My new boat

[steve76]

 Picked up my new boat today. It is a Crestliner VT17 pro. It has the 60hp Merc fourstroke with a 4 blade spitfire prop. Got the Minnkota 70lb 24v TM and am running a Helix 7 DI at the bow and a Helix 7 SI at the console. Looked hard at the ranger RT178 and a G3. The Crestliner and Ranger are very similar boats. The Ranger is a little nicer but was several thousand more.

[Pferox]

Very nice boat, congratulations.   

[steve76]

 Thanks Jim!

[Donald Garner]

Congrats on the new ride.  That's a nice looking boat there.

[Bigwrench]

Steve that's a very nice rig you got there ! Congratulations and hope you get some slime on her soon

[Capt. BassinLou]

Very...very... nice!! Congrats!!

[cojab]

Nice! Congrats.

[steve76]

Thanks guys, I can't wait to get it on the water. This is my first new boat so I am pretty excited. Will try to give an honest review of it after I get some time with it.

[Lee Smith]

Very nice ride sir!   

[steve76]

 Thank you Lee!

[Oldfart9999]

Right smart looking rig there!! Congrats!!
Rodney

[Smallie_Stalker]

Great looking boat Steve. Congratulations. 

[Kris]

That certainly is a nicely laid out boat.  Good luck with it.

[coldfront]

go slow at first (loading, unloading at the ramp)... bumps are forever!  and inevitable.

Crestliners are awesome boats!

[steve76]

 Thanks everyone! Don't worry coldfront my wife will kill me if I do anything to that boat for a while.

[zippyduck]

Congrats on the crestliner and merc 4 stroke. I have an 18' crestliner with a 60hp 4 stroke and get fantastic gas mileage.

[steve76]

 Thank you Zippyduck! Do you have the VT18? I was going to upgrade to the 75 and the dealer said the difference wasn't worth the $1500 price jump. He told me it got a little better holeshot and only 2-3 more mph.

[Donald Garner]

So Steve you had this new ride out on Truman yet?  How did she preform?

[steve76]

 Not yet, turned off cold this weekend. I will be heading down to Truman next Saturday with it. Supposed to be warm next week. I will post some numbers after I get the first couple hours of break in done.

[Princeton_Man]

How'd I miss that! Sweet ride!

[Jared LeBlue]

Good looking rig.

[5xThree]

ALWAYS raise the trim after loading onto trailer!!! It's something new boat owners don't think of at the moment but will save from scratches/damage to lower end while pulling up the ramp.  Lucus spray wax will keep that black shinny new forever.

[steve76]

 Great advice 5xthree! I learned that lesson a long time ago with my first boat.

[zippyduck]

Thank you Zippyduck! Do you have the VT18? I was going to upgrade to the 75 and the dealer said the difference wasn't worth the $1500 price jump. He told me it got a little better holeshot and only 2-3 more mph.

No I have a Kodiak 18, since I use it a lot on Erie I wanted something with higher sides. A friend has the VT18 with the 75 and is barely faster than my 60. Any faster and the control would be scary on my boat.

[steve76]

 The Kodiak looks like a great multi species boat. Looks like a lot of space with the tiller motor. I fished out of a friends Fish Hawk with a tiller and loved how easy it was to move around in. The only downside seemed to be the wind catching the high sides.