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Well, I ordered a boat...
#1
Now that I'm 73 years old, it is becoming harder and harder for me to get my 120+ pound Hobie Pro Angler on and off my Toyota Highlander - twice up and twice down every trip. It's a wonderful fishing craft and I enjoy it thoroughly, but the ordeal before and after the fishing is kicking my behind.

So today I put an order in for a Tracker Classic XL bass boat. They are so back-ordered that I won't get it until next Spring, but that gives me plenty of time to get other details in shape. Such as where to keep the thing. I have no place at my house to keep it except at the street curb, and that's an open invitation to thieves. So I'll need some storage facility, in a locked bay. I'll now be able to take my wife for boat rides, my grandson out fishing, and also at last be able to repay the generous folks here who have taken me along on their boats.

Yes, I'll be selling the Hobie, but not until I get or am about to get the Tracker. Stay tuned.
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#2
I'm happy for you, Rocky. I am very happy with having a boat now myself for the same reasons you mentioned. It sure makes a difference in my catch rate. From the bank I would catch one or two fish whereas now I sometimes get 15 or 20. Love it.
The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.


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#3
(06-08-2020, 06:55 PM)RockyRaab2 Wrote: Now that I'm 73 years old, it is becoming harder and harder for me to get my 120+ pound Hobie Pro Angler on and off my Toyota Highlander - twice up and twice down every trip. It's a wonderful fishing craft and I enjoy it thoroughly, but the ordeal before and after the fishing is kicking my behind.

So today I put an order in for a Tracker Classic XL bass boat. They are so back-ordered that I won't get it until next Spring, but that gives me plenty of time to get other details in shape. Such as where to keep the thing. I have no place at my house to keep it except at the street curb, and that's an open invitation to thieves. So I'll need some storage facility, in a locked bay. I'll now be able to take my wife for boat rides, my grandson out fishing, and also at last be able to repay the generous folks here who have taken me along on their boats.

Yes, I'll be selling the Hobie, but not until I get or am about to get the Tracker. Stay tuned.

Good for you Rocky, sounds like a smart move and it will be much easier on you. As far as a play to store it, you could always buy another house, where you have more room Wink.  How long is the boat you bought? Does it look anything like this:

https://www.trackerboats.com/boat/?boat=4902
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#4
Yes, that's it - except that I'm getting it with the 50-horse instead of the 40, and in black. Fred's Marine in Layton is the dealer.

It's a 16'8" boat, with a storage length (trailer Tongue folded) of 20'1" and I plane to rent a 10x20' storage unit for it. It ought to fit if I angle it in just a wee bit.

Oh, and I had wife permission already.
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#5
Smart move on that last bit.  I think you'll enjoy the boat.  Congrats!
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#6
My deepest condolences.
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#7
(06-08-2020, 10:54 PM)RockyRaab2 Wrote: Yes, that's it - except that I'm getting it with the 50-horse instead of the 40, and in black. Fred's Marine in Layton is the dealer.

It's a 16'8" boat, with a storage length (trailer Tongue folded) of 20'1" and I plane to rent a 10x20' storage unit for it. It ought to fit if I angle it in just a wee bit.

Oh, and I had wife permission already.
I think you will enjoy it Rocky and getting the bigger motor is always a smart move.
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#8
RockyRaab2 Wrote:Now that I'm 73 years old, it is becoming harder and harder for me to get my 120+ pound Hobie Pro Angler on and off my Toyota Highlander - twice up and twice down every trip. It's a wonderful fishing craft and I enjoy it thoroughly, but the ordeal before and after the fishing is kicking my behind.

So today I put an order in for a Tracker Classic XL bass boat. They are so back-ordered that I won't get it until next Spring, but that gives me plenty of time to get other details in shape. Such as where to keep the thing. I have no place at my house to keep it except at the street curb, and that's an open invitation to thieves. So I'll need some storage facility, in a locked bay. I'll now be able to take my wife for boat rides, my grandson out fishing, and also at last be able to repay the generous folks here who have taken me along on their boats.

Yes, I'll be selling the Hobie, but not until I get or am about to get the Tracker. Stay tuned.

 Good deal Rocky.  Fred's is a good outfit. I bought my new motor there this past March. Next time you go in there say hi to Heather for me.  She was my service rep at Ken Garff for several years when I bought my 2005 GMC. Then she moved to Fred's. I believe her husband works at Fred's also.

My total rig is 22.6 feet from hitch (not a folding tow frame) to tip of the prop shaft with the new motor tilted and stowed on the transom saver (approx. a 35 deg.  angle). About 2 feet more linear length than with my old motor  that I could stow with motor in vertical position.
I have a storage unit (I live in an apartment complex, not storage of any kind) that is 10' wide x 25' long. When I stow the boat, the motor goes right down the middle of  the width, and ends up about 2' from the back wall, and the hitch about 3 inches in from the roll up door. I have just under 2' on each side. But you know, I rented that storage unit and then realized, there was a lot of unused "space" above the height of my boat and some tool boxes, and fishing gear I have along the side. So at the very back of the unit I built a loft. All pressure treated 4x4 posts and 3/4" exterior grade plywood. Not attached to the unit floor, walls, or ceiling in any way. But framed in such a way that  it holds itself up and out by beams pressed in between the metal U channels in  the walls. I store several of my bench top power tools, Christmas decorations, & camping gear on that 10' wide x 4' deep x 8' high loft, with no damage to the storage unit walls Cool

If your new boat motor will be tilted out the back on a transom saver, did you allow for that length in your figuring for a storage unit ?
"OCD = Obsessive Catfish Disorder "
    Or so it says on my license plate holder
                                 
Cool
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#9
The 20' 1" number is with the motor tilted back down. I may or may not have to undo the "transom saver" bar when I store it each time, but that's a minor deal. Wife has already mentioned "Oh, Christmas storage!" and that's partly why I have her blessing. If I try it and it doesn't fit, I may have to opt for a longer unit, but that's a ways off since I won't even get the boat for almost a year.
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#10
Congrats with the purchase of a new boat. Here is an application to be sure you can go fishing with your buddies.

[Image: Permission-to-go-Fishing.jpg]
[Image: P3100003.jpg]
Harrisville UT
2000 7.3L F250 Superduty  '07 Columbia 2018 Fisherman XL Raymarine Element 9HV 4 Electric Walker Downriggers Uniden Solara VHF
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#11
(06-08-2020, 06:55 PM)RockyRaab2 Wrote: Now that I'm 73 years old, it is becoming harder and harder for me to get my 120+ pound Hobie Pro Angler on and off my Toyota Highlander - twice up and twice down every trip. It's a wonderful fishing craft and I enjoy it thoroughly, but the ordeal before and after the fishing is kicking my behind.

So today I put an order in for a Tracker Classic XL bass boat. They are so back-ordered that I won't get it until next Spring, but that gives me plenty of time to get other details in shape. Such as where to keep the thing. I have no place at my house to keep it except at the street curb, and that's an open invitation to thieves. So I'll need some storage facility, in a locked bay. I'll now be able to take my wife for boat rides, my grandson out fishing, and also at last be able to repay the generous folks here who have taken me along on their boats.

Yes, I'll be selling the Hobie, but not until I get or am about to get the Tracker. Stay tuned.
 Sounds like s win-win-win situation, new boat - taking your wife along - double your possession limit! Can't beat that! 

Congrats Rocky!
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#12
Well, guess what. Got a call from Fred's Marine and was told that another customer cancelled and I'll get my boat this week.

Great. Just exactly when I can no longer get it on the water this year. And it caught me unprepared. I had to very quickly find and rent a storage unit (that alone will cost me more than $500 extra over the winter) and get a hitch installed on my Highlander. Getting the hitch turns out to be a problem, too. Can't get an appointment for one until the 16th.

Fred's is going to have to hold my boat a few extra days before I can tow it.

On the plus side, I'll be able to take it out and do the multi-hour engine break-in as soon as Willard thaws and well before I'm tempted to fish while doing it. If you see a guy in a black Tracker Classic out there slowly droning around while wearing a snow suit, that's Rocky!
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#13
Think of it this way - you've got all winter now to get your boat all ready for soft water once again. If you need to get it up here sooner rather later us know, we'd be happy to assist so you can get it stored before ice up.
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#14
So how did you get that preapproved from your wife and do you offer classes on such delicate negotiations????
Remember: keep the lid on the worms, share your jerky, and stop by to say hi to Cookie and the Cowboy-Pirate crew
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#15
That part wasn't at all hard. I merely said that hefting my kayak atop the Highlander felt like an impending heart attack.

Oddly enough, the clincher was getting a storage unit. SWMBO said, "Oh, a place to put more holiday decorations!" (Ya jist never know wit wimmings, do ya?)
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#16
Congratulations. You are about to have a lot of good times ahead. I got my Tracker from Freds' in 2015 and no problems at all. Okay there is a problem. I have to keep adding something.

(11-08-2020, 02:47 PM)RockyRaab2 Wrote: Well, guess what. Got a call from Fred's Marine and was told that another customer cancelled and I'll get my boat this week.


On the plus side, I'll be able to take it out and do the multi-hour engine break-in as soon as Willard thaws and well before I'm tempted to fish while doing it. If you see a guy in a black Tracker Classic out there slowly droning around while wearing a snow suit, that's Rocky!
 I'm wondering if you will really be able to wait until spring before getting it wet. I would be as anxious as a young boy who just found his Xmas present in his parents closet.
Good fishing to all.   Hue
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#17
Well, I am now officially a boat owner. Picked up the black beauty today at Fred's. Put it in my storage unit and proceeded to take a lot of measurements for future installation of gadgets. DMV is running way behind on issuing registration numbers due to the 'vid, I'm told. So I can't legally take it out until I get them. But that won't stop me from ordering stuff and fussing about.

BTW if you own a Mercury, get their Vessel View Mobile. What an amazing device - tells you almost every engine condition from temps and RPM to fuel usage. Even links to the GPS in your phone or tablet to show maps!
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#18
(11-17-2020, 10:41 PM)RockyRaab2 Wrote: Well, I am now officially a boat owner. Picked up the black beauty today at Fred's. Put it in my storage unit and proceeded to take a lot of measurements for future installation of gadgets. DMV is running way behind on issuing registration numbers due to the 'vid, I'm told. So I can't legally take it out until I get them. But that won't stop me from ordering stuff and fussing about.

BTW if you own a Mercury, get their Vessel View Mobile. What an amazing device - tells you almost every engine condition from temps and RPM to fuel usage. Even links to the GPS in your phone or tablet to show maps!
Congrats Rocky, you have many fun fill days in your future. Good seeing you on Vets day, too bad we did not have longer to chat.
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#19
(11-17-2020, 10:41 PM)RockyRaab2 Wrote: DMV is running way behind on issuing registration numbers due to the 'vid, I'm told. So I can't legally take it out until I get them.

It wouldn't hurt to call some of the rural DMV's to see if they can get you set up. I did my boat this spring which was untitled with an out of state registration this spring and a truck two weeks ago. Both times they had me through the process in under thirty minutes.

I don't know why it would take any time for the computer to generate a hull ID number and print it on a piece of paper so that you can go get the decals.
Live to hunt----- Hunt to live.
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#20
Appreciate the suggestion, bow nut, but all this is being handled by Fred's Marine because it's a brand new boat. Fred's will mail me the decals when they get the numbers from DMV. It's no hardship at all.
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