Yay a New Boat
Moderators: bman, Chalk, Tom Keels
- fishinfool
- Site Sponsor
- Posts: 3129
- Joined: June 17th, 2009, 8:58 pm
Yay a New Boat
I have been hunting a flats boat for a couple of years. Mostly shopping, but doing lots of research along with it. Well a couple of months ago I found A Sterling TR7 for sale pretty near my price range. It was listed on FB in the Trick My Skiff group.
Many folks post about the bad experiences they have had with online buying and selling groups. My story is different. The young man selling the boat was very professional and ethical. Even though he works in Houston TX and keeps the boat in Raceland LA (about 6 1/2 hours away), he was very accommodating about setting up a time to show me the boat and take me for a wet test.
The boat lived up to my expectations and we made a deal. All the financial arrangements went smoothly and I picked up the boat yesterday. He even went out of his way to split the distance between Raceland and Tallahassee and met me in Daphne AL, saving me about 7 hours drive time.
As any new boat owner can attest, I was itching to put it on my home waters.
After waiting out the AM rain and doing some maintenance chores as well as installing my Depth Finder/GPS, I hit the fort ramp. Had I been in my 14' Carolina Skiff I would not have ventured out of the river, given the water and wind conditions. The TR7 was up for the task. It performed well even in 1 1/2 to 2 foot swells. I ranged about 25-30 miles total with two stops to wet a line.
Spot one was on a hump that I really didn't expect to catch anything and didn't. I was out there seeing how stable the boat would be in less than favorable conditions. It was a giant improvement over my previous craft.
Spot number two was on of my go to Redfish places. It did not disappoint. I was able to knock the skunk off her with a nice 23" specimen.
I am looking forward to many fishing excursions in my new vessel.
Many folks post about the bad experiences they have had with online buying and selling groups. My story is different. The young man selling the boat was very professional and ethical. Even though he works in Houston TX and keeps the boat in Raceland LA (about 6 1/2 hours away), he was very accommodating about setting up a time to show me the boat and take me for a wet test.
The boat lived up to my expectations and we made a deal. All the financial arrangements went smoothly and I picked up the boat yesterday. He even went out of his way to split the distance between Raceland and Tallahassee and met me in Daphne AL, saving me about 7 hours drive time.
As any new boat owner can attest, I was itching to put it on my home waters.
After waiting out the AM rain and doing some maintenance chores as well as installing my Depth Finder/GPS, I hit the fort ramp. Had I been in my 14' Carolina Skiff I would not have ventured out of the river, given the water and wind conditions. The TR7 was up for the task. It performed well even in 1 1/2 to 2 foot swells. I ranged about 25-30 miles total with two stops to wet a line.
Spot one was on a hump that I really didn't expect to catch anything and didn't. I was out there seeing how stable the boat would be in less than favorable conditions. It was a giant improvement over my previous craft.
Spot number two was on of my go to Redfish places. It did not disappoint. I was able to knock the skunk off her with a nice 23" specimen.
I am looking forward to many fishing excursions in my new vessel.
-
- Site Sponsor
- Posts: 1942
- Joined: May 23rd, 2011, 8:26 am
- Location: Pelham Ga./Econfina
Re: Yay a New Boat
nice looking boat Jim
One thing about the speed of light it gets here too early in the morning
Re: Yay a New Boat
Very Nice!! 

Work 2 fish 4 days
1988 vintage 1436 Fisher Jon
1992 vintage 15 hp Merc
1988 vintage 1436 Fisher Jon
1992 vintage 15 hp Merc
- countrycorners
- Posts: 1463
- Joined: January 21st, 2014, 9:07 pm
- Location: SW Georgia
Re: Yay a New Boat
Nice!
Like the color
Like the color
-
- Site Sponsor
- Posts: 3442
- Joined: April 17th, 2010, 7:23 pm
- Location: Tallahassee
Re: Yay a New Boat
Congrats Jim. Didn’t take long to get her slimed up a little.
Catholic girl pray for me, you’re my only hope for heaven
-
- Site Sponsor
- Posts: 5113
- Joined: June 29th, 2003, 6:31 pm
- Location: Panhandler
Re: Yay a New Boat
Sweet looking ride, Jim. Congrats on the purchase and for christening it right. Know it'll give you many years of pleasure. 

"Sun rise and sun sets. Since the beginning, it hasn't changed yet." Little Feat
- FishWithChris
- Moderator
- Posts: 1402
- Joined: March 6th, 2009, 3:38 pm
- Location: Inshore
Re: Yay a New Boat
you know what they say about catching a fish on your first time out on your new boat, right....?
THAT THE MOJO STICKS FOR A LIFETIME!
Congrats on the new boat, Jim! Gorgeous craft
THAT THE MOJO STICKS FOR A LIFETIME!


- RiverRunner
- Posts: 626
- Joined: July 27th, 2006, 9:11 am
- Location: Hey-vana
Re: Yay a New Boat
Nice boat! I also bought my boat off of Facebook "Trick my Skiff" over the summer. I only had to go down to New Port Richey though, but everything went smoothly for me as well.
Re: Yay a New Boat
Very nice. 

“It's hard to measure almost.....because almost doesn't matter”
― John Dutton
― John Dutton
Re: Yay a New Boat
Nice . . . Looks like fun times in your future!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Re: Yay a New Boat
Jim , you did great. Looks Like a fish’n machine .