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I'm no expert on hydrodynamics of boat hull design but essentially here's why not waxing your hull is better. As a boat moves forward through the water, a non waxed hull will experience more friction against the water than a smooth hull. This will actually cause the hull to "lift" ever so slightly more out of the water than a waxed hull. Since you want as much of the boat hull out of the water as possible to achieve maximum speed, since it's the boat hulls drag thats slowing you down in the first place, then the non-waxed hull is "A good thing" as Martha Stewart would say.

Spend a $100 bucks minimum and take the thing to a marine mechanic to get the lowdown on the motor. but besides the engine Upholstery, carpet and gelcoat are superfucial things that can be dealt with easy. Wood work on a boat that old is a completely different story and it's the wood you have to worry about on top of whether the motor is a POS or not. I posted this in another thread on buying an older boat. Here's the link http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1159235764

One other thing I forgot to tell you about. Check the front control panel where the TM plugs in that also has all the switches on it. The plastic mounting bracket surrounding the actual brushed aluminum plate that has all the stuff mounted on it was VERY susceptable to get brittle. I wouldn't be surprised if that one is just hanging together by sheer will. ;D You can't get those anymore so you'll have to afro-engineer a replacement.

Hmmm.. tough to tell. Just the one photo of the splashwell doesn't show any ominous indications right off the bat. They're using a stress plate for the top engine bolts but if the transoms bad even those will sink in a little. I also see no stress cracks in the corners either. I can't tell much else from the photos other than it's an older Merc V6, the carpet needs replacement and the finish is either completely shot or very badly oxidized at the very least. If you can feel the metal flake when you rub your hand over the surface of the boat the gelcoat is gone. Not a really big deal nor is the carpet. Walk completely around on the floor. If there's soft spots around the floor drain or a pedestal mount that's not unusual and can be repaired fairly easily. If the floor is soft all over you've got problems. Don't forget to pull that boat out of that garage, have the owner get up on the doelfin on the motor and put his weight into it up and down while you observe the transom. There should be no visible flexing of the transom. Any flexing and you've got a rotted or waterlogged one. The engine needs a compression check and preferably to be run on the water. If you can't do the on the water test, have him start the engine with the cowling off and look for any leaking. Look for a fairly strong stream of water from the water outlet. I realize it won't be real strong if you're running on the muffs. That year Champion used a plastic gas tank so the worst you may have is some badly gummed up gas and fuel system on the motor. If you buy it you'll want to drain that tank and replace the fuel line and bulb. The prop looks like a higher pitched prop, sort of like an old Hooter style. With the doelfin on there I'm betting he's running a big pitch on that thing for speed and was having trouble with the holeshot. Champion trailers of that vintage were pretty stout. Check the very back crossmember though right under the rear roller and look for any cracks. Also check the inner, carpeted fender wells, those had a habit of rotting out. Check the winch for ease of usage and the winch strap. The trailer dolley on that thing may be shot if it's original. Also check the coupler. Those old Champion yoke-over couplers were famous for getting really difficult to operate. A new one will cost you around $150 installed. I can't think of anything else right now. Post more pix if you get the chance and tell us how the floor, engine and transom check out. Honestly, it doesn't look as bad a shape as I thought. That's that really nice Steel bluish cap with the grey hull. Nice color scheme.

Here's a few things that can make a TM noisier than it should be: Problems with the TM like bad bearings in the power head. Loose shaft bushings causing the motor to vibrate within the TM mounting system. Dinged up leading edges on the TM prop or bent or broken blades. Line or anything else wrapped up around the prop shaft.

Couple other things if you would end up looking more closely at it. Check the steering system, it should be fairly easy to turn, anything else and you'll to have to replace it. Don't worry about any spiderweb cracking in the gelcoat either on the hull or gunwale surfaces, this is quite normal in all boats this age, or even newer for that matter. This hull is a particularly sweet ride. With the 175 you should be able to run a 25p Trophy prop on it and turn respectable mid 60's easy. The holeshot is nice and flat, mid range performance is outstanding. The boat tracks true and is very easy to drive. Oh, and the rough water ride is outstanding. If you wind up getting it give me a holler anytime and I'll try and help with whatever I can.

If I've pulled up to a spot where I think I've got a real good chance to hang a biggun, I won't troll in, I cut the engine and usually let whatever breeze or current there is carry me in. I won't even put the TM in the water till I've made several casts to high percentage spots.

Rear deck space is great. Front deck space, well, I'm adding an insert to not only add tackle storage between both rod boxes but it adds to deck space as well. You've got 2 fair sized compartments behind driver and passenger seats, livewell inbetween those seats, 2 large rod lockers on both sides and a front livewell which I've converted to an icechest. The problems with storing outside, uncovered, besides the obvious is you don't know if the guy bothered to tilt the boat up enough at the bow to even let water run out. If water just sat in that thing I'd say it's toast.

Ya mean like this one? It's an '86 184DC. These 86" hull Champs were some of the finest performing boats built. The ride is unbelievable. Unfortunately I'm not sure about this boat your looking at though. Any boat this age sitting outside exposed to the elements has possibly trashed the boat. You're going to want to walk around in it feeling for soft spots in the floor. A small soft spot is alright, easy enough to fix but a large one or the entire floor soft and you're in for trouble. I'd be really concerned about the integrity of the stringers at that point. Also check in the bilge compartment looking for any pieces of loose, rotten wood. If you see any it had to come from somewhere and that somewhere is usually up front in the floor or structural members. As for the transom, Check the top 2 engine mounting bolts in the splashwell, they should not be sunk in at all. Lower the motor and have a friend get onto the cavitation plate of the engine and start putting his weight into it rocking the motor back and forth. You should see no transom flex at all. You can also knock on the transom as well, it should sound solid, not hollow. Unfortunately, the odds are good this boat probably has transom rot. It's repairable but a lot of work. You can have a marine dealer or surveyor (as they're called in some parts of the country) perform the same inspections. I'd expect him to charge at least $100 for a compression check plus other checks. As for the price, I gave $1200 for mine 2 years ago. The motor on it was blown and in boxes. I parted the thing out and put the motor on my old boat onto it. $1800 - 2000 is about right if the thing doesn't have a soft floor and rotted transom and the motor checks out.

Just a quick point. You're much better off using epoxy resin to seal plywood than you are fiberglass resin. Fiberglass resin is kinda brittle stuff if it's used in a stand alone situation like layered on a sheet of plywood as waterproofing.

I'm near the end of one of my worst years fishing in quite awhile. Some of it has to do with the local drought and low water levels, some with experimenting with new baits and lastly I've been fishing newer waters I'm less familiar with (an attempt to break the slump I suppose). This has happened in the past, next year will be better. Everyone has them, often it's mis-timing and hitting lakes week after week at the wrong time for that particular body of water. Chasing good fishing reports is also a bad idea. Don't pressure yourself, enjoy the few fish you're catching and remember the fishing will get better.

Congrats Chug. The 186 is a solid, dependable boat. I can't tell you how many times I've heard guys underpower a boat, either on the salesmans advice or the advice of others. Most of the time the reasons are "I don't need to go 70mph so why do I need the bigger motor?". They find out when the boat is fully loaded with 2 anglers and all the gear. Suddenly, holeshot is awful, slow - mid-range planing speed is hard to accomplish and the fuel mileage goes to pot because you're having to run the smaller motor harder to get the boat to perform. Boat performance is about more than just top end speed. enjoy your new rig! 8-)

Enjoy! As to your questions 1. Professionally done re-gel on that boat? Nope. Not worth it. Pretty expensive. Since the deck is probably worn down to the flake there's no point in telling you to go the wet sand routine, you've got nothing left to wetsand. You can go out and buy some stuff called Vertglas. It's a fiberglass restore kit that'll make your boat look like new. It's around $80 and you can find it at Overtons.com or on the web. The stuff only lasts about a year though. Something I tried which worked real well is pickup a quart of Gloss, Minwax Helmsman Urethane (you can buy it at Walmart). It's a self leveling urethane so you can brush it on and it smooths out real well as it sets up, that is meant specifically for outdoors use and it's flexible so it won't crack the first time you're out hitting waves. Apply a coat, wetsand with 800 grit wet paper, apply a second and wet sand with 1200 and then do a final (optional) sanding with 2000 grit wet paper. Wax with something like MacGuires top of the line marine wax. 2. Carpet is fairly easy. Use the outdoor carpet adhesive with a very small notched trowel. On the edges pickup some 3M outdoor spray adhesive. Warning: Once the carpet hits the adhesive it's pretty much stuck but it prevents you from having to clamp compartment lid end if you use the regular stuff. 3. Regular primer and auto paint or Rustoleum will work fine. 4. Make sure the steering system is free and doesn't bind. If there's any stifness you probably will want to replace the entire works. Pull the wheel bearings, clean them and repack if that hasn't been done in awhile. Make sure the bilge pump works! I'd suggest adding an auto bilge pump switch, they're not expensive and they're good insurance. Always carry at least 2 drainplugs with you. That's all I can think of for now.

From Merriam-Webster online. Main Entry: 1boat Pronunciation: 'bOt Function: noun Etymology: Middle English boot, from Old English bAt; akin to Old Norse beit boat 1 a : a small vessel for travel on water b : SHIP 2 : a boat-shaped container, utensil, or device <a gravy boat> <a laboratory boat> 3 : an opening in the surface of a body of water that large sums of money are deposited into.

Yep, a 19 1/2 footer. One of the best boats ever produced by anyone. Nice ride, decent top end speed and great storage and fishability. There's plenty of them out there so you should be able to swing a good deal on one.

One more suggestion. 2 boats that come to mind for fishing are a 295 Stratos and a 195VF Charger. Both are fairly deep V hulls, the Charger is deeper. Neither is blazing fast but the ride on both is superb in rougher water and most importantly, those 2 boats have some of the best thought out storage I've seen in a bassboat. Every square inch of the interior is utilized to the max. You can probably get either of those with a 175-200hp motor for around $10,000. The boat will probably be a early to middlin 90's model. If you really wanted to sacrifice speed, I've seen both of those models with 150's on them. In those cases you could get a slightly newer boat but you will suffer performance issues when fully loaded.

Besides what w2s said, that 19 1/2 needs to be on a tandem trailer if you're going to be towing alot to tournies. Here's a suggestion. Most tournament trails across the country are winding down right now. By November there's not much going on. I'd wait till after the first of the year when guys have dropped some cash on a new rig at the boat show and NEED to move their old boat. You'll have a better selection. In the meantime you need to start browsing as many boat sale boards as possible and start getting general ideas of what boats are selling for in general. You'll have a pretty good idea what an 18 1/2 footer with a 150 should cost, as well as a 19 1/2. I currently own an 18 1/2 foot Champion. If I was wanting to get into tourney fishing like you're saying you're wanting to I would definitely move up in boat size and engine HP to a 19 1/2 minimum. When you're fishing for all the marbles and spending lots of time on the water either fishing a tournament or pre-fishing you need to be prepared for anything that can happen on the lake and that means you're dragging a lot of extra junk along you normally wouldn't if you were just fishing for fun. You need SPACE! Not just for the junk either, an 18 1/2 foot boat will seem kinda small after you've been on it all season long fishing.

I'll bet he would take $10k for sure. ;D Too much. BTW, resale values on Nitro's are bad enough, resale values on boats where the engine and boat year of manufacture are different are less than if they're the same year. Resale value on this boat would be tough. Have that engine compression tested. As for his wanting you to commit to buy the boat if it fits your needs, well, if the boat checks out running wise, compression wise I'd say you should at least make him an offer. Like I said, I wouldn't give him $10k for that boat. Start at $8500. Personally, for what you've said you want to use this boat for I think it's way too small but hey, it's you're money.

Directions are on the can.

Details, details. ;D

Cabela's, Iboats, etc sell hatches with inserts. Not sure if you'll find something in black though.

What if someone was pulling big bass out of one body of water to stock another? Would that be OK?

I just bought a new 320c off a guy on this board for $110. Try ebay.

I've spent some time bottom fishing in SW. With more and more species going to size limits or seasonal bag limits it makes little sense to fish in 75 - 100 ft or more of water, bring a 14 inch red snapper up or a short or out of season grouper up and then have to release them unless you can properly vent the fish. I've watched the guys do it that have experience and their success rate is around 50-75%. They usually went in from the rear. What's worse is to watch the flotsam of floaters from behind a head boat. If those guys get into a good school of smaller fish the deck hands are usually to busy helping customers with their fish to properly vent them. Flipper sure makes out real good though.

As I'm getting closer to retirement I'm more thinking about where I want to move to to spend those retirement years as close to good fishing waters as possible. I currently live in St. Louis. That is the LAST place I'd suggest anyone move to for good closeby bass fishing. Instead I've thought about the following. Texas - I'm up in the air on this one. Great lakes but it gets awfully hot down there for too much of the year. Year round bassin though. Springfield Missouri - Man, I could be a greeter at BPS headquarters, Stockton, Pomme de Terre, Truman, LOZ, Table Rock, Bull Shoals, Taneycomo (trout), Norfolk, Beaver, Grand Lake (OK) all within 100 miles or much less. Hmmm. sounds like heaven. Nashville - Here's another spot I'm thinking about. chattanooga TN - Another spot. Beautiful scenery, great bass lakes. Panama City Florida - cheaper than down on the pennisula, great SW fishing. Eufaula, Seminole, Talquin. The better lakes are further south but so is the higher cost of living. There are a lot of great bass fishing waters in our country which is making the decision to spend my last 30 or more years of my life harder to make.