Hey! Just thought i'd share some pic's of a boat I purchased over the week end for the summer. I know it's off season a bit, but cheaper prices!!








Few detals, 18 foot Charger weights 800 pounds and is equiped with a 150hp merc O/B. Took it for a test ride today at 3 C going 75 mph!!!!




Problem is, now i'm not sure if I can't wait for winter or summer?

Congrats on the canoe buddy, those DL's are nice boats... check out www.fastboatscanada.com lots of good info on there, and we're all locals

Kevo

Very nice boat Kevin is that what working at a ski hill can get you? Buying in the off season is always the best time to buy, sweet deals waiting to use the toy is another issue. Trust me we are in winter mode my friend .

Paul

Thanks Kevo! I'll have to check that web site out tomorrow at work! Thanks!





Thanks Paul, I actually have a very good job at unilock now and dont pay rent, so thats what that gets you!! I work at the ski hill part time but lets just say they pay very very well for an easy job!! I saved at least a few grand by buying in the fall, but now I'm not sure what I can't wait to ride??!!


Kevin

Trust me you can ride water in the winter.

Nice purchase Kev..

hmmm right hand drive haha nice boat kev....

Nice boat. Do you have a cottage, or what lake are you planning on using it on?

nice boat............75 is optimistic but they do run well. What year is the boat? Looks in decent shape. Just run a straight edge from the keel to the strakes and run it perpendicular to the keel all the way along the whole boat. If it runs true and doesnt have any excessive gaps you have one of the good ones. The latter year ones where junk as the molds were punched and produced a massive hook in the boat. Flex your transom as well. and install a steel(stainless) bracket over the outside and in for added strength.

Great boat tho man. What lake you on?

Thanks Ice! My parents have a place on little lake which is right beside the locks to Georgian bay in Port severn. It will sit up there for the summer.




Hey thanks!! 75 was on the dream meter, but it has been on the gun at 72 with a 25 pitch prop. The boat is an 1989 Charger and is in great shape minus a few scratches here and there. It was always on a boat lift so there isn't any osmosis (Spelling?). I made sure and there isn't any flex in the transom what so ever, but i was looking at installing one of those brackets.

BTW I'm on little lake in Port severn.

By the way, it tosses quite the rooster tail!!!

Nice boat Kev,
My buddy has one that looks just like it but his is called a Challenger. It does 70 but he installed a gas pedal and put the power trim on the steering wheel so he could hang on. His gets a little squirrley at high speeds.

Thanks Stevie! Yeah they are pretty similar to the Challenger. I would love to have the foot pedal, it was an option on this boat, but the guy bought it at the boat show right off the floor.

haha sounds like a good boat to me than haha

It got me excited aswell! It tosses water when trimmed up a bit about 12 feet high in the air and about 15-20 feet back behind the boat.

its just the brought!

Very nice Kevvy!!
How many grey hairs does mommy have now?

sorry, I meant Prop!

ya that was real close

None yet. She hasn't seen it in action. Though she will freak when her and my pop's are sitting in the bay and i come flying by at 65 mph with a huge rooster tail! She'll probably beat the shit out of me!

Nice hottie troller Kev

ha! thanks Rick. Main thing is going fast, but we can't forget the potential for picking up chicks!!

I'll have to make sure I leave the fly down on my pants so I can troll!!

It's all prop! I was going to sell this one and get a new one because the one I have now retails at 600 bucks!! 25 pitch Stainless steel Quicksilver. Not sure on the model though!

shouldnt post and talk on phone at same time!

then its OVER TRIMMED. Now you need to add 6 inches of set back and a jack plate. Then start prop testing. 75 real mph should be within reach if the bottom is straight.

Chargers are sick boats, my buddy's neighbor has one basically the exact same as yours but red, the 150s fly on those things, put a gas pedal in it and youll have a ball.
Well have to bring it over to sand lake and line em up or youll have to come to 3 mile

Ha! It's definatly gonna be a fun boat. For an 89 I love the way it looks!

Tinkerphant is right about the roost... put a Jackplate on it with 6" of set back and start trimming down, with the jack plate lifted higher, and watch the speed and control you'll gain...

I'd be looking for as CLE gearcase, if it doesn't already have one, and a 26" Chopper

Kevo

I'm going to run it this summer and see how it goes. The stearing is stiff with the cable drive. It really needs hydralic stearing. I'm using a 25 pitch LASERII prop from quicksilver now. I'm not too savvy on these outboards as most of my families boats have been I/O.

Defenatly check out fastboatscanada.com as there is alot of good guys over there with lots of tips.. they also get together often for runs..

Kev..

That prop you have now is a good ski prop.. but you're gonna want to run a surface prop like a chopper or a Lighting ET to create more lift... let me know if you have any questions.. I can help you out with proper set up

Kevo

Very Nice !!!!!!

What would you suggest for driving by myself? In this boat when you get up going over 55mph to about 60+ it starts to sway a big back and fourth. Not sure what the term is used for that or if you even know what i mean!

Thats called chine walking and you can learn to steer thru it. You need to counter steer against the "wobble" just before it happens. Its a rythym thing you can learn to be comfortable with.

Cool! Thanks Tinker, now I just gotta figure out how much and how hard to redo the stearing on the motor.

I've been in my buddy's Challenger when it started chine walking. Exciting for the driver, scary as hell if your the passenger.

I'm gonna try to make sure it doesn't happen!

You will want at the very least, dual cable steering and solid motor mounts. Helps take the play out of the steering.

Someone over at Fastboatscanada told me that it was dual steering already and if need be replace it with a working used or new. I just dont know where or how much to get one. I'll have to check with merc to see what they charge.

Kev check with Thinksno on here,....he changed his steering on his Sidewinder recently to some sweet rig...maybe what Tink is mentioning but not sure?

Cool, thanks Slider. I'm going to look into the steering tonight. The past 2 days was clean up. If it looks like i need a new one I will definatly take your advice and PM him. Thanks

cool boat. I ran a DL with a 175 merc... one summer dont know anything about it, but the thing hauled.. a lot more than the 19 jcraft w/200 we had as well... talk about chine wobble though.. nothing like doing 65mph with a flat bottom ski boat and the tracking fins out of the water..

Kev if you have the $$ I'd suggest a SeaStar Hydraulic steering system.. i have this same set up on my STV, and it's the cats ass.. I used to have a dual ride guide (which is what you have now) on my old Hydrostream, and you can't even compare it to the seastar.. talk about zero feedbaack.. it's like having power steering!... check on Fastboats, i think there was a guy selling one on there

Kevo

Thats the problem, I dont really have the cash and need to save for snowmobile season. I may just pull the motor and put in new cables in the spring. Seems like my best bet. I think single cable steering would be better than it sits now!! Even though I wouldn't go back.

DON'T GO TO A SINGLE CABLE... VERY DANGEROUS with a performance application like yours... once the boat gets into a chine walk there is no way in hell you'll be able to correct and drive through it

at the least get a new dual cable from like Teraflex or one of the other aftermarket manufactures

Kevo

measure your cables and then hit cpperformance.com for good prices.

Rarely does the rack or rotary unit fail, usually just really stiff cables.

It already has Dual so there isn't much point going to single but I'm gonna look at doing the cables in the early spring since the motor more then likely needs to be pulled off.

Hey Kev what did that boat set you back if you dont mind saying. We are looking at maybe restoring a J-craft over a couple years and would like a comparison.

I paid 6500 for it. I was looking in the cheaper range but everything I came across had rotted floor or transom. I got a fair bit out of this deal so i figure I didn't do too bad. I figure it wont loose much value if I can keep it in great shape! The only thing that bugs me is the steering :P

Sounds like a good deal to me. dont sweat the steering, I replaced the cable in our ski boat this year as well, easy fix couple hundred bucks.