Hello, all. My name is Jay and became a FW owner earlier this year. I've been lurking around since March, and have made a few posts here and there. However, I have yet to properly introduce myself to the forum. In April, I picked up our "new to us" 2005 FW H250 with VP 8.1L GXi / DP. It had everything I was looking for, along with a few extras like the wakeboard tower. I almost turned it down because of the tower, but then figured it was the right deal so what the hell. While it is a PITA to put up and down for storage in my "Toybox", I'm starting to like the thing. I just pulled my first wakeboarder a couple of weeks ago. He normally wakeboards behind a 21' Crownline from the normal ski tow. He fell in love wakeboarding behind my boat and said he was getting the most air he's ever achieved. It looks like I may now have to invest in a wakeboard so I can try this thing for myself. It sure looked fun, but I have to remind myself I'm not getting any younger.
My wife & I and our two kids live in SE Iowa. We primarily boat on the Mississippi, but also make a few trips to LOTO each year. I have plans to eventually check out Rathbun in Southern Iowa and Mark Twain in NE Missouri. This year has been terrible for boating in SE Iowa with all the rain we've had, but I'm still managing to get some decent hours on the boat. Also, I've got to spend a little more time with my first baby. . . my 2004 HD Road King Custom.
Being a Harley guy, I just can't leave stuff stock. So, thanks to the ideas garnered from this board, I've made a few mods already. These include: 1) Changed instruments lights to red LED's. 2) Changed anchor light out to LED (original was broke). 3) Bought a removable C-Clamp LED anchor light that can be mounted to wakeboard tower (good to have a spare, plus I've read certain areas require anchor light to be mounted from top most structure on a boat). 4) Added Oznium LED Waterproof Strips above the cupholders in the rear cockpit as well as under the helm. I got the "million color" type complete with remote so I can change brightness, color and pattern. I normally just leave it on red to match the instrument lights. I wired to a blank switch (wipers) in the dash. It's awesome at night. 5) Added White Oznium LED Waterproof Strips in the engine compartment. Wired to cockpit lights. 6) Mounted another fire extinguisher just because the one from the factory was too small in my opinion. 7) Reshaped trailer fender and painted over some surface rust caused by a tire blowout from the previous owner.
Installed new depth gauge with water and air temp sensors (Scary as this was the first time I've ever cut through the fiberglass in a boat, even if it was above the waterline). This board has been a great resource in all my projects. Thank you to everyone for the ideas and information. My wife may disagree in that she thinks I spend too much time and money on my toys. I can't argue the time, as I do take the time to properly take care of my expensive toys. However, I have approximately $500 wrapped up in all the mods above combined.
The tradeoff to our new gem is I sold the boat I grew up on. . . A 1975 Delta 18' Trihull with a 302ci/188hp Mercruiser. It was still a solid boat and ran like a champ when I sold it. We had some great times on that boat. It tought me and half of my friends to ski when we were growing up. It was kind of hard to justify upgrading when I had the old Delta running so well. But alas, we decided the time was right in the boating market to maybe find the right deal. I sure hope the new owner takes good care of it. If he does, he'll still get several more years out of her.
As I've read plenty of times on this forum, if you don't have pictures then it never happened. I've been meaning to steal my wife's camera to get some pictures off it so I could do this intro. Yesterday, with the Mississippi flooded and full of trash (again), I decided to pull the boat out of the Toybox, wash the river grime off it good and crawl underneath to really inspect the trailer for rust spots. So after I got my chores done, I finally decided to sit down and get some pictures for you all. Here are some pictures of us enjoying our new to us FW (and other stuff):
The old Delta with the original owners (my parents), me and my daughter
Our 2005 FW H250 ready to be hauled home
Captain Jay on his maiden voyage
Testing the clearance of the wakeboard tower on the Fort Madison bridge during high water (we had a solid 6"
). I actually had to lower it during one trip this year.
Kids enjoying a beach on the Mississippi
Our kids enjoying their first boatride on LOTO
Kids enjoying swimming in the relatively clear water of LOTO
Kids tubing on LOTO
Kids enjoying the cold springs at Ha Ha Tonka on LOTO (too bad there's not sound to here their shrieks)
Even the old man got out to show the kids how to ski @ LOTO
My boy skiing in LOTO
Kids making new friends at Ozark BBQ
My wife & I sporting our new "tats" ala kids while lounging on the dock at LOTO
Some of our lovely SE Iowa weather this year
No, there's not supposed to be a river in our back yard
What's left of our street
I snapped a couple of pics of the boat and my rig (2008 Ford F150 S/C 4X4) yesterday in front of the Toybox
Once again, this board has been invaluable as we've started our adventure with the FW family. I hope I can provide some value without being a nuisance. Keep up the good work, as I intend to follow along on a regular basis.
Thanks, Jay
Login
FAQ
Search
