My nephew just bought a jon boat!

He;s been mowing an older couples lawn for about the last five years and doing errands for them etc. Well to the communities misfortune, the elderly Mr. James past away a month ago.

Mrs. James had mentioned that she didn't want the boat anymore, it was taking up space and it reminded her too much of "Billy".

So, my nephew inquired to her if she wanted to sell it, and she said yes, she would. He asked her how much she wanted for it, and she countered with "how much do you think it's worth?

My nephew told her that it wasn't his boat it was hers. and that was a decision for her to make.

"I'll tell you what. I know it's worth more than $500.00 but you've been kind to us. For you? I'd take $500.00..."

So, he bought it, and promised he'd take excellent care of it.

get this. 16 ft. jon boat with wheel steering . fish finder. all the tackle, rods, live well, "Sears" trolling motor , bench and front swivel seat, two batteries , trailer, and 20 hp Evinrude!

Even thought it sat for about 4 years. It's going to need new batteries, lower end work (impeller and oil)

He's so proud of it, and the cool part is this I told him this weekend, we'll work on it and next weekend we'll hit the river with it and see what it will do.

I'll let the kid do the work. He's 17 with limited mechanical experience. so it's almost up to him.

After we get it home, , we'll put a battery in it and see if it cranks over (it shouldn't be stuck) then I'll look in the carbs, and blow out the lines, and install new filters, and drop the lower unit.

My local marine guy is great, he's semi retired, will let me use his books, and naturally all parts will go through him.

You may be right. While I do try to take good care of the boat, I'm not a fanatic like most new boat owners. When we're out, we have fun. If something gets spilled, we mop it up, and clean it later. If the gelcoat gets scratched (and it has), I'll try to buff it out, but I won't lose sleep over it. If you spend more time detailing your boat than having fun in it...boating's not for you.

That was a GREAT story, BTW. I'm somewhat familiar with the area having lived in Auburn for a couple of years about 25 years ago. I dated a gal for a while who's had a place on Skaneatles Lake. Beautiful country...LOUSY weather :) I went straight from there to California and never looked back. That's not entirely true...I do miss all the water in that area.

--Mike

"Larry" <noone@home.com> wrote in message

Step #1 - a boating safety class for him.

Step #2 - make sure he is insured!

;-)

I'm going to do what I can to make sure he knows whats going on. I want him to be safe, and have fun. He's pretty good with handling a boat, though. He's been out wwith me int he CCraft enough to watch where he's going, courtesy to other boaters. being responsible to wear a life vest, and MAKING SURE his guests do the same. I'm going to make sure to stress to be compliant with all state and local laws, with tags and ins. as well.

--Mike

"Larry" <noone@home.com> wrote in message