Well after two fun-filled years of owning a beautiful 35 Fountain I now find myself without a beak boat. I came into the year just a little bored with my 35 - not that it wasn't a great all around boat - just that I was feeling the need for a little more excitement and a better ride. I debated putting my boat up for sale and buying a 38 but I wasn't about to waste the summer trying to sell a boat in this chity mkt.

So about a month ago I found a great deal on a pair of brand new engines. An OSO member had ordered a beautiful new Gladiator with 525's and was pulling these zero hour Merc engines to put in some big power. So before I knew it I had purchased these engines and was making arrangements to have them installed in my 35.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/a...chmentid=83592

However, before I got them installed I started to second guess myself. "Was going 4 or 5 miles an hour faster in my 35 really worth the money that I had in these new engines?" My wife gets a little uneasy at 80 mph in the 35 so how was she going to feel at 86?" All this time I had my eye on what looked to be a very low-hour beautiful 38 fever in the NC area. The owner described it as being in Like NEW condition. From the pictures the owner had sent me it looked like it had just left the factory. I have wanted a 38 since the first time I stepped foot in one last year.

Around the same time another OSO member on the Fountain board said that he was looking for a clean 35. So I thought what the heck and emailed him some pics. Not expecting anything to come of it the next thing I know he had bought my boat. So now I'm all psyched up because I am free to buy that beautiful 38 Fever that I have been dreaming about for the last 7 months.

So on my wife's birthday we leave our place on Lake Cumberland for an 11 hour drive to North Carolina. We stay in a hotel and get up early the next morning to go look at what I am certain is my next boat. Turns out that the boat he had described and priced as a 10 was only an 8 - 8.5. And despite the fact that he neglected to to disclose stains on the interior, rust on the chrome fittings, and fading in the hull, the owner wasn't willing to come down even a $1 off of his price. On the plus side the Smokey Mountains are still very beautiful and the fudge in Gatlinburg is as good as ever.

So although I still have the pontoon and two jetskies, I am sitting here Fountain-less with a third of the boating season left. I still have the 525's but they just aren't near as much fun when sitting in crates.

Well, if anyone has a clean 38 Fever, I am in the market

good luck to you. Those motors was the guy in Washington? His new paint got wrecked with transport co. How much did you get him down to?

Yes, those are the ones. I have $48,500 in them after shipping. Now I am just looking for a 38 Fever to drop them in to.

Although it sucks not having a boat, your're in great shape, its defiantly a buyers market out there, especially for big iron like a 38......doug

Yea, it sucks not having a boat but I really have my mind set on a 38. I'm trying to keep my chin........ errrrrr beak up

Drives?

$23500 per engine plus shipping. No drives - I've been told by several dealers that that is their cost on the engines.

wasn't thinking, if your buying a newer boat its going to atleast have Bravos, fine for 525's

I will sell a triple 42 minus motors plus brand new manning trailor and interior. Tom

Don't forget when you find a ride, you'll have used motors you can re-sell and then drop in the new 525's. They should be easy to sell on the board.