i've had mine for about 4 years now, got it with 325 hours and it has 775 now. my tranny has been solid so far. that sucks that yours went out, these velvet drives are supposed to be fairly indestructable. don't hear of them going out too much....what was it doing? i've heard of people who's props spin in neutral or slip.

i learned the hard way at first too, sometimes there's not much you can do. i do most of my work but i can't rebuild a transmission. the dealer got me once, i can't even remember what the issue was but i remember the bill. i haven't been back since except for a few parts.

i'd like to find a way to get rid of some of the teak. a friend of mine just bought a sunsport and it doesn't have as much, looks good and less work. i pulled all of it off a few seasons ago, need to do it again.

go for the tower this off season if you can, it makes the boat feel so much bigger. only a new prop makes a bigger difference....ok, new stereo is pretty sweet too.

i've surfed behind mine, i think you'd need a ton of weight to really make a huge surfing wake. otherwise, it's pretty good as is. i usually have more people with me when we surf and just have them move around. there have also been a few tickets given out for reckless operation around here. 1 friend got a ticket, he had his ballast all in one corner so the cop said it was unsafe. bunch of crap.