Yay a New Boat
Posted: February 25th, 2019, 1:28 am
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.
- Daphne AL
- 23"
- Happy Guy
