So long old friend. You served us well

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I sold my well-loved Supra last night. The first person who came to look at it, took it home. Which didn't totally surprise me - while most people here take meticulous care of their boats, most OTHER people in the world do not. So when you're shopping Craigslist and you come across a well-maintained example of whatever, that's the one to buy.

I was single when I first got this boat. I took it to my wedding; it was both of my kids' first boat rides; I nearly crashed it once; I did have a few bumps and bruises in it that I'd rather not think about; I put 1003 hours on it over 11 years; it was only towed ONCE - when the damper plate broke. I put a lot of my own sweat and blood into it, as do many of you - even yesterday I cut myself fixing one last thing before showing it for sale - one last drop of blood into the carpet haha.

A friend who used it from time to time said to me once, "man, you're just... every year, you do something to the boat that brings it closer to perfect - you're working in pretty small increments at this point, aren't you?" This was in reference to me using a sharpie on the new LED bow light bulb to darken it just slightly - because it was a little too bright out of the box.

It will be missed.

That was quick!

Keep us updated on the V-drive search/result.

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Originally Posted by Cooose

That was quick!

Keep us updated on the V-drive search/result.

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Will do. Might be picking something up tomorrow......

Well, the search is over. For years I've turned down boats for a plethora of reasons. No tower. No cover. No trailer. It's a MasterCraft. Too far away. Too abused. Needs an interior. Too expensive. Too purple.

But this one checked every single box, and then some. Tower, bimini, heater, stereo, v-drive, bowrider; THEN the extras. Wetsounds stereo, functioning ballast - the higher of the two factory amounts - two covers, GPS converted Perfect Pass. Everything. AND great colors. I couldn't let this one slip by.

I know it's not a Supra but I've also always liked Nautiques for their build quality and looks. And in case I was nervous about the boat's reception in my family (I wasn't really), we spent 5 hours in the boat yesterday as a family. We've never ever done that with our kids but they loved it. The dog loves it, and most importantly, my wife loves it.

Cheers, and have a great summer. I'm sure we will.

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Sharp looking boat! Is that an early 2000's 210?

Haha, sorry forgot to specify! It's a 2003 Super Air Nautique, Team Edition which just means all the best options, more factory ballast, etc.

And thanks, yeah - I think it looks great in particular with the blue top cap - they didn't offer colored top caps for very long and still, most people go white anyway.

Spectacular, Congrats!

I'm looking right now too, and that's a strong contender to get me out of a Supra. There is the same boat in Orange/Blue in my neighborhood. It doesn't leave the driveway (where it stored uncovered...) nearly enough.. Truly abused... But I still look at it every day on the way to work!

That's a beauty!

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Originally Posted by korey

Spectacular, Congrats!

I'm looking right now too, and that's a strong contender to get me out of a Supra. There is the same boat in Orange/Blue in my neighborhood. It doesn't leave the driveway (where it stored uncovered...) nearly enough.. Truly abused... But I still look at it every day on the way to work!

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Thanks! There are so many nice examples out there, I'm not sure it's worth getting an abused one unless it's really, really cheap and you have time to fix it. But there are just too many things that can go wrong with these boats - more and more every year, it seems - I'd be afraid to get one that wasn't well maintained. The previous owner of this boat did a fair amount of catch-up on maintenance. Not perfect, but he took good care of it and wanted everything to work right.

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Originally Posted by Okie Boarder

That's a beauty!

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Thanks! It's prone to fading with those colors, but keeping after it, it should be OK. Worth it, I think.

Absolutely - I'm not interested in his, just noting that it catches my eye every single day!

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Originally Posted by korey

Absolutely - I'm not interested in his, just noting that it catches my eye every single day!

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Ha! Last year I drove by a neglected '88 Supra Comp every day... I know the owner bought a newer MasterCraft but I also know he left the Supra uncovered ALL WINTER IN NEW HAMPSHIRE and then left it uncovered all summer with a for sale sign half-assed tucked in the window. I wanted to offer him $1,000 for the whole deal, at least clean it and sell it for $2,000 to literally the next person to see it. I knew the boat wasn't in bad shape before he got his hands on it, and the owner was a mechanic so I suspect it ran fine - I tried to buy it from the owner before him, even, years ago. It pains me to see a boat at that stage of its life - just old enough that if it's cared for, it will last a long time; if not, it could be junk in short order.

Enough about that.

I thought I'd also add that I'm not leaving the Supra family entirely - my father in law still has his red/white '89 Comp. Which also means I still have a boat I can ski behind, because let's be honest, the Super Air is a terrible water ski boat.