AS 196

[doyle007]

Hello all.  I'm a new poster, although I registered here a while ago.  I've always loved Aquasports and Makos.  There is a somewhat old and worn AS 17 near me that I love, but it's not for sale.  I search thru the various sites for boat sales, and I found a 1983 19-6 for sale with a Mercury 135.  It looks to be in decent shape from the pictures, but I have not gone to see it yet.  I'm waiting to hear back from the seller to tell me where it is.  

Now, is there anything specific that I should look for on this boat?  Were there any issues for that year's production?  I know from some of the sites lilke THT and others that you'll read about a specific year or years of boat production that for some reason or another were less than stellar.  I read around this forum a bit last night, but did not see anything to deter me from moving forward.  

I really hope that this boat works out.  My four-year-old daughter is dying for her dad to get a boat, and I'm ready to finally have some fiberglass under my feet.  I'm anticipating a good year of stripers, albies, and blues on the fly here in the shadow of Atlantic City.

By the way, the boat is powered by a 135 Mercury.  It was a leftover 1998 purchased in 1999, and has 275 hours on it.  The boat has a brand new gas tank and sending unit, which has never seen any gas. It also has a new bottom paint job that has yet to see water.  

Any and all comments are appreciated.  I'll try to post pictures of the boat, along with a beautiful 1988 175 that was just sold.

Thanks.
Doyle

[doyle007]

If all goes well, you'll see a picture of the 175 that was just sold in Central NJ, and also the 196 that I'm hoping to buy in the next few days.

175


196

[RickK]

Welcome aboard doyle :!:  :!:
I don't think you'll have a problem with that year Aquasport.  I've only heard of a few incidents of shoddy workmanship over the years and that was later than the year you're looking at.
The 170 series is a great inland boat and is about the right size for 2 people - 3's a crowd, especially when fishing structure.  If you're fishing straight down, no problem, go with the capacity sticker.
The 196 should give you that extra space that is needed to be comfortable with extra people. There are a lot of 191/196 owners here that will pipe in shortly.

[Kaczki]

Perfect size.  Not too much smaller than the 22-2, but much bigger than the 17.  Okay, it is three feet shorter than the 22-2, but it has close to the same beam.  The 17's beam is a whole foot narrower, which makes for a big difference.  You don't really notice a difference in the space inside the 22-2 and the 19-1/19-6, but after you have been in one of them the 17 really feels cramped.