For the past 10 years, my sisters family had used my dad's 87 222. I had gotten my own boat in 2007 and had a feeling that as my sister and her husband didn't really know a thing about boats other than to turn the key, forward/reverse and to turn the key left and right, that the boat would end up neglected and that it would not take long. This summer was the summer.
The spring started out bad. The motor kept on dying due to another brother who had connected the battery terminals to the wrong posts on the battery, shorting a fuse and the motor having run the battery down after a day of fishing due to the dead-draw. Then when the fuse was repaired, the throttle-shift cables were dislodged so there was no shifting or throttle another day.
Another day, as the steering stopped working one afternoon-they were on tow #3 from TowboatUS at this point, when fluid was added but the fill plug not installed correctly the fluid had burst out all over the helm. The seals in the steering ram leaked so they had to be replaced. While none of this was the boat's fault and rather neglect, it is how it goes when things are just neglected.
The boat came with a 87 Black Max 150. The motor got the boat going good all the almost 20 years it had stayed on the boat. In 2006 we put a 150 HP OptiMax on and things were even better and the MPG was about double. Because no one could be bothered to make sure the bilge pump worked, the boat sank at the dock some years back and because no one took my advice to haul the boat and give it a good freshwater rinse and air dry, the 70 gallon aluminum tank got holes all over the top of it and was replaced in 2013.
My sisters family did outgrow the boat and boy, no matter what, the 222 was a wet-ride and with the 12 degree deadrise, in any kind of chop the ride was rough so as a starter boat to learn on, the boat did its job as I learned a lot on that boat as did my sisters family so all was not lost.
The boat sold with a 1994 Magic Tilt-which is truly now a tragic tilt as every year they bottom painted the boat, they allowed the paint to drib and drab all over the trailer and it is now so corroded. I almost feel bad for the guy that paid $3,000 for it even though the motor is lucky if it has 300 hours on it so for $3,000 for a good OptiMax, then it is a great deal.
I thought about restoring it but don't have the time or energy, never mind money to do it as I have my own boat that I need to keep on maintaining and I sure ain't made of money.
