Originally Posted by Jupiter Sunsation

I do minor mechanical in my driveway (oil change, tire rotation, wheel bearings on trailers etc). Neighbor and his kid (sophomore in college) were driving 1200+ miles in a beater so the kid could play summer baseball (kid got drafted out of high school by MLB, chose college instead and won college world series as a freshman).....kid has talent on the field. So I ask did you do a once over on the 15 yr old, 180K mile beater?......nope. Could have been a bad road trip starting off.....Spare....dead flat. Front passenger tire 22 lbs, oil a quart low. So as I am going over the car, I tell the dad it would be good if Jr. learned a few things. He didn't know how to work a tire gauge! Oil/tranny fluid check was easy enough but not sure he could locate both. This kid is not mechanical at all, my guess is he would never own any type of I/O and if he did own an OB then it would be used like a car (turn the key and go, call someone if it doesn't start).

Originally Posted by 3pointstar

OH Have I Got A Story For All

We have been blessed to have a summer place in southern Michigan - inland lake - very nice and for the most part quiet. We have our 226 Cobalt out there most of the time and enjoy the skiing, tubing and just being on the water.

We have neighbors that can't find their bottom with both hands. Talk about DUMB -- not stupid -- DUMB. For the most part the homes around the lake are seasonal. While many have central heating/air-conditioning mostly everyone does not keep the heat on during the winter and drains their water systems. The 1st year that her neighbors had their summer home they decided not to drain the water nor keep the heat on. As a result when they showed up in the spring there was water almost everywhere. The commodes cracked pipes split-and the long and short -it was a mess. Of course they have funds to call a plumber, carpenter and have everything replaced/repaired. So the next year one would have assumed that they would have drained the water or at least keep the heat on. WRONG!! I kid you not for the next 3 years they did not change this behavior and for 3 years in a row they had plumbing and floring issues in the spring. In fact they have replaced their water heater no less than twice because it froze and cracked. Now we are not talking about stupid people. One of the owners is an attorney and the other is a IT administrator. But they do have an attitude well if it breaks we have enough money to just call somebody to have it fixed.

Regarding their boats-this is another story. They have owned this summer place for approximately 8 years. Within that. They have replaced a pontoon boat twice-not because it was inadequate for the use- it was for lack of common sense maintenance and upkeep.
Seats were left exposed, water would set in the wells and mold and rot settled in. When the Marina came to pick up or drop off the pontoon boat I spoke with the delivery person. He mentioned that there were 3 or 4 batteries in the boat that were perfectly good except that they were discharged and needed a charging. What the owner did was leave the radio on and the battery would drain. Instead of charging the battery he would just go out and buy a new one and leave the old one somewhere in the boat- some of the acid leaked out and wrecked the floor. Their speed boat and boat lifts are another story. The 1st week that they had the boat they didn't realize that out drives don't work well in shallow water and proceeded to rip the lower end off the boat. Of course they had that replaced. I've lost count on the number of propellers that have been replaced on the boat for sitting something or having the ski rope wrapped around it. They haven't changed the fuel filter or cleaned the air cleaner since new- at least they have the marina drain the block and change oil once a year. Then they complain that the boat is running right - and when the marina says they needed to do x y and z as routine - they didn't do it because it seemed to cost too much. Then we have the boat lift - The bunks are rotted and the carpet is all but gone. Rather than replace the wood they turned the bunks on edge and are using that to support the boat. However, the brackets that held the bunks extend about an inch on either side of the wood and are now being gouged into the fiberglass. Realizing that that was not a good thing they now have the boat on the boat lift but most of the boat is still in the water because they can't raise it up to get it out of the water without putting a hole in the bottom -- but don't have the sense to fix the primary cause. Far be it from me to comment on their party/drinking activities but they literally have a outbuilding that is filled with beer cans and bottles because they haven't had sense enough to thrown them in the trash. They have more trees on the property than you can shake a stick at - do them trim them - NO. So each year we have their branches into our yard and we haul away. The real problem is that some of the upper branches are rotted and it is only a matter of time before one goes down thru their house.

They have a cleaning service that comes out once a week to clean the interior of their house and a lawn service to mow the lawn. So from the outside things look relatively well-maintained but when you get to the nitty-gritty they don't know and they don't care. It really makes me sick to see people that have been given so much and yet can't take care of the basics.

3pointstar

Originally Posted by Wasted Income

Yea....kids are expensive. My wife and I pay $1800 per month for daycare...and that's actually a pretty good deal.

Sometimes I like to daydream about the boat I could buy with that extra $1800 per month when the kids go to school.


But then I realize that it will be another 20 years before I see any of it, since it is getting shifted from daycare expenses into their college savings account when they start school.

At least they help me clean the boat

Originally Posted by Wildman_grafix

Around here Dean Ferry is doing his best to make up for non boaters. 4 performance boats and not one for rent!

Originally Posted by Donzi1979

I'm going to throw my worthless observation in on this topic. I have spent the last 8 days in Panama City beach FL(daughters dance competition "yea I know it's why can't get a bigger boat")and being a motor head (muscle cars and power boats) I have not seen one offshore power boat even at the level my 26 donzi is here after being at 4 different marinas and out the water. To BUP's earlier point the outboards have taken over. This is very disappointing for an OSO fan in Florida. There are more performance boats in the DFW TX metroplex lakes on any given weekend than I have seen in the FL Panhandle so sad and this is my second time here and my wife and I really want to move here when Kids are grown. I know some of you guys in other parts of the state of FL may have it different but this was my take on it and the weather has been amazing this week too. While eating at local water side small restaurant I couldn't imagine not hearing any above water exhaust. I wanted to bring my boat down here and disappointed I didn't, but think I would have been looked at like a crazy person the first time I bump the key and hear the noise we all on this board love and fuels our veins. We are rare breed and it's only getting more scarce truly sad. I get the appeal of center consolesla and outboards for low martience but couldn't imagine the rarity power boats here and the thump of a BBC.