Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

[Bwana Don]

Yea I have been looking foir an old Sears fiberglass 12 footer. My uncle had one and I loved that old glasser. She road nice and we fished the small lakes in Oakland County MI. We even took her out on Lake St. Clair. Sooooo, I've been Craiglisting a few of these. Found one for a hundred bucks. It sold ten minutes before I got there.

Here's where the story gets weird. The old guy that bought it has an old aluminum 12' for sale. I take his number and shove it in my pocket, he wants a buck fifty for it. I'm really wanting an old Sears glasser though. Back to CL I go and what do I see the next morning a Starcraft 12 footer. I call my brother (everyone needs an accomplice) and tell him I'm hot on the trail of another boat. He says check the old guys #, dang it's the same.


Long story short I get there ten minutes BEFORE some one else buys it this time. So I've got another Starcraft in the yard, it was my destiny. I unloaded it from my bros truck and Lisa looks out the front door and says "You're kidding right?". I reply back, "Does it look like I'm kidding?".
Zach my 7 year old is jumping for joy. He pulls a veteran move on me and tells me, thanks for buying me this boat Dad. you're the best Dad ever. So, I guess it's his boat now, he named it Treasure Island. He has plans to paint it too. Needs a transom and he's ready to fix her up.


I'm so proud I could bust. I'll give him til tomorrow to come correct with some pictures or I'll rat him out to the mob.


Don
Zach

 

[Jayb123]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

congrats Don.... . Starcrafting is now a family event. I like it

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

Congrats Zach! Nice work swiping it from your old man!

Hey buddy, we'll need some photos before we can officially welcome you into the club.

Since your not yet of age, we can give you 72 hours to post them rather than the standard 48. Miss that deadline and we are coming for you.

Well done Zach!

 

[Brenn]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

Nice,there was a couple 12footers on my local CL.Though not as cheap as you got that for.Great find

 

[Bwana Don]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

Bought some rollers for the trailer. The trailer is from the 50's I think, older than me anyway. I need some bunks and a winch for the front. Oars too, and hook up the depth finder and finish the Johnson 10 horse. It never ends.....Oh yea the previous owner did some funny stuff to the transom it's a big old piece of raw pine. I'll post pictures later.

Zachary is pretty pumped, once Lisa saw him in the boat she was happy. I am officially the greatest dad in the world now. I hope I stay that way! The boy got into the white spray can we got with the boat. He covered the garage floor in a mixture of PB Blaster and white and green paint. Had to throw his clothes out they stunk soooo bad. The worst part, I'm a University of Michigan football fan, the colors green and white are NEVER allowed to contact each other in my home. Thankfully the PB Blaster went down first and the paint didn't stick.

Zach already has plans on painting the boat, I think this may qualify as a resto. It need a transom and a paint job. I'm so proud of him and HIS boat. Little scammer.

Don

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

Awesome Don, just awesome

I like the new rig, and the name is fitting since spending time with your offspring fishing is truly a treasure

Welcome aboard Zach

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

That's a real nice little tinnie. Put a 4HP on it for now, a 9.9 when he's older. When I was that age, I wanted that exact boat!

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

That's a real nice little tinnie. Put a 4HP on it for now, a 9.9 when he's older. When I was that age, I wanted that exact boat!

I want it at my age..lol

Fantastic!

 

[djpeters]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

That's awesome!!! Congratulations to both of you!

 

[yooperangler]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

Congratulations nice looking boat and definitely qualifies as a resto. U of M colors on a 12 footer sounds good to me

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

Zach, you scored yourself a great little rig! Nice job buddy!

 

[jbing81]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

"You're kidding right?". I reply back, "Does it look like I'm kidding

Yeeppp, heard that one before... lol

 

[paparoof]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

Hi five Zach!

Now let's see pictures of some fat largemouths flopping on the floor!

 

[MichaelP]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

What a great little story. That event is one of those bonding moments between you and your son. Many more to come with that boat I'm sure.
BTW...I know exactly what 12' glasser your talking about. I had one and loved it, even got it to plane out with a 7.5 air cooled Ted Williams. It was like surfing.

 

[Bwana Don]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

I LOVED that little 12 foot fiberglass. We had a 9.9 Mercury on it and it was a good little fishing machine. We even took it out on Lake St. Clair a few times. Rode like a dream.

I'm looking forward to getting this little boat out. I ordered some rollers and bunk braces along with a winch for the trailer. The 10 horse Johnson (circa 1955) that is going on the Offshore as a kicker will do double duty. Maybe a week or two and she'll be catching fish.

I'll post some pictures of the Johnson rebuild and the trailer fixin' up too. I think I'm going to let little man paint it (boat)! Previous owner rattle canned it with no prep and it's starting to peel a little. I'll let him help anyway, make him think he did it all. Zach will remember it always. He's told me everyday since we bought the little tinnie that I'm the "Greatest Dad Ever". He keeps that up and I'll pick up a little Jiohnson 5 horse for him.


Don't tell the wife, she loves surprises.

 

[Bwana Don]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

Spent the day Saturday wire wheeling the trialer. Sprayed it down with Rustoleum, Rust Converter. The bare areas were primered. Then of course it rained all night. Bought some rollers and ordered bunk supports and a winch for the trailer. UPS will stop by on Monday, and there is a 7 year old who will be waiting. Ordered a piece of stock from Mcmaster Carr and it's in the garage. I'm going to make some roller supports at the shop.

If I get a chance I'll pull the boat out and look at the transom. It looks .... wel I'll post some pictures. Zach is already asking to paint the trailer. He'll ask every ten minutes until we do it.

Anyone recomend a good citrus based stripper? I would like to strip and paint the boat.

I need to pull the carb off the QD-16, Johnson. Lower is off to replace the impellar. It needs a little work before launch

 

[heyyou325]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

Sounds to me like Zach knows how to get a good deal. You should be proud of him, it's a good start. I'm sure you 2 will have a lot good bonding time with that boat. And it sounds like he made you look good to your wife. Quite a kid you got there.

 

[Bwana Don]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

We did all new electrical to the motor; Coils, points/condensors, plugs/copper core plug wires.

 

[Bwana Don]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

A couple of more pictures before we started working on her.

We got the plans for the stand on Iboats here. Zach helped with the cutting and drilling. He loves working on stuff.

 

[Bwana Don]

Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie

We've been working on this old trailer I bought last year. We had the old plastic Crawdad 11' flatbottom on it. The tires and rims were really old. They had a single nut holding them, right in the center. Just like your fron rotors on a car. I replace them with marine hubs and new 4 lug tires.

Now we are converting it over to a deep V so it will carry the Sea Scamp.

It's got some old fenders on it!