Stop Lurking and Start Posting!! Introduce Yourself Here!

[RickK]

Man, what a modification - looks sharp.  Barely recognize the original boat!  That'll keep you warm in the winter.  Must have added a bunch of weight though.  Great job!!

[Gary281FF]

It was great finding this web site!  I am the proud owner of a 1988 281FF. The boat's third owner, I live in Orange County CA, between Los Angeles and San Diego. Apparently the Aquasport 281 series is a bit uncommon, made in just 1987-88, just before the Genmar acquisition.

The history of this particular 281FF... When factory fresh, this boat was offered for sale by a boat dealer in or near Ashtabula, Ohio on the south shore of Lake Erie. Prominently displayed on the dealer's lot, she was clearly visible to passing highway traffic. Yet-to-be Owner #1 drove past the dealer every day, driving to and from work. All those times when the traffic signal was red, he sat in his car just 40 feet sway, daydreaming about owning her. After a full year of unrelenting temptation, Owner #1 finally bought the 281FF new in 1989. Until 2000 or so, he ran her on Lake Erie each summer, and put her in dry storage each winter.  

Around 2001, her soon-to-be second owner found her offered for sale by internet searching. A great find: a classic fresh water boat with huge cockpit, easily outfitted for "SoCal" style saltwater fishing. After purchase, Owner #2 hired a transport company to move her to coastal southern California. This 281FF had a new home, a slip in Huntington Harbor.

A year after relocation, I bought her from Owner #2.  My ownership had an interesting start: My wife first learned about the boat purchase when she drove home from work one hot August afternoon. The boat, on its nearly new 38' long triple-axle aluminum trailer, was parked in front of our house. All our neighbors were standing around, admiring her. I was nervously grinning, ear to ear. Needless to say, I was "in the dog house" for a while...

Since its long distance move, the boat's primary use has been offshore fishing. Her secondary mission: provide an endless succession of planned and unplanned upgrades and repairs, involving both boat and trailer. I have a long list of projects to work my way through. When I have time, I will post pictures in the Photo Gallery.

The 281FF is rather large for a trailer boat. It's width (over 8' 6") requires an annual towing permit from the state, and restrictions apply. Because it's an inboard, the boat sits high on the trailer to attain sufficient prop clearance.  To get the trailer in the water deep enough to float the boat, I have to back down some launch ramps until the rear tires are in the water. I quickly discovered surge brakes on a heavy trailer are a BAD THING when backing down launch ramps - no trailer brakes backing downhill. The 4-1/2 ton trailer load easily dragged my 3/4-ton 4WD Suburban backwards down steeper launch ramps, even with the truck in forward gear 4WD and/or brakes fully locked-up. Never fast, just fast enough to make things interesting (better get it lined up right before commencing the back down). Two years ago, I converted the trailer from surge brakes to "electric over hydraulic." I can now use trailer brakes when backing downhill, a welcome change.

More later when I have some time...

Gary

[JimCt]

Welcome Gary!

  Always nice to hear histories and lessons hard learned (surge brakes).  Must've been a hairy few seconds sitting in the Suburban wondering if you'd be in the drink along with the boat & trailer.  Up in this area launching ramps collect a very slippery growth which make launching/hauling interesting.  Most times I have to drop into 4WD hauling my 170.

[Fishhead]

Welcome Gary, Good to start getting the Calif. Aquasport  guys over here.Not to many of us up north here.Im the third owner of my 79, purchased new in Sac,Second owner of my 93,purchased new from down by you at Allisons.You ever make it up north to fish,SF bay area?If you do,Mail me,you got a ride.Salmon,whatever.Have some relatives from Whittier who come up here to fish, been thinking about towing down there someday for early albacore. Again Welcome.

[steved]

Great first post! Welcome.

[steved]

Great first post! Welcome.

[Gary281FF]

Thanks for the replies!

"...must've been a hairy few seconds sitting in the Suburban wondering if you'd be in the drink along with the boat & trailer..." Jim,  the first few times, a buddy on the boat was yelling, "Slow down!" as truck and trailer moved toward the water, in apparent high gear.   He later added, "At least the boat will stop pulling when it's floating."

Fishhead...  for years, I used to work several days each week in San Jose. Met a couple of good fishing buddies up there.  One friend chartered a boat out of Santa Cruz for a day of albacore fishing that year a guy caught an 88 lb. albie out near Pilar Point. The usual workplace crowd, we had a boatload of people, just a few experienced fishermen. It was a challenging day: heavy swells, too many beers, and no live bait so trolling was the only game in town. Only 4 fish were landed. I was lucky to take a 50+ lb albacore, a real toad. A work buddy landed the jackpot with a 60 (his first tuna) and it nearly killed 'em!  We pooled the four fish and made sure everyone went home with at least 8 lbs of loin.  Jeez, those were nice fish!

"Early albacore" for you guys means anything before September, right?  Down here, We're usually going after yellowtail or any kind of tuna. Some years albacore appear in Mexican waters by early June.  

One August day in 2001, we launched the 281FF out of San Diego and headed for Mexican water,. We landed yellowtail, albacore, yellowfin AND bluefin tuna, a strange combination! If you're going to tow, drive all the way to San Diego, as that's probably your best bet for tuna when they're in range. There are a couple of good forum web sites to monitor if you want to keep up with fishing conditions in SoCal.

Steve, I think I have some updates for your Excel spreadsheet so it includes the 281 models.  May not be many of them, but we don't want to be left out. Thanks for taking the time to compile the statistics and Aquasport history!

Later,

Gary[/i]

[surfon]

Hi, I'm new to the forum last year I purchased a completely rebuilt 1981 246 CCP.  The boat was rebuilt from the stringers up with an enclosed transom and Armstrong bracket out back now.

I have been out about 25 miles so far with the boat in the Atlantic off Jax, Florida so far.  Into the gulf about 22 miles.  Boat handles great and is really stable on the hook!  I have added twin 140 Suzuki four strokes out the back and am extremely happy with them to this point.  This is a nice large roomy boat with the enclosed transom.  Here is a link to my profile if anyone would like to check out the photos.  I'm stoked to be into a nice large boat with brand new four strokes all for around 30k.  Go Aqua!

http://www.classicaquasport.com/gallery ... hp?uid=335

[billh1963]

That is a really sharp looking boat! Was the boat painted or re-gelcoated? Who did the work?

Congratulations on the very nice ride!

[jy118lfd]

Wow That's what I need. Wanna sell it   Great ride and enjoy that great boat

[RickK]

What a 'beaut  :!:  :!:   Looks new. Congrats on the "new" boat and welcome aboard.

[spertree]

I'm the (very) proud and excited owner of a 1969 Aquasport 19-1. Picked it up in Slidell, La eight days before hurricane Katrina, or, maybe I rescued it.  Anyway, as a first time owner I seek the advice or comments of all the seasoned veterans on this forum.  The hull, transom, and floor are solid as a rock, no soft spots found.  As far as the surface goes, it looks pretty bad, paint is cracked all over. How does a person go about sanding, gel-coating, painting, etc? Also, is it super difficult to "modify" or add to certain parts of the boat, for example: close the transom, add custom baitwells, build the console higher to accomodate electronics, etc.? I really don't know much at all about constructing items from fiberglass.  I am currently using three 6 gallon plastic fuel tanks which ride on the floor under the console---how, where, and how big of a new aluminum or stainless tank could I put in this boat.  Also, does anyone have any experience with the "Lenco" type trolling motors that are attached to trim tabs?  I will be using this boat for freshwater fishing about 60 percent of the time and prefer not to mount a traditional trolling motor on the bow.  As far as the old Evinrude outboard goes, I'm considering replacing it and would like to look at a motor bracket/platform on the back of the boat, need opinions regarding that.  Thanks to everyone who responds............

[JimCt]

Welcome to the fleet, spertree, and congrats on saving the old girl from certain loss in Katrina!

Concerning your questions, the best way to get info. is to spend some time reviewing the threads in the various forums here.  Gelcoat repairs, interior mods., baitwells, fuel tanks, trolling motors, and so on, are all covered.

Please post some pictures of your boat showing the current layout, transom, console, areas of concern, etc.  These will be helpful going forward on your projects.

[Kaczki]

Yay, finally another 19-1 on the site.

 I think that all the other 19 footers on the site are 19-6s.  I have yet to start my rebuild, but I will try to borrow my brothers digital camera to get some pictures of my boat's layout so that we can compare and swap ideas for rebuilding.

Good luck with your rebuild. :)

[hooked up]

Hello everyone, my son and I just purchased an 86’ 250 CCP.  We wanted a project to work on together.  I posted some pictures of the boat in the member galleries.  Overall the boat is in pretty good shape.  We are going to repair cracks, paint, rewire, check the gas tank, repair the soft spot in the gas tank hatch, and re-power.

The boat is set up with twins on a bracket, but I think I want a single Zuke 250 four stroke on a bracket.  Would you keep the current bracket and put new twins (Zuke 140’s) on, or get single bracket and new motor?  I do the majority of my fishing in the Chesapeake Bay, out of the Patuxent or Potomac rivers.  Thanks and hope to see you on the water by next summer, with this boat.  Selling my current boat and the motors off this one.

Duane