I had wanted a boat for years, but we just didn't have the money for such a toy, so we have made do without, or borrowing the boats of friends, or family members on occasion. The weekend of Memorial Day, in 2000), things changed.
We had heard of this particular boat from a neighbor, who knows the sons of the now deceased former owner. The sons lived out of state, and were in the process of trying to close out /settle the estate of their father.
Here is what we got....
A 16' aluminum StarCraft boat, a ShoreLand'r trailer, a tiller steer 30hp Envinrude motor, plus a slug of other stuff, like extra life vests, some tackle, a couple of depth finders (one on the boat, the other for ice fishing), a stern mount Minnkota Trolling Motor, etc.
Here is the boat, ready for its first
trip to the lakes. This was taken in June 2000. It is hitched to
our van, where I was standing (on the bumper) to take this picture. The seating
is laid out for 5 seats, although we've found three people to
be about as cozy as you want to get. The rear most bench and
the second bench have seats that slide on rails, allowing
the weight of the passengers to be shifted from side to side
for the best performance.
Some of the seats are also set up for umbrella's - to shade one
from the effects of the sun. If you look at the picture closely,
you will notice some brackets on the backs of the two right-hand seats and the rear seat, and a white bag lying on the floor between the bow and
second bench. The bag contains the umbrellas.
This is my sons, Aaron and Alex, near the
public landing on Cedar Lake, in Rice County, MN. They had just dropped me off so that I could get the van and trailer, and
were moving back out to make room for other boats.
We ended up doing some repairs and re-furbishing, and more will be needed over time. For the 2000 season, we put on: new tires, new wheel bearings, a new depth finder (bad LCD screen), and two new batteries (one had a bad cell, the other had a crack in the case), along with some scrubbing and cleaning. I also did some minor re-wiring - of the running lights, horn (useful if we go to the Mississippi River, and want to lock-thru the dams) and depthfinder.
Not quite the deal we thought it was, but it still beats the boat we didn't have in prior seasons. Future repairs / upgrades will include a new floor / storage, a bow mount trolling motor, a second anchor winch, and possibly a second depth finder. A live well would also be nice, but I'm not certain there will be enough room, as the boat is somewhat narrow.
On the other hand, the boat handles well, and the motor runs smoothly. We have had it out several times, and look to do much more "soft water" fishing in the future.
This boat came to live at our house in little bit differant way in the summer of 2001. I was searching thru the "employee classified" ads on my employers intra-net. I stumbled across an ad for boat #2. Out of curiousity, I contacted the seller, and went and took a look. This was too good a deal to pass up. It is a older (as in who knows how old) 12 ft. Alumacraft - your basic rowboat. Asking price was $100 - I offered $80 - sold!
Sorry, I don't have a picture at this time. The beauty of this boat is its light weight and simplicity. Two people can handle this boat easily. There are a number of small lakes and ponds in our area where this boat is a perfect fit. Put on the electric trolling motor and away you go.
Questions? Then shoot a note to me at sportsman00.geo@yahoo.com or click on the letter icon....
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Copyright 2000, 2003© Jim Laumann.