From one boat...

...to another.

We sold our 20 foot Bayliner Capri (cuddy) and bought a 15 foot Livingston.

We just weren't using the Bayliner as much as we'd hoped. It wasn't really fishing friendly given the cuddy cabin, sloped windshield and low cockpit canvas so we sold it.

It took a day and a half to sell on Craig's List. We bought the Livingston from a guy who posted it on Craig's List too.

The guy who bought our Bayliner got a good deal and we got a good deal with the Livingston. There's no doubt we're going to get far more fishing action out of the Livingston than we did with the Bayliner.

It's easier for people to get in and out of, easier to launch and retrailer, can be fished out of from all sides, has canvas so we can get out of the weather if we want, has a nice 35 hp Tohatsu outboard, can be launched in smaller lakes and can be towed just about anywhere.

Yup, we're going to have a lot more fun with this boat.

The nephew, wife, son, Dad, daughter in law, grandkids, daughter... friends and family... we're all going to use it! We're all going to be having fun!

The last time we took the Bayliner out we went to Black Lake, west of Olympia, WA. and ran around on the lake for a couple of hours just blowing out the winter blues. It was a bit windy when we came to shore to trailer the boat. We had a heckuva time fighting the wind and getting it on the trailer straight. Eventually, my son and I got it on the trailer but we got pretty wet doing it. So I decided then that it's time to get one that we can launch and retrailer in the lakes with relatively little effort and also get one that we could get in and out of at the lakes without having to porpoise our way through a windshield and under handrails.

Hence the dual hulled, stable as all get out, catamaran style Livingston. One of the best fishing platforms made.

I have some things to do to it yet. You know, install pole holders, a fish finder, seats, steering console, throttle and shift levers, etc. But that's part of the fun of having a boat... setting it up the way you want it set up.

The guy who sold us the boat is one helluva nice guy... his whole family is. They live in Bremerton, WA, about 60 miles north of Olympia and he builds boats for a living. Big boats. Boats for the Coast Guard and tenders for the Navy. So he knows something about boats. When we went to look at it and then to pick it up we felt like we'd known their family for years after we left. They're just genuinely nice people. The trip and visit alone was worth it.

He got the Livingston a couple of years ago and was restoring it. He'd also pull his kids around on innertubes on the lakes in the area and in Puget Sound.

The Livingston spent it's first 11 years as a lifeboat on a commercial ferry so we're guessing it probably didn't touch the water more than a couple of hours while in the ferry service. At least, I don't recall any ferries sinking in Puget Sound or anything that happened to the ferries that necessitated launching the lifeboats in the past 20 years, let alone 50 years.

After he got the boat he cleaned it up, painted the stripe on the sides and painted the inside with top of the line marine paint. He installed grip rails, installed the three quarter canvas that he had from another Livingston he owned, threw in two brand new padded swivel seats, a center stearing console and cables, trailer bumper guides and a ton of other goodies when we bought it. He told me he wasn't all that familiar with the "Tohatsu" brand motor but said he got a good deal on it so he bought it after he got the boat. It ran great when I picked it up.

So, how could we refuse. Besides, we bought it for far less than what we sold the Bayliner for and the extra money helped us out with some of our other little bills.

As soon as I get some free time we're going to go fishing! I'll grab Dad, Andrew and anyone else who wants to go and we'll go drown some worms.

Later!