My boat

About a month ago now, my family and I went camping with some of our friends. We camped on an island off Allatoona which was only accessible by boat. My friends own a sailboat. The plan was to get out to the island, set everything up and enjoy the next day sailing around the lake. Oh how I hate when plans never work out. My friends were going to take their daughter and another couple we camped with first and my husband and I would go when they returned. Not even 30 minutes later they came back with a broken mast. Isn't that a bummer.

Well my husband and I decided to rent a pontoon. And so the boat bug began. As soon as we got on we were in a completely different world. A water world! I just have to say how much we both fell in love with water world. I called my dad when we returned home and he started telling me about a boat and trailer that was for sale for $300.00. The first thought that came to mind was "What's wrong with it?" Then he told me. It has no motor. I told him that I could buy a boat with a motor cheaper than I could buy a motor by itself. So I decided to check some boats out on craigslist and found an 85 Checkmate Ski boat for $1500.00 with a 115hp Johnson motor. I fell in love called the guy and talked him down to $1000.00. I was sold. Why are pictures so deceiving!!!

I drove to Lagrange Ga from Cartersville, which is not a short drive by the way. When we got there it was nothing like I thought. But, I bought the thing anyway thinking it would be a great little project for me this summer.

And so my story begins here. I got it home and the next weekend we were going to go camp again and this time I was bringing my new boat. We got to the lake, got it on the water, cranked her up and couldn't go anywhere. My engine was revving up but I wasn't budging. The exhaust managed to push me around a little bit but that was all she wrote. A friend of mine jumped on and managed to get it in gear. I was relieved. He said it just needed to get the kinks worked out since it hadn't been ran in awhile. He got me to the dock and my husband jumped on and off we went. So I thought. It happened again! The darn thing wouldn't go. My engine was revving up but I couldn't go anywhere. I was livid. "What have I got myself into?" The next day I was able to get ahold of a mechanic who told me that it sounded like I spun a hub. So I took it to him to repair. Hundreds of dollars later I have a new hub, repaired propeller, new fuel pump, repaired cables and a running engine.

Went camping AGAIN and got my boat on the water. Let me just say if it wasn't for bad luck I would have no luck at ALL. Got the darn thing on the water and guess what wouldn't crank. Yeah that's right my boat. I did manage to get it cranked once which was a relief until I put it neutral and the darn thing died and wouldn't crank again. I know it has to be me doing something wrong.

So tomorrow I try again with a little help of someone who knows what the heck they are doing. I still have lots of work to do and will post my progress as I go. If your interested follow me on my quest to restore the most stubborn boat EVER!