Stop Lurking and Start Posting!! Introduce Yourself Here!

[RickK]

  aboard Kurtis 
We have plenty of material to keep you busy in the research department for quite while.
Enjoy the site.

[jmbingham3]

Hello everyone
I own an aquasport striper 16' 10". Looking to move on up to a larger boat. Possible a 22.2

[RickK]

  aboard JMB 
We have a few members with the skinny water model you have.

[mdb6491]

Hey everyone, my name is max and I have a 1971 240 Sea Hunter. Currently powered by a 200hp Yamaha salt water series two stroke. Boat is located in western long island sound ny.

[Impulsive]

New member. My name is Bradley I have a 2003 Aquasport 250 osprey powered with twin 140 Johnson/Suzuki 4 strokes. Looking forward to learning some stuff from y'all.

[JimInPB]

Howdy All,
My name is Jim & I just recently found this board, which is fortunate for me because I also recently purchased an ’86 Osprey…& it needs a bit of love. 

I like these little boats for a number of reasons.  A good portion of it is the layout & the modular deck construction.  Most small boats are a horror show to snake wires & tubes through when installing new gadgets, like transducers or working on a fuel tank, but this one is fairly friendly in that regard.  The foam core stringers are a plus too.  Back when my boat was built, I remember that was sort of a new way of doing things. 

I kind of cut my eye teeth on Aquasports back in the early to mid 1980’s.  At the time, I was a young kid working as a boat rigger in a shop up north that sold them.   I hung quite a few motors on them & I installed quite a few compasses, radios, etc.  I did quite a bit of deck swabbing too.  Back then, all I could afford for myself was a beat up little 35hp Answer center console skiff that had previously been a rental boat.  At the time, I could only dream of owning an Aquasport like the ones I was working on.  Now that dream has finally come true. 

As I recall, back in the mid 1980’s we were selling a 170 Osprey with a 60 hp OMC for just a dollar or two below $10k.  It was our entry level boat & the salesman’s loss leader.  The 60 was just about enough to get it up on plane in moderate conditions with 2 adults on board.  That was right after they started rating the motor’s HP at the prop instead of at the crank shaft.  Those 60’s had a little more kick compared to the older ones.  I remember that a 90 hp was a nice match on that boat & a 115 could make it fly if you put the right prop on it. 

The 19-6 CCP with a 150 was a real crowd pleaser & the 222 was an animal, slicing through the chop with it’s deep V like nobody’s business.  Sea Drives turned them into stern heavy pigs.  Standard outboards were the way to go.  At least that’s how I remember it.  That was all quite a bit more than a few days ago.

I’m kind of hoping that I might fit in around here.

Regards,
Jim

[fitz73222]

Hey Jim,
My Aquasport affair started exactly the way yours did, about 10 years earlier, in the mid 70's. I was also the yard grunt, swabbing, rigging Evinrudes and learning; well as much as a 16 year old could learn! I worked for a dealer down here in Daytona. We sold lots of 19-6's and 22-2's and rigging them was a dream come true with the removable trough cover. I got to run lots of them for water test and wound up fishing with the the guys that we sold them to and like you, always dreamed of owning a 22-2 for myself. I can remember those boats coming straight from Hialeah just 250 miles down on I95 with that brand new fiberglass smell. Good times for sure. I finally got my 22-2 about 10 years ago, an original '73 with transom wells like yours and twin 115 Mercs, a beast with those engines, plenty of cool factor, just not that practical on a boat that did fine with twin 70's. Anyway, welcome to the club, a good bunch of no nonsense guys here, willing to help anyway we can.

[RickK]

Hey everyone, my name is max and I have a 1971 240 Sea Hunter. Currently powered by a 200hp Yamaha salt water series two stroke. Boat is located in western long island sound ny.

The "queen of the fleet" back in the day.  Still a much sought after hull today.
Welcome aboard Max.

[RickK]

New member. My name is Bradley I have a 2003 Aquasport 250 osprey powered with twin 140 Johnson/Suzuki 4 strokes. Looking forward to learning some stuff from y'all.

Welcome aboard Bradley, you have quite the fishing platform there and "new" compared to most of the boats on this site,

[RickK]

Welcome aboard Jim.  The 170 is a sweet inshore boat big enough for 2 maybe 3 to enjoy the water on.  I've owned my 170 for going on 30 years and am in the home stretch on a total rebuild of her.
As Farley said, we're a good bunch of guys with the same passion in common - Aquasports.  Feel free to help other here with any knowledge/experience you have.

[Capt. Bob]

Still out of town on a slow connection but.......

Welcome aboard to all our new members.

JimInPB, my 86 170 came with a 60 but I traded up/down to an 85 year 115. It ran very well.

[JimInPB]

I can remember those boats coming straight from Hialeah just 250 miles down on I95 with that brand new fiberglass smell.

Yea, that brand new fiberglass smell & usually 2 or 3 handfuls of miscellaneous stainless steel hardware scattered around in the bilge...

That factory must have lost a fortune in materials that way.

You say that you had those same bait boxes.  I had never seen them before this boat.  How did they work out for you?  I took this boat out for a little scoot the other day & she seemed to slide a little in high speed turns.  I was wondering if that may have had something to do with the boxes making her ride up off the chines a little.

[JimInPB]

JimInPB, my 86 170 came with a 60 but I traded up/down to an 85 year 115. It ran very well.

Would you possibly have a picture of the coast guard data plate off of that boat?  Mine is completely unreadable & I'd like to get a proper replacement made.

[Capt. Bob]

Would you possibly have a picture of the coast guard data plate off of that boat?  Mine is completely unreadable & I'd like to get a proper replacement made.

This is from a 1988 but it is the same.

http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=9274.msg103959#msg103959

When you get your replacement done, please post a pic in the above thread.
Thanks.

Also, the transom bait boxes were very popular with the circa 70s early 80s model Aquas so they had been around for for some time. Browse the Forum and you'll see members with them installed.



Good luck.

[fitz73222]

I can remember those boats coming straight from Hialeah just 250 miles down on I95 with that brand new fiberglass smell.

Yea, that brand new fiberglass smell & usually 2 or 3 handfuls of miscellaneous stainless steel hardware scattered around in the bilge...

That factory must have lost a fortune in materials that way.

You say that you had those same bait boxes.  I had never seen them before this boat.  How did they work out for you?  I took this boat out for a little scoot the other day & she seemed to slide a little in high speed turns.  I was wondering if that may have had something to do with the boxes making her ride up off the chines a little.

The bait boxes were a popular option in the 70's. Most 19-6's and 22-2's we ordered were equipped with them. Now putting the times in perspective, keeping bait alive was kind of an afterthought with no where near the science and TLC consideration we see today. The transom wells were a tornado of water flow with typically a dozen or so 1/4" holes drilled in the bottom. Hardy baits would survive with lots of bloody noses. Poggies would turn the water into a frothy mess of scales turning them into perfect lively chum! From a performance standpoint they were and asset with downward slope towards the rear, presumably to help with water flow they also had a trim tab effect. They did lower the planing speed and got the bow down sooner as low as 22 mph with twin 70's on a 22-2 so for running the Atlantic you could get the boat on top and ride over a relatively short wave period on plane without having to drive through the wave at higher speed which did well for only a 12 degree dead rise so It didn't beat you that bad. I guess the only drawback was backing down into a sea, the water would ramp over the top of them and over the transom so you learned the technique of circling into a decent fish and bringing him up along side to gaff or net him. I wound up modifying my boxes by glassing all of the bottom holes shut and installing a clam shell pickup and installing a homemade device to regulate the water flow to a reasonable rate to keep the bait in better health. I still use them but I do have a round above deck bait well for convenience.