did a little start and grabbed a couple of clamps and handed them to me, “just to be sure”. I thanked him profusely and headed out to the truck to get my emergency tools.
It took a couple of minutes to swap the filter and we were headed back out on the lake. We got to the end of no-wake and he gunned it. And… it started to go, then bogged. I was once again embarrassed. I went to the back and pulled the cowling off of it and asked him to try again, so I could see if there was anything going on.
He gunned it, and it responded. IT RESPONDED! In fact, it ran pretty well without the tins on it. It wasn’t like the day before, but it was getting up on plane. There must have been an air restriction of some sort with the tins. Maybe there is a filter I’ve never located or changed. Who knows?
In any case, the guys talked it over and made me an offer of $500 under what we had agreed on. I negotiated a bit and it ended up $300 under what I was originally asking. They thought it was fair, and hey, I was going to take what I could get out of it.
Money in pocket, I went up to the parking area and moved the boat trailer over to their minivan. Minivan? Yeah, whatever, it’s your boat now. They loaded up the boat and off they went.
The good news is that I broke even on the boat. I got it cheap, put $600 into it, and broke even. I’m going to call that a win. I got the boat to learn on and it served that purpose. It got the last laugh at the end, but I supposed it earned it. Well, it’s now somebody else’s project and I wish them luck.
(this post was originally intended to be published Fall 2020, but life happens)