Tournament 19
Hi
I1ll be honest, I have enjoyed your posts. The reason is I also have an older 19 ft Tournament. I`ll tell you my experiences so far and then offers some advice.
First, I bought mine at the end of the summer 2008. I saw it on Craigslist advertised for $7,000. 1985 Tournament 19 with a 140 Suzuki 1999.
I was pricing a few at the time. This one then dropped to 6,000 so I went and saw it. It seemed to be in good shape but needed to be cleaned up.
I looked at a few others in the same price range and they needed less work. Mostly cosmetic stuff like decals, cleaning, but mechanically the boat was sound. After a few more weeks of watching, I called the guy and told him I wanted to see it again. I printed out a few adds to show him the difference in boats. I offered him $3,500 and we negotiated to $4,200.
I got a bunch of advice from this board during the hunt for the boat. First things first, i went to pick it up and the trailer lights did not work. So, i spent a few bucks and fixed it up. Nice aluminum trailer, but needed lights.
Got it home and took it out on the local lake and it ran fine, no problem, however, I did get a smell of gas. Though it was mostly from the 2 stroke engine, but as it turns out, it is quite common for a 20 year old aluminum gas tank to be pitted. Got a few estimates but after some checking, I coated the top of the tank with some epoxy paint and figured I could get through a season. I did, but this year I will be changing the tank.
Not a bad expense or investment, for 300-400 bucks you can get a straight drop in. If you can live with a smaller tank, some of the plastic ones would work as well and could be less.
I bought new decals from Crocker Marine. This year i put the logo on myself but not the stripe, I plan to do that in the spring. I spent about $100 for the decales but you can get the logos on ebay for less.
The boat had two pedestal seats that were OK but not original. The posts were good, but the seats were not. I decided to change out the seats with a Bolster type captains seat and a back to back on the passenger side. Cost me about $500 but, you can find seats for less. I opted for a taller base on the back to back and splurged a little. They look nice.
I planned a long weekend to the coast and did not want to have trailer problems. I put in new bearings and new tires, kept one old tire for a spare. No problems with trailer on 3 trips to the coast this year. Money well spent for no problems.
Picked up a Boat US membership with tow insurance.
Had the two bow cushions re-done at a local upholstery shop, cost me about $150 but they are like brand new.
The jump seats in the back are aftermarket fold down fishing seats. I found the original seat backs on ebay for $40 I plant to make the bases this winter.
Also found a complete set of canvass on this site for $250. Everything fit except the bow cover, I might get that re-done next year.
Bought a cover at Wal mart $100 but will probably upgrade that at some point.
The point of all of this is, I managed to get a nice boat, no transom issues, a solid motor and got great use out of it this year at the local lakes and the beach including a jaunt out into the ocean up to cape lookout. All the while, i have been fixing it up little by little and even that is enjoyable.
It came with a depth finder and LORAN but I picked up a Garmin 420 with GPS and I bought the g2 map card on ebay. I plan to install that in a new control panel I am designing this winter.
I love the boat. It will probably end up costing me close to the 7,000 I could have bought one for that needed less work when I1m done, but, It is the most versatile boat, you can fish, ski, pull a tube and take it in the ocean (on a good day I would go out farther)
I don`t know what you paid for yours, but all of the things you have mentioned have happened to me and others on this site. But, I have seen this boat listed for much higher prices and feel that it is a good boat that, with a little expense will offer years of pleasure.
Last, try to learn as much about boating and trailering as you can, once you start docking at marinas and launching on boat ramps there are a ton of mistakes you can make.
Don`t fret too much about the gas tank, it`s a common problem and an easy fix, It might cost you a few hundred bucks, but you could always use a portable tank if needed until you get around to replacing it. That`s what I like about the boat, not everything has to be perfect to use and enjoy it. As time goes on, you can fix what you want.
Hope this helps
Enjoy your boat.
T
