Proud new owner of a (basically) new 2009 Bayliner 175-gctid383027

[Guest]

Currently just finished the process of buying my first boat. I am in the Coast Guard (and my wife used to be) and am really excited to be able to be out on the water without having to work!

Here's the Craigslist ad (no personal pictures yet, pick the boat up on Thursday)

http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/boa/2990629539.html

It's like waiting for christmas!!

[Guest]

Welcome aboard!! It looks like a very nice boat.

Greg

[Guest]

Went and looked at it yesterday and got him to come down on the price a little.......virtually brand new, he said he had been on it twice in 2 years. I can't wait to take it out. We live in the Sarasota area.

[Guest]

That's a great looking boat! You and your family will have a wonderful time on that.

Everybody is different, but after a number of years of boating, I found that regardless of the size of the boat, if you keep it in the water at a marina rather than towing and launching every time you want to go out, you tend to use your boat a lot more. Like even on the way home from work during the week. I had a guy who lived less than 1,000' from the launch ramp tell me the same thing.

I think it's a feeling of owning your own personal doorway to paradise and all you have to do is park, walk down the dock and it's all there waiting for you.

[Guest]

congratulations! I have the old version of it and we love it. Mine was dry stored for 13 years by the PO without ever using it! Make sure to have the oil and filter changed as the previous owner may have not done it. Latest next season the impeller should be changed.

Having the boat at/in the water really helps. Since a few weeks ours is in a storage place closer to the lake and no longer in the garage. Makes it a lot easier to go boating if you only have to tow it a few miles but more painful to work on the boat.......

[Guest]

Great boat, we have a 2004 model and go out every opportunity. You will love it.

[Chief_Alen]

Welcome aboard !

[Guest]

Nice...Congrat's!

[FISHIN00]

Welcome.....looks like a real nice boat!....You going to run it in the Gulf or look for freshwater boating?

[Guest]

Thanks for all the kind words and welcome!

I plan on getting a slip at a marina (when I can...they aren't cheap in my area..), but I assure you it will be used. My wife is a prior Boatswain's Mate in the Coast Guard and I'm still in the Coast Guard, so needless to say, we love the water and want to be out on it every chance we get

We plan on mainly using it to cruise around the ICW and Tampa Bay, but we're going to take it offshore for some fishing (I know they aren't great boats for fishing, but it gets me out there!) once we get used to driving it and get accustomed to the chartplotter that it comes with (Lowrance HDS-5 I believe, can't remember).

This guy really took care of his boat. He has ALL his maitenence records, and kept it real clean and garage kept. This boat looks brand new...I couldn't believe I found one so clean. It's worse than waiting for Christmas waiting to pick it up and get it out on the water! Weather seems good for this weekend, so hopefully I'll be out there!

BTW, does anyone have/know about the Lowrance HDS-5? It seems like a pretty high-end unit for a boat that size.

[Guest]

jnhuscg wrote:
Thanks for all the kind words and welcome!

I plan on getting a slip at a marina (when I can...they aren't cheap in my area..), but I assure you it will be used. My wife is a prior Boatswain's Mate in the Coast Guard and I'm still in the Coast Guard, so needless to say, we love the water and want to be out on it every chance we get

We plan on mainly using it to cruise around the ICW and Tampa Bay, but we're going to take it offshore for some fishing (I know they aren't great boats for fishing, but it gets me out there!) once we get used to driving it and get accustomed to the chartplotter that it comes with (Lowrance HDS-5 I believe, can't remember).

This guy really took care of his boat. He has ALL his maitenence records, and kept it real clean and garage kept. This boat looks brand new...I couldn't believe I found one so clean. It's worse than waiting for Christmas waiting to pick it up and get it out on the water! Weather seems good for this weekend, so hopefully I'll be out there!

BTW, does anyone have/know about the Lowrance HDS-5? It seems like a pretty high-end unit for a boat that size.

Welcome and Congrats! Glad you have all the maintenance records....the reason I say this is since it's been barely used, sometimes early, important maintenance may not have done (engine alignment, for example)

As to the Lowrance, a separate post in the Tech forum might be better, since it's a higher end unit not normally found on a bow rider. BTW, there are 3 versions/generations of this unit: 5, 5x, and 5m.

http://www.lowrance.com/Products/Marine/HDS-High-Definition-System/HDS-5-FishfinderGPS-Chartplotter/

Those ad pics are gorgeous.

[Guest]

That does look like a very clean boat, congrats! We love ours, we are on our 3rd season. I have a lot of friends and family in the Tampa/Sarasota area and I hear you can basically go island hopping down there which would be really fun. I will have to bring mine down there one of these long weekends...

[Guest]

Hi all,Thanks for the kind words and welcome! I picked up the boat and took her out for the first time Tuesday and Wednesday. She runs great! We put her in the Manatee River and just made sure it ran on Tuesday (only out about 30 minutes) and then took her for about 3 hours yesterday. I can't believe how fuel-efficient this boat is. I did about a 50 mile round-trip from Ellenton to Sarasota (via the ICW and Manatee River) and only burned a half-tank of gas. We got in some 2-3 foot swells for a while in Tampa Bay and she handled them great.Here are some pictures of the boat and one of me and my son

[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/688190=28024-boat.jpg[/img]

[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/688190=28025-tristenboat.jpg[/img]

[Guest]

Welcome!

Best of luck with your new boat, I'm sure it'll bring you many years of pleasure and good times with your family.

Thanks for your service in the Coast Guard, by the way. My grandpa was in the Coast Guard as well.

Peggy

[Guest]

I installed the HDS-7 in mine. They are probably a tad high end for a bow-rider, but what I like about them is that it gives you confidence to go into areas you might not otherwise venture. For me, we usually boat in the intracoastal around Broward and Palm Beach counties. That's no issue. However, we also like to venture into the Keys and into the waters around Sanibel and Captiva. For that, I find the chart plotter, charts, and depth-gauge quite invaluable in giving me confidence going into unknown areas.

jnhuscg wrote:


BTW, does anyone have/know about the Lowrance HDS-5? It seems like a pretty high-end unit for a boat that size.